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Ford Escape Mazda Tribute Maintenance and Repair

4133 messages,  Last post on Mar 24, 2013 at 5:59 AM

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Messages Page 321 of 414

#3196 of 4133 Idling out of control by 01owner

Oct 05, 2005 (11:20 am)

I have a 2001 Tribute that idles out of control on a regular basis. While the car is in drive and I am stopped at a light, the RPM's will race up to 1500 ro 2000 and the car is almost jumping ready to pull off. When I shift into park, I had better be ready to turn the key off or I'm afraid the engine will be blown. The tachometer reaches between 3000 and 4000 before I get my hand down to the key to shut off the engine. After two or three repairs now the Mazda dealership tells me I need a throttle body. Has anyone else ever encountered this problem? The technician tells me he's never seen it before.

#3197 of 4133 Re: Steering noises [01owner] by gatorjmd

Oct 08, 2005 (9:49 am)

Replying to: 01owner (Oct 05, 2005 8:22 am)
I hope you purchased transmission fliud. That is the correct fluid for the power steering unit in these vehicles per the manual. Do NOT use power steering fluid.

#3198 of 4133 Re: 2000 Tribute - won't start - stuck in park [gstewart] by yustas

Oct 12, 2005 (9:21 am)

Replying to: gstewart (Oct 02, 2005 8:53 am)
All cars with automatic transmissions provide a way to move them with dead battery, but they are different from car to car. Some have a small switch near shifter, which is covered by a plastic plug. In my Ford Taurus, and I assume in many Ford/Mazda products, one can move a shifter out of the neutral by turning the ignition key into the "off" position, which is between "lock" and "on". That will unlock steering and shifter.

#3199 of 4133 Body Flex? by rcinmd

Oct 12, 2005 (10:51 am)

Well, the creak, creak, creaks in my '05 Tribute are back. Obviously temp related since the cooler weather has re-awakened them. I have saturated all suspension bits and pieces, so it is not that, even though there is very loud at times 'graunching' when coming to a halt, or when just rocking the vehicle. It is not the headliner, though that creaks when pushed. Not the top of the door panel which squeaked when pushed on until I sprayed silicone behind it. No, it is as though the unibody flexes just enough to cause rubbing, and sundry creaks all around. Maybe it is the same thing that plagues BMW X3s with their window creaks. I guess next I'll flood the window channels with something to see if that helps. The ultimate fix of course is to sell once the snow flies, and swear off any further Ford purchases. I could not believe how loose and noisy an older Ford Focus wagon was that I rode in recently. The Mazda 5 is once again under consideration, since I am sure it is vastly better built. And since I don't drive automatics, the 'bursting into flame' condition there should not impact me.
Kind of sad. The Tribute has its attributes, but a solid structure is not one of them.

#3200 of 4133 Re: Body Flex? [rcinmd] by bob_mcbob

Oct 14, 2005 (6:14 pm)

Replying to: rcinmd (Oct 12, 2005 10:51 am)
As I posted earlier in the thread, my '05 Tribute makes creaking noises, too. We have the dog cage option (muddy German Shepherd + leather = bad!) installed in the back, and the points where it meets the ceiling creak whenever I drive over a bump. The suspension has been making a squeaking noise like it's not oiled properly for some time, but it's recently been sounding more like a groaning. I occasionally hear it when I come to a stop, but it's mostly when I'm getting in and our of the car and shifting the weight distribution. I intend to have our dealer look at it when it'st taken in for the first oil change.
 
I can deal with occasionally squeaks and creaks, but by far the most annoying issue is the loose door and centre panelling at the front of the car. The panelling on the front doors has a lot of give, and creaks (plastic crunching... I'm sure you know what I mean) when you press on it. The piece between the seats also has the same problem. It will actually move from side to side up to half a centimetre or more! I am quite tall, so my legs are always touching either the door or centrepiece, so I get a constant creaking from them. We have the GT model which has slightly different panelling at the front, so I'm not sure how the doors and centre differ from the regular base model.
 
Interestingly, the panelling on the rear doors is rock solid, and I never hear anything from them. The impression I get from the front door/centre panneling is that it's not really attached properly. It isn't glued on where it meets the window assembly, so I can actually pull it back slightly. Basically, it doesn't feel very solid. I would REALLY like to know whether loose panelling is normal for this model. I did test drive the same model at the dealer, but it was a different car. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed the loose panelling at the time, but I really can't recall. If the panelling really is looser than it should be, I will definitely be taking it up with the dealer!

#3201 of 4133 Re: 2000 Tribute - won't start - stuck in park [yustas] by bri66

Oct 14, 2005 (9:53 pm)

Replying to: yustas (Oct 12, 2005 9:21 am)
AAA assured me last week that it was not the battery. $180 tow to my mechanic found out it was the battery. No longer member of AAA. 15 years a member and they claim OH well. One way money for AAA. Dash went crazy when trying to start with dead battery. Have Mach stereo in mine and CD's started ejecting out. Steering wheel locked. Thought I had a serious electrical problem, but only battery. No warning neither, it died quick. 100,000 miles strong on 2001 XLT.

