Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING - COLUMN | |||||
| 041814 | 01/01/2004 | 10013115 | Steering column shipped without crush pad - reuse original crush pad if not damaged. *tt | 04/08/2005 | |
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||||
| 14836 | 04/01/2001 | 619322 | Some vehicles equipped with cd4e transaxle, (does not apply to mtx) may exhibit a power steering grunt / moan type noise when returning from a right turn. *tt | 05/23/2001 | |
| 9811485 | 04/01/1998 | 613396 | Customer concern of noise in the power steering. *tt | 07/11/2000 | |
| 982513 | 04/01/1998 | 603541 | Some vehicles with 2.5l engine may exhibit a customer concern of noise in the power steering. *yc | 02/24/1999 | |
| STEERING - WHEEL AND HANDLE BAR | |||||
| 12075 | 11/01/1998 | 613051 | Vehicles built prior to 6/16/98 may have a broken/detached ip clustr bezel gaphider. the hider is a hinged flap between the steering column shroud and the ip bezel. *mjs | 06/16/2000 | |
| 12498 | 03/01/1999 | 605266 | Subject on steering column gap hider service replacement. *tt | 06/07/1999 | |
| 5795 | 03/01/1999 | 605211 | Information on service replacement of the steering column gap hider. *tt | 06/04/1999 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 74000 | 1 | ||
| Vehicle experienced complete engine wiring harness failure at 74000 miles. *ph *mr | |||
| 03/09/2003 | 120000 | 1 | 01/16/1999 |
| My 1998 ford contour 4-door sedan recently experienced a devastating failure. while my daughter was driving through a parking lot at low speed, a sub-frame assembly under the dash fell down on her feet. the assembly is held in place with two bolts which had come loose. as a result of this, the steering linkage was allowed to disconnect, permitting the steering wheel to spin freely. had this happened on the highway she would have completely loss control, and because the frame fell on her feet, she probably couldn't have applied the brake. no steering and no brake! i think this is a potentially fatal design defect. of course, the dealer and ford apologized but refused to correct the problem because the car is out of warranty. *jb | |||
| 1 | |||
| The steering wheel became stuck in one direction. consumer had to use excessive force to get steering back to the center. *jb | |||
| 05/01/1999 | |||
| The temperature gauge in the instrument panel continually reads above the red zone. the car has been checked and is not overheating. there has been a technical report filed on this and it is a known problem. this could be dangerous if the vehicle was to overheat because the driver would not be able to know.*ak | |||
| 1 | 05/24/1997 | ||
| Steering uneven and seems to give when turning. nlm | |||
| 02/09/2000 | 3 | ||
| On several occasions, when turning, the steering wheel started to shimmy, and makes a yawning sound, possibly related to the steering and or suspension failure. *et | |||
| When traveling at any speed and upon hitting water in the road surface steering wheel lock up and freeze, causing poor steering control. also, having problems with vehicle stalling when traveling at any speed. consumer has contacted the dealer, dealer has replaced parts, but problem still occurs. please provide any further details. *ak | |||
| 02/01/1999 | 1 | ||
| Possible steering failure resulted in an accident/injury to several people. | |||
| STEERING - COLUMN LOCKING - ANTI-THEFT DEVICE | |||
| 1 | 11/01/2000 | ||
| Alarm system malfunctions at times causing the vehicle not to start. nlm | |||
| 1 | 07/01/1997 | ||
| Transmission has a defect, there is a slip when you applying gears. also, brake pedal goes all the way down to the floor, and grabs a little bit. dealership is aware of problem. brakes have failed, on one occasion consumer almost hit a child, brake pedal slips from under foot. emergency brake is only effective 50 percent of the time. transmission intermittently changes gears roughly, at times jarring occupants in the vehicle. possible electrical problem: light of the clock has burned out twice, consumer states there are shorts in the dashboard, causing the heater or a/c to only have one speed working, dome lights work intermittently, light under dash works intermittently, warning bell does not chime all the times it should, consumer states a sensor causes heater to act as the ac and vice versa. hinges not made properly, causing door movement while opening/closing, does not stop when it should. seat blet retarction does not have enough elast, causing it not to retract properly, has gotten caught in the door jam. alarm system has failed. wheel cover cracked when a tire was being changed and another one fell off, consumer was not aware of the time or place it fell off. *slc | |||
| The anti theft alarm system doesn't start. yh | |||
| 08/01/1998 | 5 | 08/01/1998 | |
| Vehicle does not respond to the remote key entry and does not start. owner believes a defect exists in the factory installed alarm system. | |||
| STEERING - GEAR BOX - SHAFT PITMAN | |||
| 12/18/1997 | |||
| Consumer received recall letter, contacted dealer. no parts available to correct the problem. recall number 98v233000. dec.15,1998 at 8;00 am the service was done. *ak.et. | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS | |||
| 11/02/2001 | 1 | 10/01/1998 | |
| While exiting highway, steering wheel got really hard to turn, consumer almost had an accident. consumer pulled vehicle to side of road and noticed power steering fluid pouring out of vehicle. *ak *jb | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - POWER STEERING FLUID | |||
| 06/01/2001 | |||
| Power steering unit makes a loud noise if brake pedal is depressed on ice and snow. a noise can be heard once the car is started. power steering fluid has been changed, but that did not remedy the problem. please provide further details.*ak | |||
