# 2003 Escape keeps dieing on freeway.



## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

Car is not running off battery. It does off alternator. You can disconnect battery with engine idling and it should run.
You have major gremlin somewhere in either ECM or in fuse/relay box, Ford likes so much. Pretty much, it looks like your main ground is gone, then comes back. 
Did you try reading error codes via OBD2 port?


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## cocobolo (Dec 16, 2008)

It does sound like the ECM. Have you tried a search to see if there has been a recall from Ford for this problem?


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

cocobolo said:


> It does sound like the ECM. Have you tried a search to see if there has been a recall from Ford for this problem?


Not in the list http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2003/ford/escape/recalls/ Bad battery, corroded cables to the battery or alternator, bad alternator.

Now there are investigations into this model year, regarding stalls at this link http://www.faqs.org/car/ford-escape-2003/engine-and-engine-cooling/#b

"Summary:the petitioner alleges that after having the recall remedy performed on her model year (my) 2001 ford escape, it continued to exhibit an intermittent stall condition.consequently, she petitioned the agency to examine the adequacy of the recall remedy for safety recall 04v-165.on april 5, 2004, ford motor company (ford) notified the agency that it would conduct a recall of 321,903 my 2001 through 2002 and certain 2003 my escape vehicles equipped with 3.0l engines manufactured between january 21, 2000 and september 11, 2002 at the kansas city assembly plant.these vehicles exhibited an intermittent engine stall during decelerations at vehicle speeds below 40 mph due to an excessively rich fuel-air mixture in the engine.as a remedy, ford dealers are instructed to reprogram the powertrain control module (pcm) to a revised calibration to prevent the stalling condition. in its july 23, 2004 response to the office of defects investigation"

A large list of complaints at http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2003/ford/escape/?page=1


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

As an Army fuel electric specialist, always check the source of power first, (battery) as you did. Some things you may be able to check, main circuit breakers, (they may reset when cooled) put a volt meter on the battery and turn the starter. Any more than a couple volt drop and the battery could be shorted internally. The altenator may not run the car if the battery is taking all the power. If you can find the list some codes will not set until after a number of occurrences. Look for something in that list


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## ukrkoz (Dec 31, 2010)

Well, far as I know, when engine starts, relays start channeling alternator produced electricity to 
Priority 1 - engine
Priority 2 - accessories
Priority 3 and last - battery.
When battery reaches normal charge, power supply to it is stopped and it's trickle charged.
With properly running alternator, battery is basically irrelevant to vehicle operation, unless there is major request for power supply: night, all lights on, a/c on, wipers on, plus huge amp and subwoofer in the back booming. Then management system starts drawing power from battery, but blue battery light should come up right away.


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## mikey48 (Dec 6, 2007)

I found several reports of having a bad negative cable causing this type problems on the Escape. I found a new battery cable bundle with Mortorcraft part number WC 95767. Got the part number from Ford parts and found them all over the internet. Installed it this weekend and found the negative cable to the block very corroded. Cleaned a few connections and found a few ground connections installed on painted areas and cleaned the paint off. Time will tell if I have fixed the problem, will let you guys know.


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