general problems of the 2012 Ford Escape - part 2

Power steering was not working upon starting vehicle. Extremely hard to steer. If this had occurred at road speeds, particularly on curves it could have resulted in a loss of control and potentially life. Extremely frightening, especially as a quick search of the internet found it has occurred for many people and there was a recall for similar issue on prior years of Ford Escape. I am petrified to drive my car.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while making a left turn, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the steering wheel operated as needed. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.

Power steering randomly goes out while driving. They need to extend their recall from 2011 as they obviously have not fixed the issue.

Driving at lower speed power steering stopped working, turned off car and restart problem was gone. Drove home and happend again, now steering is sluggish and stickes at times.

I was driving in a 45-mph zone and was preparing to make a right turn and as I slowed down and made the turn, the wheel locked up with no warning light or other indication there was a power steering issue, and I nearly struck a car approaching the stop sign on the street that I was turning onto. I was able to drive my car to my destination that was right up the street. I turned off my car and turned it back on and the power steering was working again.

Power steering suddenly went out on right turn onto residential street at approx 10 mph. No warning lights. When car was restarted, power steering back on. Paid dealer to scan. Failure code b2278-2f. Replace steering shaft torque sensor (internal to steering column), steering shaft must be replaced, too, due to play. Just two parts: part cost $2272, labor $886. Part back-ordered for unknown period. Have not yet told dealer service to order parts. Asked dealer if car was safe to drive: they said "probably not. ".

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving approximately 15 mph and making a left turn into a parking lot, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the power steering functionality returned. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent; however, had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 14v284000 (steering). The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the power steering assist had failed without warning while driving at various speeds. The contact then pulled over to the side of the road, turned off and then restarted the vehicle and the vehicle regained power steering functionality. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact became aware of NHTSA campaign number: 14v284000 (steering) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 109,000.

On 2 different occasions now while I was driving my steering wheel has locked up and I could barley turn to get off the road. Once in the month of July and then again beginning of September. I don’t feel safe driving far distances for I have no idea if and when my wheel will lock up again, and if on a back or windy road there could be no way to get over or off the road causes and accident. My car is electrical and does not have liquid power steering and my steering torque sensor is not working correctly. My mechanic said the whole steering and frame needs to be replaced. I have done research and see. Other people with my make and year having the same issues. There was also already a recall out in for the same vehicle (Ford Escape) but the years 2008-2011, my car in one year ahead 2012 and has the same exact porblem. There was no warning of a problem it just all of a sudden locked up and I could hardly pull off the road.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and attempting to turn the steering wheel, the steering wheel was difficult to maneuver. During the failure the traction control warning was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. There was no repair performed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 95,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact pulled the vehicle off to the shoulder of the roadway. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with a failure to the steering column. The contact had the ignition and steering column replaced; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to file a complaint. The approximate failure mileage was 178,000.

I was driving on 169s and I lost steering. I was lucky to pull off to the side of the road. Found out it was the electric power steering assist torque sensor. I paid hundreds of dollars to get it fixed. I had to have a new steering column put in. I have to bring it back in to see if the computer is now affected by the replacement. The second incident involves losing the ability to accelerate on the highway when trying to pass. My child and I almost died! why are all the models years not recalled??.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. While his wife was driving and making a left turn, the power steering suddenly failed, and the steering wheel would not turn in either direction, causing the vehicle to nearly crash into telephone pole. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 140,000.

My son was driving my 2012 Escape. While entering the highway the steering became very stiff while making a left had turn. It felt like there was no power steering. The vehicle is at 135,970 miles. I was able to drive it to my parents and take another vehicle to work. Upon returning to the vehicle that evening the and starting it up, the steering had returned to normal. I looked online and saw that this is a common occurrence with the 2012 Escapes and that there was a recall for this for he 2011 Escapes.

Operator of vehicle will be driving on the roadway, suddenly without warning, steering system locks up. Operator has to forcefully pull vehicle to the side of the roadway. Completely shut off the vehicle, wait for a short period and restart the vehicle. This lockup may occur several times during a trip. Vehicle has been repaired. The steering shaft torque sensor had to be replaced. The steering lockup has been occurring over a period of a year. There appeared to be no pattern in the frequency of occurrences.

My car was accelerating slowly and making rough sound. The power steering goes out too often without any warning.

My power steering gave out while driving. Fortunately, I was going at a low speed. I researched recalls on the 2012 Ford Escape and found recalls for this same problem were only on Ford Escapes up to 2011.

4 times soon after starting car my steering wheel locked up. Had to stop car,shut off, restart and then steering was fine. If this happened while I was further along this could have caused an accident. Will be setting up appointment when I get my next job schedule so I know when to bring it in. I had a rubbing noise in the steering when I turned left about a month ago had brought it in, but they heard nothing and found nothing. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer insurance etc. Did pass MA state inspection this summer. No warning lights, messages etc. This first happened after I accidently leaned on my pocketbook with my keys in it and the remote start turned my car on. I went to go out to my car, realized it was running( I never use this feature)put my key in and drove off. As I went to go out of my street steering wheel locked up. Shut off car, restarted and sthen steering was fine. Happened beginning of Nov. 2021.

