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at 1-888-327-4236
I think they're starting to feel the pressure. Keep it up everyone. Don't let them off the hook. There should be a National Recall and we shouldn't have to pay for this repair.
on the this same Freestyle Forum under Maintenance and Repair i got some excellent advise drom danallan. He mentioned that he was having the same problem at 57K and was told he needed Fuel INDUCTION service, which he got and it fixed his problem and he now has over 85K on his car. I took mine to an independant mechanic that provides this service and told them my whole story. He called today with "good news". With what we had discussed when i took it in he said he skipped over all of the diagnostics to keep from running up a tab and went straight to doing the fuel induction service. He said something to the effect that there was some air flow part ( over my head) that was REALLY dirty and with that cleaned out it is running great. It cost me $125. This is the exact experience that danallan had. I have yet to pick up my car today but am so excited about the possibility that if is fixed that i wanted to share. If this does seem to fix it I'll be sharing this with the dealership as well as the company.
If you purchased the extended warranty ask for a refund.
Also the vehicle manual indicates that the emissions has a warranty up to 80K miles so I am now trying to look this of course on my own since I am no longer covered under the warranty!!!
My auto insurance is covering this under Mechanical Breakdown minus a 250 dollar deductible, so if you have full coverage look into this. I was totally unaware of this option until I called my ins company.
I will be willing to complain to the state attorney general please post the contact info if you have it. Good luck,
thanks
I'm glad you are fine.
Thanks
Another person wrote how to clean your throttle control himself on this site. I do not remember the name right off. It was posting 176.
The dealership I had trouble with was not a Ford dealership and I had a Ford Explorer Sport Trac and loved it. I only got rid of it since I had been driving it for 10 years.
One more thing is to call the NHSTA 1-88-327-4236 and Ford CRC 1-800-392-3673 and make a complaint. Have your VIN # handy. I along with others are trying to get a recall and they said it matters with how many complaints they get.
I have now had my car in the shop for work covered by my extended warranty 16 times!!!!! Three times for the A/C and now twice for the throttle body. As far as I have read, they are on backorder (not sure of my current wait time). Luckily, I have a rental car in my warranty agreement...now if only the Enterprise lot they have a contract with actually HAD any vehicles....that would be nice!
By the way, I am right outside Dallas, TX.
2.I also called the NHTSA to report the issue. You must do this as Ford allegedly does not have to report these safety issues to them.
3.My auto insurance company covered most of the cost under a mechanical breakdown clause.
I also intent to get a refund for the Extended Warranty .
I will be calling the NHTSA this week as maybe a phone call will allow me to express the urgency in getting a safe diagnosis and fix to the problem. I really am not sure the the TB is the problem, but the diagnostic computer thinks so because of the gunked up fuel system.
The key is to apply public pressure to Ford, and keep the complaints coming into the NHTSA.
I have started a facebook page for people to participate in sharing their story. When enough people join, we can get some buzz in the news.
One person said that only 419 people have filed complaints with the NHTSA. But backorder numbers indicate the problem has affected thousands of cars. FILE A REPORT! Do it.
Aside from the financial burden, this is a dangerous issue. stalls at highway speeds, or sudden lunges forward at an intersection will eventually cause a death.
I know that Ford made the Freestyle and the later renamed Taurus X with different engines and transmissions. I have the 3.0 liter engine with the CVT and FWD. Ford later used the 3.5 liter engine and some cars have a conventional 5 or 6 speed automatic transmission, and some are FWD and others AWD.
Does anyone know if the 3.0 and 3.5 liter engines share the same Throttle Body?
Anyway, if you would just take a moment and list your engine size and transmission it would be helpful. The engine size is printed on a white Ford emissions decal located just above the radiator. If your Freestyle accelerates from zero to sixty without shifting, you have the Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT), and if your savvy enough to be on this forum, you must know whether you have front or all wheel drive.
Thanks for you input, I'll be following this forum closely.
Like you i loved the size and the "idea" of the car. My "lurching" started at about 37K but was not happening all of the time, mostly i noticed it when i was pulling into my carport. This summer it became more frequent and made me more nervous as my 15 year old son was beginning to drive. It really got bad this summer as we began to have use the A/C. I also had to have the A/C compressor replaced thisi summer and an engine mount replaced for $1300. Once the A/C got fixed, the "lurching" became a real issue. Ford wanted to replace the throttle body but we opted for the Fuel Induction cleaning for $125 as our 1st option. Car has been running great for the lat 2 weeks and am praying that this is all that it needed.
