2017 Ford Escape
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 2,686 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 2nd highest complaint count among 26 Escape model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 39 involved a crash and 15 involved a fire. 56 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Visibility, power window devices and controlsJun 9, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2017 Escape vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under recall number 16V617. The power-operated windows may exert excessive force when encountering an object, before they automatically reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."
A closing window that does not reverse direction as expected can pinch a driver or passenger before retracting, increasing the risk of injury.
Dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 22, 2026. Owners may contact customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26C29. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 6, 2026.
Campaign 26V374000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, electrical, engine block heaterJan 15, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Focus, 2013-2019 Escape, and 2015-2016 MKC vehicles equipped with a 2.0L engine. The engine block heater may crack and develop a coolant leak, causing it to short circuit when the block heater is plugged in.
An electrical short circuit can increase the risk of a fire.
Owners are advised not to plug in their block heater until the vehicle is remedied. Dealers will replace the block heater, free of charge. Owners will also have a alternative option to replace engine block heater element with a threaded plug, and remove the block heater electrical cord. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed March 6, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S01. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on January 16, 2026.
Campaign 26V011000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, automatic transmission, gear position indication (prndl)Jun 10, 2022
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2019 Escape, 2013-2018 C-Max, 2013-2016 Fusion, 2013-2021 Transit Connect, and 2015-2018 Edge vehicles. The bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the transmission may degrade or detach.
A damaged or missing bushing may prevent the vehicle from shifting into the intended gear, and cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction. Additionally, the vehicle may roll after the driver selects the 'Park' position. Either scenario increases the risk of a crash or injury.
Dealers will replace the under hood shift bushing and add a protective cap over the shift cable bushing, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters, informing owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 1, 2022. Remedy parts are expected to be available in 4th Quarter 2022. Owner notification letters were mailed October 27, 2022. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 22S43.
Campaign 22V413000 on NHTSA.gov
Visibility, power window devices and controlsAug 24, 2016
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2017 Ford Escape Titanium and SE vehicles manufactured October 5, 2015, to May 12, 2016. The settings for the closing-force of the power-operated windows may allow the windows to close on an object such as a body part and injure it before the windows auto-reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-Operated Window Systems."
If a window closes on a body part, it can increase the risk of injury.
Ford has notified owners, and dealers will update the power window operating system software, free of charge. The recall began on September 6, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16C12.
Campaign 16V617000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
1,983 reports, newest first. Show all
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined there was coolant intrusion into the engine causing and engine misfire in cylinder #3, resulting in engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000.
Engine, Sep 13, 2024
Engine defect causing coolant leak
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light activated and remained illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that the #2-cylinder head had cracked due to coolant intrusion into the engine, and that the engine was overheating. The contact was advised that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 103,895.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that there was coolant leaking from the vehicle, and the “Engine Fault - Service Now” message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the spark plugs and EVAP system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic, who determined that the head gasket was leaking into the exhaust and there was coolant intrusion into the engine. The mechanic recommended that the engine be replaced. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000.
Engine, Sep 13, 2024
My engine light came on during a longer drive for a road trip. When I took it to the dealership, my coolant level was very low and was causing my engine was overheating. The Ford service center diagnosed it as being low due to coolant intrusion into cylinder 1 causing a misfire and engine overheating. With it consuming coolant, the engine overheating can be a safety risk and Ford told me the only way to solve the problem is to completely replace the engine. I took it to another independent service center who noted moisture in cylinder 1 and believes it to be coolant intrusion as well.
Engine, Sep 13, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle experienced rough idling and was shaking abnormally. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle with a cracked cylinder head and misfire in cylinder #2. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, who determined that the engine block was cracked and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Engine, Sep 12, 2024
Car experienced COOLANT INTRUSION. This engine is 7 years old and is experiencing the same problem as many service bulletins describe as a known problem with this engine for example 192346. Our mileage is under the warranty guidelines but ford is saying it is out of warranty and want us to replace the engine. We have maintained this car well and we feel ford should cover the engine replacement. This is a problem they are aware of and our vehicle should be part of this repair. An engine should last longer than 7 years. We recently had an oil change done at a ford facility and within a couple days the check engine light came on. We had it taken to a ford dealership and they diagnosed coolant intrusion and said we need to replace the engine.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle briefly hesitated before returning to normal functionality. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who observed coolant intrusion into cylinder #1, resulting in engine damage. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he observed excessive smoke emanating from the exhaust. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion into the engine had resulted in damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was not available.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle experienced rough idling. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the engine block had cracked due to coolant intrusion into the engine, causing the engine to overheat. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contacted indicated that the engine was previously replaced for a similar failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.
Engine, Sep 12, 2024
Risk of fire. Coolant is going inside the engine. This is causing engine to over heat. There were several similar issue with ford escape care previously. Car is currently at dealer. There was engine light, and overheating sign in the car.
Engine, Sep 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the vehicle was jerking and shaking abnormally. In addition, the check engine warning light was illuminated, and the vehicle was idling rough. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 132,180.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while cold starting the vehicle, there was a large cloud of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The contact stated that the vehicle was idling rough until the engine had warmed up. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent at first but had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine block was cracked, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle was shaking and vibrating abnormally. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was flashing off and on. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine block. The dealer informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.
