4/28/15: My wife’s Suzuki Sidekick bit the dust and we upgraded her with a new to her yellow 2001 Ford Escape V6 3.0L AWD. We bought it for higher than normal with North Dakota’s higher prices at $4500 from Nick’s Auto Sales outside of Fargo, North Dakota in Moorhead, Minnesota.
This is the review I wrote on Nick’s Auto Sales:
“We purchased a used yellow 2001 Ford Escape V6 3.0L AWD at the end of April 2015. We were greeted by a salesman & shown where the vehicle was. My wife jumped in the front passenger seat while I turned the vehicle on and did a walk around. I got under the car and noticed immediately that some parts had been replaced. The most noticeable was a new cat; prior research indicated the cat (catalytic converter) almost always needed replacement after 100,000 miles (this one had 122,000 at the time). I also noticed the transmission was not seeping with oil/ATF like a lot of other Ford Escapes around the same year as this one we had seen previously. The interior was immaculate, minus a stain on the driver’s seat. Nick’s did a good job detailing the car. I also noticed a few scratches around the driver’s door handle was expected w/previous owner’s tending to miss the key hole. Small dent on the roof top, but not noticeable unless you are tall like me. The exhaust made a small whistling noise while idling, possibly a small leak post-cat/pre-muffler, not too bad. We took it for a test drive and the engine light came on shortly after pulling out on to 8th St. I pulled off to a side street and pulled out my OB2 reader and read the error code (coolant temp sensor). We then put it in the lowest gear ran up through the gears, pushing the overdrive button off & back on. The transmission shift smoothly. We then pulled into the nearby cemetery with a dirt/gravel roads and engaged the 4×4 switch. There was a noticeable difference from the AWD to 4WD as all wheels were engaged at the same time it worked correctly. We then took a spin back down 8th St to test out the cruise control.
The cruise control did not engage. We took it back to the lot and started negotiations. It was then we learned that Nick’s currently did not have the title in hand. While talking to the salesman about the problems we had found, the owner Nick came out, got the vehicle to make the repairs on the spot. The coolant sensor was replaced (the engine light has not come back on for that since). The cruise control had a broken switch and a non-broken one off another Ford Escape was promised to correct the broken one sent at the same time as the title. We bought the vehicle despite the problems, unfortunately at asking price. Which could have been removed from the asking price if they weren’t going to send the switch (as it was stated in the list of features the vehicle included). Our new car runs great & we have racked up the miles to 128,500 since purchase including a trip down to Florida & back in June (which would have been more pleasant with Cruise Control!).
After some communication was exchanged, Nick was very good about it and sent us the cruise control switches to swap out with the faulty ones & gave us a $100 check to cover the repair (now if I could find the switch I’d replace it, we moved shortly after receiving it and I haven’t been able to find it since).
We had to fill the ATF up every fueling stop (which was about every 330 miles at the most 24 mpg) due to a slight leak. Further investigation to the leak pin-pointed it the passenger side CV axle shaft was not clipped in all the way (I still need to tear down & push it back in). Other than that few problems have occurred since purchase (really good considering it is a used vehicle). Oil changes every 3000 miles, (4500 miles with a change before and after Florida trip). Title was received in June before our trip to Florida. Engine light as come on sporadically for cat emission problems, which in North Dakota I’m not too worried about right now (California where I’m from on the other hand would need some work to get fixed). The other morning the rear defroster was not working, come to find out the tab connected to the window is not on (planned to fix this weekend).
9/8/15: A few months later the first of our problems came with a faulty #3 COP (coil on pack, basically individual ignition coils on each spark plug). Error code: P0303
Had the manifold off, so I figured I’d at least replace the spark plugs as well. I also swapped a front COP for the #3 COP to see if it was a faulty COP.
9/10/15: Replaced the upper intake manifold gaskets, IAC gasket, and throttle body gasket yesterday. Did some more research on code P0303 and it also mentioned it could be a faulty or bad fuel injector, so off comes the fuel rail.
While the fuel rail was off to replace #3 fuel injector I also replaced the lower intake manifold gaskets. I also cleaned all electrical connections with cleaner and put it all back together. The car is not missing anymore and runs great, no sure what fixed the problem.
Shortly after this though, the smell of gasoline could be smelled throughout the car and I took it in to a repair shop (stealership) because I didn’t have a garage and the temperatures had dropped below 0 degrees (North Dakota winters suck). A bolt on the fuel rail had sheared off and the fuel rail was spewing fuel out instead of into the injector. We were also moving at the time, but long story short I was extremely dissatisfied with their repair and headed up taking it back to fix the problem I took it in for. Long talk with the service manager and they did the labor free of charge (which they should do, since they didn’t fix the original problem) and I just had to pay for parts.
4/2016: In April we had our transmission go out with a flashing red light on the dash. Hooked up the code reader and call a few transmission places. We ended up taking it to Leo’s Transmissions in Bismarck, North Dakota. He replaced our transmission and CV axle that had been leaking fluid. The only disadvantage was the mechanics smoked with the car windows down in their shop, so I think we still have dryer sheets in our car to this day to diffuse the smell.
9/10/16: Almost a year later on a trip back from Yachats, Oregon the bracket for the ignition pack over cylinder 3 broke. Over time the spark plug rattled loose and shot out the plug pack into the intake cover.
Swapped out cylinder 2 spark plug and checked the gap on both. Then ziptied the coil pack in place and drove back to Mandan, ND. I got a new one later that week to I’ll need to replace the broken one.
We just drove it down the Hurricane, Utah and back without any problems. I have a check engine light that comes on every once in a while and more often when it is wet outside. I clear the codes with my OB2 reader, so I can know when there is a bigger issue (North Dakota doesn’t require emission testing).
Automotive & Motorcycle Repairs 