Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

I have a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. Yesterday, The engine shut off in the middle of an intersection and displayed a message of "Stop Safely Now". The engine would not start up again, but all the other electronics were working.

The shop told me that the car needs to have a recall fix (coolant pump) that is not related to my issue. They also told me that my issue is likely a transmission issue and I may need to replace the electronic transmission. That didn't make sense to me. Why would the engine not even turn over if I had a transmission issue?

I looked up some details on this error message, and many people are saying it was related to the coolant pump recall and that is what corrected it.

Does anyone here have any experience with this? - specifically the transmission thing. I did find the other "SSN" messages in searches here, but they all seem to be corrected by the coolant pump repair.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

SSN is a catch-all for the vehicle detecting some problem with the hybrid drivetrain. It can have many causes, including high battery temp (usually due to the hybrid battery pack fans failing, but can also be due to A/C issues) and high engine electronics temp (which is usually due to MECS pump failure; the recall you mentioned).

I assume, as they were mentioning the pump recall, that "the shop" is a Ford service center. If they're truly saying that it's "likely this" and "may need that", I'd be worried that this shop is not well versed in servicing hybrids. There's a wide gap in hybrid experience and competence between different Ford shops.

Have them tell you exactly what diagnostic codes were read and why they suspect a transmission issue. From my readings over the past few years, the transmission is one of the most reliable components of the hybrid drivetrain and rarely fails.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Thanks for the info. Now they are saying the entire electronic transmission needs to be replaced. I've only got 70k miles on this thing.

They are going to do the recall fix first and then reset all codes. I'll have them provided the exact codes after that.

Thanks again.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

So the engine would not restart even after cooling down and cycling the ignition key? It hasn't started since this incident?

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Correct. I tried it a few times while waiting for a tow truck. All lights came on, but the engine did not even try to turn over.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

But have you tried it since then? If it was a MECS pump failure the engine won't start until the electronics system cools down, that could take minutes (10?). Can you try starting it again now, and cycle the ignition key a few times?

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

I could ask them to try that? It's been at the dealership for the last 48 hours.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

It's worth mentioning that even if the transmission is in need of replacement, I believe it should be covered under the 8yr/100k hybrid component warranty.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Still won't start they say. 8K for a new transmission. I can't believe my luck. Not even at 71k miles with this thing.

So this could be under warranty for a 2008 with 70k miles?

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

The "hybrid components" are covered by an 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty. See this thread for some discussion of what should be covered. You're certainly fine for the mileage. I'm not sure when the 8 year clock starts ticking, but I would think most if not all 2008's should still be within the window.

Edit: I should also mention that there have been a few components (e.g. battery fans) where people had to fight with Ford to get them to cover the repairs. I'd be surprised if the transmission isn't covered, but you'd have to read the fine print of the warranty to be sure.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Bought the car 8 years and 2 weeks ago. I'm totally screwed.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Don't be too quick to give up. I think it's unlikely that the transmission just suddenly died. Some troubleshooting needs to be done, and I'm not sure the dealership is the best place for that. Do you have a local independent shop that works on hybrids? Things as simple as a failing 12vdc battery, fuses, loose connectors could easily cause it to not start. I'd get to a shop that has the skills to really diagnose the problem. Keep us posted.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

They are saying that the codes coming back indicate a transmission replacement.

The strange thing is I replaced the starter battery about a week ago. It has been kind of strange since I did (lights flickering for just a second), but when the car died, I tried to jump it and it wouldn't even try to turn over. The connections were solid. And if it was the starter battery, why would it kick out Hybrid codes for replacing the transmission?

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Get a print out of the codes and then get a second opinion of what they indicate. You could even search this forum for the codes to see what others found.

From past experience, do not trust a Ford dealer. With a few exceptions, they will try to screw you if given the opportunity.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Well this has been an absolute nightmare. Over 2 months later, and the car is finally ready for pickup. After I gave them the OK to install a used transmission (Ford stated that it would have a 2-year warranty), they contacted me and told me the High fuse switch was blown when the transmission went. Another $650. 2 weeks after that they finally the in installed, and they tell me the DC converter must have also been blown. Another $850. $4800 in total. Adding insult to injury, the transmission only has a 90 day warranty because they got it off a used car via a junkyard. Ford's main # (incorrectly) told me previously that it would still be 2 years, even if the part came from a junkyard, as long as an official Ford dealer did the install. I guess I need to start recording all my phone calls. Nothing I can do now.

I'm out nearly 5 grand because the car died 2 weeks after the warranty expired, and now the thing is only good for another 90 days.

Safe to say, I'll never purchase another Ford again, and we bought them exclusively for the last 2 decades.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

That sucks.

Multiple posters on this thread asked you to get a printout of the specific trouble codes that the vehicle was reporting, but you never posted a followup that included that information. Did you ever get that level of detail?

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Yes, but only after the fact.

CLEAR CODE AND RETEST P0A7A RETURNED. SHOP MANUAL
DIRECTS TO REPLACE TRANSMISSION ASSEMBLY

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

I purchased a used 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid a few years ago and since then have paid a considerable amount of $$ to keep it on the road. I had the transfer case rebuilt ($1.5K) about a year after purchasing it. About a year after that, the engine went and had that rebuilt ($3.1K), subsequently shortly after replacing the MECS as well which cause the wrench light to come on and putting the vehicle in 'limp' mode. After replacing the MECS, it worked for a couple of years. NOW, the wrench light is on again with the same limp mode problem. I had it towed to Ford and after diagnosing they indicate I replace the throttle body assembly which took care of the wrench light and limp mode problem for about 10 minutes. I then took the vehicle into another dealer to diagnose and they are now telling me that the hybrid battery pack at at cost of $15K and is back ordered for months...after getting this vehicle back on the road, it will be SOLD/Traded or scrapped. As much as I would like to do the right thing by going Green, my experience has been very, very disappointing to say the least...

