Here is the story line
My car started having trouble shifting gears, it would shake unless I was constantly giving it gas, even at speeds greater than 40. Usually when it wanted to shift gears. This happened after a weekend of me not driving it and it was raining. My check engine light went on so I took it to Sears auto. They told me I had a misfire on 6. I asked if I needed to fix it right away and they said I would be fine, but I would lose some of the power. They also said that it wouldn't cause any damage.
A couple months later my engine lost about 90% of its power on the way to work and my check engine light started blinking. I couldn't get more than 20mph. I practically had to push it to the nearest Auto repair shop. They said the one of my catalytic converters were blown (rear manafold one if I remember, or the front manafold). I had it replaced and the car got its power back, but not 100%. They told me I needed to replace my spark plugs. The next week I replaced the spark plugs to no avail.
2 months after getting the new cat, my engine lost power again, but not as bad as before. The engine light did blink though. I contacted the mechanic again and he said what he would do is change the ignition coils. Considering I changed the spark plugs, and to save money, I bought and changed the coils. As I took it for a test drive (in the rain at night) my radio blinked on and off and then I stalled. I hooked up a automatic jumper and it at least got me back home.
I planned to just take it to the mechanic so they can test it, but now I can not start the car, even with the charger. It has been raining, so that may have something to do with it. I think the battery is dead because the engines is turning too slow to charge the battery now.
Any ideas what my problem might be, or how I can test to find out?
Thanks in advance!
P.S. My Escape is rated for CA emissons (I think this means it has 3 catalytic converters)2002 v6 3.0L Automatic Ford Escape problem?
My goodness man, they are milking you for your money. I am a mechanic. Did they clean the throttle-body of it's gunk ? You need to do this every 10,000 miles. Have you changed the tranny fluid every 10,000 miles ? Did you change the fuel filter every 10,000 miles? It seems you do not know the way to keep your escape running in great working order or you don't spend your money on what needs to be prevented. Did they replace the spark plugs with Motorcraft ?
Do you oil your throttle-body spring ? When they at sears clean out the intake manifold when they did the tune-up ? with solvent ? Did you have the PVC valve replaced ? I would say its safe to say that you have vacuum leaks everywhere from use. Look, always email me first about your escape, If you live near me I'll help you personally, if not I'll tell you what to do, and what to say where ever you go because I will become your mechanic friend, like your next door neighbor, the name is Jimmy2002 v6 3.0L Automatic Ford Escape problem?
I would be talking to a mechanic and an auto electrician, it sounds like a couple of smaller issues have combined at the same time, a misfiring plug still needs to be changed asap, you should also have the leads and the distributor checked, especially the electrode in the top of the cap, also the output on the alternator needs to be checked to ensure your getting the correct voltage back to your battery, normally both cats would be changed together so that wear about the same and remain balanced, the coil pack is often a sign there is problems in the electrical department. good luck, my brother had an escape but we knick named it the ford exploder for obvious reasons
