Stillwater

Pierre, just to be sure: You said the mechanic ADDED oil. Shouldn't he be taking oil out to lower it to the bottom mark?

I took my Escape into Ford to have the fluid level adjusted to the correct level. I would have done it myself but I wanted it documented. What I found was that the level after adjustment was not anywhere near the correct level as per service bulletin TSB 09-20-13. I don't know how they would have gotten the oil up to 185 - 200 degrees called for without driving for several miles which they did not and I know they didn't put it in gear, apply the brakes and throttle it up to heat it up. I don't think many dealerships have taken it very seriously, for each of them this is a very isolated occurance. It is very difficult to arrive at the right level, A) It's hard to get the transmission to 185-200 degrees especially in cool weather and the fluid on the dipstick is very transparent and hard to read. What we are talking about is 1/2 a liter/quart one way or the other. I have actually seen a 6F35 transmission disassembled on the bench (not mine). In discussing the overheating with the tech. we didn't see how an additional resivour would help, it would just provide more oil to spew out when it overheated. What is required is an auxillary pump to circulate the fluid through the transmisson as well as the cooler. On another note while looking at the transmission we decided if it wasn't for the overheating issue you couldn't hurt it, it's pretty well built.

It's not only people that have had problems many like myself bought the Escape specifically for flat towing. I have not experienced any problems but have only towed 200 miles. I now am very concerned about towing it at all. The alarming frequency of people's experiences about fried transmissions and stranded miles from home or their destination is not acceptable. All Ford has done when I've talked to them is to tell me it's OK if anything happens it's covered under warranty. Wrong! I want a car that doesn't require warranty repairs and not be stranded. Our next tow in a couple of weeks is 1500 miles. Let's see 1500 miles divided by 200 miles for each transmission equals 7.5 transmissions. There is even suggestion that Ford is working on a resevoir, but will only change it if you have a problem. Again that is wrong headed thinking in that it leaves everyone who hasn't experienced a problem to have to hold their breaths and cross their fingers every time they leave home. This seems to be the most active forum on this issue, we need to keep on top of this and if it takes combined pressure from all of us to push Ford into making the correct and proper recall and repair then that's what we need to do.