Ford Escape Recall Issued Due to Sudden Power Steering Loss

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Russell Maas

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Ford Motor Company is voluntarily recalling about 1.4 million vehicles for a variety of reasons, with the largest recalls impacting Ford Escape and Explorer SUVs that have been linked to reports of at least 20 accidents that may have been caused by loss of power steering and faulty torque sensors.  

The Ford Escape and Explorer recall was issued in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on May 29, following reports indicating 15 low-speed accidents associated with loss of power steering and five crashes associated with the faulty torque sensors. Several injuries have been reported in connection the accidents.

That recall includes roughly 915,200 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariners models from the 2008 to 2011 model years and about 195,500 Ford Explorers. The Escape and Mariner models are being recalled due to the faulty torque sensors and potentially affected steering columns, whereas the Explorer models are being recalled for a safety defect concerning the electrical connection causing loss of power steering while driving.

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Ford spokeswoman Kellie Felker indicates that the recalled SUV’s will either need to have their software updated or steering gear replaced. The vehicles were manufactured at Fords Kansas City plant and were primarily distributed to Ford dealers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In addition to the SUV recalls, Ford is also recalling 196,639 Taurus cars from the 2010-2014 model years that were sold in cold weather areas, due to faulty license-plate lamp assemblies that may corrode and cause short circuits. To date, Ford has received eighteen reports of fires and one injury report.

In another separate action, Ford is also recalling roughly 82,500 Ford Fusions, Mercury, Milan, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ models from 2006 to 2011 to replace the floor mats which may become stuck under the accelerator pedal posing a crash hazard. Overall, the company recalled about 1.4 million vehicles in one day.

Ford owners will be notified of the recall procedure by mailed notice including instructions on locating a local Ford dealer for service and repair.

Photo Courtesy of noelweathers / C.C. by 2.0

Written by: Russell Maas

Managing Editor & Senior Legal Journalist

Russell Maas is a paralegal and the Managing Editor of AboutLawsuits.com, where he has reported on mass tort litigation, medical recalls, and consumer safety issues since 2010. He brings legal experience from one of the nation’s leading personal injury law firms and oversees the site’s editorial strategy, including SEO and content development.

Tags: Auto Accident, Ford, Ford Escape, Ford Recall, Steering
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79 Comments

