Mine made the clunking sound before I tightened up the cable. It hasn't made it since. The adjustment is a piece of cake once you take that cheesy soft cover off the handle.

I'd much rather have a foot parking brake - better leverage using body weight and it would free up some space between the seats. The location they crammed the brake handle now is better suited for the passenger.

Whether I am driving the Escapes, my F250 or a company vehicle (all with foot brakes), I set the parking brake every time. It is a matter of training and now habit.

Tim and Ray,

Well this morning I tried it your way.... you're absolutely correct in that the vehicle is held in place... Its even held in place against the force applied by the motor when you are in "D" so I have alot more confidence in the brake now. I'm still a bit confused as to why: Foot brake -> P -> Parking brake -> Release foot brake seems to allow the vehicle to move slightly onto the parking pawl. However your order of doing it doesn't.

Now I just need to retrain myself.

I've also driven mainly manuals AND have had an old man that drilled into me the dangers of using only the parking pawl. Thats why I was concerned.

OK, I just have to ask, what exactly does "P" (Park) do on the eCVT? From other discussions, I thought the shift lever was nothing more than a joy stick to the computer.

Best single LD trip: 35.3mpg

My guess is that the example is more due to "lawyer concerns." If the shaft breaks when you are under load, you are in the vehicle, therefore the car will probably coast to a stop (while making one HORRIFIC BONE JARRING BANGING noise under the hood I'd imagine). But if it breaks when the car is in park and the driver didn't set the parking brake, then it could roll backwards and injure someone.

If thats the reason its just another example of lawyer speak.

I can't say exactly but I can tell you it does set some equivalent to a parking pawl locking the gears from moving. You can tell if you are parked on a very slight grade and have the foot brake applied, put the car in P and then let off the foot brake. You'll definitely feel the car roll a smidgeon and then rest up against a stop, likely in the transmission.

Mind you I don't particularly like that experiment because in a normal car it rests the vehicles weight on the pin (or pawl) and they HAVE been known to fail with enough wear and stress. On large grades it can also be difficult to get the vehicle out of Park because the weight of the vehicle resting on the pin can make it difficult to move.

The eCVT seems to have some sort of mechanical equivalent, but exactly what or where I don't know.

How many 06 Escape Hybrids has Ford sold? I'm curious since I wonder if 6k is the majority or minority of them.

The shifter does act as electronic joystick for all modes other than park. It still uses a cable only to mechanically engage/disengage the park pawl.

I believe the production runs for '05 and '06 were supposed to be about 20,000 vehicles each. That averages out to ~ 800 per state (although they weren't distributed evenly, the coasts got the bulk of them). That makes my spottings of four others here in my suburb east of Dayton all the more remarkable.

I just logged into the My Ford website, and the recall is finally showing up for my vehicle (2006 Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD). I still don't know if all '06 FEHs are affected are just 2WD's or just some subset thereof, but mine shows up tied to my VIN so I've scheduled a service visit for early next week.

It shows up on My Ford as:
2006 ESCAPE HEV 2WD INTERMEDIATE SHAFT Recall Code: 06S44
with your VIN listed if your particular vehicle is one that's affected/covered by the recall.

I don't have any information yet on expected turnaround time. If I get more info from my dealer I will post it here.

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)