rmatteucci Report post Posted June 6, 2012 I am one of those people that purchased a 2012 Ford Escape in December 2011 and outfitted it for flat towing in April 2012 only to find the same vehicle if manufactured after February 16, 2012 cannot be flat towed. I am thinking that the transmission failures are more of a financial problem to Ford rather than the percentage of transmissions failing are reaching a large proportion otherwise I would think they would prohibit all Ford Escapes from being towed. My impression after reading the posts on the many different message boards that many are duplicates and there may only be 20 or so failures at least from the computer savvy towing RV'ers. Therefore I would imagine that many more people flat tow the Ford Escape without issues. What I would like to learn is what do the people that have no problems do along the way to assure the transmission has no failures. is it exactly following the instructions? Checking the transmission level after towing 6 hours? Adding transmission fluid to keep the level at the lower mark? Perhaps more frequent stops, say every 3 hours? Whatever it is can you please share it with the rest of Escape owners? I have two trips planned for later this summer where I will be flat towing my Ford Escape for the first time and don't need any issues. Thank you in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimcathy21502 Report post Posted June 6, 2012 We have a 2010 Ford Fusion and have towed it about 10K miles without incident in the last 2 years. I follow the owners manual instructions, including keeping the fluid at the lower limit of full, running the car for 5 minutes before starting for the day, running it again for 5 minutes at our lunch stop, shifting to D, then R, then N before turning the key to ACC. Remco does now have a Ford kit with their pump system, but I have decided not to get is since I have had no problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmatteucci Report post Posted June 7, 2012 Thanks - next question does the transmission act differently when the transmission fluid is at the lower tow level - does it slip, etc. and do you keep it at the lower level all the time or when you are back from a trip bring it back to the second level (lowest non-tow level) ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmatteucci Report post Posted June 17, 2012 What a dilemma . . . take a chance or purchase a dolly . . . Well after reading all the comments on the various posts considering only one person had no problems while others had used their Escapes for various amounts of time and mileage before their transmission went I have made up my mind. Unlike many here I still am working (at least for another 10 months) and have only a window of time for my trips so I really don't have time to play with an unexpected break down away from home. I still had one last component to purchase for the Escape and that was a braking system. Since the braking system is around $1,300 installed I am going to cut my losses and lessen my anxiety by adding a few bucks more to get a tow dolly which will have brakes. I will keep the tow bar and in a few years when I trade the Escape or my second car in I will get something that can be flat towed without issues. Next year after retirement the trips are going to get longer and further away from home base so this course of action makes sense to me at this time. I ordered a dolly from American Car Dolly in Colorado and it will be delivered in 30 days before my first trip of the summer which will be the NE Area Rally in Vermont. Thanks to all that posted comments to either my or others posts the information was very useful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
f159714 Report post Posted April 26, 2016 We have a 2009 Escape with the 3.0 V6. The flat towing issue wasn't discovered until after we purchased the vehicle. The dealer lowered the transmission fluid to the lowest acceptable level and we received the owners manual supplement which explained the procedures to be used when flat towed. I installed a transmission temperature gauge, and so far the highest temperature I've ever seen while towing has been 140 degrees. To-date we have towed for 27,000 miles, with 36,000 driving miles and no problems. We follow the recommended procedures and I check the tranny fluid level regularly and warn the service department, when in for an oil change, to NOT mess with the tranny fluid level and have them write it on the service order so that I have recourse in case they do add fluid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obedb Report post Posted April 26, 2016 Now that is fascinating !!! It really is ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wayne77590 Report post Posted April 27, 2016 Mark the transmission fluid stick with a scribe or something and then just tell the mechanics to ignore the full mark and use the scribe mark. But as a safety I sure would check it anytime it comes out of a shop! That is fascinating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
