2002 Ford Escape won't start or stay running unless you are pressing on accelarator pedal

Computers rarely fail. The diagnostic would not show anything wrong unless a trouble code is set UNLESS the diagnostic used live data vieew. Most shops dont do that . So at what RPM does it not die? How many miles are on it? Ford uses something called an idle air speed motor. They are prone to fouling.

I would check fuel pressure. Also vaccum leaks could do that.

are there any codes. sound like a bad throthle position sensor or a idle air control valve

Sounds like a air control sensor which is located on the air in take pipe in between the air cleaner and throttle housing , easy to replace .

bad slave cyclinder

I have a 2001 ford escape 2.0L and i was having trouble of it turning over when the car was warm. If it was a cold start it would start right up. If i drove for a while then turned it off, it wouldnt start back up unless i let it sit for an hr or 2. But once started it would run fine

SOLUTION: I changed the fuel injectors $120 for parts. And now all the hot starting problems went away.

Hope this helps

look behind your accel. pedal if there is a wire harness there check to make sure that it hasnt come out or is not plugged all the way in. if it is plugged in then you may need a new pedal. if it does not have a electronic pedal you may need a new ecm . if you can have someone plug it in to a diagnostic and this will tell you for sure.

I have the same problem with my 2001 escape V6. there is a really cheap temporaly fix....actually it could be permanent and will never damage your vehicule. When u open the hood there is a plastic guard with the ford logo and engine size that is held in place with 3 bolts, 1 on the left 2 on the rigth. Unscrew these and the guarding comes off. Once this remove you will see the accelarator pedal cable hook to the throttle. U can rock the throttle manually to give more gaz when your motor is running. At the bottom of the throttle there is a small screw that is not touching to anything, if u screw it a couple of turn it will start pushing on the throttle and stop your vehicule from stalling. Adjust this screw until your RPM indicator on your dash board is at around 600 rpm wich is the normal idle speed of your motor when functionning normaly. The real problem is an air intake valve that is defective (150$) because it open when the vehicule starts but shut because defective causing your engine to stall because no air for combustion....By forcing the screw on the throttle the valve cannot shut down and that is why your vehicule wont stall........It takes a full 5 minutes to do the mechanical screw fix...And I drove one year on it before replacing the valve........good luck from a friendly canadian........

Mass air flow sensor or Manifold absolute pressure sensor are two sensors which are interconnected with the EGR valve and both will affect engine performance, in particular the idle.
I don't know which of these sensors the ford escape has , but I would check it out.

Did you replace the spark plugs? Did you do a tune up?
The gas may have condensation water if you didn't keep the tank full in cold weather. Try this and possibly add a cleaning agent for the clogged lines.