I have a 2014 Escape Titanium with only 70,000 miles. It's never had any problems at all. Now, it has a grinding noise and/or slipping in the right front axle. It's only when accelerating and it goes away after you've driven for 20 miles or so. It's hard to tell whether it's actually slipping, but it sure looks like the tach is too high. Forums say a bad CV joint will make popping sounds but that is not happening here. Could this be the CV joint or maybe the transmission?

 

Can you check if the trans fluid smells overheated or burnt?

 

Yes, it is. Badly. I assume it's supposed to be red. It's black and smells burned. (I cleaned off the oil dipstick and stuck it into the fill port.)
I also noticed the brake discs were very hot, though I didn't compare the front to the back.

 

When the trans is slipping internally, it is generating heat which is an automatic's worst enemy. A rebuild is close up the road. Waiting , could include a towing fee.

 

Well, that's bad news. But thank you for the advice. I appreciate it.

 

Update - a transmission guy noted that the tranny is on the driver's side in this car and said the fluid on ALL of them seems burned. Given that the noise is on the passenger side, I dug deeper and found posts that suggested the problem was the passenger side motor mount. Sure enough, that was it! Fixed for under $500. I don't know exactly what was scraping, but it stopped.

 

Thanks for the update.