2001 Ford Escape, 3.0 V6. Well, that's not entirely true. The key won't come out of the ignition unless you disconnect the battery and wait for a while. Apparently some kind of anti-theft thing, but how that would work is beyond me. It forces you to leave the key in the ignition, which means anyone who wants to can steal the car. If this is really an anti-theft feature, is there a way to get the car out of anti-theft mode? I tried just leaving the car running for an hour so the computer would "relearn" its operating parameters, but that didn't do anything. For one thing, you can't drive the car. It idles, but put it in drive and press on the gas pedal and it bogs down and dies. Different problem addressed in a different thread.

Another symptom is that the gear indicator digital display (P R N D L) stays on even with the key turned to the off position (automatic transmission). I'm pretty sure it's supposed to turn itself off. That can run the battery down... Maybe that indicator comes on and stays on as long as there's a key in the ignition?? I can't tell if it would go off when you take the key out of the ignition because at this point I have to have the battery disconnected before I can get the key out, and of course the indicators go off when the battery is disconnected. Any help appreciated.
kjhansen