Debbie
Isnt this disgusting! Inheritered a 2011 ford escape with only 22,000 miles and driving on the freeway the power steering made a click sound and went out. I too have to get a new steering column installed to the tune of 1800.00. Unbelievable.
Eve
Same problem, my vin is ‘not eligible’ but torque sensor needs to be replaced. Purchased at dealership. Have continued service at dealership. No discount offered.
Nick
same bull@#*t different sucker. 2008 escape 115k. steering wheel shakes when in park. had my wife and lil girl in the car when power steering went out…. First Ford and Last Ford
TERRENCE
We have a 2013 Ford Escape and we too have lost power steering. Ford is saying there is no recall for this steering module. Ford is requiring that the whole steering rack and pinion be replaced. We looked to fix it ourselves, but the part we need is only sold by Ford. I honestly don’t even want to put another Motorcraft part on it because it will likely go out again in another four years. I have come to learn that Ford no longer allows the sell of this aftermarket part because they want you to pay them 1,800.00 for the repair. This is a shady situation because Ford is producing a faulty part and taking advantage of customers by only allowing the part to be purchased from Ford, then charging an arm and a leg for the repair. I may just pay for the repair on my Ford Escape, and get rid of it and never purchase a Ford again because it seems like the are desperate for money.
Alveta
On oct 12, 2016 between 9a-10am, turned off a busy highway into McDonald for coffee. When I got back into my 2010 ford escape suv and started it up,I was unable to turn the steering wheel. A message appear POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULTY.I had it towed to a nearby car care center and they told me I needed to have it towed to ford dealership because it was a recall and the dealership would fix it.Well I did, and they didn’t fix it. There at the dealership, they told me that there were no recall.I checked the internet and it was a recall. They would not listen to me. I called the ford motor company and found out that a recall was done on my suv in july,2014 When I check my recalls papers,I found that I had taken it in 7/30/14 following a recall notice.I have so many recalls on this suv, cannot remember what they were for.At that time according to the work sheet, they reprogram the PSCM and the IC MODULE.I was given a claim number by the person I spoke with at ford motor company, she told me to give it to the sevice manager at the dealership,and the would take care of it.To make a long story short, they would not fix it,because already had one recall and i would have to pay for the repairs, and I did plus rental car. work order sheet read: replace Torque Sensor
Reid
2009 Ford Escape power steering went out. Ford said theres no recall and wants $1,500 to replace steering column. So how do you fight this.
Scott
2012 Ford Focus, 44,000 miles. Just lost the power steering with the same issues as everyone else. Dealer wants $1825.00 for new Rack & Pinon steering gear. Was told by dealer that they have never seen this issue with the Focus. This is a known issue with Ford Covering it up.
Shirley
I bought my 2009 Escape last year (used). Within 2 weeks I started having the power steering problem and I went through the channels to see if I could get Ford Motor Company to own up to and fix the problem that they knew about but to no avail. My vehicle is in the shop right now having a new power steering column installed to the tune of (so far) $1200. I am not happy!! And I worked for Ford for 14 years.!
S Lynn
My story is the same as many of the others. I have a 2009 Ford Escape, and I recently lost power steering (7/2016). I drove it to Ford later that day and the power steering had returned. They said I would have to bring it back when the problem was occurring for them to diagnose it. Luckily I cranked it in the parking lot and there was no power steering. They told me it was a problem that had a recall on it but they fixed it last year so I would have to pay now to have the steering column replace. I said it’s kind of fishy that it’s an exact problem with a recall yet now it’s not related. ? They response was that parts wear out. My car has less then 92k miles and I asked if it was common to replace steering columns. They said no. They kept beating around the bush. I’m fairly certain they knew they should have fixed their problem at no cost. It cost me $1100, plus the cost of a rental car bc they couldn’t get the part until the next day. With so many of the same complaints you would think Ford would admit it is a manufacturing defect…..a dangerous one…..that they would be willing to fix at no cost. I will not buy a Ford again.
Mike
I received a recall notice. Brought my 2008 escape in to ford dealership for repairs. They upgraded software 5 months later power steering went out when my wife was driving. We had the escape towed to the dealership. They told us it would be $1700 to replace the part they were suppose to replace.
Erin
I was turning right onto a road on Friday when my power steering froze up, spinning me into a fire hydrant. I have a 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid. I don’t recall ever receiving a recall notice (though it is possible it was received and tossed in with the junk mail by one of my roommates), but this whole situation and all that I am reading online makes me wonder. Sounds like Ford isn’t very helpful about this – the dealership never mentioned any potential issues to me at all. Did any of you ever get a lawyer?
Pete
Bought a used Escape 2011 last May 2015, with 101,000km on it. Not even a year later (April 2016),and only 12,000km added to the car, my power steering suddenly stopped working. Found 3 TSB’s and 1 recall all pertaining to PS issues for 2011 Escapes. When I called Ford Canada, they told me that these TSB’s and recall did not apply to my specific VIN. That it only applied to the models that were made in “Factory A” that year, and not the ones in “Factory B” which is where mine was made….. I brought my vehicle in to my Ford dealership, and left it overnight for diagnosis. 24 hours later, when I spoke to them, they told me the problem vanished, and they can’t seem to find anything wrong. They asked that I leave my vehicle overnight again, so that they can try to replicate the problem. They also did not seem to care that I had three TSB’s and 1 recall printed out to show them. They are hinting that I will have to most likely pay for any necessary repairs. Even though they told me that “Ford is very aware of the power steering problem and have had several cases of it”. Yet, they won’t take accountability for it??? Still waiting for news…….
Charles
$1,200.00 to replace steering. Ford will not help with the recall said it was already fixed with computer update. I am so disappointed and will never buy a Ford vehicle ever again.
kathy
Same issue on my 2009 ford escape. 5 months after the recall was done on my car.
Shelva
I’m having this problem right now and their charging me to fix the problem which I dnt think it’s fair to us when we all had the recalled done the wheel locked up on me when I was driving I wonder if we brought this to the dmv attention would something get done
Chris
I received the recall notice about a year ago. I went on the net and read complaint after complaint about people taking their car in to have it corrected and the steering goes out shortly after. In a lot of cases they had no problems until after the so called fix. I noticed Ford tried to use a code reset and that was a temporary band aid. After people took it back Ford told them that the recall was addressed so now they have to pay to fix again. This is a scam that Ford has came up with and it is very disappointing. I am a heavy equipment operator and there is a saying ”let it develop” then fix it. Well my 2008 Escape PS went out on my wife this morning. 11000 miles old and from what I have seen that is about the average time it goes out. It is at the dealer now. My dealer called me and told me that the code reset did not work so they have to order and replace the torque sensor. We will see.
