CarComplaints.com Notes: Power steering problems started rearing their ugly head in the 2010 Fusion, so you'd think Ford had plenty of time to make sure those problems didn't creep into the 2012. But here we are.
And much like the power steering, we’re still seeing the same throttle body failures that started in 2010 continue in 2012.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
45 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
13 / 1
Average Mileage:
69,923 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
Traveling 65 mph on highway and "power steering assist fault" "service advancetrac" warning displayed (occurred on 4/26/14) lost power steering and almost caused an accident trying to navigate to safe area to pull over. When this steering goes out it is not like having manual steering in the old days. It is 10 times harder to move the wheel...essentially no steering. Happened again on 4/27/2014 driving 45 mph. Turned car off and on in both instances and warning disappeared. Scheduled an appointment immediately for service at a local Ford dealer for 5/2/2014. In transit to dealer on the evening of 5/1/2014 was on a local highway traveling 55 mph and lost steering again. I went online and was surprised to see hundreds of these claims. There a too many claims to count on Fusion and Focus with this same diagnostic messages. Dealers are aware this is occurring and one acknowledged it might be a design problem. People are paying allot of cash out of pocket with no guaranteed it will not fail again (ie a design problem and replacing parts with a faulty part again).
This part should be recalled, happened once in my drive-way thought it was just a glitch, , what happens is you loose your power steering all of a sudden, was going 65 when I had no power steering. Power steering assist lamp came on, had to pull over. Had that happen in a turn with no warning, , I'd have crashed the car, or worse.. took it to the dealer, they want $1,800 to fix it, have only had the car for 6 months, , very upset, now I cant trust driving the car, just got put on disability for 45 days making payment on a car I cant put my kids in, , I want to see something done about this, , I'll wait a few days for your reply, after that, ,,, ill be forced to take other action on this, ,
I was just driving home when the alert came on reading service advancetrac/ service power steering now. I then had no power steering at all. I have tried turning the car off and back on. Nothing has helped I still have no power steering.
Total loss of power steering while car was in motion, thankfully at low speed. Dash warning read as follows: Service advancetrack power steering assist fault system reset itself after car was turned off then back on, but failed again (same error message) upon arrival at my home.
- Nashville, TN, USA
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When backing up and turning steering wheel fully to the right there is a rubbing or grinding sound from the pass. Side right front tire area and the steering wheel seems to lock.
I was slowing doen and making a sharp right turn when suddenly my steering wheel got real stiff. I had two messages flashing "power steering assist fail" and "service autotrac". I have taken it to the dealership and they're charging me $2,500 to change the steering rack and 2 outer rods. My car has 37,500 miles this is not normal.
Driving straight and steady 45mph on surface street, no traffic, no braking or lane change. Suddenly chimes sounded, "service advanced trac" in message center and yellow advance trac idiot light on. In about 20 seconds chimes, message and light go off and message text returns to real time mpg reading. Continued driving home without shutting engine off or any further warnings/incident. Took to dealer 7am next morning (4/3/2014) at 15753 miles. At end of day service advisor said test code showed bad "torque sensor" which is in the steering column and measures turning effort on the steering wheel and that they needed to keep vehicle overnight. 1130am next morning (4/4/2014) spoke to service advisor. He said car fixed by changing the rack and pinion gear assembly w/electric steering motor (Ford part number: Ae5Z-3504-ce). Before and during incident I never noticed anything wrong with steering or braking--just the warnings. Vehicle repaired under warranty.
All four tires had to replaced by me after only 12,000 miles. Two of the tires blew out. Power steering failure occurred while I was driving. Service advancetrac is also no longer working. I have tried taking my care to a Ford dealership but they refused to fix anything. They told me the tires were my fault, and I told them either they think I am stupid or they were not the sharpest tool in the shed if they think I believe any of these issues were my fault. I called Ford and they were no help. They told me it is up to the dealership if they decide to fix anything because the dealership is not owned by Ford. I currently have less than 20,000 miles on this car and I bought it brand new. Ford is a horrible company and does not honor their warranty. The dealership I took it to was park place motorcars in dallas tx. They have been several other problems with this car but if this was honored by Ford I will take it. No way I ever buy another Ford.
I was driving this morning and my low tire pressure signal flashed. I went to put air in the tire and the tire was completely flat! I had spare put on and this is when the "service power steering now" warning came on as well as the service advance traction control light came on.
I noticed a service power steering warning light come on. I shut the vehicle off and upon restarting it I had absolutely no power steering. Luckily I was no longer driving. This is a dangerous situation and a dangerous safety defect in equipment. I would not consider this to be normal wear and tear on a two year old vehicle. I learned several complaints have been made about this defect with similar dangers. I'm wondering what has been done to rectify the problem" am I fixing the problem using the same type of parts I had" with no change this could happen again in a two year period. This is not a small or inexpensive mechanical job. I strongly recommend looking into this situation for recall. What needs to happen for a recall to be granted....a fatality... I hope not.
While driving the vehicle the service power steering notification came up on the dash. Car was still drivable with no loss of power steering. Car was shutdown once arrived at destination. When restarting car the service power steering now was displayed. Car was placed in to drive, no power steering was identified in addition to service advancetrac was displayed.
Powers steering stop function when I was driving on wet condition regular street, lucky no injury but very unpleasant, waiting to see how many die before recall happens?
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated as the power steering system malfunctioned. The contact stated that the vehicle became difficult to maneuver due to the steering. The contact did not take the vehicle to a dealer or a local mechanic. The failure mileage was 60,100.
Was pulling off from a stop sign at a normal takeoff. Advancetrac warning light and service power steering now warning came on. Tried to do the reset that I found online. Nothing fixed it. Had to drive home 90 miles with no power steering. Will take to dealer in the morning. I've had the car 4 days and it was bought as a certified used vehicle.
I was turning onto the street at about 25 mph and as I approached my home, the advance trac system light came on and then the service power steering now light came on. Steering wheel locked up as I tried to turn into the driveway and I ran over the cable box on the curb because it was hard to turn at that point. Prior to this incident, there were problems with air pressure in the tires at least three times. Light continually came on indicating low tire pressure. Car was purchased on November 2, 2013. Dealership offered the extended warranty, we signed papers for it. When it came time to use it, the warranty was not there. We didn't sign any cancellation papers for it. Now we have to deal with a bogus dealership/finance company and pay for a part that may or may not be needed.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while traveling various speeds, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who stated the rack and pinion failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN were not available.
Driving around 30mph, warning light and information display indicated "service advancetrac" then "service power steering now" message appeared. I pulled off road to parking lot, smelled a burning scent in the heat/ac vents. Power steering was disabled as soon as I was able to park my vehicle. No damage to my vehicle prior to incident.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Phoenix, AZ, USA