By Bernie Woodall

(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co told owners of the best-selling SUV in the United States on Thursday to stop driving 2013 model Ford Escape with 1.6-liter engines immediately due to the risk of an engine fire.

Ford recalled about 11,500 new 2013 model Ford Escape SUVs with 1.6-liter engines, of which about 4,800 were sold to customers in the U.S. and Canadian markets, the company said. Most of the rest are on dealer lots.

Only Ford Escape with 1.6-liter engines sold in the U.S. and Canadian markets are affected by the recall and fire risk, Ford said.

It is extremely rare for an automaker to warn drivers to stop driving their vehicles immediately.

Ford is telling owners to contact their local Ford dealers immediately so that loaner vehicles can be delivered and their Escapes picked up to be taken to the dealerships for repair.

Ford said an under-the-hood fire could happen due to an engine compartment fuel line that could split and leak fuel.

Marcey Zwiebel, Ford spokeswoman, said that if consumers quickly contact their dealers, replacement of the fuel line in all of the affected Escapes can be repaired within two weeks.

"It's a liability thing on their part," said Aaron Bragman of IHS Global Insight. "They don't want people driving it if its happened when they were just shuttling them at the plant."

Bragman referred to the fact that of the three incidents of under-the-hood fires reported by Ford, two occurred at the production plant as they were being shuttled from assembly line to a parking lot to await shipment.

Zwiebel said that Ford is hopeful that consumers will see this as an issue that the automaker fixed quickly and alerted them in a timely fashion.

"This is not a routine action that we are taking but we do believe it is appropriate in these circumstances," said Zwiebel.

Zwiebel said there have been no injuries reported, and that one of the fires was reported in an Escape in consumer hands, near Toronto.

Of the 11,500 recalled Escapes, 9,300 are in the United States and the remainder in Canada, Zwiebel said.

It was the second recall for the 2013 Ford Escape this month. Earlier, Ford recalled 8,266 Escape due to improper positioning of carpet that may reduce clearance for the brake pedal.

In 2011, the Escape, a small SUV, was the best-selling sports utility vehicle in the U.S. market when 254,300 were sold. But none of those are affected by the fuel line issue.

Also not affected by the fire risk recall and stop driving recommendation are 2013 model Escapes with 2.0- and 2.5-liter engines. Continued...