DRIVING 55 MPH CAR POWERS DOWN AND YELLOW WRENCH WARNING LIGHT GOES ON. CAR WILL NOT ACCELERATE. IMMEDIATELY PULL OVER TO PREVENT FROM GETTING REAR-ENDED. LET CAR SIT FOR TEN MINUTES AND RESTARTED. CAR TRAVELED .25 MILES BEFORE POWERING DOWN ONCE AGAIN. BROUGHT IT TO DEALERSHIP WHO SAID IT WAS THE WAS ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY. 650 DOLLARS LATER THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED. I SEE THAT THIS HAS AFFECTED A MULTITUDE OF FORD VEHICLES. UNFORTUNATELY, ONE OF THEM WAS MINE. FORD NEEDS TO ISSUE A RECALL FOR THIS PART. SOMEONE COULD SERIOUSLY BE HURT WHEN TRAVELING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND LOSING ENGINE POWER.
2010
ENGINE
I WAS FIRST IN LINE AT A RED LIGHT ON A 2-LANE HIGHWAY. WHEN THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, I ACCELERATED AND HALFWAY THROUGH THE INTERSECTION THE CAR "LURCHED" AND LOST POWER. THE CAR DIDN'T DIE BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE IN THE GAS PEDAL AND A WRENCH SYMBOL APPEARED IN THE DASH. I MADE IT THROUGH THE INTERSECTION AND TO THE SHOULDER AT IDLE SPEED (WITH A LINE OF CARS BEHIND ME). I PUT THE CAR IN PARK AND TURNED IT OFF FOR A MINUTE. IT RESTARTED OK, THE WRENCH WAS GONE AND THE CAR RAN FINE. I CONSIDERED IT A FLUKE UNTIL A WEEK LATER WHEN THE SAME THING HAPPENED, EXCEPT THAT I WAS TRAVELING AT 70 MPH IN THE INSIDE LANE OF THE SAME HIGHWAY. LUCKILY THERE WAS ROOM TO CHANGE LANES WHILE DECELERATING AND I PULLED TO THE SHOULDER. AGAIN, IT RESTARTED FINE AFTER I TURNED IT OFF, AND THE WRENCH WAS GONE. I TOOK THE CAR FOR SERVICE AT A FORD DEALER BECAUSE LOSING POWER IN TRAFFIC IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND WHO KNOWS WHEN AND WHERE IT MIGHT HAPPEN AGAIN. THE TECH FOUND A PROBLEM WITH THE THROTTLE BODY AND REPLACED IT AT A COST OF ABOUT $350 PARTS/LABOR. OF COURSE, WE ARE JUST OUTSIDE OF THE WARRANTY PERIOD AT 41,000 MILES. *JS