2018 Ford Escape
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 1,795 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 6th highest complaint count among 26 Escape model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 25 involved a crash and 5 involved a fire. 30 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
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
Service brakes, hydraulic, foundation components, hoses, lines/piping, and fittingsFeb 12, 2018
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018 Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC vehicles. These vehicles may be equipped with incorrect front brake hoses that may chafe against other components, possibly resulting in a brake fluid leak.
A brake fluid leak may lengthen the distance needed to stop the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the brake hoses, replacing any that are incorrect, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin March 2018. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S04.
Campaign 18V104000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, side/windowDec 18, 2017
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2018 Ford Escape vehicles. The side curtain air bags on these vehicles have a component that may detach during deployment of the inflatable curtain air bag.
If the component detaches during deployment, it may enter the passenger compartment and be a projectile within the vehicle cabin, increasing the risk of injury.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver and passenger side curtain air bags, as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 2018. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 17S44.
Campaign 17V803000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: engine
1,426 reports, newest first. Show all
Engine, Jan 30, 2023
The fly wheel broke at the factory welds, and it is not covered by the warranty, but the same flywheel is used in the 2020 Ford Fusion and is being recalled for defects and covered under warranty.
Engine and engine cooling, Jan 27, 2023
The contact called on behalf of a friend who owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his friend was driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle emitted an abnormal sound. Additionally, there was significant amount of smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The coolant temperature warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the head gasket was blown. The dealer informed the contact's friend that the vehicle could not be repaired under an unknown recall as the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 81,647.
Engine, Jan 23, 2023
On Sat, Jan 14, started my car, it misfired on startup. Sun 1/15/23, started it, it misfired again. ‘Ck Engine light’ came on.Went to Advanced Auto Parts- code = P0304, Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected. Immed stopped driving vehicle-scheduled appt w/mechanic. Tuesday, Jan 17, drove vehicle to 1st Stop Auto, they diagnosed it, another code came up=P0316, Misfire Detected on Start-up (First 1000 Revolutions). They pulled all recalls, found out there's Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) on my make and model dated 12/2019. Diagnosis of vehicle from mechanic: “Found coolant was low due to it getting into Cylinder 4. TSB for replacing the engine for this issue.”. I picked up vehicle and drove it to Pinnacle Ford to have them diagnose it. In 12/2019, Ford distributed an INTERNAL Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) to their service departments regarding this major issue, WITH NO RECALL, then in 2020, a Class Action Lawsuit was filed against Ford. Both the mechanic and dealer has told me that my SUV needs a new engine-long block because the EcoBoost engine is defective as coolant leaks into the cylinders, which causes misfires, damage to additional major parts of the engine, AND can cause fire. This is not only a major repair for a vehicle w/less than 68k miles, but also a MAJOR safety hazard and Ford Motor Company IS DOING NOTHING TO REPAIR OR COMPENSATE OWNERS THAT OWN OR LEASE THEIR PRODUCTS/VEHICLES! They're fully aware of problem & have been for close to 10 years. Pinnacle Ford Lincoln diagnosed vehicle & filed the issue via paperwork to Ford Motor Company TO SEE if they will offer financial assistance for repair. They would not provide me with a loaner as I’m without a vehicle due to their negligence. I contacted Ford 5x in the last week, as early as today. Their Customer Care dept could care less. I requested my call be expedited. Not one rep would do so. The TSB bulletin is 7 pages of information and parts that must be ordered to fix this problem.
Steering, Power train, Engine, Jan 14, 2023
There have been several instances of the vehicle completely shutting off while sitting idle and at red lights. I took it to the dealership and there is coolant leaking into the cylinders causing it to misfire. This is very dangerous and could cause the car to run hot or burn up! The said I should replace the engine but FORD should be responsible as this seems to be a problem in many of their escapes!
Engine, Jan 13, 2023
Took car in due to heater not working correctly, was not blowing hot air, was told coolant was leaking into engine, would need new engine, head gasket and block damaged. No warning or check engine lights on. Car is available for inspection if needed. I drive this car with ,y son on a daily basis if not for a cold front that past I would have never knew my heater didn't work and would be driving this car without knowing there was a problem which could lead me to be stranded. I was also told by the mechanic that this is not the first 2018 Ford Escape they have encountered with this same problem, they had worked on one just a week prior to me bring in my car. We were also informed by several Ford and other dealership service departments that it is an ongoing problem right now with all the 2018 escape to where there is a shortage of engines right now to replace them. I feel like this should qualify for a recall and that Ford needs to replace these engines at their cost since its a known fact online and in person that its faulty engines.
