Ford Escape rear wheel bearing

[Oathkeeper1775]

Dear engineer who designed the rear wheel bearings on the Ford Escape,

I hope Hank Williams JR. sings a song about spitting beechnut in your eyes Sir/Madam!

I bet the first part rolling down the assembly line was the rear wheel bearing.

I've changed wheel bearings on Semi-trucks, armored personnel carriers, tanks, HMMWVs, army 5 tons & "duce in a halfs", Gamma-Goats, Jeeps, Ford Ranger, K1500, pick up trucks, BMW, trailers and none of them had the design characteristics of a wicker-basket-crow's nest-ball of string like the Ford Escape!

And another thing, what did you do? Go through all the tool kits and pick hex-screws, nuts and bolts that nobody has a tool for?
Thanks to you, I have a couple hundred dollars of tools that only fit this Ford!

Your goal to force me to use your dealership "service"- departments & pay $600.00 to change a wheel bearing FAILED!

You're FIRED!

Have a nice day.

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[John Gault]

Not to drastically change the subject, but what year? My wife has this vehicle and I told her it was time to change fuel filter. Napa sold her one and I spent 30 minutes looking for the location. Never found it. Some internet sites indicate that it has a "lifetime" filter inside the fuel tank............... I call bull bubblegum and so do some of the people who say their mileage has gone down drastically. Pull the whole tank to change a filter????????????

 

[notazombie]

I'm not a huge fan of the Escape but have worked on a few. IIRC the fuel filter is located just ahead of the fuel tank on the driver's side. Some manufacturers have eliminated the external filter but I don't think you Escape is one of them. Does your new filter look like an actual filter or just a cloth/plastic "sock" type? And FWIW, your poor fuel mileage is likely due to the ethanol level in what's now being called "fuel". I don't even refer to it as gasoline any more.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

I have no problem with tangential conversations; I own a 2007 4WD.

The fuel filter is mounted in front of the fuel tank. X2 on ethanol dragging down you MPG, but I change the FF once a year anyway. If you have a choice, never buy fuel when the truck is transferring fuel into the station, all the muck is being stirred and sucked into the pumps.

Seriously, the project was all positives (now that it is over), the biggest plus was not paying Ford $hundreds. The second plus was to find out the O Reilly's loans tools; I didn't want to buy a slide-hammer and they loaned it to me. The third positive was that the L/S will be easier.

The other big failure for the Escape is that Ford leaves the cabin-filter out. It is located on the passenger-side at the base of the windshield. It is accessible from the exterior while working around the hood.

 

[gallogiro]

Ha! Good for you! I hate dealer service departments. Little story, a couple years back I bought a used Cherokee XJ that was in near mint condition. The A/C wasn't working properly and was told it was to be fixed. I took it back 3 different times, once the car would warm up the A/C compressors clutch would not engage. I was told they would not work on it anymore because this was their 3rd time working on it, it's costing them a lot of money and they have recharged the gas and it's not leaking. If I wanted I could pay for a new compressor and they would install it, "meet them halfway". I told them to screw off, pay me the price of a new compressor and I would install it myself or have someone else install it. They cut me a check for a couple hundred dollars. I drove to Autozone and borrowed a tool to remove the clutch from the compressor. All I did was remove a paper thin washer and re-installed the clutch, Voila, it's been working great ever since.

With time the gap between the compressor and the clutch changes and it causes it not to engage. This was happening when it would heat up and the metal would expand just enough. I love the internet, just a little research on a few cherokee forums led me to try this. I'll take the money as compensation for wasting my time and being jackasses.

On a side note; the damn fuel filter on the cherokee is in the tank.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Ford is particularly famous for fancy, $$$$$ kits! I was a Ford line mechanic way back when they brought out the power rack and pinion steering on some of the smaller cars. The boots tore and if grit got into the gears, Poof! Since I was next up I got the first one in. That made me the expert, oh for Joy! They made me a lot of money, but I just hated those things! The kits were a bit over $600. Think 1973 dollars!

 

[clearconscience]

Ditto on the poor fuel econ.
I have a 09 ford escspe awd and last year i had an issue with my car just shutting down as I would drive down the freeway. Going 65, and lose all fuel/air and have to pull over turn thr car off wait a minute, turn it back on and run fine. After the 10th time I finally read about this common issue of the electric air intake manifold getting stuck or unable to read the speed, blah, blah, blah it shuts off.
Bought a new one from ford took 5 mins to swap and hasn't happened since.

