2018 Ford Escape Power Train

Transmission Fault in red letters came on. Turned car off and then turned back on after 20 minutes and the message disappeared. Three days later same things happened- repeated what I did before and message went away. I've noticed when I try to accelerate it sounds as if I'm accelerating but I'm not getting passed 20 mph. Car does a hard jerk when trying to accelerate.

I was on my way to work on 2/4/2026 and all of a sudden the RPMs went up really high and wouldn’t accelerate and then down shifted really hard so I pulled over. It then showed on the dash “System Fault: Transmission Fault Service Now” I ended up needing a tow truck. This is NOT ok! It’s also apparently a common occurrence which means it should be recalled and fixed!

Flywheel detached and destroyed our engine and transmission while we were traveling 75 mph in traffic. We were nearly rear-ended and side-swiped due to immediate loss of power. A dealer inspected the vehicle and told us about the flywheel detachment. They referred us to Ford Customer Service, who said nothing could be done as we were a few thousand over the warranty. Repairs would cost 14,500. The transmission is 6F35, which has had several class action lawsuits due to its failure according to Internet sources. There was a clicking noise at idle but the car was running fine at that point. This may have been loose dowels that eventually detached.

While driving on highway the trouble light "Engine Fault Service Now" engaged and the engine started to lose power. Another trouble light came on saying to pull car over immediately and restart. By this time the car was dying of power and eventually lost all forward motion. After sitting for a couple hours the engine started with no trouble lights. Had towed to Ford dealer and they say there are no codes logged. This is two weeks after we had to have a new long block engine installed due to faulty motor due to fluid intrusion into cylinders. This latest problem is definately a safety issue with vehicle just dying on the road.

Had vehicle in shop for axle repair, as soon as I got home transmission went out when I was about to turn onto a main road with 2 kids in my car. My car felt like it was in neutral but it wasn’t. Barely got back to my parking spot. Seeing this is a common issue with my car and I think it should be covered under a recall

On 10/17/2025, my transmission stop working properly after driving fine for 145,000 miles. This seems to be a common occurrence with this year and model for the Escape. The transmission is an automatic and stopped going in the drive gear on the highway. I was able to get the car off the road and have it towed to a mechanic where they verified that that I would need a new transmission.

Coolant intrusion, damaged engine

I am at 123,000 miles, older driver that primarily drives around town. I have been having issues with the transmission lagging, I had the transmission serviced but the problem persists. The transmission shop tried to reset the transmission, however it will not reset. It was diagnosed with an issue with the 3rd/5th gears (related), and suspected to have an issue with the gears plate. Far too few miles to have this happening.

Transmission is not going into fifth gear correctly.

I own a 2018 Ford Escape. Current mileage is 58,847 and was serviced regularly. In July of this year, the transmission failed completely while driving. No warnings or symptoms prior to complete failure. I was very lucky that the highway I was traveling on was not busy and I was able to coast into a parking lot. I had to pay a towing fee to have it taken to my local Ford dealer where they informed me my transmission had failed!! The transmission fluid was found to be burnt and contained a lot of metal shavings in it. The cost to replace the transmission with a remanufactured one was over $9500. My local Ford dealer installed a remanufactured transmission on July 22, 2025. I continued to have issues such as shift hesitation and other error messages. I took it back to the dealer on Aug 25, 2025. I requested to the tech that the transmission fluid be checked. He stated that after only 30 days, the oil was already discolored from being too hot and there were metal shavings in the fluid. Only about 600 miles were put on the vehicle since the transmission repair. The service manager stated that it will surely fail again based on the condition of the fluid. The service manager also stated that it is possible that I will need a THIRD transmission! In doing research, I found that my particular model is prone to premature transmission failure. There are several Class Action lawsuits against Ford Motor Co for 2018 - 2020 Escapes for this defective transmission. And in addition, it states that Ford was aware of the issues and yet continued to manufacture vehicles with this particular transmission in it. Why was there no recall issued? Why did Ford Motor Co not make consumers aware of the problem in order to be able to take preventative measures? With 700,000 of these vehicles on the road, this is a serious safety issue which could result in loss of control while driving, and possible catastrophic results. Ford Motor Co should be liable for the defective transmission.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving 80 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 85,822.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to shift into gear properly, with the transmission warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle failed to shift into reverse and was unable to operate while in reverse. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting the accelerate, the RPM increased quickly but the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact then heard an abnormal grinding noise coming from the engine compartment and the vehicle started to lose motive power, with the transmission slipping. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 80,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the flex plate had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

