Ford is asking owners of 2013 Escape crossovers with the optional 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine to stop driving their cars immediately so it can inspect and potentially replace a faulty fuel line.
The concern is that a line in the engine compartment may split and leak, resulting in the potential of a fire.
The affected cars were built up until July 11, 2012 and crossovers with the 2.0-liter and 2.5-liter engines are unaffected by this recall. Owners of qualifying cars are urged to contact their local dealer and not drive their cars. A dealer will send a rep with a loaner vehicle and transport the owner's Escape to the dealership to have the needed repair performed. The fix should take less than one hour to complete.
Ford will also stop all demo and test drives of 2013 Escapes with the 1.6-liter engine until the cars have the issue addressed. It's estimated that nearly 11,500 cars are affected, most of which were sold in the U.S.
Both the repair and loaner car will be free to the owner.
This is the second recall of the recently-introduced Escape in the last week; on Monday, the automaker
announced that it was calling back about 10,000 Escapes to correct a carpet glitch that could affect brake pedals.
