Hi Chuck

The same thing, I felt I was driving a cheap SUV when I was driving the best FE SUV auto made. A noise is like a bad smell (fart) to other's in EV. Nothing coming down the road but a POS you paid $30 plus for! You have every right to feel the way you do.

Ford will fix your problem or wish they did!

GaryG

 

If its a "design" problem, its going to take a new part. Thats essentially what a design problem means. I think if it was just an assembly problem we'd already have a fix, they'd just move something.

I'm not saying its not something that needs to be fixed. However, I'm an engineer by trade. As one, I'm a bit tired of managers coming into the room telling me, "Fix this in two weeks." My response is, "I can give you a crappy fix in two weeks that might hold up for a month and break something else... or you can give me the time to do it RIGHT and you'll have to wait a few months. Engineering, testing and development takes time..."

It needs to be fixed.... I'm just saying if you expect it to be fixed in the next few days... you are pretty likely to just get more and more pissed. Its going to likely be months I'm sorry to say.

 

I have been following this thread for a while hoping to never have to add that one (or both) of my Escapes make this noise. So far that is still the case. The '06 chirps a slight bit after it has sat for a while but it doesn't do it all the time and doesn't do it for long once driven. I am quite sure it is simply brake noise.

My question is whether anyone has looked into whether this is strictly an Escape Hybrid issue or if all the Escapes are doing this? Perhaps all the Escapes make the noise but since we get to run silent sometimes maybe hybrid owners hear it more.

I know this doesn't add anything substantive to the discussion except maybe to say that there are several other sites out there that have some great discussions that are specifically about Escapes. There are some really knowledgeable people (some of them Ford mechanics) that know the Escape really well - I'm talking about the vehicle itself, not just the drivetrain. Might be worth a look.

I'm counting on you folks to solve this problem before it happens to me.

 

My dealer said they've seen it on a very few "normal" Escapes and the shock repositioning seems to cure them just fine. (This is the chirping noise not the SQUAWK). The mechanic thinks the main difference is that the extra weight of the battery accentuates the problem and makes it worse.

I do hope they fix it soon--I just don't have a whole lot of hope it will be weeks rather than months. And thats assuming Ford is actually paying attention to it. If they've decided to ignore it and hope it goes away--then they more than deserve all the vitrol thats being thrown their way.

Its an absolutely obnoxious sound that it makes when its going (frankly either of the noises it pretty darn bad). Trust me, you'll know when its happening.

 

Point taken. I don't want a half-assed solution either. Like the one forum member "ESCAPEE" unfortunately received, by moving the mounts around(?), got the squeak right back after a week.

The thing is, it has gone from a "showing-off-my-hybrid" car to something I am too embarrassed to put guests in, which kind of defeating one of the purposes I got this car, since our only other car is a 2-door coupe.

I got hit by this problem probably a year ago and three trips to the dealer later, it actually gradually got worse. Let's just say at this point I have pretty limited patience and they'd better come up with something before my warranty expires.

 

1. It is obviously not a simple solution. I think the squeeking comes from the shock mount/bushing rubbing together. I am guessing that it only appears on Hybrids b/c of both the extra weight and the possibility that the shocks may have been mounted differently because of where all of the hybrid battery components are located.

2. It is annoying and embarassing and should be fixed asap.

3. The brake squeal and the suspension squeek are two totally unrelated and annoying issues. Neither one would appear to impact the safety of the vehicle.

4. If you have ongoing problems under warranty those problems will have to be fixed by Ford even if the fix comes after the warranty expires.....assuming that you reported the problem and had your vehicle in for service. If you are really concerned you could have the service writer document the date of the problem and the "wait for a fix" response from Ford. A company cannot simply ignore a problem under warranty and wait until the warranty expires and say sorry.

 

Mine is so loud I can hear it at 65MPH on the highway. It's not just something that we can hear because we are sometimes in EV mode. I had an appointment to have mine looked at 2 days prior to taking it in, it stopped making the noise completely! Of course, a few days later it started back up again. Mine is definitely the suspension, it's worse when I turn right and happens at nearly every little vibration or bump in the road.

 

Mine heads to the shop on Saturday. Just the creaking, and I'm taking a printout of the "temporary solution" posted here.

 

That must be annoying - I didn't realize it was that bad. I get ticked off at every slight rattle - a noise like that would have me in the service department every day until they fixed it. Or I would be making lot's of noise about Lemon Laws. One way or the other I would be demanding a car that doesn't squeak.

 

Tim, where did you get this information from? I don't see the quote as a post anywhere.
Thanks.