2009 Ford Escape Transmission Issue

[brittney998]

Hi all,

I have a 2009 Ford Escape XLT with just under 145k miles on it and think I am having transmission issues, however, I am not very knowledgeable about cars. I am a single mom and need to get this solved so that I can have a reliable and SAFE vehicle to transport my daughter and myself. Any advice or thoughts on what might be going on would be greatly appreciated!!

Symptoms:

when in heavy stop and go traffic for 30+ minutes, it seems like it gets stuck in low and won’t go over 15-20 mph. (I refer to these times as a “fit”). Usually, if I stop and turn my car off and let it rest for a while, then turn it back on, it runs fine.
- recently, during one of these “fits,” I stopped, turned it off and let it rest for a while, then when I turned it back on and put it into drive, I tried to accelerate and I didn’t move. I then put it in reverse and when I began reversing, it felt like it caught on something before moving backwards. I reversed a bit, then put it in drive, and was able to drive perfectly fine like nothing had happened.

Occasionally, after one of these “fits” it will smell like something is burning. The burning smell seems to be the strongest on the passenger side (not sure if that means something or not)

During said “fits” when I try to go over 15-20 mph, it feels like my car is stuttering.

Actions taken:
I have had my car looked at by three shops, two general auto repair shops and one transmission shop.

Shop #1 (general auto repair):

plugged a computer in and didn’t find any fault codes.
checked transmission fluid and said the levels were great and that it looked ok
could not recreate the problem
Never determined a specific issue

Shop #2 (general auto repair):

plugged a computer in and didn’t find any fault codes
checked transmission fluid and said levels were great, however there are metal shavings in it
proposed a transmission service but said that it might make it worse and I might need to replace it anyways
could not recreate the problem
Never determined a specific issue

Shop #3 (transmission shop):

plugged a computer in and didn’t find any fault codes
checked transmission fluid and said levels were great, however there were metal shavings in it
could not recreate the problem
Never determined a specific issue however they mentioned something about the possibility of the fan that cools my engine not working well enough, but my car has never overheated or alerted that there was a temperature issue

Service history:

consistent oil changes every 3k miles or less
semi-consistent tire rotation
consistent brake replacements
Again, I am not very knowledgeable about cars but it seems like everywhere I have taken my car, no one has been able to tell me what is wrong with it or definitively how to fix it. My granddaddy doesn’t even know what is wrong with it!

Someone please help me!

[shorod]

Well for now I'd say you should be happy none of the places you took the car told you that you need (insert expensive part here) right away and if you don't replace it now, you might crash. It sounds like the shops you've taken it are not trying to sell you something you don't need. And it's quite difficult to diagnose if they're unable to get it to act up and there are no diagnostic codes to hint at an area that could match the symptoms. For example, I was suspecting that you actually have a misfire which was causing your Escape to go into limp home mode, but that definitely should have triggered a diagnostic code or more.

Do you now which engine your Escape has, or at least if it's a 4 cylinder or V6?

-Rod