2001 Ford Escape from North America - Comments

When I first start the car and back up or go in any direction slowly... (under 10mph) the car jumps.. like in the movies... where you bounce up and down... however unlike the movies, I can't control it. once I get the car going it stops.

MY next problem occured today when I was driving, I was on my way to go pick up a few people, and I'm driving about 40mph, and the engine light on the dash comes on. I pull over and look for the manuel, and of course... its not there.

I've been looking everywhere online to find out why the engine light came on.

I'm very upset because I just got this car a couple months ago, and I know its got a lot of miles... but geez.

So if you have any information or help I would love to hear it.

Thanks

Julie

Texas.

The CD player won't work

the AC doesn't work,

all of which have broken randomly over the last 3 weeks.

Ifs a very cute car, and I enjoy it.

However the down falls really upset me.

I wouldn't recommend this car.

Unless you've got a lot of money to fix all the problems.

Its not the cars fault that the manual isn't in the glovebox.

Pretty much every car nowadays has on-board diagnostics, called OBDII. Usually under the dashboard or behind a panel down by your knees, there is a plug-in like for an old-fashioned style of pin connection printer cable. You can buy these code-readers at auto parts stores, or maybe even the store will plug in their code-reader and tell you the code. The code-reader downloads the fault from the car's computer. If you have a Hayne's Repair manual, they have a section all on OBDII codes, pages and pages.

Since you got this car with a lot of miles, it would be a good idea to make sure you're caught up on the maintenance. You don't know how the previous owners treated it, so it's a good idea to change the oil, change the transmission fluid and filter, get the engine coolant flushed and filled, and then have a Ford garage give you a copy of the suggested maintenance schedule so you can see if you should change the air filter, spark plugs, etc. Cars need maintenance, and even though it may sound like a lot, spending a little money on maintenance now will prevent spending big money on major repairs later.