This vehicle is driven by my [XXX] 3 things happened the third can cause an accident leading to death or a multi car accident. #1 [XXX] driving on the freeway she heard a squeeling noise like a belt slipping then went away and has not retuned. i checked belts and idlers all ok. #2 [XXX] heard loud ticking under floorboard of car driving on the freeway car seemed to drive normally then ticking went away. #3 [XXX] driving on the freeway steering wheel pulled the car aggressively to left almost causing a multi car accident cars behind and to the left were swerving to avoid hitting other cars. She was able to control the car back straight again luckily the car to her left was not next to her but at her rear bumper or she would have hit that car pushing it into cars in all the lanes to the left. After an internet search I discovered that Ford has had problems with their transfer cases (PTU) and its rare but people have reported issues with the car pulling hard left for no reason. I mention the three steps that happened previous to the steering wheel incident because from my research these are the warring signs before the transfer case goes out. This vehicle is a 2018 Ford Escape AWD 35,000 original miles p.s. Ford customer service was notified of this safety issue on December 6, 2025 my Case# [XXX] Response was not covered i will be repairing this vehicle and I will retain all the old parts for your convenience if you need them for further inspection or investigation. PTU failures are a well know issue with these PTU'S INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The service transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had previously occurred in 2022, and the transmission was replaced under warranty by the manufacturer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 85,000.

In the middle of driving without warning, the vehicle started accelerating without shifting. It wasn't til I was pulled off the road and had only neutral that the vehicle had indicated a tranmission/power train issue

My car had less than 143,000 miles on it and started shuddering going down the highway. I was able to get pulled over and have taken it to a mechanic shop and they diagnosed it as a bad transmission. With metal shavings in the fluid. They also said they had another escape there with exactly the same issue. As well as I have seen that there are now class actions going on for this issue. And that Ford was aware of the issue as a consumer I feel this should not be allowed

The contact called for a friend who owns a 2018 Ford Escape. While the contact's friend was driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while the vehicle was driven uphill. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was being repaired. The contact was informed that the parts were on backorder. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not assist. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed while driving at various speeds. The RPM failed to immediately lower when the accelerator pedal was released. The failure was intermittent. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH and releasing and depressing the accelerator pedal off an exit to the right, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The vehicle was pulled into a nearby parking lot and parked. The “Transmission Fault – Service” warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 62,000.

The contact's daughter owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while in a parking lot, the vehicle failed to shift into gear without warning. A tow truck driver was able to temporarily repair the vehicle and instructed the contact to drive the vehicle straight to the residence. The contact's grandson was able to reconnect an unknown part on the transmission which temporarily fixed the transmission. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle shut off with the "Transmission Fault Service Now" message displayed. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to a dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train); however, the contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle remained with the dealer unrepaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle jerked. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle was still jerking and failed to accelerate as needed. The "Transmission failure warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that on another occasion, the gear shifter was stuck in park(P). The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission and flywheel had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 113,184.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and was jerking. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle was still jerking and failed to accelerate. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred, and the vehicle was taken to an out of state dealer. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was still under warranty and was repaired. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred and was taken to another out of state dealer who diagnosed and determined that the transmission needed to be rebuilt. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

My transmission started slipping while driving on a main street. It barely moved, less than 1 mph, while accelerating to get to a safe place and not rear ended. This was very dangerous for me and the car behind me. There was no warning prior to this happening and the engine light never came on even after the transmission “slipped”. I had a mechanic check it out and he couldn’t find any codes. It ran decently around the neighborhood but then the next day it started slipping again. Took it ford because this time it said power train failure. Turns out my 2018 ford escape, around 105,00 miles, needed a new transmission with no prior signs of distress. I was quoted 10,000. Ford knows about this problem with their 2018 escapes for a while and has not recalled them. Unacceptable.