I don't know about an escort but if the set up is the same as a sierra then its probably just the earth on top of the tank rather than the sender itself. The earth gets all corroded and just needs cleaning up. My fuel gauge on my old xr4x4 never worked for years and I fixed it in about ten mins when I got around to it. On the sierra I think it was something like 3 bolts to drop the tank slightly to get to the connections on top of the sender. Hope this helps.