Ford Escape Tail Light Problems and Oil Leak

[SumpChump]

A friend of mine with NO automotive knowledge has a Ford Escape a few years old (4-5-6?)anyways... out of warranty.

He has a driver rear brake light that intermittently goes out when cold. The other side works perfect all the time. Has replaced the bulb on malfunctioning side.

He also has an oil leak, how fast I don't know as i just found out today. He says he just paid $1200 dollars at the dealer to have a "seal" replaced and it still leaks and that they said "that shoulda fixed it". I told him not to go back to them.

I'm fuming mad but thought hey, maybe there are "known" problems on these Escapes. Thanks for your help.

 

[Nick1994]

He should absolutely go back to them until they fix the problem, at no charge. That's $1,200 in the toilet at this point. If have it replaced 10 times if that's what it takes for them to get it right.

Try some dielectric grease for the bulb to see if that helps.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

1. The oil leak repair, if "Just done", should still be under warranty. He needs to go back and have them verify the work, and show them wht is still leaking. If more work is suggested to repair the leak, I would then bail. They should not be rewarded with additional work.
2. Your friend needs to find an independent trusted mechanic and stick with him. There is little reason to take his out of warranty Escape to the dealer.
3. On the tail light, need to investigate the receptacle. There's more to the connections than just the light bulb to go wrong. Since it is happening mostly/only when cold, then the issue is intermittent and the receptacle may need to be replaced or figure out how the contacts make the problem intermittent, and then fix that.

 

[bdcardinal]

What year and what engine? What seals were replaced? They hopefully have part numbers on their invoice and I can figure out what they did. We have a lot of customers that have leaks on these "fixed" at other shops who do not replace everything needed.

 

[SumpChump]

Getting more details.

 

[badtlc]

For that price, it had to be the rear main seal they replaced. It shouldn't be hard to trace out any leaks that are still flowing.

 

[jk_636]

There aren't any known problems with these escapes that I am aware of. I know that the first generation of 2013's had an issue spontaneously catching on fire but they have that ironed out now.

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: jk_636
the first generation of 2013's had an issue spontaneously catching on fire but they have that ironed out now.


Oh, yeah, just that ,nuthin much.

LOL!

 

[aquariuscsm]

He needs to go back and have the repair re-done correctly (at absolutely no charge and if any more work needs to be done according to them,it should be free).