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.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 65 mph, the steering ability seized and went from power steering to manual steering. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact pulled over to the shoulder, turned the vehicle off, unhooked the battery to reset the computer, and the vehicle restarted normally. The contact also stated that the failure occurred twice. The vehicle was driven to crown Ford (256 swain St, fayetteville, nc 28303) where it was diagnosed that the front end power steering needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 220,000.
The steering locked up while my husband was traveling on the highway. He had to break hard to avoid crashing into a jersey barrier. The steering unlocked in the nick of time. Since then the steering intermittently freezes causing him to manipulate the steering sharply to the right then back to left. We brought the truck to Ford and was quoted $1700 for a new steering rack. This should be recalled as there is not preventative maintenance that can be done to prevent this.
I was on a two lane residential road. It had been raining and the street was still damp. The speed limit is 35 mph. I was slowing to make a left turn, when the power steering went completely out. I barely missed hitting 3 telegram poles which are located at the intersection. The power steering assist failure blinked on and off so quickly I am still not sure if I read it correctly. I was also too busy trying to correct the vehicle out of the on-coming traffic. I was turning off the 2 lane road onto a residential street in a residential neighborhood, that normally has cars parked and intermittent vehicular traffic. I was scared to death. I am grateful that I was slowing for the turn and more grateful that there was no on-coming traffic. This happened without any warning and it took me approximately 15-20 minutes to make it home (which is less than a half of a mile). The power steering was completely gone.
I was driving at 70mph on the freeway with my family in the truck. This section of the road is described as an "S" curve. While entering into the first curve the steering wheel became difficult to control. It was intermittently changing from stiff to soft and back to stiff. So at times I had to fight to hold the steering wheel in position, but fearing that if I turned it too hard it could reach a soft section of control and slam my family into the brick wall. This section of the highway is 3 lanes each direction, and this was during rush hour. With so many similar complaints, I don't understand why there has been no recall to address this potentially deadly problem. This time my family and I were lucky.
Intermittently the steering wheel will tighten at low speed in reverse. Steering assist fault appears on the dash. Nearly impossible to steer once this occurs. Happened pulling out of the driveway twice today in reverse.
- Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA
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I had just picked my son up from daycare and was turning off highway on way home and I lost power steering. Then service advanced trac and power steering assist fault was flashing on the cluster screen. And not even a year ago I just had the rack and pinion replaced on this truck.
Was turning left into walmart when steering went completely out. Very hard to turn, harder to turn than manual steering. Pulled into parking lot turned off vehicle to inspect. When trying to turn after restarting vehicle, vehicle made loud whining sound. Traction control light came on...then steering failure light came on...with in a few minutes whining completely stopped. Lights remain on when running. Steering completely out...no power assist what so ever
Steering binds when turning, both when going into a turn and returning to center (straight). Most noticeable on city streets. I must use extra arm strength in both maneuvers. Problem first noticed about 2 years ago. Has gotten progressively worse since.
While driving the truck on the city road I made a U- turn and the steering skipped. I drove it the next day on the city road and the steering got worse and the turn blinkers failed to come on. Then 2 days later, while parked, I attempted to back out of the drive way and the steering is completely gone and squeals insistently. The truck is equipped with a epas (electronic power assist steering) system which has failed. In doing research on line, there is a consistent problem with the epas system and I am sure I'm not the only complaint. If this is a known issue, then it should be addressed as soon as possible. My truck is now sitting in my driveway undrivable.
As I was leaving the parking lot and pulling into traffic the steering on my truck locked up and became extremely hard to move. Almost simultaneously the truck put a code up that said service power steering. After almost having a head on collision I pulled off to the side of the road shaking in terror as I was trying to figure out what could've possibly went wrong. With a little research I did and found out that there are other people that have had the same issue and the power steering rack and pinion module went out without warning. This is an immediate danger to any person that uses public roadways for themselves in other people they need to get this off the road immediately and recall this part.
Just after entering a highway, I noticed I had no power steering at all (with dash displaying "power steering assist fault"....had this happened just minutes earlier, I could have gone off a cliff. I pulled over and shut it off. I restarted truck and was able to drive it home at a very slow speed in case I lost P/S again. What the heck Ford!!
While backing out of the driveway, the vehicle lost power steering and warning came up on the view screen saying torque angle sensor fault. After pulling vehicle back into the driveway and turning off the key the system operated normally, except there was a lot of slack in the steering and some pulsing when steering at slow speed. I took the vehicle to Firestone to have it checked and was told I would have to have it checked at the dealership. On the way there, it lost power steering again while turning onto a back street. I shut off the vehicle and restarted it. This allowed me to drive it to the dealership. They put it in the shop and I was told that I would have to have the entire power steering unit replaced. The service advisor told me when I picked the vehicle up that it had malfunctioned on him while taking it into the shop.the part was around $1,600. With labor, alignment and taxes, it cost over $2,400 to get the vehicle back. I heard that the 2014 model vehicles had a recall for the same issue, but mine was not covered because it was a 2011 model.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. The contact stated that extra strength was required to turn the steering wheel. In addition, the steering seized a few times, which caused the contact to pull over. Once the vehicle was turned off and restarted, it operated normally; however, "power steering assist failure" appeared on the instrument panel. The contact scheduled a diagnostic appointment for May 29, 2019 with five star Ford richland hills (6618 ne loop 820, North richland hills, tx 76180, (817) 500-0096). The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 71,150. The VIN was invalid.
Steering is very erratic. Did not even know I had electric steering. From past experience it felt like I am low on power steering fluid. Went to add fluid and discovered there is no pump or hydraulics. Steering assist is very unreliable and drops out with out notice and impossible to steer with control especially when making turns in either direction. This is not safe.
My eaps (electric assisted power steering) seems to be acting up. The issue doesn't occur all the time but when it does its hard to turn the wheel left or right then turn it back straight when making a turn. I have mechanical background and ran a diagnostic to see if was a sensor but nothing comes up. I also have viewed some online forms and it seems other people have the same issue. I will provide the link for a site that I found others talking about the same issue. I previously owned a 2010 Ford escape and I remember having a power steering recall with that. From my experience in the automotive field I know some vehicles have the same issue as others. No accidents have happened for me but to avoid them I thought I should report this in the event this is a recall. Https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/F-150/2011/steering/steering.shtml
The power steering failed, it is almost impossible to steer. This is a serious safety issue, and could easily result in a deadly accident. I am not finding a recall for this, although it is obvious that Ford has known about it for years. The dealership wants $2295 to repair it.
Steering sticks. When driving and changing lanes or turning on sharp curves, it feels as if the power steering briefly goes out. While trying to change lanes at a gas station this past weekend, steering briefly was stuck causing me to almost hit a neighboring vehicle. It appears carcomplaints.com has 320 complaints about the same issue. I did take it to a Ford dealership after a previous issue several months ago and they confirmed the issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fayetteville, NC, USA