| 11/02/2001 | 0 | ||
| While exiting highway steering wheel was so tough to turn that consumer almost had a collision. consumer pulled over, and noticed power steering fluid was pouring out of vehicle. please provide any further information.*ak | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - PUMP | |||
| 02/22/2000 | 1 | ||
| Consumer states that the power steering pump failed. *slc | |||
| 06/25/2001 | 1 | 10/23/1997 | |
| Consumer was traveling about 55mph on highway and vehicle veered into left to avoid debris in street. consumer lost control of vehicle , steering was uncontrolable, and then vehicle straightened out on its own. dealership was aware of problem.*ak dealer replaced belt and took vehicle for a test drive and could not duplicate problem. *slc | |||
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM | |||
| 5 | 01/01/2000 | ||
| When driving slowly through a puddle the car can experience a sudden, temporary loss of power steering. this results in difficulty controlling the car.*ak | |||
| 12/29/2001 | 1 | 01/01/1998 | |
| While driving on i75 around atlanta, car steering failed making car feel like it was hydroplaning but it wasn't. road conditions were wet with light drizzle. car veered to left and hit concrete median. bumper was left hanging by a thread. car wasn't safe to drive and had towed to body shop. feel this is related to similar incidents where the contour steering failed after water hits the belts & pulleys. | |||
| 06/25/2001 | 1 | 10/23/1997 | |
| Consumer was traveling about 55mph on highway and vehicle veered into left to avoid debris in street. consumer lost control of vehicle , steering was uncontrolable, and then vehicle straightened out on its own. dealership was aware of problem.*ak dealer replaced belt and took vehicle for a test drive and could not duplicate problem. *slc | |||
| 06/16/1999 | 1 | 04/01/1999 | |
| Power steering failed while driving through deep puddle. cause determined to be water splashing on belt and pulley, causing slippage and temporary loss of power steering. dealer offered to install revised splash guard (tsb) under warranty. | |||
| 09/02/1999 | 1 | 08/01/1998 | |
| Drove through puddle, lost power steering assist. *ak | |||
| 08/10/1999 | 6 | 06/01/1998 | |
| Whenever the automobile is driven through a puddle of water or upon prolonged driving on a wet road, the power steering locks up. when this occurs, the power steering remains locked for several seconds up to over one minute before returning to normal. these conditions also cause the battery light to illuminate. i returned the vehicle to the dealer in approximately june 1998, but their fix action replacing a headlight wiring assembly did not appear to address the problem and the problem reoccurred immediately the next time that the autombile was driven on a rainy day. upon returning the automobile a second tme, i was informed by both a service technician and a service manager that this is a problem that the ford company is aware of but is making no attempt to inform the automobile owners until they actually experience the problem. | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES | |||
| 07/26/2006 | 58000 | 1 | 02/10/1998 |
| My family and i were making a right turn from the parking lot of a movie theater to a moderately busy street. after i completed the turn, i heard a loud bang, and my car suddenly swerved to the right, and i couldn't stop. i could not go forward, or back around. thinking that it was caused by a blown tired, i got out; it was not. when i had it towed to my mechanic, he said that one of the steering rods on the front, right passenger wheel had broken. he replaced both the right and the left steering rods. *jb | |||
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||
| 1 | |||
| Left outer tie rod failed. mjs | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION | |||
| 01/15/2001 | 1 | 05/01/1998 | |
| Rack and pinion steering unit started to leak some fluid. steering wheel would make alot of noise when trying to make turns. contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything. *akhe rack and pinion unit was replaced with a rebuit unit, the automatic transmission has begun to have problems. *nlm | |||
| 09/07/2001 | |||
| Rack and pinion steering failure. dealer/ manufacturer were notified. feel free to provide any further information concerning this matter.*ak | |||
| 11/02/2001 | 1 | 10/01/1998 | |
| While exiting highway, steering wheel got really hard to turn, consumer almost had an accident. consumer pulled vehicle to side of road and noticed power steering fluid pouring out of vehicle. *ak *jb | |||
| 08/21/2001 | |||
| Rack and pinion steering malfunctioned, had no steering/ control of vehicle.*ak | |||
| STEERING - RACK AND PINION - RACK | |||
| 09/22/2005 | 52839 | 1 | 10/01/1997 |
| Dt: while driving and without prior warning the consumer could not make a right turn. took vehicle to the repair shop, and they said the rack and pinion steering rack broke, and needed to be replaced. also, did a power steering flush. *ak *nm | |||
| 05/07/1999 | 2 | 10/01/2098 | |
| Automatic transmission slipped badly nearly causing accident as car behind me did not anticipate my car not being able to accelarate as i turned onto a busy road. second time tranmisson has failed in the vehicle - first at approx 25000 miles. leaking trans fluid also damge seals to power steering rack causing seals to fail competely in less than 300 miles.*ak | |||
| STEERING - WHEEL AND HANDLE BAR | |||
| 10 | 12/01/2000 | ||
| Vehicle occasionally stalls causing steering wheel to lock.*ak | |||
| Steering wheel would not release from locked position. vehicle had to be towed to a dealership to be inspected.*ak | |||