But my 3rd issue is the incredibly crappy ford light truck transmission. I bought and brand new only 4 miles on it 04 ranger in 2004 obviously and the transmission would clunk something fierce when changing from park to drive/reverse.
And my escape is doing the same thing. I've been a ford guy my whole life. Had two explorers, a ranger, 3 mustangs, and this escape and I'm about done.

And I would never in my life buy another brand new car again.

 

[tunus]

I know we are all supporting made in the US products, but American made car is something I will never buy again. Been there, done that, wasted a lot of money for nothing.

 

[bolus]

not bad. BMW wants $1200 to do a brake pad change on my Mini.

oh, and the engineer that made caliper pistons that have to be rotated while they are being retracted needs to be punched in the nuts.

 

[notazombie]

FWIW, the 3.0 engine used in the Escape is also used in Mazdas, Lincolns, and Jaguars. So, I don't think the "buy American" argument applies too much anymore when it comes to cars. It's such a gray area. The Escape, for example, has about the same amount of Mazda DNA as Ford. The manufacturers have such an inbred history it's hard to keep track. GM/Isuzu, Chrysler/Fiat, Ford/Mazda, Honda/Isuzu, Dodge/Cummins/Ford/International, Toyota/GM, GM/Suzuki, Subaru/Toyota, Volvo/Ford, Ford/Jaguar, Chrysler/Mitsubishi, Nissan/Ford, Mercedes/Chrysler, VW/Volvo, etc. "Japanese" cars built in Canada and the U.S. "American" cars built in Mexico and Korea.
It made me smile when I heard an acquaintance brag about the "luxurious sophistication" of his Jaguar S-type. I just thought to myself, "Whatever, dude. It's a RWD Taurus."

 

[Swedish K]

It made me smile when I heard an acquaintance brag about the "luxurious sophistication" of his Jaguar S-type. I just thought to myself, "Whatever, dude. It's a RWD Taurus."

But its an expensive one - it has to be better it cost more and has a Jag name plate.

My biggest gripe about Ford is the cheapo plastic parts on the window regulators that the cables mount to. A $0.35 part that breaks and is not available. A mere $200 to buy the entire regulator or you can find an aftermarket one for about $110. The only thing wrong was a broken off tab of plastic. drilled a hole and ran the cable through a cotter key epoxied in place. On the bright side they didn't need a bail out so in theory they don't owe their soul to the pos wannabe king.

Maybe someday an injection mold guy will make a replacement part and sell it for $5-10 and make a killing while saving DIYers a ton of cash

 

[tunus]

Notazombie, I don't disagree with your point. I simply stated the experience I've had with around 10 or so daily drivers I've owned. I had a Ford Escort and a Mercury (also Ford) and I will never touch another Ford car again. I've had a good experience with my Dodge Dakota truck. By far the most reliable car I've owned was a '99 Subaru Impreza that still runs to this day. I've had several civics, acuras and even a volvo and a vw. All of them were much more reliable vehicles than Ford.

 

[notazombie]

I think we're on the same page. I've made a lot of money over the years working on Fords. I've even flipped a few Ford products but there are very few that I'd consider owning. I guess what I was trying to say is that there's more to it than just shopping the label. You could buy a Honda or Toyota that was actually built here in the states by fellow Americans. You could also spend your money on an "American" car that was built in Mexico using Chinese made parts. It makes more sense to me to just buy the best car you can afford. That's often not an "American" car. Not really a big decision for me since I'll likely never afford a new car.

 

[Redcap]

New cars, regardless of manufacturer, are bubblegum.

 

[notazombie]

No argument there. Of the 6 cars I own right now (not counting my wife's car), the average age is 50 years old. My primary transportation is a '72. I've got nothing against technology and work on pretty new stuff daily. The newer cars just lack soul and connection to the experience. It's like the difference between talking to someone vs. texting. Maybe I just take it too seriously.

 

[sheepdip]

we have five rigs, 67 plymouth gtx. 92 cherokee, 93 dodge diesel4x4, 98 escort,02 yukon. 1,065,000,00 miles between them. I will never buy a "foriegn" car! ever!