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2013 Escape Shaking @ 60 mph


Dave H

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I have a '13 Escape SE, 1.6L, AWD, that shakes some at 40 mph (sometimes), 60-65 mph almost always, and sometimes above the 65 mph mark. This did not start until about the 47k mileage mark. It was smooth as silk until that point. I brought it to a Ford dealership in Sept. '17 and they replaced the right front axle assembly saying the inner boot had split and there was grease everywhere. My regular repair place said they never saw any evidence of that. Anyway, the shake did not go away. Brought it back there again in mid October. This time after a week there, they replaced the driveshaft and said I was all set. I wasn't 10 miles gone from there and entered the highway, and it was shaking. Brought it back the next day. This time a 3 1/2 week stay. A little body damage happened while there which they hopefully fixed right. They re-aligned the entire drivetrain and replaced the rear gearbox. For two days of highway driving it was fine. Then the shake returned. I went for a test ride with the dealership service manager the day after Thanksgiving, and he confirmed the shake was still there, but in his opinion not as noticeable. I disagreed. Now he is telling me that it might be a "normal characteristic of the vehicle." ?????? If that's the case, why did Ford authorize spending $5-6k (his estimate) trying to fix the issue at the beginning?? I am beginning to smell a rotting fish. I am wondering if Ford is wanting to wash their hands of this even though I am covered by warranty.

I have an appointment in a few weeks at the dealership with the Service Manager and a Ford Engineer to evaluate the problem. I am also very close to the end of my 60k mile / 5 yr. powertrain warranty.

I will admit that I was very happy with the dealership's response and effort at the beginning of this ordeal. But now I feel like I am starting to get the runaround.

 

Right at this point, not a happy Ford owner!!!

 

I will update this story after my "meeting." :-(

 

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I have a Titanium version and the 19" rims. I discovered an annoying vibration at 45 mph and thought it was a bad tire. I took it to a tire shop I trust and they showed me that one of my rims was out of round. (I could actually feel it with my finger while rotating on a spindle.) I had an extra rim from a previous insurance claim. I put that on and the problem went away. I will say, though, that I still feel it really badly on cold mornings or when I haven't driven in a while -- always at about 45 mph. As the tire warms up, it seems to get better. I think the vehicle has a natural frequency, though, that will always be a bit sensitive at 45 mph. I like the look of the 19" rims, but I will never get short aspect ratio tires again. I don't know how folks stand it in those low rider trucks.

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Did you swap out for new tires anywhere near the timeframe that this started?

I also have had 3 sets of bad tires on my fusions. Two sets (first set replaced under

warantee @ 11K, but did not help) on my 15 AWD and the original set on my 17 Sport.

(all Goodyears BTW).

 

Both cars were fixed with higher quality tires. Was really surprised how out of round

the F1 Asym AS were on the Sport. For a tire that is $241 each (235/40R19), would

have thought they would have been higher quality. Ended up going Mich Pilot Sport 4S

for summer and another set of stock rims and Pilot Sport AS3's for winter.

Both are smooth as silk.

 

I have my own tire machine and balancer, so it is easy to see a tire is

really out of round. I also balance rims when tires are off, to see if it is the tire

or the rim that is requiring weight. The Sports rims are the first factory Ford rims

I've ever had that were substantially out of balance by themselves. I had

2 sets of rims for my 15 fusion and 14 mustang, and almost everyone

of them zero or less than an ounce to balance just rim.

 

 

Here are videos showing the (large files, about 23Mg each)

 

Goodyear

 

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/FUSION%20SPORT/TIRES/20171114_211142.mp4

 

and Mich

 

http://luxjo.supermotors.net/FUSION%20SPORT/TIRES/20171114_211519.mp4

 

You can see not only is goodyear out of round, but out of spec side to side, IMO.

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Yes, it started right when new tires were installed @ 47k miles. Multiple balances and rotations failed to fix things. Tire place replaced the tires with a new set, same model Continental's that were OEM. No change. Again multiple balances and rotations. No change. They recommended a visit to the dealer and that is when all the other things happened. Still no resolution.

 

I have been thinking of asking, and paying for, the dealer to put a set of similar size tires and rims from another Escape onto mine to see if that solves the issue. Don't know if they would do that though.

I have also wondered if a rim was damaged during that tire swap also.

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Yes, it started right when new tires were installed @ 47k miles. Multiple balances and rotations failed to fix things. Tire place replaced the tires with a new set, same model Continental's that were OEM. No change. Again multiple balances and rotations. No change. They recommended a visit to the dealer and that is when all the other things happened. Still no resolution.

 

I have been thinking of asking, and paying for, the dealer to put a set of similar size tires and rims from another Escape onto mine to see if that solves the issue. Don't know if they would do that though.

