SOS problem with 08 Escape XLT SUV

[Diane_Jessica]

This gal is beyond frustrated/depressed. My SUV (125,000miles) was driving like a charm, however some months ago: sudden power loss, dragging at 20-30mph, felt like my car was kaput/finished in the middle of nowhere. Somehow it worked itself out and started driving normally. Some days okay, but then it would happen off and on, and there was a sort of grinding noise seemed to be coming from the front right side of the car..stopped, and the right front tire was hot. Was taken in the next day to a busy good mechanic, the engine and fuel injectors checked out, nothing happening when he test drove it. Got it back and several days later, happened again. Was taken into another car shop specializing in tires, nothing found wrong with brakes, calipers, engine etc. They test drove it and nothing wrong happening. Was told to bring it in when the problem happened again since it won't show up on the computer otherwise to diagnose. The problem is maddening for by the time it is driven to a mechanic it will iron itself out, or stopped and time passes it will restart aokay with no problems. Seems impossible to get to an auto repair shop with them ready to jump on my car immediately and putting it on the computer to diagnose. Meanwhile, I have temporarily borrowed a car to use since this on and off occurrence frankly scares me when happening to possibly have a car drop dead in the middle of a intersection or out in the boonies (live in rural area).. Don't know what to do. Don't have the money to start having this or that done that may or may not solve the problem, and spend money again...and again for not. I'm retired on a small pension with no savings. If I had buckaroos/carte blanche, I'd trade it in and drive out of a dealership with a brand new spanking SUV, but I haven't done well with the occasional scratch-offs lottery tickets.

[65comet]

Right front tire hot sounds like a bad wheel bearing possibility. Is it a V6? Engine power problem could be the catalytic converters that are part of the exhaust manifolds have started to degrade and are sending their guts on through the exhaust to the main large catalytic converter and are clogging it. A couple of possible examples of things I've seen in the past in Escapes.

[CapriRacer]

I wonder if the RF brake caliper is hanging up - causing a drag on the entire car. The problem here is getting it to duplicate itself.

Since you can drive the car, do so until it acts up again. Then tap the brake several times while driving to see if the symptoms go away. If they do, report that to the brake shop.

If the symptoms do not go away, I'm voting for an ECM going bad. But that ought to leave code in the OBD system. So I'm betting on the brakes