Problems include the fact that the accelerator cable may prevent the throttle from returning to the idle position. How has the 2002 V-6 Escape fared over the past six years?įive recalls have been issued. It looks easy, but the first time can be frustrating when everything you thought you knew is out to challenge your common sense. Hybrid service is easy after a few safety lessons and some tricks are learned, like changing the brake pads. We haven’t even mentioned the bright-orange-colored stuff. Braking systems on the V-6 are normal, but on the hybrid they are potentially hazardous to your safety while you’re doing normal brake service. The climate-control system is as much about cooling passengers as it is nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) cells. The hybrid has a ticking clock as the high-voltage battery pack slowly loses its charge. If you are trying to get a no-start back on the road, a V-6 will allow you to crank it as many times as the starter and a high-amp charger can withstand. Charging systems are vastly different, and testing methods are not the same. What in the way of normal servicing is different between the two? There are two cooling systems to service and diagnose, and 12-volt starters are non-existent on the hybrid model. Recently, Ford has done a much better job at marketing its hybrid. Was it that the sales incentive was so little it was not worth selling? Do hybrids emote a feeling of guilt to a certain group of people? Whatever it is, I wonder if Ford might have used its Mazda outlets instead of Ford with better results. This macho attitude exists in the bays as well, but to a somewhat lesser degree. He explained that when he went back to his dealership with the intent of trading in his gas guzzler for a hybrid, he asked the salesman to show him the Escape and the salesman said, “Hybrids are for sissies.” The local Toyota sales staff knew better, but the local Ford salesman lost a sale and a great customer for life. I asked him why he chose a Toyota, because I knew he loved his Ford and the Toyota was $10,000 more than an Escape hybrid. A few weeks later we met up again and, lo and behold, he had traded in his gas guzzler for a hybrid – a Toyota Highlander hybrid that had just hit the showrooms. I offered my two cents’ worth and after he admitted he had recently bought an Exposition, I proceeded to lay out my argument for an Escape hybrid. We chatted at a social event, and when we got around to talking about what we did for a living he was very interested in picking my brain about what I thought of Ford hybrids. Ford was the first to enter the SUV market with a hybrid.Ī man I know from India bought a large Ford SUV that got not much more than 10 mpg in the city. Many Ford dealership sales people personally did not embrace this new-fangled gas/electric SUV. 27, 2004, the Escape hybrid went on sale at dealerships that had a Ford-certified hybrid technician. I hear comments like “Flat-rate pay is not enough for the time I spend being safe,” “The new scan tool takes too long to operate” and “I am a truck guy, not a greenie.” Most dealership technicians who work on the hybrid models are not keen on them. The hybrid is a fuel-efficient vehicle rated as a super-ultra-low-emissions vehicle (SULEV) and very high-tech. Let’s compare a V-6 2002 Escape with a hybrid 2008 model. When a hybrid version was proposed back in 2000 or so, the advertising said the hybrid model has the power of a V-6 with the economy of a small four-cylinder. One look under the hood of a 2008 Escape V-6 shows a 3.0 power plant that has been a great engine for many years. Is it easier to service a gas-only Escape or a hybrid? Let’s find out. Most of you have probably not worked on a hybrid Ford.
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