I have also wondered if a rim was damaged during that tire swap also.

 

Pretty long thread about stock tires on fusion sports.

I'm not the only one who has had problems.

The Sports came with either conti's or goodyears

and overall, seems to be less problems with the Conti's.

 

There was one guy on fusion forum who got his dealer

to swap wheels/tires. My only issue with this, is to make sure

they let you drive/ride in that car first to see if it vibrates too.

 

For a little more info, I drove 7 or 8 Fusion Sports before buying mine.

They all vibrated from a lot to a little. They mostly seemed to

vibrate around 70 MPH, so I drove mine right up to 70/80.

No vibes, it was only later I felt a mild, but continuous vibe @ 50 MPH.

 

I also think there is something to the lower profile tire and

how long they sit. Even my Mich pilot sport AS3+ will get

the tiniest of vibes for less than a mile after sitting in cold

all weekend. After that totally smooth, even after sitting at work all

day in temps well below freezing lately.

 

You could also ask for hunter road force balancing if they have them

Didn't help me, but it has helped a couple here and there. Worse case,

buy another set of tires yourself.

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Reading this thread made me realize I have this same issue with my Focus. Its a very subtle thing, more noise than actual feeling of a vibration, and I found its most noticeable between 35 and 55. It has the stock Continentals on it, 23k miles. Its going in for an oil change this week so when the tires are rotated hopefully that helps.

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Reading this thread made me realize I have this same issue with my Focus. Its a very subtle thing, more noise than actual feeling of a vibration, and I found its most noticeable between 35 and 55. It has the stock Continentals on it, 23k miles. Its going in for an oil change this week so when the tires are rotated hopefully that helps.

Interesting that you say this. The dealer loaner I got for 3 weeks back in Oct/Nov was a '17 Focus SE with Continentals on it. It had a shake similar to my Escape, though not as significant, at around 50 mph. I did not say anything to the dealer. It had 300 miles on it when I first got it.

 

It's just so coincidental that this all started exactly when I had new tires installed. And not at the Ford dealer. Two sets of tires were installed, and both shook. I am not even sure if Ford checked the rims before they did all that other work on my vehicle, even though I told them exactly when the problem started.

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Most any tire will flatspot after sitting for awhile especially in cold weather, but it should go away within a few miles.

 

Ive never had good luck with Goodyear tires. I had Conti Pro Contacts on my 2013 Fusion and no complaints at all.

Im with you, every time I can remember me or my parents ponying up the extra money for Goodyears theyve been tremendously disappointing. I would rather go with Michelin or Continental, though if the hum Im hearing with the Focus is indeed the tires and not something else that may change my opinion.
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  • 3 months later...

UPDATE:

 

......then there was a visit with a Ford Service Engineer in Jan. '18 to do a shake test on the vehicle. After significantly loading the vehicle up with four grown men(900 lbs. +), we went for a ride. It measured a 0.3 on their test equipment. Service Engineer said the upper limit to their spec is 0.6, so Ford will not pursue the problem any further, and it was just "a characteristic of the vehicle." What a crock!!! If the problem was fixed by removing the driveshaft, and was gone for a few days after replacing the rear drive unit, (says so right on the RO) how can it be a "characteristic of the vehicle?" That proved to me that it is a repairable flaw! I was close to the end of my 60k power train warranty, and I think Ford just wanted to push me aside until it expired.

 

If my vehicle measured a 0.3 with a very significant passenger load in it, and the max is 0.6, that tells me that theoretically I could purchase a brand new Ford vehicle that shakes almost twice as much as mine does from day one, and Ford would not fix it?? Would you take that chance???

And if it is "a characteristic of the vehicle", then Ford knows they are selling vehicles that shake! Do I think they would do that? No way. It's a way to get me to just go away. The dealership has been great with this. It is Ford Motor Company that has made this a disgusting experience. Terrible, terrible customer relations. If I could afford to take them to court, I would.

 

So, a few weeks later it was noticed that the transmission bushing at the left front drive axle was leaking. Hmmm..... So I went back to the Ford dealer and had it repaired. On my dime, because the service manager said if I paid for it and they checked everything else in that area, if anything else was found to be wrong, he would get it repaired on warranty. So I let them do it. Nothing else was found to be wrong. Surprise! Surprise! The shaking is still there, but I think less pronounced now. May be my imagination. We'll see. I then went to a local highly respected transmission shop and told him of the shaking. I was half way through the story, and he said it is probably your left front drive axle assembly. He has done a few with the same issue. He said he knew before I finished the story.

 

I have not had the work done there yet because he is very backed up. I hope he is right, and that the "characteristic of the vehicle" will be gone.

 

I will update after the work is done...

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