2018 Ford Escape

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering assist and the steering wheel became firm. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000.

Driving home after leaving car at my daughter's house. Very cold last night and it was left outside. Steering was a bit tight on the ride home. Then a light came on the dash...and the steering virtually locked up. Extremely hard to turn or maneuver. I am 6'3" and 260lbs..and had this been my wife driving who knows what would happened. Put it in garage this morning. Went out about 15 minutes ago...no change. Big red sign on the dash instrument panel reading "Steering loss. Stop safely". Major safety issue had some else been driving.

You may want to investigate this. I own a 2018 Ford Escape which I purchased new. Two week ago the left rear passenger window was broken out. As I was in Idaho at the time, and had to drive back to Washington State, I drove the car down the highway at 55 MPH with the sunroof open and all other windows closed. No problem. I then closed the sunroof and the car shook violently to the point I thought the back door might be ripped off. We seldom open the back windows so I never experienced this before but it could cause an accident.

COMING DOWN THE FREEWAY IN NEVADA, IT BEGAN TO FEEL LIKE WE RAN OVER SOMETHING IN THE ROAD OVER AND OVER. THERE WAS A SHAKING IN THE STEERING/WHEELS SO FELT LIKE IT KEEP HITTING BUMPS IN THE ROAD. IT PROGRESSIVELY GOT WORSE. WE FINALLY REALIZED THAT IT MAY BE THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM. WHEN IT WAS TURNED OFF, IT BEGAN TO CORRECT. BUT IT TURNED ITSELF BACK ON BY ITSELF.

VEHICLE STEERING STIFF AND DOES NOT UNLOCK AFTER STARTING. MUST WORK MOVING STEERING WHEEL FORCE ABLE TO UNLOCK TO DRIVE. ALSO MAKES NOISE WHEN DRIVING AND TURNING THE WHEEL. I THOUGHT IT WAS A LOW BATTERY TAKING/CONSERVING POWER; HOWEVER UPON TAKING TO FORD DEALERSHIP IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT MY RACK AND PINION NEEDS REPLACED. MY 2018 FORD ESCAPE HAS APPROXIMATELY 46,000 MILES AND IS OUT OF WARRANTY. THE FORD TECHNICIAN INDICATED THIS WAS AN UNUSUAL REPAIR DUE TO THEY USUALLY DON'T SEE THIS REPAIR ON VEHICLES THAT HAVE LOW MILEAGE AND IT'S ABOUT 100,000 MILES LESS THAN HE USUALLY SEES. IT IS A DRIVING HAZARD AND COULD HAVE WENT OUT COMPLETELY WHILE I WAS DRIVING. SO DISAPPOINTED AND FEEL THERE IS A DEFINITE FACTORY-PROBLEM. I BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE NEW.

I BOUGHT 2018 FORD ESCAPE WITH 6K MILES ON IT. AFTER ONE WEEK "STEERING ASSIST FAULT SERVICE REQUIRED" MESSAGE APPEARS AND GOES ON DISPLAY PANEL DURING START AND AFTER PUTTING IN DRIVE MODE. THE STEERING GET LOCKED. VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. BELOW DESCRIPTION FORM FORSCAN DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM: CODE: C102D - HIGH FRICTION INSIDE POWER STEERING STATUS: - DTC PRESENT AT TIME OF REQUEST - MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP IS ON FOR THIS DTC MODULE: POWER STEERING CONTROL MODULE FREEZE FRAME : -GLOBTIM: 32582214 SEC - GLOBAL REAL TIME -TOTDIST: 5950.0 KM - TOTAL DISTANCE -MOD_SUP_V: 12.25 VOLT - MODULE SUPPLY VOLTAGE -OUTTMP: 2 C - EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE FROM SENSOR -PWR_MODE_KEY: RUNNING - POWER MODE KEY STATE -PWR_MODE_QF: POWER MODE OK - POWER MODE QUALITY FACTOR -SSHFT_TQ_S2: -1.9 NM - STEERING SHAFT TORQUE SENSOR #2 -MOD_SUP_V: 12.40 VOLT - MODULE SUPPLY VOLTAGE -PSCM_INT_TEMP: 17 C - PSCM INTERNAL TEMPERATURE -VSS: 30.0 MIL/H - VEHICLE SPEED THIS PROBLEM APPLIES TO MANY OTHER CARS BELOW LINKS TO PAGES DESCRIBING THE PROBLEM: HTTPS://WWW.FORDESCAPE.ORG/THREADS/STEERING-ASSIST-FAULT.17578/PAGE-2#POST-979554 NOTICE: CAR IS ALLREADY EXPORTED TO EUROPE PROBLEM IS NOT SOLVED BY FORD THAT IS WHY I FILLED THIS FORM.

