Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2003 Ford Escape owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, and while driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle was smoking. There were no warning lights illuminated. The owner disconnected the battery. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the owner that the ABS module and wiring harness needed to be replaced. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his vehicle was not running and sitting in his driveway, the vehicle caught on fire without warning. The contact was able to extinguish the fire on his own, no injuries occurred and no fire report was taken. Upon investigation the contact associated NHTSA campaign number: 07V156000 (electrical system) with his failure. The contact spoke with a dealer (Apple Ford 3250 cape horn rd, red lion, pa 17356 [phone]) and was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer to determine the cause of the failure/fire. The dealer informed the contact that the fire was related to the recall associated with the vehicle. When the contact informed the manufacturer of the failure, they informed him that his vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 175,000.
Tl* the contact owned a 2003 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 5 MPH, there was smoke coming from the front driver side of the vehicle without warning. The contact discovered flames underneath the vehicle. A police officer extinguished the fire. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.
The car was parked in a shopping center parking lot no one was in it. It some how caught on fire, when we got the fire out and towed to the shop, it was the alternator that caused the fire and did several $1000.00 damage. There were no issues with the car no warning lights.
On May 8,2013, the anti-theft alarm sounded while my car sat in the driveway. It had not been driven for 3 + hours. Upon investigation of the alarm, there was smoke coming from the engine compartment. The wiring harness attached to the ABS had a small flame and smoke from its wiring insulation. After extinguishing the flame and disconnecting the battery, I called for a tow . The safety features worked well and locked out the entire auto system. The service technician said there was a recall ( recall 07s51 suppl #2 dtd 9 oct 2009 ) and that Ford should probably provide a fix or credit toward said fix. The car was then towed to a Ford dealership. The current status is: 1.) the wiring harness is no longer manufactured by Ford and the dealership has no approved provisions to secure a harness. …
I have a 2003 Escape that has a interesting problem with the rear hatch. When it is hot out side or the sun is shinning on the rear hatch the lock will not unlock,all the other doors do. When it gets dark or the door cool down the nit will unlock with the rest of the doors. Our rear hatch. Intermittently working and then not working at all. After looking in the search engine on this forum, under "rear hatch won't open" I found a posting listing the part # for the solenoid only, from an aftermarket source. (Ford makes you buy the whole handle and actuator assy. For $200 or so). The solenoid was $10 plus shipping. Installation was straight forward except the rod that connects the solenoid to the mechanism needs to be modified and the wires spliced instead of the modular plug on the stock one. …
While I was driving back from the shooting range the engine did a hesitation and then when I pushed down on the gas to see if it would clear up the instrument panel gauges went haywire. The fuel, speed, RPM and heating cluster level arms all went to the max point and when I let off the acceleration to pull over the cluster panel gauges died like there was no power and when the engine idle leveled off the gauges went back to normal. The instrument panel did it 4 more times before I actually got home. I am afraid to drive it to work and this is my only transportation. What is causing the issue with this? I need to know as soon as possible. Thanks.
My Escape started to miss, first it wasn't bad then started jerking and it started idling rough when I stopped at red light. When I started moving again it acted as if it would die and would go. If I get to 40 MPH it is really bad. But this happened on main highway with other vehicles all around me and had 18 wheeler behind me and all of sudden my speed decreased and me and my children almost was in accident because of decrease in speed. It scared me and my two children. When I got it looked at the codes said it was missing on one cylinder then at one point all cylinders.
2003 Ford Escape parked in garage located at 7755 sunset drive, elmwood park illinois. Vehicle spontaneously burned. The garage was a lofted structure with storage containing 30 years of possessions. The car, garage and personal items were destroyed by the fire. This occurred at 5:00 am on a Sunday morning after the car had been parked in the garage from the Saturday afternoon before.
Vehicle stalls or will not start as described in Ford recall number 04s13. I have replaced multiple parts including fuel pump, gas cap, fuel filter,etc. And now I found that there was a problem with the PCM programming on this vehicle. I purchased this truck used and do not know if this was serviced. This is a dangerous problem as stalling can cause an accident.
Electrical complaints in other Escape years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2003 Ford Escape?
NHTSA has 39 complaints about the electrical system of the 2003 Ford Escape, 7% of the model year's 558 complaints. The component named most often is ignition › switch (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2003 Ford Escape electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2003 Ford Escape, though it has 7 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2003 Ford Escape electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 90,000 miles, and 19% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 2 crashes, 5 fires and 1 injury to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.