Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||||
| 04214 | 11/01/2004 | 10013366 | Steering drift/pull - improved diagnostic and repair procedure - service tip. *tt | 04/15/2005 | |
| STEERING - HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST - HOSE, PIPING, AND CONNECTIONS | |||||
| 17532 | 02/01/2004 | 10008104 | Low pressure power steering line leak after cold soak in temperatures of -23c (-10) or lower. *mj | 07/22/2004 | |
| STEERING - LINKAGES - TIE ROD ASSEMBLY | |||||
| 031513 | 08/04/2003 | 10003192 | Tie rod end inspection procedure. *tt | 10/10/2003 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEERING | |||
| 09/06/2005 | 28500 | 2 | 08/13/2004 |
| On two separate occasions while driving no more than 30 mph on city streets, i have lost power steering on my 2004 ford escape xlt. the first time this happened was 8/11/05 while i was 207 miles away from home on vacation. i made a right hand turn after stopping at a traffic light and all of a sudden i lost power steering. it was very hard to steer, but i managed to ease to the right hand lane. fortunately, no one was behind me. once to the side of the street, i placed car in park and started trying to turn the steering left & right until i felt the power steering return. i stopped at a ford dealership to check the vehicle before the trip home. dealer only looked under hood to check fluid and look for any obvious problem. no problem was found, and we made it home safely. the second occurrence was 9/6/05, same situation. i lost power steering after making a right hand turn after stopping at a stop sign. i managed to move to the side of street again, placed car in park, tried turning steering wheel until i felt power steering return. drove to local dealership where they once again found no problem after checking wiring, pressure pump, power steering rack, & module. nothing was replaced. i voiced my concern to service advisor that this was 2nd occasion and fortunately i wasn't on freeway or no one was behind me these two times. on both occasions i had my children in the car. we may not be so lucky the next time. i also asked service advisor about just replacing parts since can't find a problem, and he advised ford doesn't allow them to do that since they didn't find a problem. this is the 2nd ford/mercury vehicle that has caused me nothing but problems, and i do not feel that we are safe in this vehicle. *nm | |||
| 12/08/2003 | 42 | 2 | 12/08/2003 |
| I purchased a 2004 ford escape xlt on 12/8/03. on the way home from the dealership, the vehicle pulled strongly to the left, and an appointment was made to have the vehicle serviced. on 12/17/03, the left rear power window had an electrical short and would not close. it went into service and the electrical short was repaired. on 12/19/03 we brought the vehicle in to service for the pulling to the left. they tried an alignment on the vehicle, and it still pulled to the left. the service people told my wife to drive it for 400-600 miles to see if it corrects itself. on 12/22/03 i brought the vehicle back to the ford service department to have them correct the problem; as i did not feel that continuing to drive it was a proper solution. the service tried the alignment again, tried to rotate the tires, changing the tires, but nothing corrected the vehicle from pulling to the left. they contacted ford who advised that the trouble may be the steering rack. on 12/26/2003 i brought the vehicle back to the service dept, and they put on a new steering rack, but the vehicle still pulled to the left. the informed that they have no idea why the new 2004 with now 600 miles on it still pulls to the left. the informed that they will have a ford engineer come out to see the vehicle to see if they can figure out what the issue is. i have spoken to the ford salesman that sold me the vehicle and the sales manager on my concerns on buying a new vehicle with these issues right from the start. they informed that there is nothing they can do until the ford engineer comes to check the vehicle out. our concern now is that the vehicle pulls to the left for unknown reason that the ford service experts cannot figure out, these problems are occuring when the vehicle had only 42 miles on it. | |||