Engine and engine cooling, Engine, Jan 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after his daughter started the vehicle and started accelerating, the vehicle was jerking. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed her that the oil level was low and that cylinder #4 was misfiring. The contact was referred to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The mechanic confirmed a misfire in cylinder #4 due to coolant intrusion into the engine. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 43,780.
Engine, Jan 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed as a catastrophic camshaft failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.
Power train, Engine, Jan 9, 2023
Coolant intrusion into the engine from the cylinder. Check engine light came on for a misfire. My mechanic read the diagnostic codes as a misfired cylinder. Ford admits they know this is an issue with the 1.5L Eco-boost Engine but will only cover 60% of the repair.
Power train, Engine, Jan 6, 2023
2018 Ford escape with 53,700 miles. Ford designed a faulty metal plate between the cylinders. Too thin. It cracked. Coolant flooded the engine. The engine needed to be replaced. The dealership replaced the lower half of engine, luckily, before my 60,000 mile warranty. This is a common problem that has been happening since 2018!!! Please issue a recall. Ford is just waiting until people are stranded on the side of the road facing thousands of dollars in repairs!
Power train, Engine, Dec 26, 2022
Coolant has leaked internally, without warning, until a few days ago when I got a "high engine temperature" warning and my car is now unusable. My engine is shot.
Engine, Dec 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 70-80 MPH, the vehicle started to shake and the engine misfired. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact’s wife was able to maneuver the vehicle onto the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the tires and brakes were replaced, and the vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that cylinder #1 had failed. The vehicle was then taken to another independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine block had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into cylinder #1. The contact was informed that the short block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall. The contact was provided a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
Engine and engine cooling, Engine, Dec 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle started to hesitate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who stated that coolant was leaking into cylinder #2. The contact was also informed that the engine needed to be rebuilt. The contact called the manufacturer who referred her to a dealer. The dealer was notified of the failure and scheduled an appointment. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 112,000.
Engine, Dec 16, 2022
the engine has a coolant leak in the cylinders, due to a bad design on the engine block, too many people experiencing the same issue, others with only 20k miles on their cars,ford won't even help paying the engine replacement, online there are thousand of people with the same issue, the design on the engine block let coolant go into cylinders ford is aware of this matter and they had redesign the engine already but they won't replace it since is not consider a recall even when this needs to be a recall since is a ford design issue
Engine, Dec 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with the overheating and check engine warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that there was a blown head gasket and that the tie rod had detached, causing damage to the suspension. There was white smoke coming from the engine, and the antifreeze temperature was high. The mechanic informed the contact that the head gasket and engine 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 116,301.
Engine, Dec 12, 2022
I was told after only 4 years the car has a major leak into the cylinder and needs a new engine. I have seen this problem online by many consumers and this needs to be corrected. In the last few days the engine light came on and I called and made an appointment. I noticed grey smoke only on start up now that the weather was getting colder.
Engine, Dec 9, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH and attempting to merge onto a highway, the vehicle would not accelerate while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the RPM’s would rise as he depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle almost stalled. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled off the roadway and placed the vehicle in park(P). The contact turned the vehicle off and on and was able to shift the vehicle into drive(D) however, the vehicle would not accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer, and it was diagnosed that the turbo charger needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the engine was replaced; however, the failure was not due to the turbo charger. The contact stated that he had experienced another turbo charger failure a year later. The contact stated that the second engine was replaced. The contact stated that both the replaced turbo chargers had displayed code P0035. The contact was informed by the dealer that the first turbo charger had a valve that became stuck closed and on the second turbo charger a valve had remained in the open position. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
Engine, Dec 7, 2022
Our vehicle started having problems with the coolant appearing to drain to quickly. Having a mechanic check out the system is was diagnosed with the water pump going. We got the vehicle back home, needing to wait to get funds to have the waterpump replaced, when the vehicle shut off on its own in our driveway. The vehicle then wouldn't even turn over. Now having the vehicle checked out we are told the coolant leaked into the engine and has destroyed it. It will cost us over $10,000 to have the engine replaced. The vehicle only has 53,000 miles on it. This is something that should not have happened with a 4yr old vehicle with only 53,000 miles on it. Thankfully the engine didn't go on us while we were on the highway driving home. Ford needs to step up and take care of this serious issue and not leave it to the consumer to be leveled with the cost of their failures in putting out a better product. The seriousness of what may have happened if the engines had caught fire or just died on us while on the highway is too great to consider.