#3202 of 4133 Re: Engine light on,misses-stumbles on acceleration [tpeters] by 21marcel

Oct 15, 2005 (12:57 am)

Replying to: tpeters (Apr 03, 2005 8:44 am)
I have the exact same problems that you are having with my 01 Tribute, 98k miles (I mean exactly). I went to AutoZone to get a diagnosis and found that there was a misfire on cylinder 2. I changed the Ignition Coil, Fuel injector, and the sparkplug with no success. I went to the dealer to take care of a Powertrain Control Module (PCM) recall ( to recalculate the acceleration and all that). My Tribute is running smoother, BUT the same problems are still there for me. It still hasn't gone away. So it wasn't the PCM.
    One of the main things that I noticed, when I changed out my spark plugs was that the spark plug on the misfire cylinder (Cylinder 2) smelled burnt compared to the other five ( I mean a distinctive burnt smell). I believe that my sparkplug malfunctioned (or burned), and this lead to a malfunctioning of the main electrical items that are connected to the spark plug (Ignition Coil, Wiring Harness, PCM, fuel injector). I ended up replacing the Ignition Coil, Fuel injector, and the sparkplug with no success. PCM reprogram(recall) helped smooth the problem, but didn't fix it. I was thinking about changing the wirning harness, until I saw mikebc780's reply.
     mikebc780 says " turned out to be a burnt valve, No. 4 cyl. with low compression. The fix was a new valve head, took 2 weeks to get all parts in. Was apprx. $1800 "
      If you fixed your problem, can you get back to me on what you were able to do to fix it? Thank you.

#3203 of 4133 Re: Body Flex? [bob_mcbob] by rcinmd

Oct 15, 2005 (2:16 pm)

Replying to: bob_mcbob (Oct 14, 2005 6:14 pm)
Precisely the same suspension noises are occuring in my Tribute. As I stated, I have lubed profusely all moving components with both silicone spray, and with other spray lubricants. There has been no real improvement. As for the creaking, I am convinced that the primary cause is body flex. Sure, it's a box of sorts, with some large apertures, but my 1984 Vanagon camper, with an enormous pop top, has a body far more rigid.

#3204 of 4133 Dangerous Escape Problem---Please help!!! by treyscrap

Oct 15, 2005 (6:13 pm)

Hey all,
 
I just had a terrifying experience with my 1-day old Escape and I'm hoping you guys have some ideas. I was in a mall parking lot and the car started fine. I put it in reverse to back up and lightly hit the gas..fine so far. I went to brake and the car would not stop AT ALL. I was on a slight decline so it was going faster than usual. There were 3 people behind me now and the car was still moving. I came *very* close to squeezing those people between my bumper and the front end of the car behind me. I put the car in drive and it STILL kept reversing without the brakes working. I then flipped it into park and that's when it finally stopped with a big forward jerk. The only way to stop the car from rolling backwards was putting it in park. Thank God I didn't hit the people behind me. We're all so lucky for that.
 
Now I am wedged perpendicular in the parking lot aisle blocking both sides of traffic on a busy Saturday afternoon. I shut off the car and started it again, this time going straight to drive. It again rolled backwards and the brakes didn't work. At this point two people helped me. I put it in neutral and they pushed it back into the parking space where I promptly shut it off and applied the parking brake. Also, the wheel was completely locked during all of this.
 
After all that, the dealership I went through was closed today (on Saturday!) so I called the Ford road service number. It was towed to the dealership and I'll be dealing with it and the sales agent tomorrow. The sales guy was nice (I called him on his cell) and said he'd do anything to make this right.
 
I bought this car YESTERDAY!!! I am so frustrated, mad, and still very scared because I almost seriously hurt three people. If this happened on the highway. my 3 year old and I would probably be dead.
 
Should I take a chance and get a different Escape from the same dealer? I don't care if Henry Ford himself fixed this one, I'm not driving it! What do you guys think they'll say? What recourse do I have? Does the lemon law give you 3 days to return a car with "no questions asked"?
 
Thanks for reading all this and I look forward to any advice for tomorrow's blow-out!!!
 
Donna

#3205 of 4133 Re: Dangerous Escape Problem---Please help!!! [treyscrap] by MrShift@Edmunds HOST

Oct 15, 2005 (6:37 pm)

Replying to: treyscrap (Oct 15, 2005 6:13 pm)
Well I could see the power brake failing, which would make the brake pedal very HARD and would require a lot of force on the brake pedal. So that's a possibillity. However, the part about putting it in drive and the car still going backwards---that makes no sense to me (mechanically speaking).
 
IN theory, the engine can't overpower the brakes under any circumstances from a standing start.
]
Anyway, first thing you need to determine is if the power brake booster has failed. If someone hops in the car Monday and everything's fine, you're going to have a tough time convincing anyone of anything.
 
Hopefully the defect will be obvious.
 
Yeah I'd try to get another Escape from them if they'd go for it. Did you have any witnesses IN the car?
 
I don't think any lemon law lets you give a car back in 3 days, no.
 
Be prepared to be very patient if no defect is found. Your story is rather amazing and not everyone may believe you if there is no evidence of a fault.

Messages Page 321 of 414

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