NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Steering complaints
149 reportsClear category filter116,211 miles · Sep 15, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the Power Steering Assist Fault message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of …
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the Power Steering Assist Fault message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 116,211.
NHTSA ODI #11484594
Mileage unknown · Aug 30, 2022
Steering
Power steering completely went out as we were driving jerking the wheel out of our hands , and almost causing an accident. An indicator on the dashboard says “power steering assist failure” . Shortly after that the traction control light/abs light came on as well. There were no warnings lamps, messages, or symptoms before thi…
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Power steering completely went out as we were driving jerking the wheel out of our hands , and almost causing an accident. An indicator on the dashboard says “power steering assist failure” . Shortly after that the traction control light/abs light came on as well. There were no warnings lamps, messages, or symptoms before this occurred and the power steering has been out ever since. This seems to be a Ford Flex recall problem and somehow ford doesnt want to cover the cost to repair/fix it because my VIN is not included in the recall.
NHTSA ODI #11481916
142,000 miles · Aug 23, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was shuddering. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the front ball joints, front control arms, and front struts were replaced; however, the failure persisted…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was shuddering. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the front ball joints, front control arms, and front struts were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated while driving to the dealer, the steering wheel seized inadvertently and would not turn to the right. The steering could be turned to the left, almost causing a crash. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving; however, the failure recurred the same day. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion and the electronic gear box needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering). A case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 142,000.
NHTSA ODI #11480743
129,000 miles · Aug 18, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associat…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.
NHTSA ODI #11480041
Mileage unknown · Aug 10, 2022
EngineSteering
While driving, just as I turned my steering wheel; it got very stiff to turn. If I was not able to turn, I easily could have drove into someone's house, pedestrians or hit other vehicles both parked and driving on the road. Especially if I were going very much faster and didn't have as much strength as I do. A week before this h…
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While driving, just as I turned my steering wheel; it got very stiff to turn. If I was not able to turn, I easily could have drove into someone's house, pedestrians or hit other vehicles both parked and driving on the road. Especially if I were going very much faster and didn't have as much strength as I do. A week before this happened, I got a quick flash of a message twice that read "AdvanceTrack needs service". But after that ine trip a week ago, it never popped back up and still hasn't. Other than that, no warning lights or codes xan be found. I made it home (less than a half mile away). After having it checked by 2 different mechanics, both said it was the electric steering and told me to check the recalls for my 2013 Ford Flex SEL. I found that my particular VIN did NOT have the 2 recalls that affected numerous Ford vehicles with Electric Steering, including THE SAME YEAR, MAKE AND MODEL of my Ford Flex. The recall is for the power steering. I've also seen numerous other posts on fordflex.net where this has affected many Ford Flex vehicles from 2009 to 2018 with electric steering. The other issue I had is a known recall for other Ford Flex vehicles, but not my VIN, just like the previous. I was driving on the highway when my dash starts beeping and flashing at me wiyh an overheating issue. I had to do my best to get off the highway. Thankfully I was stopped when this happened and not far from the turn I needed to get me and my car to safety. Turned out to be the internal water pump. It cost me around $2,000.00 to get it fixed.
NHTSA ODI #11478522
182,000 miles · Jul 11, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the power steering assist fault and service advance track warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with power steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure.…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the power steering assist fault and service advance track warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with power steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 182,000.
NHTSA ODI #11473405
Mileage unknown · Jul 11, 2022
Steering
Ever since I purchased this vehicle, the power steering would stop working, warning lights: power train and another one would appear after it happens. I would shut my vehicle off and restart it, which would clear the issue and I would have no problems. This has happened several times, sometimes 2-3 times a week. However, two …
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Ever since I purchased this vehicle, the power steering would stop working, warning lights: power train and another one would appear after it happens. I would shut my vehicle off and restart it, which would clear the issue and I would have no problems. This has happened several times, sometimes 2-3 times a week. However, two weeks ago, the power steering stopped altogether working and will not clear, even with restarting the vehicle.