Engine and engine cooling, Engine, Sep 11, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated. The engine overheating warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. In addition, the contact was informed that the repair was not covered under a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 116,500.
Engine, Sep 11, 2024
For this car Engine check light came on and then car was overheating. The car was taken to the dealer. They said that coolant got into the engine which caused the malfunction and over heating. It was inspected by the dealer. It is similar to the previous recall done for ford escape Internal coolant leak causing engine overheating.
Power train, Engine, Sep 11, 2024
Per my mechanic, after 2 rounds of Cylinder #2 misfire, it seems as though there is coolant leaking into the engine. I have had this card for 2.5 yeas and have less than 100K miles on it. Research shows that I may need a new engine at $6-8K on a car that I have put 5k miles on in 2 years and still owe over $10k on. Per research, this has been a known issue for years and nothing has been done about it. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request, if it will assist in my situation. Per research, this issue causing severe overheating and some cars run the risk of catching on fire and some just stop functioning altogether. My car was sputtering on a cold start, and then my car and Ford App told me there was an issue with the engine. My first plug/wire/boot replacement was on 8/10/24 due to the check engine light. ODB showed it was a misfire on #2, and on 9/7/24, the check engine light came on again and per the readouts from the ODB, it is another misfire on #2 and the plug has fouled again. I have currently spent over $600 on just diagnosing this issue, and the paperwork uploaded it just for the first visit. I have also reached directly out to Ford, who advised me to take it to a Ford Dealership for their diagnostics, and then they will see what is covered, if anything. My case number for that is CXH-02610243-K4Z7X8. My diagnostic for Ford will only be covered if they find an issue that is covered by a recall, warranty, Service Plan, or Customer Satisfaction Program. So that is going to add to additional costs, as according to my research, there is no recall.
Engine, Sep 11, 2024
Our car has less than 100,000 miles on it. We have the eco boost engine on our escape and one day when we were driving, the engine light came on then the car turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. We’ve never missed an oil change or any repairs and have not been in an accident. The dealership says it needs a whole new engine because of a KNOWN problem with these cars. They said they have seen hundreds of them. In fact, a recall was just done on them for thousands of vehicles with the same engine, but not our model despite having the same issue. A quick Google search confirmed that many other people have had the exact same issue. How many more people will it take to realize it’s a concern? We had kids in the car. We are a military family with medically fragile children and can’t afford a new engine on our own. Our car was relatively new. This shouldn’t happen from a well known company. How many other hard working families have to suffer? We should have been included in the recall a couple days ago that included all 2.7 boost engines for every model but ours. Please please look into it. It is most definitely a safety concern and could have ended much worse for us.
Engine, Sep 10, 2024
Engine started misfiring, check engine light came on while driving on the highway. It was barely running, had to pull over 2 lanes to the narrow shoulder in traffic. No warning until it happened. Never had a check engine light before on this vehicle. P0302 misfire. Was told the engine needs to be replaced at 79,000. There was a recall for this exact problem yet my VIN was not included and i never got any mail stating this could happen.Very sudden and dangerous problem, lucky i was able to pull over out of traffic.
Engine, Sep 10, 2024
The contact’s mother owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine overheated. The contact stated that the thermostat temperature gauge indicated that the engine was overheating. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road and parked. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not covered under recall repair for the engine failure. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
Power train, Engine, Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the "Service Engine Now" and "Engine Service Require" messages were displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who replaced the water pump, but the failure persisted. The vehicle stalled while driving. The vehicle was towed to a transmission specialist, who replaced the transmission for the second time; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, who replaced the alternator and coolant pump; however, the failure recurred, and the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 137,000.
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, there was white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact stated that the Customer Service Program: 19B36 had been completed in July 2020. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.
Engine, Sep 10, 2024
When we purchased our "ford certified" 2017 ford escape it came with a "lifetime engine warranty" issued from (protective asset protection) also a "gold" certified warranty from the ford dealership. when my wife was driving our children to soccer practice the dash board lit up and told her the engine was overheating and she was forced to immediately pull over. thankfully there were no vehicles behind her or heading directly towards her on the two lane road at the time. this could have been very dangerous for my family and others on the road. ford dealership said this is a known problem and the only solution is to replace the engine. neither ford, our local dealership, or the lifetime engine warranty from (protective asset protection) would cover or assist with any help monetarily. we still are making payments for this "ford certified" vehicle so unfortunately we were forced to get a second loan to pay the $7,651.37 for the replacement engine. there are many people and vehicles having the same "Ecoboost Coolant In Cylinders, White Exhaust Smoke And/Or Illuminated MIL." isuue. PLEASE help!!!
Engine and engine cooling, Sep 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while cold starting the vehicle, the vehicle was idling rough until the engine had warmed up. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine block and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.
Engine, Sep 10, 2024
Coolant intrusion causing engine damage. Unable to drive. Ford knows about it because they had a Customer Satisfaction program 21N12 but only made coverage last until November 30, 2022. There needs to be a recall NOW.