The contact owns a 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the steering wheel became loose and felt as if it might detach from the steering column. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred to the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V167000 (Steering) which was linked to the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

- Honea Path, SC, USA

Safety recall 15S14 - steering gear motor bolt failure. Ford issued recall 15S14 which impacted my vehicle. The press release states: "customers located in non-corrosion states or provinces will be covered by extended warranty if they experience similar concerns. Dealers will replace steering gear motor attachment bolts on customer vehicles with new bolts, seal them, and replace damaged steering gears at no cost to the customer." The Ford Motor Company technical service bulletin to dealers states for sold vehicles "dealers are to remove the original steering gear motor bolts, install revised bolts, and apply sealant to specified areas of the steering gear. If any of the original steering gear motor bolts are broken, missing or break during removal, dealers will replace the steering gear assembly. This service must be performed on affected vehicles at no charge to the vehicle owner." For new in-stock vehicles "dealers will apply either valugard rust inhibitor aerosol vg-101A or daubert nox rust 7703-w to specific locations on the steering gear. This procedure should only be performed on new in-stock vehicles because these vehicles have not had the potential to accumulate corrosion damage in the steering gear motors with time in service." Our vehicle was purchased new from the dealer and we're told they sealed the bolts prior to sale in compliance with this recall however the bolts failed at approximately 50K miles resulting in separation of the steering gear and loss of power steering, making it difficult to turn, especially at low speeds. Ford recall actions for new in-stock outlined in the tsb did not prevent the failure from occurring and did not align with their press statement. Their sealant was a patch solution which bought them time without addressing the root cause which was faulty bolts.

- Williston, VT, USA

Good afternoon, I want to bring this to your attention. I don't know if it's a problem with Ford or with me. So please bear with me. I just purchased the above vehicle about 3 weeks ago. It is brand new. This vehicle comes with a feature called "active park assist." It is new to me and have never owned a vehicle with this feature previously. Yesterday, I used it for the first time. I turned it on and let it parallel park for me. I followed the directions on the vehicle video screen and took my hands of the wheel. The vehicle then backed into the space and struck the car parked behind. Needless to say, I was stunned. The directions in Ford's manual are somewhat, at least from my perspective, unclear. On page 180, it says "the driver is responsible for avoiding hazards and maintaining a safe distance and speed, even when the system is in use." On page 182, the manual states "if your vehicle speed exceeds 6mph, the system switches off and you need to take full control of your vehicle." I'm still unclear as to whether the brakes are operated by the vehicle during parking assist or me. For now, I'm not using it. Thank you for looking at this. Regards,

- Milton, MA, USA