Engine, Dec 7, 2022
Piston #2 failed in the engine. The piston head broke and pieces of metal traveled through the engine. It is available for inspection. This occurred at night while driving down a state route at speeds between 50-55mph. The engine immediately began to run extremely rough, check engine light came on and began blinking, the car began to sputter and shake, which caused the car to become unsafe to operate. We had the vehicle towed to avoid causing any damage to the engine. The Ford dealership that we buy our cars from did the diagnosis, performed an engine tear down, and was able to determine the piston was the route cause. The technician confirmed that it was the piston itself that failed, and was not due to any maintenance issues, other part, or driver neglect. It has not been inspected directly by Ford, police, or insurance. It has only been inspected by the Ford certified technicians at the Ford dealership. We contacted Ford Motor Company's customer affairs department, opened a case with them in regards to the faulty part being installed when the the car was originally built. They have the pictures and service departments notes about the piston. There were no warning lamps, notifications, or alerts. The check engine light appeared the moment the failure happened, and began to blink. We did notice that the exhaust would expel a large amount of black smoke when we would need to accelerate the vehicle in areas such as highway on-ramps. That recurring behavior has been documented prior to this incident. Dealer made efforts in the past to investigate that issue but was unable to find a route cause.
Engine, Nov 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the contact became aware of smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to drive to his residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the vehicle had engine block failure and that the engine block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was 107,000.
Engine, Nov 16, 2022
There is a coolant leak which is cause the car to make a misfire on cylinder 2. Car is overheating suddenly and can not drive
Engine, Nov 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that on multiple occasions, the vehicle could not be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who indicated that water was present inside the camshaft; additionally, the engine solenoids and engine hoses were worn and damaged. The vehicle was not repaired and later was taken to an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 103,000.
Engine, Engine and engine cooling, Nov 14, 2022
TOOK FORD ESCAPE TO DEALER BECAUSE OF SERVICE ENGINE ALERT. WAS TOLD IT PROBALLY NEEDED A TUNE UP OR A COMPRESSION PROBLEM. I THEN GOT A CALL BACK TO SAY COOLANT WAS LEAKING INTO THE CYLINDERS. AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO REBUILD THE BLOCK. SEEMS THEY WOULD REPLACE THE ENGINE SINCE THIS IS A CONTINUING PROBLEM FOR THE FORD ESCAPE SINCE 2013. TECH DID STATE THIS IS AN ON GOING PROBLEMS AND THEY GET SERVICE ALERTS ALL THE TIME.
Power train, Engine, Nov 1, 2022
On April 2022 my vehicle began to malfunction while I was driving. My car was in drive and when I hit the gas pedal it began moving backwards. Then, the vehicle would not move at all when it was in drive. I turned the car off, restarted, and was able to drive to a safe location. When I tried driving the vehicle again it was moving in reverse even though it was in park. I at that time called AAA and had my vehicle towed to a service center. During this time my safety was in danger as I was on the road and could have been in an accident with the way my car was malfunctioning. Before this problem occurred there were no warning lights, it just happened out of nowhere. I would later learn the engine needed repairs and I needed a new transmission.
Engine and engine cooling, Engine, Oct 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, there was a message that cylinder #2 had misfired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and stated that the engine needed to be replaced due to coolant leaking into cylinder #2. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 42,000.
Engine, Oct 21, 2022
Check engine light came on and went to get it diagnosed. Came back with code PO302 cylinder misfires. Took to Firestone who did a tune up, changed spark plugs and got told the coolant was low. Which was weird because I just filled it. Have never got an alert about any leaks or that the engine was running hot. I always check the fluids and only recently did i notice going thru coolant more. Started to smell something sweet in the car and on my way home today, the car over heated and I got one of those engine alert things. Started researching and here I am.