This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Steering assist fault - service required message showed up during a road trip approx 325 miles away from home on startup after a rest stop. Steering was almost impossible. Fault cleared after restarting car several times, and steering performance was back to normal. Continued home, while stopping the car for fuel once and turning off and back on the engine, with no fault. Upon arriving home, fault appeared next time on vehicle startup. Fault does not clear anymore. Steering is very difficult.
When starting the car an alert popped up stating "steering assist failure". the steering was virtually impossible to move. Turning off the ignition and restarting the message cleared. The car has only 27100 miles. Ford states that the steering gear has failed. If this had happened while moving it could have been serious
Vehicle had just been driving, I stopped, turned car off, and after 5 minutes turned car back on. When the car was turned on, car was stationary and a memo flashed on dashboard indicating 'automatic steering failure'. after putting the car in reverse I noted the vehicle steering wheel was locked and wouldn't move out of its stationary position. Car was towed to Ford dealership. Mechanic indicated that the automatic power steering rack failed and needed to be replaced.
When driving on the expressway at nearly 70 mph the steering wheel suddenly turned to the right and was very hard to turnback to the left. Could have caused an accident.
When driving on the expressway at nearly 70 mph the steering wheel suddenly turned to the right and was very hard to turnback to the left. Could have caused an accident.
- Carleton, MI, USA
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When driving on expressway at nearly 70 mph the steering wheel suddenly turned to the right and was very hard to turn to the left. Could have caused an accident.
The car has only 36,400 miles and the steering sensor is coming on and when dose it makes the car harder to steer. You have to restart the car to reset the power steering sensor. It seems to happen about every day now.
3 times this last three days I've gotten a steering assist fault after starting vechile.first time steering was difficult for only a very short period.2nd and 3rd times I had to stop and restart vechile then it was ok.all three times where from startup.
I had the vehicle park at work and when I start the car the information center from the vehicle announced that the power steering it needs repair. The vehicle is only 18 months old and the power steering is gone.
2nd reference to 11032043, roberts Ford could not find any faults in the ECU, only showed a sensor error. Was driving the SUV on 10/15/17 at 1215hrs when I turned a 22 deg turn at 15mph and steering wheel locked up, went though a ditch, missed a tree and finally stopped 7 ft from someone's home. #fordmotors not very happy, 25 years of Ford products and all I get is, we will look into it. Oh, woke up this morning, turned the car on, guess what, no power steering.
In the last month I have had a fault code, steering assist failure. 4 times in my driveway upon start up, almost drove off driveway down 20 foot creek. One of them while traveling from a 55mph state route trying to turn right, slowed to below 20 mph and tried to turn wheel. The steering wheel did not turn, I traveled across two lanes of traffic and onto a gravel entrance for tractors into the field. I had to lock the brakes up and slid into the corn field. Once stopped, I turned the Escape off and let it sit for 10 minutes, restarted the Escape and backed out onto the road safely. I am at roberts Ford in alton, il. The code is not showing, (so says the service writer, so Ford is not willing to repair. The date below is the last time in which this has happen. Safety before production, must be they don't care about my family or the public. Time for social media.
2016 Ford Escape with 5770 miles. Started car and had steering assist fault. No power steering. Had to be towed to dealer. They replaced the steering unit due to a steering control unit failure. If it would have happened while driving I probably would have been involved in an accident as it was near impossible to turn the steering wheel. Repair covered by warranty. Vehicle was stationary at the time of failure.
Power steering gear failed causing car to loose power steering. Car was being backed out of a parking space when this happened. Pulled the car over. Turned the car off and waited 2 minutes. Turned car back on and power steering was back on. Drove to dealer without any further issue. They replaced steering gear.
In July, , 2016 the "steering assist fault" sensor light came on as I was backing out of driveway. I was unable to turn wheel. The car was towed to dealership where purchased where they found a "faulty steering rack" that, I assume was repaired. Today, March 8, 2017 I was parking the vehicle in town and the "steering assist fault" sensor light came on again. I was unable to turn the wheel. It was, again, towed to the same dealership. Luckily, both times I was not in traffic but on a side street. If this had happened while on a highway or a major road things may have turned out differently and could have been life-threatening.
Vehicle pulls to the right when accelerating from a full stop on paved highway. Vehicle also pulls to right during lower gear shifts under moderate acceleration on paved highway.
The 2016 Ford Escape did not have this problem when I first bought it, I checked for it. It now has approximately 15,000 miles has developed what I would call torque steer. It pulls to the right upon fairly hard or sudden acceleration from a stopped position. My authorized Ford dealer says it is normal for the vehicle to do this and claim there is no problem and no repairs needed.
While driving down the interstate at 70 mph my vehicle died. No power steering. Very dangerous. The screen said 'engine fault'. managed to get to the shoulder and it restarted right away. Drove a little further, same thing. Managed to get it home but it did this 4 times over the course of the weekend. It is at the shop today but there are no lights on now so I don't know if they will be able to find the problem.
In follow up to my original complaint number 10885168, steering assist malfunction while operating on the Massachusetts turnpike, which resulted in a loss of power steering, the dealership confirmed the vehicle needs a new steering rack at 2500 miles.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wyoming, MI, USA