Stephanie
I am currently having the same issue. Ford update software in power steering and now months later the torque sensor went out. An 800 dollar fix. Im sellijg my afford after this.
Martin
Same thing here. 2008 Ford Escape drove perfect before the recall, took it in to have it completed, 13 months later suddenly dropped out. Called ford and they told me they would document it for me, but that the recall work was warrantied for 12 months. Lucky for me it died 13 months after
William
I have had the exact same experience as well! The recall was closed and I had sudden power steering failure on the highway. The dealership said that since the problem had been “addressed” previously Ford is no longer liable for the repairs. Initially I have never taken the vehicle in for this issue, but numerous others of course….they also gave me the same standard run around with my other brand new f-150 and told me I didn’t qualify for the recall on a valve body replacement. They made me drive on it for 8000 miles before they would verify that it was performing horribly and damaging my transmission. So they replaced just the valve body and sent me on my way. All started at 1k miles. I am a very mellow mannered individual but I am disgusted with Ford and the culture of customer service they promote when it comes down to actually fixing errors. I have now purchases 2 new catastrophically failing ford vehicles. One now works luckily so my wife can drive me to work at 4am.
Misty
Same power steering problem on my 2008 escape amd ford wont fix. Posting on all compliant and attorney sites that that google brings up about this and also contacted my local channel 5 news
JOE
i own one , and i certainly don`t recommend, talking to Ford is like talking to a brick wall, after purchase, before they are like angels, after like devils .
Ed
2014 Ford Escape front right axel&tire came off while taking a left turn
Ron
Had the recall done 13 months ago with no prior problem on my personal vehicle. My same model and year work vehicle failed multiple times and had the whole steering column replaced right at the same time the recall occurred. I assumed that I was getting the same replacement. Personal vehicle was towed in yesterday after 2 failures in 2 days. Working on the estimate at this moment and was told my responsibility. Last 3 new vehicles were Ford. Will not be another one after seeing how everyone has been treated, including myself. Had recommended Ford my whole life. Have put a complaint into Ford and NHTSB as well. Cannot believe an additional recall has not occurred after reading this site and others about this issue. One gentlemen had posted all of the letters that he has written as well as to whom they were addressed. I may cut and paste and do the same if I can find them again. The more I read, the more upset I get.
Correna
I had the exact same issue as everyone else. My escape was fine , I took it in for the recall they updated the computer , bam a month later I had no steering! I phoned ford and they told me they were sorry but the recall was already closed…. it cost me over $1800.00 to repair . I sure hope ford corrects this …Will not buy another ford for this reason
Katie
I too am experiencing these same issues with my 2008 Escape. I was hoping to find comments of the issue being resolved with other owners, not the case. I more than likely will get rid of the car soon, I dony want to take the chance of a major accident.
Jason
I also email ford this same time last year before the recall. 5 months later I get a recall from ford in mail and I took it in. 3 months later I lost power steering the only difference than last year was it gave me a 10 second warning before power steering failed. This recall was a bandage fix and gave them a reason to close out recall and now wanting 1000$ to fix. I will never buy a Ford of any kind and will discouraged anyone else to do same because of the fact they put me and my family in danger of this bandage fix and not Standing up to this recall
Paul
I had the exact same experience. I received our recall notice for our 2008 Escape that our daughter drives back and forth to college. She had no codes and no problems with the power steering but we took it in to the dealership. I asked the dealership about how long to service the recall and was told it could be as short as a few minutes to a few days. I asked what the difference was. He said if it had a code they had to replace the whole steering column and if it did not, they only up loaded new software. We had no codes, so they uploaded new software. After a while, the steering column started to jerk so I took it back to the dealership. Still with no codes showing they erased and reloaded the software. The car was fine without issues for one week. Then the steering column started to really jerk. I took it back to the dealership and now we have a code. The dealership reached out to Ford to let them know the problem and they were informed that the recall had been closed on her Escape and the fix was now at our expense. The dealership confided in me that they had two other Escapes that did the same thing and Ford had the same response. This is a $1030.00 fix for a problem that did not exist before. I was told she could drive and it might not ever go out but I cannot take that chance. I think this is a much bigger issue and Ford is hiding from it. I am sending this out to see what awareness you could bring to this matter.
David
I had the exact same experience. My Escape was running fine, when my son took it into the dealer to addres the recall notice they did the software update. When my sone drove home the steering wheel was vibrating. He took the car back to school at Grand Valley State University and on the way home lost his power steering. He took it into a dealer near his school and they said this issue was already addressed with the recall and would not fix the problem (failed torque senor). I called Ford as well and was told the same thing they would not fix the problem. The software update was supposed to keep the power steering functional even if the torque sensor went bad and it didn’t. Obviously the software update doesn’t work and Ford will not own up to failed parts and software.
Joseph
I received the recall notice in the mail (14S05) effective July 25, 2014. I brought the vehicle into my Ford dealer to have the recall satisfied in August in which I believe consisted of a control module software update. Until this service we had had no problems with the Power Steering. Shortly after the service My daughter started having the problem with the power steering completely going out. Because she is a college student at the University of Central Florida, I located the closest Ford dealer to her location in Maitland, FL. I took it to them specifically to address the recall failure. The service manager said that the Recall had already been closed out and any additional work would be at regular charge. Then he said that the problem is with the steering column and it would need to be replaced. I told him that I would like to pick up the vehicle and either reschedule the repair or even have my daughter drive it to the original dealer for the work and to address the fact that the software patch did not resolve the problem. His comment was that “this is a very dangerous matter and would not advise anyone drive the vehicle”. I decided it was in our best interest to have the steering column replaced and to address the recall issue with Ford after the fact. Ford will not own up to the recall repair as documented. Yhey say once the recall is closed they will do nothing else. That is where we are today.
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