2009 Ford Escape - Hesitates & Bucks when accelerating

Asked by Brenna Jan 10, 2019 at 09:37 PM about the 2009 Ford Escape

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2009 Ford Escape. After I release the brake to start accelerating, the vehicle hesitates, then it bucks/jerks, and then drives fine when I maintain speed. There were also two instances in which while braked, the car engine completely died. I was able to restart and it be fine both times. The engine light was only coming on very intermittingly. I then took it into the local Ford Dealership. The engine light wouldn't come on for them, and they couldn't get any kind of code reading. They told me the problems I described pointed to the throttle body, which Ford had issued an extended warranty on in lieu of a recall a few years ago. So they replaced the throttle body. It drove normally the first few days after repair. But then it went back to the same issue when trying to accelerate on every drive I take. However, now the engine light has never come on since the throttle body was replaced. Any ideas what else could be causing this?

6 Answers

270

I have the same problem, and we are not alone. I've been reading and there's no definite answer. https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2009/engine/engine_stalls_dies_while_driving.shtml

4 people found this helpful.
270

https://www.yourmechanic.com/estimates/ford/escape/car-jerks-forward-at-high-speeds-inspection

3 people found this helpful.
180

Throttle body. It was part of the recall for this model of Escape.https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2010/FORD/ESCAPE/4%252520DR/FWD%25252FAWD

4 people found this helpful.
180

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls Hope this helps!

2 people found this helpful.
180

I had the throttle body of my 2009 "repared" under the recall several times. Ironically, I only had no issues with it until I finally paid for it to be repaired .....

5 people found this helpful.
20

Anyone ever determine the cause of this. My 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid with 190K miles tends to run fine after it has been driven for 5 or more minutes, but when you first begin driving, it's like a slipping clutch symptom where there seems to be acceleration, but the car isn't moving hardly at all. Problem is much worse when not driven for many days. Also seems worse on hot days. I typically start in reverse and wonder if that might be a factor. I also park in such a way that I pull the car up to a low retaining wall / car stop and wonder if that causes gears/transmission to be in a weird state some of the time and thus causing the intermittent nature of the problem. Air filter replaced. Fuel injector cleaner additive added several times. No seeming improvement. Any ideas would be great.

2 people found this helpful.

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