2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

STEERING WHEEL DEVELOPED EXCESS PLAY AND NOW PULSES AND VIBRATES WITH MINIMAL PRESSURE ON THE STEERING WHEEL. STEERING HAS NOT YET FAILED BUT TAKING CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TOMORROW. AFTER READING ABOUT SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH FORD'S ELECTRONIC POWER ASSIST STEERING I'M NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. OTHER PROBLEMS SEEM TO BE REPORTED AT SIMILAR MILEAGE TO OUR VEHICLE'S. *TR

WHILE DRIVING THE CAR I CAME TO A STOP SIGN AND THE STEERING WHEEL STARTED TO VIBRATE AND JERK WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED. THIS CONTINUED FOR THE DRIVE TO WORK, AT EACH STOP THE STEERING WHEEL WAS MOVING. WHEN LEAVING WORK, AFTER STARTING THE CAR, FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING. TURNED OFF THE CAR AND RE-STARTED IT, THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK. SINCE THAT TIME THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME MORE FREQUENT. SOMETIMES I HAVE TO RESTART THE CAR A FEW TIMES BEFORE THE STEERING ACTIVATES. WE JUST DROPPED IT OFF AT A DEALERSHIP FOR INSPECTION, OUR LOCAL GARAGE COULD GET NO HELP FROM FORD ON WHAT WAS REQUIRED FOR THE REPAIR OR WHAT THE COMPUTER CODES MEANT, OTHER THAN THEY WERE RELATED TO THE STEERING COLUMN. SO NOW WE ARE BEING TOLD BY FORD THAT THE REPAIR CAN RANGE FROM $600 TO $1,500.00 TO FIX THE PROBLEM, BUT THEY ARE NOT SURE WHAT IT IS, AND THAT THEY DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT WAS REPORTED ON THE INTERNET IS THE CAUSE. IF ALL OF THE SYMPTOMS MATCH THE OTHERS LISTED HOW CAN THE PROBLEM BE SOMETHING ELSE? *TR

STOPPED AT INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT. TURNED THE WHEEL LEFT TO MAKE THE TURN WHILE APPLYING THE ACCELERATOR. THE POWER STEERING SUPPORT WENT OUT, MAKING IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN THE VEHICLE. THE WHEEL WAS PARTIALLY TURNED AND WOULD ESSENTIALLY NOT TURN ANY FURTHER. AT THE SAME TIME IT FELT LIKE THE BRAKES WERE NOT AS EFFECTIVE EITHER. AFTER APPROXIMATELY TWO SECONDS, POWER WAS RESTORED TO THE STEERING AND I WAS ABLE TO RECOVER AND COMPLETE THE TURN. THIS HAS HAPPENED THREE TIMES, ALL IN LEFT TURNS FROM A STOP WHILE ATTEMPTING TO BEGIN THE TURN. AFTER THE THIRD TIME I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE FORD DEALER REPLACED COMPONENTS OF THE STEERING COLUMN IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIX THIS, AND SO FAR IT HAS NOT RETURNED.

THE FIRST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS APPROXIMATELY 5 MONTHS AGO (EST. 132K MILES) WHILE DRIVING IN CITY TRAFFIC, I SWERVED AND BRAKE QUICKLY TO AVOID A ROAD HAZARD (LARGE POTHOLE) ESTIMATED SPEED WAS UNDER 20 MPH. THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO RUN IN ELECTRIC (HYBRID) MODE AND WAS ABLE TO MUSCLE IT OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. RESTARTING THE ENGINE RESOLVED THE ISSUE AND THE CAR HAS BEEN FINE UNTIL TWO WEEKS AGO. THE SECOND TIME WAS IN LATE NOVEMBER, MILEAGE 135K, WAS SLOWLY TURNING INTO A TRAFFIC CIRCLE AT APPROX. 10 MPH, WITHOUT WARNING POWER STEERING FAILED THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS TIME. I WAS ABLE TO STOP AND RESTART THE CAR WHICH RESTORED THE POWER STEERING. AFTER THE SECOND EXPERIENCE I DID SOME RESEARCH ONLINE AND AM SEEING THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO YOUR AGENCY (THREE DIFFERENT WEB SITES WITH MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS). I FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A RECALL HAS NOT REQUIRED - SOMEONE WILL GET HURT IF THIS HAPPENS AT HIGHWAY SPEED TO AN INEXPERIENCED DRIVER. I HAVE WORKED AS A PROFESSIONAL MECHANIC AND HAVE A DECENT COMPREHENSION OF VEHICLE SYSTEMS (1974 - 1995), MY COMMENTS ARE BASED ON YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. I HAVE NOT VERIFIED THIS, BUT ONE OF THE WEB POSTS STATES THAT TOYOTA EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE AND DID A RECALL. HTTP://WWW.ESCAPE-CITY.COM/VIEWTOPIC.PHP?F=38&T=21918&P=316290&HILIT=STEERING+FAILURE#P316290 HTTP://WWW.GREENHYBRID.COM/DISCUSS/F26/LOSS-POWER-LEFT-TURN-29211/ HTTP://WWW.HYBRIDCARS.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?100317-POWER-STEERING-FAILURE/PAGE5 I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS SO THAT FORD WILL TAKE STEPS TO RECTIFY THIS DANGEROUS CONDITION. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY OTHER SAFETY CONCERNS WITH THIS VEHICLE SINCE WE PURCHASED IT NEW IN 2008. I PLAN TO REPORT THIS TO MY SENATOR, AND STATE OFFICIALS. PLEASE ADVISE THE BEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD. *TR

