Steering Rack And Pinion problems of the 2012 Ford Fusion - part 2

Driving straight and steady 45mph on surface street, no traffic, no braking or lane change. Suddenly chimes sounded, "service advanced trac" in message center and yellow advance trac idiot light on. In about 20 seconds chimes, message and light go off and message text returns to real time mpg reading. Continued driving home without shutting engine off or any further warnings/incident. Took to dealer 7am next morning (4/3/2014) at 15753 miles. At end of day service advisor said test code showed bad "torque sensor" which is in the steering column and measures turning effort on the steering wheel and that they needed to keep vehicle overnight. 1130am next morning (4/4/2014) spoke to service advisor. He said car fixed by changing the rack and pinion gear assembly w/electric steering motor (Ford part number: ae5z-3504-ce). Before and during incident I never noticed anything wrong with steering or braking--just the warnings. Vehicle repaired under warranty.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while traveling various speeds, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who stated the rack and pinion failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified about the failure. The failure mileage and VIN were not available.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel began to stick. As time progressed the vehicle performed in a manner reminiscent of having a flat tire and the service advance track warning light illuminated. The contact stopped the vehicle to check the tires but could not determine a failure. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for routine service and she was informed that the rack and pinion would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and current mileage was 60,000.

I was driving down the interstate when an alarm sounded and two warning messages appeared on the dash display. Power steering assist fault and service advancetrac. At that time there was no power steering. The vehicle was extremely difficult to turn. Had I been executing a turn at the time of the failure I likely would have run into something. The steering is extraordinarily stiff when the power assist is off. This has occurred several times over the past few months. In the past, restarting the vehicle cleared the error message and the power steering worked again. This time however the failure seems permanent. Ford has examined the vehicle and said the failure is in a motor in the rack and pinion and the entire steering assembly will have to be replaced to the tune of $1900. 00. This is a very dangerous problem as it occurs with no warning and at all different speeds. I have also noticed some "clunking" sounds when the steering wheel is turned while the vehicle is stationary.

Started the car, message center displayed power steering assist default. Steering wheel completely tight. Followed manual directions to turn of ignition,restart after 10 seconds,message returned. Terribly frightened. In an effort to get to safe location, drove the car slowly using incredible upper arm strength to turn steering wheel. Towed to dealer next day. . Informed that rack and pinion need replacing. Defected from manufacture. Just purchased the car, its only 90 days in my ownership. I do not trust this car at all. I had an 11 month old in the car, this could have been a major accident.

Multi function screen showed power steering malfunction at stop light. Vehicle restarted and warning was gone and steering was normal. Next day warning appeared while driving on a straight road, steering was very difficult. Vehicle pulled over, restarted and warning was gone, normal steering. In one hour it happened again, vehicle was brought to local Ford dealer, and the first diagnosis was unknown as "codes" did not indicate steering problem. Today they called and stated the car needs an entire rack and pinion steering set replacement. Unfortunately there is a national back log and no parts available. Car is inoperable. Working with Ford customer care solutions center for resolution.