TWICE WHILE DRIVING MY FORD FLEX, I HAD SPONTANEOUS TOTAL SHUT DOWNS OF THE ENGINE. THE FIRST TIME, MY CAR WAS ONLY A FEW MONTHS OLD AND I WAS IDLING IN FRONT OF A FRIEND'S HOUSE WHEN ALL THE LIGHTS CAME ON AND IT COMPLETELY DIED. I STARTED IT RIGHT BACK UP (AND IT SUBSEQUENTLY PERFORMED PERFECTLY) AND I DROVE IT TO FORD WHERE THEY DID SOME DIAGNOSTICS CHECKS AND FOUND NO ANOMALY. IT CONCERNED ME BUT THINKING IT MAY BE A FUEL INJECTION ISSUE WHILE ONLY IDLING, I WENT ABOUT MY BUSINESS. ON JULY 20, 2012, AT 38K MILE, MY FORD FLEX DIED AGAIN! TOTAL SHUTDOWN OF THE ENGINE AND ALL THE LIGHTS CAME ON WHILE I WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MILES PER HOUR WITH MY DAUGHTER IN THE CAR! NO POWER STEERING, NO POWER BRAKES, NO POWER ANYTHING! BECAUSE I WAS ON A SLIGHT DOWNHILL, I WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITHOUT CATASTROPHE, THANK GOD. THE ENGINE STARTED UP AGAIN AS IF NOTHING OCCURRED. I DROVE DIRECT TO FORD WHERE THEY DID 10 MINUTES OF DIAGNOSTIC TESTING AND TOLD ME ONCE AGAIN THAT THERE WAS NO ANOMALY. I WENT A LITTLE CRAZY, INFORMED THEM THAT I WAS LEAVING FOR A 10- DAY VACATION THE FOLLOWING MORNING AND THAT THEY HAD THE FULL 10 DAYS TO FIX THE CAR OR THAT I WASN'T GOING TO BE PICKING IT UP EVER AGAIN. A FORD TECH DROVE MY CAR WITH A COMPUTER PLUGGED INTO THE CAR, TYPED IN THE PROBLEM AND AFTER MANEUVERING THE CAR TO TRY AND GET A REPEATED RESPONSE, THE CAR DID INDEED SHUT DOWN WHILE HE WAS DRIVING IT! APPARENTLY, THE THROTTLE BODY WAS BINDING INTERNALLY AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. AFTER REPLACING PART # 1 7T4Z 9E926 FA, FORD WALNUT CREEK CA IS TELLING ME IT IS FIXED. LET'S HOPE SO. I PRAY THAT NO ONE HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN A FATAL OR INJURY ACCIDENT AS A RESULT OF THIS PART'S FAILURE. I AM WRITING THIS AS AN ALERT AND A HEADS UP TO ANYONE WHO HAS HAD THE SAME SCARY EXPERIENCE. *TR
2012
ENGINE
THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT INCIDENCES THAT HAVE OCCURRED. (1) WHILE TURNING A CORNER OR SLOWING DOWN THE A/C WILL SHUT DOWN. (2) THE CONTROL PANEL INSTRUMENTS WILL GO ALL THE WAY OVER TO THE RIGHT AND THEN SURGE FORWARD WHEN TURNING A CORNER. (3) CAR HAS DIED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ESPECIALLY WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE ONTO HIGHWAY. (4) A/C WILL TURN ON BY ITSELF AND BLOW ON MAXIMUM EVEN WHEN POWER SWITCH IS TURNED OFF. (5) WHEN CAR LOSES POWER, ALL CODES ARE RESET SO DEALER IS UNABLE TO GET A CLEAR REASON WHY CAR IS DOING THIS. WE HAD A BLACK BOX INSTALLED FOR TWO WEEKS WITH SOME RESULTS PINPOINTED BUT AFTER IT WAS "FIXED" WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS. DEALER CONNECTED A COMPUTER WHILE WE DROVE AROUND BLOCK AND THE COMPUTER DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT WE WERE PUSHING THE BRAKE AND GAS AT SAME TIME...NOT POSSIBLE! THE READING WAS THAT THE BRAKE HAD BEEN TOUCHED MORE THAN 2000 TIMES WHILE DRIVING 20 MILES. WE HAVE HAD THIS CAR IN REPAIR SHOP 8 TIMES AND NO RESOLUTION YET. DEALER SAID THEY WOULD STAND BEHIND VEHICLE WITH AN EXTENDED WARRANTY AT NO COST WHILE WE TRIED TO FIND PROBLEMS BUT NOW WARRANTY IS UP AND THEY WANT US TO PAY FOR EXTENDED WARRANTY. WE WERE TOLD BY DEALERSHIP THAT IF WE APPLY FOR LEMON LAW THAT WE WOULD MOST LIKELY LOSE THE CASE AND IT WOULD ONLY COST US MONEY. ACCORDING TO TEXAS LAW...THIS CAR DEFINITELY QUALIFIES~ WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM OUR ATTORNEY. I HOPE NO ONE ELSE BUYS THIS TYPE OF VEHICLE~ *TR
