Steering Column problems of the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria

Noticed intermittent stiffness in the steering, an inspection by owner at the steering column determined that the bearing connecting the upper and lowers shafts had extended from its housing. It was determined this failure was consistent with a previous recall 13r01. The vehicle was taken to gillespie Ford in gurnee, IL, who stated the recall had been closed out in 2013. They went on to state that the only repair made in 2013 was replacement of the lower, exterior steering shaft, and no retaining clip was installed to prevent separation of the bearing. Gillespie Ford stated there was no corrosion or any other cause of the bearing failure, saying that when the recalls were done they would simply replace the entire steering column and not install the retaining clip. Gillespie Ford declined to make any further repairs under the recall even though the condition existed with serious safety concerns, but did offer to replace the entire steering column for $1600. 00.

I was exiting the freeway and turned onto my street when my lower steering shaft collapsed and caused my upper bearing retaining clip to separate from the steering column causing me to lose all steering control.

Corrected description for complaint 10618222: driving on highway at 70 m. P. H. , noticed increasing "play" in steering wheel; stopped at rest area. When ready to leave, started to back out and turned steering wheel less than 1/2 turn to the left. I heard/felt something "pop," at which point the steering wheel would spin freely and no longer affected the front wheels--complete loss of steering control. Had car towed to a Ford dealer, who confirmed the steering column had broken components. The dealer also noted that this vehicle had previously received repairs to the steering under Ford recall 13s08. Ford dealer stated they had contacted Ford motor company about covering all or part of the repair, but "corporate had refused. " the expensive repair ($1,093. 60) was all mine. Can 't help but wonder if the recall repair went far enough.

Note: this is a police car. Officer was driving approximately 40mph when suddenly, without warning, the steering wheel had a lot of play in it, which became more apparent when the steering wheel did a complete 360 degree turn while the vehicle kept going straight. He was able to turn the wheel hard enough at the last second and landed onto a homeowners driveway. Unit was towed to the fleet department where the unit is based. Officer did not have any warning that this was about to happen, no popping, grinding or hard steering prior to the event. I am the lead fleet technician, ase master and advanced certified & 30 years experience. Findings upon inspection: I found the splined steering shafts in the column had separated and the light green plastic bushing at the lower section of the column was broken, the splined black hard plastic on the splined shaft was chewed up on the end (unknown if these occurred after shaft separation). After inspection, the column was reassembled and bench tested. No problem was noted. No visible cracks, abnormal wear or looseness noted. New Ford steering column and clock-spring installed, alignment and unit was put back in service. The faulty column is on hand.

On Wednesday, October 10 at approximately 3:45 pm trooper was traveling on reservoir avenue in the city of cranston. As the trooper approached the on-ramp for route 10 south he attempted to turn onto the ramp. As he did so he heard a loud snap and the steering wheel kept turning without turning the front wheels. He applied the brakes and went up onto the curbing next to the ramp. When he came to a stop the horn was sounding and the lights and siren were also going on and off. The cruiser in question is a 2008 and had not experienced any serious problems until this. It was towed to tasca Ford and they advised that the steering column had snapped and affected the wiring in the vehicle. The vehicle is currently at tasca awaiting repairs. Thank you for your assistance.

The steering column begins to separate in the upper portion of the steering column tube. The steering wheel binds and is very difficult to move from left to right. We have experienced in a like vehicle that the shafts in the upper column actually separated and the vehicle had no mechanical connection to the front wheels. The operator was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop but they had just begun to accelerate from a traffic light when the shafts separated and the vehicle speed was minimal.

The steering column in this vehicle separated in the upper portion of the steering column tube. The steering wheel binds as reported at first and is very difficult to steer from left to right. When the upper steering column shafts separated from this vehicle it had no mechanical connection to the front wheels. The operator was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop but they had just begun to accelerate from a traffic light when the shafts separated and the vehicles speed was minimal.