Steering Is Tight problems of the 2009 Ford Escape

My Ford Escape hybrid steering wheel started to exhibit odd behavior as we were driving to hike a trail in mill valley. The wheel would pulse/turn to the right a little bit real quick and then go back to normal. This happened 3 times while waiting at a red light. The light turned green and all was normal again as we drove another 5 miles to our destination. We got out of the card and hiked for about 90 minutes before returning to the car. Once I started the cad, I noticed the steering wheel was very hard to turn. I had to drive 2 hours home from the hike location with absolutely no power steering assist. I took the cad into our local Ford dealership and was formed there are no active recalls for our VIN and it will cost over $2000 to replace the faulty electronic steering column. Also worth noting, we purchased this 2009 Ford Escape hybrid brand new at 300 miles. At just 4,000 miles, yes 3,700 miles later, the steering column went out and Ford replaced it under warranty (of course). So now, here we are again, about 100k miles later, and the steering column they put in is again faulty, and they are unwilling to do anything about it, wanting me to pay the full $2k+ to replace it and for labor.

The power steering is hard to turn.

Steering has become very difficult to do it feels like the steering wheel binds up before it was on and off now however it has become to hard to maneuver the truck the steering is to hard to do. While the truck is in motion.

Power steering would go in and out. The steering wheel was hard to turn when trying to turn.

Car steering wheel is hard to steer regardless of speed but it started at low speed. Steering wheel will eventually lock.

Steering assist suddenly stopped working on my 2009 Ford Escape. I stopped for lunch then cranked it and steering was extremely hard to turn. Ford dealership said it is the torque assembly. I also noticed the seatbelt alarm had quit working and the clock needed reset. Numerous issues with tire pressure sensors. There has been a terrible vibration or shaking in the steering wheel while stopped with foot on the brake since purchase. I also had problems in the steering column in 2011, just after purchase. There is a recall on the torque assembly for same year of car but not my VIN, of course.

Power steering torque rotation sensor. The steering is hard to turn the vehicle while driving. While driving, the steering all of a sudden can become hard to turn the vehicle. The recall for some reason is not on my vehicle but on some of the same model. Ford has a recall 14s05 but Ford says my vehicle doesn't fall under the recall.

Steering very hard to move. Vehicle was working find drove home from work parked it. The next day got in the car and started it went to move steering wheel it was very hard to move. I called Ford dealer and asked if there was a recall for the steering she asked for VIN and it has no recall for that VIN. Vehicle is at Ford dealer for schedule steering repair.

The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. The contact stated that there was a sudden loss of power steering, and the steering wheel was tight and difficult to turn left or right. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle was restarted and remained parked at the contact's residence due to the failure. The dealer (roy o'brien Ford, 22201 e 9 mile rd, st clair shores, mi 48080, (586) 776-7600) indicated that a manufacturer recall for the steering had been provided for the pscm reprogramming before the contact owned the vehicle; however, the instrument cluster module was not replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided no remedy. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000.

Vehicle has intermittent loss of power steering either when first started or driving . When power steering is lost , steering wheel is very hard to turn , almost impossible if vehicle is sitting still. An accident almost occurred while I was driving the vehicle. Made a right had turn , power steering went out unexpectedly , and had to force the steering wheel over to the left so as not to hit a curb and light pole. Took vehicle into the dealer for this problem. VIN number was ran in Ford's system , and came back as no open recalls on this vehicle. Was then scanned for trouble codes ( at a cost of $89. 95 ) , and codes were found for electronic power steering system loss of steering assist related to the torque sensor in the steering column . At this point I was told by the dealer service rep that the steering column needed to be replaced at a cost of $895. 00 for the part plus labor to install. I complained that this was a recall , but was told that because there was no open recalls on the vehicle when the VIN number was ran through Ford's system , then I would be responsible for the repair costs . I then stated that the if the problem still exists after the recall was done , then the recall and associated parts were no good , and this repair should be at Ford's expense , not myself as a customer. Rep then told me to call the Ford customer care line , they could do nothing else. Called the customer care line , explained the situation , and was given the same answers and run around as by the dealer. Did receive a case number which is cas-12427226-t6b5s5 . Vehicle to me is unsafe to drive , and Ford should correct this problem 100 %.

The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. While driving at low speeds, the vehicle became difficult to steer and the steering wheel was hard to turn. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall, so they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was 155,000.

No warning that something was wrong. Was told it could have happened on the highway at a high rate of speed. Which would have made it impossible to steer and could have caused life threatening injury of possibly death. The car was parked on Friday, sat over the weekend and when I went in to start it on Monday and drive it to work the steering wheel was hard to move and the tires stayed stationary. Towed it to the dealer and was told the steering column broke and needed to be replaced and it wasn't under warranty anymore and the recall that is out there was not applicable for this specific problem with the steering column. They dealer said it would cost approx $1,400. 00 to replace the steering column. It was never in an accident and was never part of theft. It is 9 years old, never towed anything and not driven hard.

My wife was driving in our neighbor at 25 mph when the steering went out. She was able to get home and park since she was close by. The steering was very hard to turn left or right. This morning when we started the car to take it to the dealer the steering was working. The car is currently at the dealer for testing. The temperature was 80 degrees so clearly cold was not a factor. Thank goodness this did not happen on the freeway in traffic.