2002 Escape Strange Electrical Problem?

[Brando Calrissian]

My 2002 Ford Escape suddenly lost power today while I was driving, then I immediately regained it, but was only able to accelerate to about 20mph. I pulled to the side of the road and a few minutes later it died when I revved it and it clicked when I tried to restart it.

I waited a few minutes and it started again just fine, except when I tried to rev it the RPMs seemed to be going too high and it seemed to be idling high too...I drove off again and within minutes my radio began to turn on and off, then the radio clicked completely off, then a few minutes later the truck lost power as in the beginning. I also realized the radio had turned off before the first incident too.

I had to wait about 30 minutes this time and it roared back to life, but within about 5 minutes had the same problems in the same order...any help would be greatly appreciated...(2002 Ford Escape 152,000 miles automatic transmission/v6

[highlandlake]

Hello Brando,

Just a guess here, but maybe you have a ground problem in your charging circuit. Could be that a battery cable is corroded or loose. Could be that squirrels or mice chewed on some wiring?
Intermittent power like that could cause that weird behavior like the interior lights flashing and the ECM system going into 'Safe' mode when driving. Many 1996 and newer cars will go into this mode to allow you to safely drive to a service station for diagnosis. The RPM's are limited, and it will stay in first gear if automatic transmission. I had an Isuzu Rodeo that did that once, and it was a corroded wire that caused it.
Since you regained some power and functions, it probably isn't a bad alternator or your battery would have been flat and wouldn't restart it like yours did. Maybe someone else can chime in here with more specific ideas.
Let us know what you find out and what fixes it- it would be a good thread on this forum for the archives.

[Brando Calrissian]

Thanks,

I'll certainly look into that and see if that's the problem. I'll try anything at this point!