Possible that my Ford Escape only acts up in bad weather?

I swear this is not my imagination, and I find it difficult to chalk it up to coincidence.
I have a 2004 Escape, which I just bought five months ago. Looks like it’s been well taken care of, runs fine, etc. It seems to use or burn a little oil but not too much. It has about 160K on it.
It ran like a charm until the very first really nasty, icy, blizzardy day. Then it acted up–coughed and sputtered, acted like the gas pedal wasn’t getting the message across, etc. I left it at the garage and went back the next day. The Guy told me everything seemed fine and he didn’t have a bit of trouble with it, and the only thing the computer told him was that the anti-theft system had been triggered at some point. (I will have to take it to a diagnostics place for a more concise check of the computer.)
Long story short: It runs fine most of the time, even though the check engine light is on sometimes. It doesn’t always act up when the weather is ugly, but EVERY time it has acted up, it has been freezing rain and windy conditions. At those times, the check engine light flashes and it sputters and coughs (never as bad as that first time, though). It will run like that for a while (20-30 minutes) and then shape up and all will be fine.
It has never coughed or sputtered on a day when the weather has been dry or clear.
This doesn’t even seem possible, but more mechanical minds may have some input, I hope. Thanks.

If you have a wiring or electrical connector that is less protected from moisture than it was intended to be by the designers, it might make sense.

And maybe the engine heat eventually dries it out enough to resolve the problem temporarily…that makes sense to me too.

Right.
This might be ugly to troubleshoot.
If I was comfortable with the ethics of trading the car in while it was in this condition, I’d find it financially wise to just trade it in.

This is a classic symptom of bad spark plug wires / distributor / ignition coil.

A blizzard is a below 32F event. It shouldn’t involve wet engine parts. yes snow could blow past the radiator and get on plugs but I’m thinking along a different line. A temperature switch may stick or give a false reading to the computer. It could also be a number of other sensors that react badly to temperature. the same applies to wet conditions. plugs, sensors, wiring harness, catalytic converters… It sucks trying to pin these things down when they don’t throw a code.

you can test for water problems by squirting water on the engine to see if it’s the plug wires. You can also spray starting fluid around vacuum lines and listen for changes in rpm which would indicate a leak. be careful when doing this as starting fluids function is to ignite and burn.

It’s probably spark plugs or ignition coil, if there is a CEL a code saying as much should be stored.

I agree with Mr.Slant The Escape is kind of a shit car so you should trade it for a new one. Keep America Rolling!

At least I don’t have to worry if it’s really my imagination.
The Guy actually recommended (if the problem recurred) taking to a local diagnostics place as they would be able to get more accurate readings from the computer–the garage I was at doesn’t have specialized equipment. Or something like that, anyway. So maybe that’s worth pursuing, but first I may have them check the things beowulff mentioned.
This is all very good to know–thank you!
I can’t trade it in, I think–it’s paid for, so if necessary I’ll put some money into fixing it. Or just drive it in sunny weather. :slight_smile: This girl does NOT want a car payment!

A flashing check engine light means “repeated misfire.” A bad ignition coil or a cam/crank sensor flaking out could cause this.

A flashing check engine light means a misfire. The flashing is to get your attention to stop driving as soon as feasible to minimize the chance of ruining the catalytic converter.

It’s a virtual certainty you’re experiencing a misfire caused by moisture. Usually the symptom can be duplicated in the shop by spraying water on suspect components, as mentioned above.

I’m sitting here thinking that simply hearing the description of sputtering in wet weather should make this pretty easy for a pro to zero in on. Knowing the check engine was flashing should cinch it. You might be better served by a more competent shop.

I’ll have to disagree here. Our Escape hybrid which we’ve had for three years has been trouble-free, apart from a problem that cropped up early where when you applied the brakes, the car just before stopping would lurch slightly forward. Ford initially denied any problem (and sent out a form letter declaring this), except when we had a part replaced under warranty the problem magically disappeared.

The reason I mention this is that if a Ford repair shop can’t or won’t find the OP’s problem, I’d have the car checked out at a garage not connected to a Ford dealership.

A Ford with over 150,000 miles on it that misfires in the wet? Been there, done that. It’s one of your ignition coils.

Get it diagnosed on a computer, and ask them which cylinder is misfiring. It’s an easy job to swap in a new coil.

The Escape Hybrid is the best one to get, because the hybrid drivetrain is mostly made by Aisin (a Toyota subsidiary) and thus it avoids many of the transmission problems that the regular versions had with the Ford transmission. The fuel economy’s not bad either.

You REALLY need to find another garage.
If the check enging light (CEL) was on, there is a code in the computer that tells why. The code stays in there until it’s specifically cleared.
A garage that doesn’t have a ‘code reader’ (the generic name for the device) simply isn’t a competent garage. Most auto parts stores loan or rent them out - and most codes can be found on the internet.
I had a similar issue with my car just a cpl months ago - when the weather here got cold… The thermostat wasn’t working right, causing the engine to take longer than it should to warm up. The computer went into a ‘low-power safety mode’ until the engine warmed. Does that sound familiar?
BTW; the computer also said I had a misfire and it turned out to be a sparkplug.

I second those who suggest a bad distributor cap, rotor, and/or spark plug wires. Could also be a problem with the coil. At the least clean off the top of the coil so that a spark can’t jump.

Another possibility is a bad mass airflow sensor. It’s basically just a heated wire in the air intake. It judges how cold the incoming air is and adjusts the fuel mixture as needed. If it’s reading wrong, the incoming cold air might be causing too much or too little gas to be injected into the combustion chamber.

Back in the day, carburetors could ice up once the temps got a little above freezing and the air was moist such as rain or snow. The air intake would draw air from around the exhaust manifold to keep the air warm and not freeze. Modern fuel injected engines aren’t as susceptible to this and often don’t need the warm air, but check the intake duct work to see if any is missing or altered such as some fancy air filter kit.

Oh! Your car does warm up properly and the temp gauge in the instrument panel is reading about half way? If not the thermostat or something in the cooling system might not be working properly to allow the engine to warm up.

Distributor? What’s that?

No such thing on a 2004 Escape; it’s coil-on-plug.

About ten years ago, a young guy that I worked with offered to assist me in tuning up my boat, because it had been running poorly. He was bragging that he knew quite a bit about engines. I thanked him but said that I thought the problems would be resolved with just new spark plugs and new points.

His reaction was “Points? I don’t know that term.”

Cracked me up.

I have a friend with a similar problem, her mechanic/friend temporarily unplugged the PCV valve and it runs fine. So that’s something that can be tried for troubleshooting. Her 2003 Escape tends to get get carbon buildup in the intake, which leads to rough running. I’ve cleaned it several times for her.

Everytime you fill up your blinker fluid, you earn 7 OEM points!