2002 FORD ESCAPE — Complaint #658363
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CABLES filed February 20, 2008
NHTSA complaint #658363 (ODI reference 10218668) concerns a 2002 FORD ESCAPE and was filed on February 20, 2008. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 7, 2008. The vehicle had 62,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as vehicle speed control:cables, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD ESCAPE cohort independently describe similar vehicle speed control:cables failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 FORD ESCAPE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 FORD ESCAPE. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WENT DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND WOULD NOT RELEASE. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO PLACE THE VEHICLE INTO SECOND GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THE CRUISE CONTROL CABLE FAILED AND JAMMED THE THROTTLE COVER. THE TRANSMISSION BECAME DAMAGED WHEN THE CONTACT SHIFTED INTO REVERSE GEAR. THE MANUFACTURER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ASSIST. ON NOVEMBER 25, 2007, THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER DUE TO REVERSE. THE DEALER CLEANED THE THROTTLE BODY, FLUSHED THE INJECTORS, AND CLEANED THE UPPER INTAKE GASKET AND SPARK PLUGS. THE FUEL FILTERS, COIL BOOTS, AND IGNITIONS WIRES WERE REPLACED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 62,000. THE CONSUMER STATED THE BATTERY LIGHT COMES ON WHILE DRIVING, REPLACE FUEL FILTER, AND A/C IS NOT BLOWING COLD. UPDATED 03/31/08 *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 658363 |
| ODI Number | 10218668 |
| Date Filed | February 20, 2008 |
| Failure Date | February 7, 2008 |
| VIN | 1FMCU04192K |
Similar VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CABLES Complaints for 2002 FORD ESCAPE
THE ACCELERATOR CABLE APPEARS TO HAVE GONE OUT. THE GAS PEDAL GOES DIRECTLY TO THE FLOOR AND THE ENGINE IS AT 6RPM'S. CALLED FORD AND EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD NEARLY 500K CARS RECALLED DURING THE EXACT
THE VEHICLE IN QUESTION A 2002 FORD ESCAPE XL, THREW A ROD AT ABOUT 47,000 MILES DUE TO A PROBLEM THAT BECAME A RECALL CONCERN ( FORD RECALL ID# 42319 DECEMBER 7, 2004), I WAS SENT A RECALL NOTICE
I WENT OUT TO CRANK MY VEHICLE AND IT RAN WIDE OPEN. I TURNED IT OFF AND TRIED IT TWICE MORE WITH THE SAME RESULTS. THE SECURITY OFFICER AT MY WORKPLACE CAME OVER AND RAISED THE HOOD TO SEE WHAT WAS
ACCELERATOR STUCK ON 2002 FORD ESCAPE. AT 80MPH I FINALLY TURNED OFF IGNITION TO STOP. THROTTLE CABLE BROKE. THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS IN 2002 BUT NOT FOR MY PARTICULAR CAR. FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE A
(1) DRIVING TO WORK ON ROUTE 18 SOUTH (2) LOST USE OF ACCELERATOR PEDAL (3) CABLE BROKEN TO PEDAL THAT WAS REPLACED AT FORD DEALER IN SHREWSBURY/RED BANK NJ. *TR
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.