2005 Ford Escape PCM overheat UPDATE 2/17

cherylmit

My Escape has not had a single problem since September. Runs great every day and I love life again because I know I won't be stranded any time soon. I checked around a little more and found that the fuse block itself could be the culprit. If I still own it when it warms up some more, I'm considering running a small manually switched fan that will suck cabin air through the existing hole in the fire wall and will be concentrated on the bottom of the fuse block. Maybe even make some sort of cover from a plastic jug and blow AC to it. I'm not changing the fuse block, it's more than I want to get into, or pay for. I got the idea from the Escape hybrids that have the same sudden shut-down issue because the Electronics Cooling Pump fails. My electronics need to be cooled. Anyway, there it is, for what it's worth.
cheryl

thecardoc3

cherylmit said:

I checked around a little more and found that the fuse block itself could be the culprit.

That is far more likely. One part of the confirmation would be to use a thermal imaging camera like this one.
http://www.thermal.com/ The one that I use plugs right into the micro USB in my cell phone. There is another step that is normally taken as well which would be to measure and confirm that the voltage is dropping inside the fuse block as it heats up. The premise is to get as many fingers pointing at the problem as you possibly can and not just rely on a piece of information here or there.

cherylmit said:

If I still own it when it warms up some more, I'm considering running a small manually switched fan that will suck cabin air through the existing hole in the fire wall and will be concentrated on the bottom of the fuse block.

Do NOT take air from the engine compartment to try and cool the fuse block. First of all it will get to be quite hot under the hood as summer approaches so it really wouldn't work anyway. Meanwhile if you have an exhaust leak you would increase the chances that the exhaust could enter the car while you drive.

cherylmit said:

Maybe even make some sort of cover from a plastic jug and blow AC to it. I'm not changing the fuse block, it's more than I want to get into, or pay for.

I don't know what the rest of the car is like, but it would be less expensive to repair/replace the smart junction box (fuse block) than it would to replace the car. Attempting to cool it with the AC might help some but will likely still see it fail.