NHTSA ODI #11473273
Mileage unknown · Jul 9, 2022
Electrical SystemSteeringCrash
The power steering assist stopped working while I was driving. It caused me to get into an accident. If other cars were around me I could have killed someone. I was driving just fine and then “POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT” showed up on my cluster and the steering wheel locked up. It now won’t work. This came without warning.
NHTSA ODI #11473148
183,000 miles · Feb 23, 2022
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering fault message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The …
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering fault message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 183,000.
NHTSA ODI #11453708
101,000 miles · Nov 12, 2021
Steering
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and waited 30 minutes before restarting the vehicle and driving to her des…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Flex. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and waited 30 minutes before restarting the vehicle and driving to her destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering gear module to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated she had experienced the failure two additional times. The contact towed the vehicle to two different independent mechanics and was informed that the steering gear module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V340000 (Steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.
NHTSA ODI #11440250
Official recalls
6Feb 10, 2020
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Lincoln MKT and Ford Flex and Taurus vehicles with the Police Interceptor or SHO Performance Pack. The rear suspension toe links may fracture due to stress on the rear suspension.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A fractured rear toe link will cause a sudden change in vehicle handling and increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear suspension toe links, free of charge. Remedy parts are not currently available. Owners were notified about the recall on March 3, 2020. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts become available, which is currently expected to be the end of September 2020. The recall began October 28, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 or Lincoln customer service at 1-800-521-4140. Ford's number for this recall is 20S04.
Aug 25, 2016
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with 3.5L GTDI Ecoboost engines and 2013-2015 Ford Taurus Police Interceptor vehicles. A component within the fuel pump electric module (PEM) may overheat causing a loss of electrical power to the fuel pump.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A loss of power to the fuel pump will cause the engine to stall or prevent the vehicle from starting, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the fuel PEM part number and replace the fuel PEM, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on December 1, 2016. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S31.
Dec 2, 2015
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013 Explorer, Explorer Police Utility, Taurus, Taurus Police Interceptor, Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the fuel delivery module may crack, allowing fuel to leak.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel delivery module, free of charge. The recall began on December 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 13S04-S1.
Jun 2, 2015
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Ford Fusion vehicles without a 3.5L engine and Lincoln MKZ hybrid electric vehicles, 2011 Mercury Milan vehicles, 2011-2012 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with a 3.5L GTDI engine and 2013 Ford Taurus, Ford Flex, Lincoln MKS, and Lincoln MKT vehicles equipped with any available engine. The affected vehicles have electric power steering assist systems that may shut down as a result of a steering motor sensor fault.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the vehicle experiences a loss of power steering assist, extra steering effort will be required at lower speeds, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will check the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM) for Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC). If dealers find any loss of steering assist DTCs, the steering gear will be replaced, free of charge. If, no codes are found during the PSCM inspection, the PSCM software will be updated, free of charge. The recall began on July 21, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S18.
Jul 2, 2014
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles manufactured September 2, 2010, to November 30, 2013; 2013-2014 Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS vehicles manufactured August 25, 2011, to November 30, 2013; and 2013-2014 Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT vehicles manufactured September 12, 2011, to November 30, 2013. In the affected vehicles, the halfshaft retention circlip may not have been properly installed, and as a result, the halfshaft may move outward and disengage from the linkshaft while driving and without prior warning.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the halfshaft and linkshaft become disengaged while driving, power will no longer be transmitted to the wheels, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash. Additionally, if the parking brake is not applied before exiting the vehicle, the vehicle may roll away despite the transmission being placed in 'Park', increasing the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the vehicles to make sure that the halfshaft is properly retained. If it is not, dealers will replace the linkshaft and also replace the halfshaft if it shows evidence of spline damage, free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14S10.
May 31, 2013
Ford is recalling certain model year 2013 Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Police Interceptor Sedan and Police Interceptor Utility vehicles; and certain model year 2013 Lincoln MKS, MKT, and MKZ vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the fuel delivery module may develop a crack, allowing fuel to leak.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel delivery module, free of charge. The recall began on July 20, 2013. Owners may contact Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's recall campaign number is 13S04.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