Misfire or rough idle on the 2011 Ford Escape
When misfire or rough idle gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Ford Escape report misfire or rough idle at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 15th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 75,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 36,450 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
12% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36,550 miles | 38,000 miles | 48,800 miles | 64,117 miles | 73,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,600 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 19 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2024, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 160,000 miles.
By volume the 2017 carries the most reports, with 407; the 2011 has 24. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
2011 ford escape was being driven @ 55 MPH in traffic & it suddenly lost power. Orange wrench appeared, motor running rough. Steered to emergency lane. Turned off ignition, waited, re-started. I went on to my meeting the to the ford dealership near where I work. They said to drive it there (if possible) next time without cutting off the engine. Two days later (local dealership closed) while driving 55 MPH, rainy night, county road, no "emergency lane", was able to get pulled over (not always an option on a country road). Daughter was with me - frightened her. Turned it off, restarted. Next day (saturday) I took it to local ford dealer. Said need the light on, but would see if the diagnostics told anything. Borrowed car from my daughter. This was inconvenience to me and her. Dealer called monday, said it clears the code each time the car is re-started. They kept my vehicle overnight. Did it again with the mechanic driving. He drove it at about 10-15 MPH to the dealership. I got online and there are many issues involving throttles. Many recalls, but not on my model. On tuesday afternoon diagnostics showed it was the throttle. This…
2011 ford escape was being driven @ 55 MPH in traffic & it suddenly lost power. Orange wrench appeared, motor running rough. Steered to emergency lane. Turned off ignition, waited, re-started. I went on to my meeting the to the ford dealership near where I work. They said to drive it there (if possible) next time without cutting off the engine. Two days later (local dealership closed) while driving 55 MPH, rainy night, county road, no "emergency lane", was able to get pulled over (not always an option on a country road). Daughter was with me - frightened her. Turned it off, restarted. Next day (saturday) I took it to local ford dealer. Said need the light on, but would see if the diagnostics told anything. Borrowed car from my daughter. This was inconvenience to me and her. Dealer called monday, said it clears the code each time the car is re-started. They kept my vehicle overnight. Did it again with the mechanic driving. He drove it at about 10-15 MPH to the dealership. I got online and there are many issues involving throttles. Many recalls, but not on my model. On tuesday afternoon diagnostics showed it was the throttle. This…
My escape had been running rough today and decided maybe I needed to take it on the interstate. While doing about 65 the "open wrench" light came on and I lost complete power. I could not accelerate or anything else for that matter. I coasted to the emergency lane. I put the car in park and restarted the escape and was able to make it home. I had read about numerous other related issues on this problem with the ford escape. I am glad I was in the right hand land and not the left lane; it could have been very dangerous. *tr
Also reported on the 2011 Ford Escape
Other steering problem
Other fuel system problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 24 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does misfire or rough idle happen on the 2011 Ford Escape?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is misfire or rough idle on the 2011 Ford Escape?
24 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed