Steering Tie Rod Assembly Problems of Ford Escort

The contact owns a 1997 Ford Escort. When making a right turn at various speeds, the contact heard a clunking sound coming from the front end ball joints. The dealer stated that the brake pads, rotors, drums, and front wheel bearing on the passenger side needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the odometer and speedometer have both been replaced three times, but she does not trust that the speedometer is currently working properly. The failure mileage was 115,000. Updated 06-03/08. The tie rod end, rear spring, windshield, upper ball joint, odometer knob, real passenger seal were all replaced. Updated 05/30/08.

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I bought this 1999 Escort from a dealer. It was used with around 20k miles on it. I made the dealer change out the tie rod ends before I took it because I noticed they were bad. The car now has 54k miles on it and the passenger side tie rod end failed causing the car to skid and turn into oncoming traffic. Due to a quick-reacting oncoming driver, no accident happened. However, this could have led to a serious accident and possibly deaths. The tow truck driver said that whenever he gets a call for a failed tie-rod, its an Escort. This was definitely changed too. I checked it myself after the dealer did them. Therefore the tie rod ends only lasted for around 35k miles before extreme failure occurred. Something has to be wrong with the steering/suspension design in this model car. Every other car I have owned I've driven into the 100k mile range and still no problems with the tie rod ends. What is the deal here?.

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I took my 99 Ford Escort to a auto repair shop to fix one front tie rod (another frequent problem on Escort) and the mechanic told me that one of the spings in the rear suspension was broken. I did not notice anything different when driving and I don't know for how long it has been broken. The mechanic also said that this is a frequent problem with Escort, and advised me to check the existance of a recall with a Ford dealer. To this date (Jan 2006) there is no recall. He also advised me to keep the receipt of the repair ($ 750 to replace the springs and struts on both sides) in case a recall will be made in the future.

Consumer took 1998 Ford Escort for a oil change on September 30, 2005. The mechanic found both rear coils springs broke. The rear struts were damaged, and the left front tie rod was broken. The mileage on my vehicle at time of service was 71, 127 miles. The consumer used the car for shopping and pleasure with no hard driving at her age. She was surprised to hear this was common for the 1997 and 1998 Ford Escorts. I had other Ford Escorts prior to this one and I had no problem. This problem cost the consumer $732. Had not contacted dealership or manufacturer. Had no accidents. The consumer was not aware that this vehicle had all these problems. This vehicle drives much better and is quieter since had the problems fixed.

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The vehicle was a 1999 Ford Escort. Both of the back coil springs were broken. Consumer found this out when getting the brakes inspected. The front brake rotors, tie rods and the rear struts including the coil springs needed to be replaced. The inspection took place on 7-8-05. Consumer took the vehicle to a Ford dealer to have all the parts replaced. They were replaced on 7-20/22-05. Vehicle was shaking before hand. Consumer knew that Ford company issued a recall issue concerning this problem with some of their other models. Updated 11/02/2005.

While driving , the steering wheel felt loose and made a loud noise. The dealer replaced the tie rod at owner's expense. Consumer feels that she should be reimbursed for the cost of repairs. The vehicle's rear coil springs broke at 16219 miles. The front coil spring broke at 16279 miles and was replaced under warranty. Catalytic converter failed causing noise.

Consumer's daughter was driving and vehicle shook when in reverse. Took vehicle to dealer, and they told her tie rods were defective. Another dealer told her it was the motor mounts.

I took my 1998 Ford Escort to gagne Ford in princeton, wisconsin, to have the oil changed. The technician informed me that they recommend replacing the tie rods. "outer tie rod ends. Right outer is loose. Left outer is siezed. " since there is only 23,200 miles on the car, I checked for recalls. Are people just having this repair done and not reporting it? do I really need this work done?.

Tie rod failure on the left side. The tie rods on both sides were replaced about 3 years ago. When taken in to the shop they found the right side was very bad also. This car has 59,000 miles. The failure happened while driving. Pretty scarry stuff. . .

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I bought a 1997 Ford Escort wagon new and love it and has only 30000 miles on it. Recently I had a problem with steering the vehicle so I had it checked out at an auto repair shop. The mechanic told me I needed new tie rod ends and both rear coil springs were broken. As I do not drive this vehicle hard and do not haul anything except my puppy and groceries, I had a hard time believing this. So I took it to another garage and another mechanic told me the same thing and showed it to me. I am no longer driving this vehicle as it is unsafe and this vehicle should be placed on a recall list and fixed by Ford free of charge. Neither me or my husband have ever had this happen and we feel that definitely this has to be a factory defect. Please advise me as soon as possible what to do about this defective vehicle so that I can know which direction to pursue this matter, a. E. , newspapers, tv stations, etc. Thanks for your help.

Rear coil springs are cracked - both sides. Vehicle only 5 years old. Used in primarily in city, running errands - for retired couple. Also: left outer tie rod end is worn out and has to be replaced. This causes a vibration at highway speeds and also rattles when going over small bumps (<1") at low speeds (<10 mph).

I read that that NHTSA conducted a study on tie rod end failure in Ford cars at some point. I have just had two sets of tie rod ends replaced on my Ford Escort (98 model year) within a span of a year and a half. If you are still collecting data for this issue, I respectfully submit my case.

While getting an oil change technician informed consumer that both rear springs were broken. Dealer and manufacturer were not notified at this time. The rear spring and top mount failed and was replaced. The rear coil springs failed and was replaced. Both tie rods failed and was replaced.

Consumer states front tie rod end on both side wore excessesively. Nlm.

While pulling out of a parking space vehicle lost control due to failure of tie rod end. Dealer and manufacturer were not notified at this time. Feel free to provide any further information.

Front left tie rod was replaced by dealership because component was experiencing excessive wear, and were very noisy while the vehicle was in operation. Left outer tie rod end assembly was replaced.

The left, outer tie rod broke, traveling on a staight, smooth road at about 35 mph. A police report is available. Unable to steer the vehicle, it went out of control and left the road. It came to a stop against a tree, causing slight body damage.

Both rear springs & right rear outer tie rod broke.

Tie rod failed.

During a state inspection, the consumer was informed by the state officer that the front end driver/passenger side tie rods were defective and needed to be replaced. The upper left front tie rods were defective in 2002 and 2003. The consumers concern is that the lower right and left tie rod may go soon.

Two broken rear spring and a right side outer tie rod end, in addition to front brake pads, possible springs were of poor quality.

Front outer tie rod attached to wheel assembly failed twice. First time failure was found during maintenance, next time failed while going around ram, interrupting steering. Please describe details.

While driving the vehicle made a clunking noise, and the vehicle got stuck in an intersection. Both front tires were facing inward due to inner tie rod failure.