AFTER BACKING OUT OF MY GARAGE, I PUT MY VEHICLE IN DRIVE AND WENT TO TURN THE WHEEL TO POINT IT TO DRIVE DOWN THE ALLEYWAY AND SUDDENLY REALIZED I COULD NOT TURN THE FRONT WHEELS. I ALMOST HIT THE TREE BESIDE THE GARAGE AND HAD TO TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS AND HIT THE BRAKES HARD. I TRIED AGAIN AND AGAIN TO TURN THE WHEELS AND COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED AS IT WAS FINE WHEN I DROVE IT AND PARKED IN THE GARAGE THE DAY BEFORE. I TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF AND RESTARTED AND FOUND I COULD BARELY STEER SO HAD TO BACKUP AND THEN GO FORWARD A COUPLE INCHES AT A TIME UNTIL AFTER ABOUT 30 TIMES BACK AND FORTH COULD LINE UP ENOUGH TO PULL STRAIGHT INTO THE GARAGE. THE VEHICLE IS STILL WAITING TO BE TOWED TO THE FORD DEALER FOR REPAIR. I HAD BEEN STARTING ON MY WAY TO THE AIRPORT TO PICK UP MY DAUGHTER, SON-IN-LAW AND THREE YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER SO THANK HEAVENS THE POWER STEERING DID NOT GO OUT WHEN I WAS ON THE FREEWAY GOING TO OR FROM THE AIRPORT BECAUSE WE COULD HAVE LOST CONTROL AND BEEN KILLED.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN MY STEERING WHEEL TIGHTENED UP WHERE IT MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER. FORTUNATELY, IT WASN'T A BUSY DAY AND I WAS ABLE TO GET OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I'M CONFUSED WHY FORD HAS NOT ISSUED ANY RECALL ON THIS ISSUES BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED. I UNDERSTAND MY VEHICLE HAS A LOT OF MILES, BUT 85 PERCENT OF MY MILES ARE FREEWAY MILES. MY RESOLUTION WAS TO SPEND $2,000.00 OUT OF POCKET AND HAVE THE ISSUE REPAIRED. *TR

FOR THE PAST TWO OR THREE WEEKS I HAVE NOTICED A PROGRESSIVELY WORSE SHAKING AND VIBRATING IN THE STEERING COLUMN, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS COMING TO A STOP OR RESTING. ON THE 27TH OF MARCH, 2013 I STARTED THE VEHICLE AND THE STEERING WAS REALLY DIFFICULT, AS IN THE POWER ASSIST WASN'T HELPING. THE BRAKES WERE STILL WORKING FINE. WHEN I SHUT THE VEHILCE OFF AND RESTARTED IT, THE STEERING WAS BEING ASSISTED BY THE EPS AGAIN. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED, BUT RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM IT SEEMS LIKE IT WILL GET PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. *TR

STEERING WHEEL HAS BEEN SHAKING WHEN CAR IS STOPPED AND AT LOW SPEEDS. POWER STEERING DOES NOT WORK AT TIMES WHEN CAR IS STARTED, I TURN IT OFF AND RESTART THE CAR AND IT WORKS. WHILE COMING TO A STOP AT AROUND 35 MPH THE POWER STEERING FAILED, SHUT OFF THE CAR AND TURN IT BACK ON AND IT STILL DID NOT WORK. STEERING WHEEL SHAKES LEFT AND RIGHT AND MAKES A BAD NOISE WHILE IN PARK AND AT LOW SPEEDS. HAVE NOT TAKEN CAR TO BE SERVICED YET. *TR