Escape Owners (update)

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Trying to fix my wife's 2005 Escape before we give it to our son. Here's the problem. When starting from a stop the car shudders quite a bit while accelerating, then smooths out when going faster. I put it on my lift and looked at the U-joints and I find no play in them, but others have said to start there. I was looking at the center drive shaft bearing and wondered if it's that. Any ideas?

 

[EddieS'04]

If it is AWD. Is the rear carier LS. Could be clutches. If so you could try some ford friction modifier.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Sounds like U-Joints to me. We had the same problem on our Explorer. First on acceleration, we could feel something. Then accelerating at any speed. If you let off, it went away. When I jacked it up, I could feel play on the back ones, but not the front. When I took the shaft off, the fronts were just as bad as the back ones. Since the Escape has an IRS, the U-Joints don't get much real use like a full axle gets so I find it hard to believe they are bad, but your symptoms sound like the joint.



Not a big deal to swap.



Highly doubtful Ford put a LS into an Escape. If there are clutches in the rear end, the chatter would only happen when turning. That is when the clutches are actually used. On a straight road, then they pretty much do nothing.





Tom

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Thanks guys. After my wife gets her new car, which is tomorrow, I'll then be able to change the U-joints without having to rush. I don't think it has LS.

 

[scott degroot]

Are you sure it's not misfiring??

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I don't think so, as it runs smooth after 25/30 mph, and the shudder can be felt in the middle of the car.

 

[Mark Stadnicki]

Check trans fluid. My wifes was actng jerky at low speeds and it was low due to a leaking CV joint seal.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

Changed both U-joints and problem solved.:banana: