An update on Wifey’s car troubles that we cannot ESCAPE!
Three weeks ago, my wife’s 2012 Ford Escape had a catastrophic failure, the radiator fan exploded taking the radiator out with it. We had that fixed at a cost of $650 for a replacement fan assembly and radiator.
We knew new tires were needed but didn’t realize that on the inside of the tire, the metal belt was exposed, that’s another $850 for 4 new tires. After driving the Escape on the new tires, the wife noticed that her car was pulling to the left while braking, which became more violent the harder she braked.
The ABS and traction control lights that were lit on the dashboard remained unresolved. The shop that replaced the radiator/fan said they plugged in an ODB2 scanner and it reported that there was a front left wheel speed sensor fault, which they didn’t fix, they cleared the codes, and drove the car a short distance, saying the lights didn’t come back on, but after a single trip to work, the ABS/TC lights came back on.
We got it back into the tire shop, I was thinking the braking issue was related to the ABS/TC lights, and that faulty wheel sensor. But no, it’s that the brake pads were completely worn down, which is surprising as we only had the rotors and pads replaced in 2019. I’m praying that this is the reason for the ABS/TC light, and not just another issue, on top of whatever is causing the ABS/TC lights on the dashboard.
Wifey’s Escape will be in the shop until Friday, so we don’t know if the ABS/TC light issue is because of the tires, so stay tuned for more updates. An additional issue is that the wheel arches on the rear of the car are rusting, because, as I discovered recently, the rear wheel liners are missing, letting water inside the inner and outer bodywork. It seems like this is the $12,000 (in 2018) car version of The Money Pit.
Update [Jul, 21 2022]: it gets worse, both lower control arms on the front are bad, which is why the tires and brakes wore out, according to the shop, I’m not a mechanic, so I’ll have to take their word for it. I just hope that this fixes the ABS and traction control light issue too. Given that this car had over 100,000 miles on it when we bought it in 2018, it looks like the previous owner elected not to do the regular maintenance, which of course, we did not know at the time of purchase. Lesson learned, if I buy another used car, I’m gonna stump up the cash for a mechanic to come to look at it before paying a cent.
Update [Jul, 22 2022]: After a new radiator and fan assembly, four new tires, new brake rotors and pads, new lower control arms, and a four-wheel alignment, the !@#$ing ABS and traction control lights are still on, meaning that particular issue is still present. In addition to this, when braking, the pedal feels soft, and there is a low-frequency hum when depressing the brake pedal about 1/3 of the way down.
While I am grateful that my father-in-law paid for these repairs, his insistence that we use his preference of shop, a shop that is down a back road that does not correlate with any street address, and only takes cash payments has been frustrating, this has been going on for over 3 weeks now. I had an appointment with Rusty Eck Ford service set for my wife’s car, but she decided to go with her father’s choice, and one of the major issues still exists. I know that Rusty Eck would have been more expensive, but, based on my experience, it would have been fixed the first time, and we could move on with our lives.
But now, this saga continues, I don’t like my wife driving a car with the ABS light on, I don’t take risks with brakes and tires, if it needs service, the money is not important, even if we have to use credit cards to pay for it, I cannot replace my wife if she is killed in a wreck, for any amount of money.