During a trip from Michigan to Virginia on August 12th, after about 8 hours into my trip, the car went haywire (surged - all lights came on) while on cruise control. Turned the car off and sat on the side of the road. Turned it back on and everything was fine. About 2 hours later, the car went haywire again. Found a mechanic (after 7pm - how lucky was that???) who was able to pull up a code "Trans Control Failure". Told me I would be able to make it to Virginia Beach but I should not use the cruise control. Made it to Virginia Beach and took it to the dealership where I bought the car. Was told I need a new transmission. Car has only 40,000 miles on it. Contacted Ford Customer Care. The new transmission cost is $7,000. Ford agreed to pay 1/2 and I have to pay $3,500. I should not have to pay anything.This is NOT acceptable.
The transmission should have been recalled. I have contacted NHTSA.
PLEASE - EVERYBODY OUT THERE WHO IS HAVING THIS PROBLEM NEEDS TO CONTACT THE NHTSA. Their telephone number is 1-888-327-4236.
Ford needs to stand behind their products. No way should a transmission fail at 40,000 miles.
Most of my car's surges have happened when I was backing out of a parking space. But the accelerations were not quick/fast - I remember thinking "why am I having to brake so hard to stop when I'm barely moving??" I dismissed the thought that the car was accelerating (must be my imagination, because a car doesn't drive itself, right?). Anyway what happened this week (car suddenly lurching FORWARD from a complete stop!), and reading the MANY accounts of people having the same problem, has put it all in perspective for me. I agree that someone could be seriously hurt or killed and I shudder to think what might've happened if I'd been stopped at the front of the line where the kids were crossing in front of the cars. And now I'm twiggin' about driving, since it's happening more often and will most likely only get worse. I can't believe there's been so many incidents but no action by Ford or the NHTSA or whoever else could help. What's even scarier is having to wait months on the supposed fix (new throttle control - assuming you can afford it), with maybe no reimbursement for the rental car, and then it happening again AFTER the new throttle control. Seems like we're just screwed.
Anyway back to the facts. Most of my surges happened when the car was moving slowly in reverse. Fortunately it's always responded to hard braking. I have not experienced any "stall outs" during highway driving. However several times this summer the engine has unexpectedly "revved" while driving at higher speeds (45-55 mph). Again, it was subtle and only for a minute, so I overlooked it. Just kept telling my husband the car had a lot of "quirks" and I didn't feel so safe in it anymore.
FYI I will follow through by calling Ford CRC and filing an online complaint w/ the NHTSA. Thanks for all the info, phone numbers & website links. I guess I'll have to run it by the Ford dealer as well. Good luck everyone and maybe some good will come out of this before someone is killed or seriously injured. Think of all the unsafe Freestyles on the roads right now because their owners can't afford to fix the problem (or because they think their "little" problem isn't that big of a deal). I'm definitely going to enlighten the one other Freestyle owner I know in case she's been experiencing similar issues.
I am cutting and pasting another poster's information for everyone to read:
"The only way we can make sure the dealer fixes this problem is to call the Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236 and file a complaint. After they review the complaint they have the authority to request that the Dealer issues a recall and fix the issues. I just did this myself and it took me about 20 minutes, however, a case number was sent to me immediately. If we all take 20 minutes of our time, we can have Ford fix these problems and who knows? maybe even save somebody's life... " Kiecr poster on another FORD forum thread @ EDMUNDS.
After reading post 198: I called the NH TSB and filed a complaint. I figure twenty minutes of my time my save my life and someone else. Additionally, it may prompt FORD to recall and save me money. PLEASE take a moment and call, they are very friendly and patient @ the NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY BOARD, aka...NH TSB.
It really bothers me that so many people are having problems and having to suffer with worrying about the cause, fix, cost to fix etc. I was recently visiting a local Retirement home delivery flowers to a chruch member when i had the opportunity to park next to a Ford Freestyle. Before i left i jotted out a quick note (and stuck it on the door) about the problem I was having and referring the owner to this website and leaving my contact information in case they wanted to chat. I am sure they thought some insane person left it. At least i tried.