janstey58
Glenwood, IA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/29/2007
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
A QUOTE FROM MY FORD DEALER SERVICE MANAGER's EMAIL:
OASIS SPECIAL SERVICE MESSAGE NUMBER: 22321
MESSAGE TITLE: 2012 ESCAPE EQUIPPED WITH 6F35 TRANSMISSION WITH A BUILD DATE ON OR AFTER 02/27/2012 - CANNOT BE FLAT TOWED
APPLICABLE VEHICLES :
2012 TRUCK : 00130 ESCAPE
OASIS MESSAGE :
2012 ESCAPE VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A 6F35 TRANSMISSION AND WITH A BUILD DATE ON
OR AFTER 02/27/2012 CANNOT BE FLAT TOWED. A SUPPLEMENT WAS INSERTED INTO THE
OWNER'S GUIDE STATING "FRONT WHEEL DRIVE (FWD) VEHICLES CANNOT BE FLAT-TOWED
(ALL WHEELS ON THE GROUND)AS VEHICLE OR TRANSMISSION DAMAGE MAY OCCUR. PLEASE
CONTINUE TO MONITOR OASIS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Jeff and Kim
2009 Bounder 35H (Gas Workhorse chassis)
2012 Ford Escape Limited Toad
|
janstey58
Glenwood, IA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/29/2007
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
BTW, Towed my Escape 200 miles this weekend, no issues. I love my Escape!
|
driveby
Vancouver BC Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 01/07/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
HMM wonder what they changed mechanically on 2/27/2012 or did the lawyers just pick a date?
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
|
wolfe10
Texas
Senior Member
Joined: 10/08/2000
View Profile
Offline
|
Since it would be great to get more specific information from Ford on exactly which models/VIN'S/transmissions are towable 4 wheels down and which are not, I e-mailed the question to Ford.
Shoppers will need to be aware of this and pay particular attention to the build date (or some other pertinent piece of information), as it seems that some 2012 Escapes may be towed and some can not.
Will post when I get an answer.
* This post was
edited 05/06/12 04:04pm by wolfe10 *
Brett Wolfe
1997 Safari Sahara 3540
EX: 1993 Foretravel 36' U-240
FMCA Forum: www.community.fmca.com/index
Diesel RV Club:http://www.dieselrvclub.org/
|
klm
SIOUX FALLS, SD
Senior Member
Joined: 05/26/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
Some Chevy Cruse owners had the same problem, bought the 2012 with Chevy saying yes, towable - after purchase, Chevy says no. Luckily I bought a 2012 Honda Fit, no problems, but I have friends with a no 4 down Cruse. They are not happy campers. It sure makes buying a new toad an adventure!!!
'02 KOUNTRY STAR DP
2012 HONDA FIT "PUMPKINMOBILE"
GILLIGAN- 1ST MATE CAT - 3 HR TOUR
|
|
|
mygsds
Canada
Full Member
Joined: 10/21/2007
View Profile
|
I just bought a 2012 Escape to tow and my manual has all the info on how to do it - also confirmed that it could be towed. I heard that the ones built after February 2012 have an issue.
Pat
Pat and Ron and 1 wild GSD
2000 Fleetwood Bounder 31W
2006 KZ JAG 21JQ
|
bsinmich
Holland, MI
Senior Member
Joined: 11/18/2000
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I was checking the Ford website last night and they show that they are all towable 4 down for the 2013. I would like an Escape to replace my Vue and won't buy foreign so I hope the site is correct. DW worked at Ford as an RN for several years.
2003 Newmar Mountain Aire, Workhorse W22, 2008 Saturn Vue, Falcon 5250, & US Gear Unified Tow Brake
|
mygsds
Canada
Full Member
Joined: 10/21/2007
View Profile
|
I called Ford Canada today and asked the service people - all she could do was read the supplement but then said if I had not received anything in the mail it should not apply to my car. I asked her to confirm this and to send me something in writing. Also told her that my manual says I can, I got nothing from Ford stating differently and that I would expect them to do something if it is damaged.
She is going to try to get me a definite answer by tomorrow but think I will call my dealer tomorrow as well as ask the service manager to look into it. We were just about to get the tow equipment installed
 (
Pat
|
wolfe10
Texas
Senior Member
Joined: 10/08/2000
View Profile
Offline
|
mygsds wrote:I called Ford Canada today and asked the service people - all she could do was read the supplement but then said if I had not received anything in the mail it should not apply to my car. I asked her to confirm this and to send me something in writing. Also told her that my manual says I can, I got nothing from Ford stating differently and that I would expect them to do something if it is damaged.
She is going to try to get me a definite answer by tomorrow but think I will call my dealer tomorrow as well as ask the service manager to look into it. We were just about to get the tow equipment installed
(
Pat
Pat,
The service department at a large Ford dealership here in the Houston area was NOT aware of this. It is an addendum to the owners manual, and did not come to them as a service bulletin. So, might want to check with sales department as well. Ford is NOT doing a good job of getting the information out on this. My calls and e-mails to the Ford help line showed they did not even know that there was an addendum preventing towing 4 wheels down!
|
mygsds
Canada
Full Member
Joined: 10/21/2007
View Profile
|
Still waiting for Ford to reply but talked to my Ford service Manager a few minutes ago and he read me the same Oasis message that someone else posted that clearly says
"OASIS SPECIAL SERVICE MESSAGE NUMBER: 22321
MESSAGE TITLE: 2012 ESCAPE EQUIPPED WITH 6F35 TRANSMISSION WITH A BUILD DATE ON OR AFTER 02/27/2012 - CANNOT BE FLAT TOWED"
Mine was built on January 9, 2012 so he says it should be fine as long as I lower the fluid level. He actually suggested towing in idle - anyone ever heard of that?
He told me the change they did was to install a block in the transmission to reduce a noise that occurs when starting and shifts from 1st to 2nd gear - I have never noticed it but some owners did and this is the fix. Sounds like the fix is causing the overheating when towed.
Anyway I feel better about this now and will get my tow bars installed and test it out this summer.
Pat
|
|
|