The contact's mother owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while her mother was at a standstill at a stop sign, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to park on the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The driver towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering column to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,500.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering failed, and the steering wheel was stiff and difficult to turn. The failure almost caused a collision. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed as steering column failure and the steering column was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer suggested that the contact take the vehicle to a dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was 175,000.

Total loss of steering while driving on expressway. The steering wheel became stiff. No maintenance lights come on but managed to slowly pull over to the shoulder. Turned off vehicle for 5 mins, then turn back on and steering was working again. Luckily I was just 2 miles away from my destination. Called the dealership and they said no recalls have been made for the year/make/model. It appears though the same make and model but different years 2008-2011 were recalled for same thing. I am totally terrified to drive vehicle because it might happen again without any warning.

There is something not connecting right when you accelerate from a stopped position. From when you first start the car and begin to drive to slowing down to a complete stop as soon as you begin to accelerate there is almost no going right away when you push down on the pedal. It takes almost 10 seconds or more to even begin to stay with on coming traffic. You have to be at a 3 rpm to even shift to go a little more faster then the speed starts to increase if able. It is available when needed to look over at any point and I dont feel safe driving as theres something not right with the connection to the fuel I believe and it feels like. I have taken it to a local shop and they looked it over and didnt seem to find or see much but they cleaned the air flow meter but that didnt do the trick? also while driving the car tends to veer to the left with or with no wind. It doesnt like to stay straight while driving and thats also unsafe as the driver your doing everything to stay straight. Have not been inspected by anyone other than the local shop I trust and is family friend. Have never noticed or seen any defective lights come on since I purchased the vehicle. I noticed this not even a month into purchasing and I took it to where I purchased the vehicle and asked about it and they said its normal in this older Ford Escape? I was kinda stunned and annoyed so I just left. Also when the ac is on it seems to take even more power to try and get going I have noticed. I also have tried to upload a photo of an invoice and my computer isnt allowing me?.

Loss of power steering while driving.

While driving on a cold day (20-30 degrees), the electric power steering stopped working. The car could be steered with some difficulty but there didn't appear to be any power assist at all. No warnings or error message was displayed. Shutting off and restarting the car corrected the problem, at least for now.

Vehicle in motion pulling in parking lot, upon trying to make a left turn to a parking spot steering wheel became extremely hard to turn right or left almost feeling as if it were seizing up. Temperature outside on that date, Feb. 10, 2021 was approximately 20-30 degrees. Vehicle has 61,158 miles. Vehicle was turned off for about an hour, once restarted steering went back to normal. Fearful this will again especially while driving on main roads in traffic and possibly getting into an accident.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 20 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the torque sensor to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall and that there would be no assistance provided to repair the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 71,009.

Power steering stopped working while driving a few times. Ford service center did not find a problem, would visit another service center. Recall seems to be issued for similar problem for same model, manufactured at same facility around same time. However there seems to be no recall for this VIN. Please advise.

Lost power assist for steering when I turned left around an island on a busy street in the middle of a city.

Turning the vehicle becomes very strenuous/heavy while driving at lower speeds (into parking lots, driveways, etc). Difficulty turning is noticed mostly during right hand turns. The steering wheel also will not turn itself back after making a turn. All of the issues I have experienced with the electronic power steering system is consistent with the power steering recall which only included Ford Escapes up to 2011.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Escape. The contact stated while his wife was driving at 35 mph and attempting to make a turn, the electrical power steering became stiff. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's wife was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact stated when his wife turned off the vehicle and restarted it, she noticed the electrical power steering had loosen up. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact stated the failure had been recurring. The failure reoccurred today while driving. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 167,000.

On several occassions over the past few weeks, while driving, my steering goes out but the car is still powered. It has happened while in motion but slowing down to make right hand turns. This has happened on local city streets. I am afraid to drive it on the highway due to higher speeds and the danger of crash at higher speeds. It becomes impossible to turn the wheel. Once vehicle is turned off and started again, the power returns. The cause for this is unknown, except it sounds like the same issue as the steering recalls for the 2008-2011 Ford Escape models previously.

The power steering goes out while driving. It dont matter where you are either. So in order for it to work again you have to put your vehicle in park turn it off wait and restart it. There are times you have do do this multiple times. It is not safe to lose your ability to steer while driving down the road. This issue was recalled on 2008 to 2011 but the same parts were used on the 2012. This is very dangerous when your driving down the road. This issue has been going on for a while but it just getting worse.

I was driving in the city @ 25 mph and made right turn then the steering got really stiff. Was hard to control so I came to a stop. Could not steer car without forcing it. Had the car towed. When I started it up at home the steering was fine. I'm afraid to drive it.

I was making a left turn when my power steering quit. At first, I thought my car had turned off but it was still running. Returned home(about a mile) and the car steering wasn't working and was difficult to steer. Called my dealership and they said bring it into be diagnosed. After turning key off and on, discovered that I again had power steering. 2011 Escapes were recalled for this same problem. But dealership said it would be $2600 to fix! not likely!.

My wife had been saying that her Escape steering would go out. It happens about 3-5 times per day. When she is turning into a parking lot the power steering will go out. She has to turn the key off and then back on and the power steering starts working again. I drove the vehicle over the weekend and it happened to me when turning into a gas station. I looked up this issue and there is a recall for this exact problem for Ford Escape vehicles from 2008-2011. As far as I can tell this issue is still happening and Ford will not fix these issues.