ON SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2019, OUR 2018 FORD ESCAPE LOST POWER STEERING WHILE TRAVELING 60 MPH ON INTERSTATE 5 NEAR SEATTLE. WE WERE ABLE TO PULL OFF THE INTERSTATE AND TURN THE VEHICLE OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS STILL UNDER ORIGINAL WARRANTY. AFTER RESTARTING THE VEHICLE, THE POWER STEERING FAILURE LIGHT TURNED OFF AND POWER STEERING WAS RESTORED. WE CONTACTED THE DEALER THE NEXT DAY AND THEY ADVISED IT WAS SAFE TO CONTINUE DRIVING THE VEHICLE UNTIL THEY COULD SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT - TEN DAYS LATER. THE DEALER CLAIMED IT FOUND NO CODES INDICATING A PROBLEM. ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2019, OUR ESCAPE LOST ALL POWER STEERING AGAIN WITHOUT ANY WARNING LIGHTS COMING ON. WE CANNOT RESTORE THE POWER STEERING BY TURNING THE VEHICLE OFF AND RESTARTING. THE VEHICLE IS. NOW AT THE DEALERSHIP, BUT THE DEALER AND FORD CUSTOMER SUPPORT HAVE BOTH SAID BECAUSE OUR MILEAGE IS NOW OVER THE ORIGINAL WARRANTY, THEY WILL NOT COVER THE REPAIRS NECESSARY TO CORRECT THE COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER STEERING.

2018 ESCAPE PURCHASED MARCH 2018. APRIL 2018 AFTER DRIVING ON HIGHWAY WHILE DECELERATING DOWN OFF RAMP THE FOLLOWING WARNING MESSAGES BEGAN FLASHING: HILL START ASSIST UNAVAILABLE, STEERING ASSIST NOT OPERATIONAL, AND 911 ASSIST NOT OPERATIONAL. THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES UNTIL DEALER WAS ABLE TO GET VEHICLE INTO SERVICE SCHEDULE. DURING MALFUNCTION VEHICLE WOULD BECOME HARD TO TURN. REPAIR ORDER OPENED 4-26-18 DURING DIAGNOSTIC 28 CODES WERE FOUND IN MEMORY. BCM REPLACED VEHICLE RETURNED ON 05-03-18. AUGUST 2018 SAME PROBLEMS STARTED AGAIN, IN ADDITION TO SEATBELT MINDER LIGHT ILLUMINATING WHILE ALL PASSENGERS WERE BUCKLED, AND AIRBAG LIGHT. VOICE COMMAND SYSTEM SPOKE PROCEED TO DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE IMMEDIATELY. REPAIR ORDER OPENED 2ND TIME 08-29-18. DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT UNABLE TO REPAIR VEHICLE IN TIMELY MANNER THROUGH SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. COMPLAINT TO FORD HEADQUARTERS CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT OPENED ON 10-18-18 AS VEHICLE WAS STILL NOT FULLY REPAIRED AT THAT TIME. VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO ME LATE OCTOBER, DEALER HAD VEHICLE IN SERVICE DEPARTMENT NEARLY 3 MONTHS. MULTIPLE POWER MODULES REPLACED, WIRE HARNESS REMOVED FROM VEHICLE AND MULTIPLE WIRE CAPS REPAIRED/REPLACED. JUNE 2019 SAME EXACT PROBLEMS STARTED AGAIN, SAME WARNING CODES AND LIGHTS AS THE FIRST FEW TIMES ONLY NOW THEY HAPPEN AT RANDOM. VEHICLE MILEAGE JUST OVER 13,000. THIS IS THE 3RD TIME IN 14 MONTHS THAT THE SAME ELECTRICAL ISSUES HAVE OCCURRED. CURRENTLY AWAITING SERVICE APPOINTMENT AT THIS TIME.

I WAS BEING TO ACCELERATE AFTER STOPPING AT A STOP SIGN, WHEN THE STEERING FROZE THEN VIOLENTLY TURNED TO THE RIGHT. WHEN THE STEERING TURNED TO THE RIGHT I INADVERTENTLY PRESSED ON THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL SPEEDING UP SLIGHTLY TO APPROXIMATELY 15 MPH. DURING THE SPLIT SECOND THAT THIS HAPPENED I WAS ABLE TO WRESTLE THE VEHICLE BACK TOWARDS THE ROAD BARELY MISSING A TELEPHONE POLE, BUT I DID STRIKE THE GUY WIRES THAT SUPPORT THE POLE. THIS CAUSED ABOUT $800 IN DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE AND NO DEFECT COULD BE FOUND BY THE SERVICE STATION. WHEN THE STEERING DID GO OUT IT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING TO STEER THAT I HAVE EVER DRIVEN INCLUDING OLD LARGE TRUCK WITH NO POWER STEERING.

I WAS DRIVING HOME 11-28-18 5:40PM PST WHEN MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY SWERVED HARD TO THE RIGHT; I HAD NO CONTROL, & IT CAUSED ME TO HIT A PARKED UNOCCUPIED CAR. THERE WAS NO WARNING. I HAD NOT HIT ANY OBJECT NOR POTHOLE. VEHICLE IS 6 MONTHS OLD. SUSPENSION GAVE WAY. PARTS OF SUSPENSION WERE LAYING ON THE STREET. RIGHT FRONT WHEEL WAS AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE DUE TO SUSPENSION FAILING. MY HUSBAND WAS IN THE CAR WITH ME. I WAS DRIVING 15 MPH. I HAVE PHOTOS; 2 ARE ATTACHED TO THIS FORM. I HAVE FILED A CLAIM WITH MY INSURANCE COMPANY BUT I AM UNABLE TO ATTACH THAT DOCUMENT. NO POLICE REPORT.