Just got a 2006 Ford Escape for $200, Trying to make it a daily driver for cheap

Yeah, if I just had a way of playing MP3’s on the stock deck I would not even bother with it.

Fact is though that CD’s are dead (won’t even play an MP3 CD I think which I considered) and the radio has too many commercials.

Apparently there used to be an adapter that would add an AUX input to the stock head unit but it costs $120 and is not made anymore.

What is the exact model of the head unit? I’m curious about that adapter. Since ultimately, it ends up having to connect to SOME kind of input on the stock head, perhaps there’s a workaround for the adapter thing.

That’s just it, people’ll check/replace the plugs, but keep the same wires on the engine forever. They leak, crack, corrode, degrade, and let those little electrons leak all over the garage floor.

“They’re wires… who has to replace wires??” :person_facepalming:

And yeah, tell me about vacuum leaks… Had one so bad that the #1 plug was completely fouled, and #2 was going, and this was on a high-strung 4-banger. Fooled the ECU into thinking it was running too lean, so it ended up dumping so much fuel down the pipe that of course it was getting fouled.

That should show up, though. Lousy mileage, missing, running rough, etc.

Not sure on the exact model, it is the stock unit without the 6-cd changer is about all I could find.

It has a sat and aux input button but it just says “not installed” when pressed. Apparently it was a factory option and there is an input on the back for them on some models but not all. Also they appear to be proprietary in some way since the adapter box to use them was so expensive.

Yeah, most cars now days use a COP (coil on plug) setup that removes the wires from the equation but I have run into plenty of issues with wires over the years as well. I generally spring for the higher end wires and have rarely had them fail unless I melted them or something.

I mostly second pennzy’s suggestion of spraying it with a diesel/oil mix.
However, you should splurge and buy a fresh quart of oil for making your mix. Used motor oil will make your vehicle smell nasty. And I would also suggest using a scraper to remove the loose rust before you oil it. If not, the oil will not get where you need it most.

Bungee ...das legal .Is it a red bungee ? that may make it's illegals.

Nah... rust is a hole . red just means primer .

non no no you can't have a stock radio in your ride .it must go bump bump bump at the light and maybe even some bouncy in the shocks .

The cheapest way to deal with the rust is just to turn up the tunes really loud and all the vibration will loosen up the rust and leave it at the stoplight .

Good points, I guess I will grab some more of that discount oil from pepboys.

Yeah, I figured I would try to get the big rust off before spraying it. Does pressure washing the underside do the trick or does it need elbow grease?

No idea if it is legal, just how it came. Gonna pull the bumper off entirely and take a look at the damage in the next few days anyways. I once drove a car with no front bumper at all for almost a year, gonna guess it is not a big deal around here.

I think you are right, I need to drop some 15’s in the back and my rust problems will loosen themselves lol.

It won’t hurt to try the pressure washer, but I bet you have rust in places that long wand won’t aim at.

Step 1: make sure it has a clean title and isn’t stolen :question:

A lot of places these days are able to do keys. The requirements vary depending on what kind of hardware/software the place has, but often a place like a (participating) Batteries Plus, some hardware stores, some locksmiths, etc. Usually the dealer is the most expensive place to go, but also the only one guaranteed to get it right.

Yeah, it seems walmart can clone the keys but they are $60 each.

If on the other hand I have the dealer program 1 more key, I can then make as many as I want as home. Since I need to program 2 keys getting one from the dealer seems like a better option depending on the exact price.

Anyone know if the 2.3L in the escape is prone to rear main seal leaks?

I topped off the oil when I got it but it has proceeded to loose 1 quart and then stopped loosing oil.

I am hoping it is something else but sounds like a rear main seal to me since the oil is coming from that location as well.

If the main seal does need to be done, how hard is it on this car?

:open_mouth:

I don’t envy your purchase anymore. :disappointed:

lol, I was actually checking the oil today and it was not as low as I thought (It was on a slight incline last time and had a larger effect then I figured it would). Looks like only 1/2 a quart low. I topped it off again and going to see how it goes this time.

Think I might try one of those oil leak sealers, normally I would never touch them but for this car I am willing to take the risk.

I have some seafoam in the crankcase now (also could be causing the oil leak to be worse), going to change the oil in a day or 2 with some cheap oil. Then drive it for a take of gas with some marvel mystery oil and seafoam in the oil again. Then change the oil to some good oil. This is my normal procedure for any new to me car.

I have had great results, combined with a water / seafoam treatment through the intake I got my 4runner from ~100-120psi IIRC compression on all cyclinders up to ~200 across all of them. It was night and day when I did that in performance and how well it ran. Actually had to reset the ECU to let it relearn the tune since it was so far off from the bad compression.

I also did the fuel filter a little bit ago, first time really up under the car and have to say, the rust is not nearly as bad as I thought. Seems the rust is primarily on the wheel wells and door sills (which is all I could really see before). Under the car the body is mostly fine and the frame is just surface rust.

I will try to get some pictures later to get some northern’s opinions on the rust. Going to go give it a bath right now.

The coil on plug on all fords of that Era were prone to going bad, and when they do they will fail to illuminate the check engine light. This would be a studderomg going up hill on moderate throttle @ 2500rpm though.

If check engine light is on, scan it for the problem.

Check for vacuum leaks with carb cleaner, possible jammed catalytic converter for bad power down low

Heh, a new cat would definitely cost more than the car.

Yeah, the COP going bad is a possible issue, the work order that was in the glove box says that they checked this and replaced the #3 coil about 5k miles ago. So at least one of them died recently. Just surprised that another might be bad in the last 5k miles.

I plan to check for vacuum leaks in the next day or 2. Hopefully that is the issue.

It is strange, it runs perfectly above 3k rpm, decent power and basically as expected but it can hardly get out of it’s own way below 2500rpm. Like it is constantly downshifting on the highway just to maintain speed.

No misses or stuttering to speak of, if I really pay attention I can feel the slightest hint of some surging as it pulls through the RPM band but that seems better now after the first seafoam / water treatment.

The only lights are the ABS, 4WD and airbad, the engine light is the only one not lit up lol. I do plan to check for codes tomorrow though.

The replacement window showed up today so I spent my morning installing that before work along with some other minor things.