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Kris, I'm curious how many miles were on the FEH when the various repairs became necessary.

I just had my 3rd SSN event on my FEH at 80k miles. I'll be posting about the latest problem in a new thread.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

I wonder if these experiences are confirmation that car electronics sometimes don't age well, just like most other consumer electronics. If they run, all is good, but if they start to fail it's $$$ with few experienced Ford hybrid techs to diagnose. Adding injury, wonder how much resale value is left in FEHs now that gas prices are down. Maybe these are still exported to countries with higher fuel prices.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Yeah, that's my opinion. I'm sure these vehicles will go 300K+ miles mechanically if they reach that mileage within 5 years or so. But beyond that I do feel the electronics become unreliable.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

If you consider the electronics in a car are subject to a lot of heat, cold, vibration, dust, etc., that environment can't be ideal. Wonder if the Aisin tranny and Sanyo battery packs are manufactured any more under OEM supplier contract since they were 'bespoke' to the FEH and Ford is likely not responsible for factory warranty coverage. Or, would the cost to continue to make them in small volumes exceed their value as replacements? Lots of questions could be asked here. Never saw Ford guarantee hybrid specific parts availability beyond the 8 year/150,000 mile extended hybrid warranty.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

The Escape Hybrid will not start when the high- voltage hybrid battery is depleted.
It's a surprisingly simple fix:
1. Make sure your under-hood 12 volt battery is fully charged. If it isn't, either put a battery charger on it and fully charge it or you can put on jumper cables from another car if you in a hurry.
2. Pop out the plastic triangle panel on the drivers side dashboard (you can see it when you open the driver's door). Underneath is a button with a battery logo on it.
3. With the ignition off and key out of the ignition, press this button (don’t hold it) until the yellow LED light glows.
4. Wait 8 minutes. I set a timer on my phone for this. What is happening at this time is the hybrid battery is pulling juice from the under-hood battery to give it a little bit of power - that is why the under-hood battery needs to be fully charged or jumped if low.
5. After the 8 minute wait, the yellow LED will begin to flash - don't do anything until it starts flashing. Within 2 minutes, try and start the engine. If all goes well it should start.
6. Drive or run the car for awhile to allow the engine to charge up the hybrid battery. If the vehicle doesn't start, you can follow these steps one more time to give it another boost.

Here is a pic of the button and where to find it.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gre...2db5c691b2.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gre...59d17cdd4a.jpg

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

5 year old thread.

Not as simple as you portray.

Only 05-08 have the jump starter.

Not all years have the button in that location.

An excessively discharged battery will NOT respond to a jump start. NiMH chemistry can go "dormant" and produce very high internal resistance. When a charge current is applied, the voltage will spike, and the jump starter will throttle back its current or fault. In many cases, the light will begin flashing immediately, and the car will throw a code indicating jump starter failure.

Best results are had by NOT attempting start after the first and doing a second by default.

If the button starts flashing immediately, or very shortly after pressing it, or the HV battery voltage pushes well into the 300s very quickly but then rapidly settles below it, or after start attempt, the battery will likely have to be opened up and manually charged.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

5 year old post on a 13 year old vehicle.

I'll have to take your word on the 05-07 years. I can only speak about my experience.
I have a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid that had a stop safely now.
So did the OP.
I did the steps and it was a simple as I portrayed.
*shrug*
Or don't try it at all and bring it to a mechanic.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

I have a 2008 that also displayed the stop safely now on dash and now will not start. The hybrid battery charg3 light will not work. It does not light up.
battery is charging overnight. It seemed low and is still not fully charged after 4 hrs.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

It worked. After while not used my daughter 2008 Ford Escape, I got same “SSN” problem. I followed above method. My car started with no problem. I keep charged under-hood battery while wait 8 and 2 minutes. Only thing I can mention, the yellow light on the my car black battery button was very hard to see. I had to look very closely. Thank you so much.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

It really sucks that Ford removed that circuitry for 09+ models.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

This may help to explain why the ICE would not start if there was a problem with the transmission " "

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

Quote:

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This may help to explain why the ICE would not start if there was a problem with the transmission "

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The FEH does not have a conventional starter motor run by the 12V battery. It is the smaller of the two electric motors in the transaxle that acually supplies the torque to start the Internal Combustion Engine. It runs off the High Voltage power system. If there is insufficient charge in the High Voltage battery to turn the motor/generator in the transxale to start the ICE engine, the car is effectively "dead" and cannot restart the ICE and you are going nowhere. If the computers detect a critical fault that would cause more damage, they will inhibit the smaller electric motor in the transaxle from starting the ICE and you are also going nowhere.

You have to pull the codes, run the FORScan analysis and find the root cause of the problem. There is no way to start the internal combustion engine of these cars with the 12V system alone. The button you see here in this thread is an emergency stopgap method that Ford included, to allow someone with a discharged High Voltage battery to use the 12V battery to TEMPORARILY recharge the high voltage battery to a level where the ICE engine can be restarted. After the ICE engine starts, it is burning gasoline and it DRIVES the motor/generator in the transaxle to attempt to recharge the High Voltage battery.

There IS NO STARTER MOTOR in the conventional sense. The 12V battery under the hood only exists for compatibility with existing 12V electrical components in the rest of the car. That is also why there is no conventional alternator. There is only a GENERATOR - inside the transaxle, and then the DC converter does the rest, by taking high voltage DC power and downconverting it to 12V DC.

Hope this helps.

Re: Escape Hybrid "Stop Safely Now" message
 

i have put a new battery in and that solves it.