yamahatim

Same thing happened to my wife's 2011 Fusion. Hers started working again and allowed her to drive to the dealer. This is why I alway buy an ESP.

STi489

Omg...That's kind of scary! What if you're on the highway or anywhere with decent speeds! My 2013 brand new truck is a hazard because of this gay *** electronic steering!!!

mamonti

any power steering is able to fail and when it does it reverts to manual (mostly)! The reason I say this is like what the OP posted,,, he is a big guy and had to work it to turn. So a true manual steering is easier than a failed Power steering unit but still works! As for it being so hard to turn in a parking lot?? Well it comes down to speed and turn radius... Back before power steering came to be it was always a pain to park the truck but not bad at all to drive it on the road! So the same goes here,, if it goes out on the highway you will notice it but you will still be able to drive it even long distance after the loss,,,, but when it comes to parking it in a tight space,,,, Forgetaboutit!!! it is tuff! So what scares me about it???? The Cost to replace it!!!

mamonti

and BTW steering systems on vehicles today actually lesson the amount of power assist on the highway to give you the feel of the road.... without doing this you would over steer very easily thus they reduce the assist so you can get road feedback!

XLTOffRoad

Very interesting if true. Never thought about it.

mamonti

Here is some proof! This is the same as what is often called variable-assist steering. Ford had this back in the late 80's on certain models so it isn't a new system. The following comes directly from the Ford Service Manual!


Electronic Power Assist Steering(EPAS) System

The Electronic Power Assist Steering(EPAS) system provides power steering assist to the driver by replacing the conventional hydraulic valve system with an electric motor coupled to the steering rack by a toothed belt. The motor is controlled by the Power Steering Control Module (PSCM) that senses steering effort / use through an internally mounted steering shaft torque sensor. Steering assist is provided in proportion to the steering input effort and vehicle speed.

FordService

bigmike67,

I see your CSM left you a message this evening.

Ashley

RLXXI

Variable assist power steering has been around for over 20 years, I believe the first vehicle to utilize it was the Ford Taurus with 3.8 engine mid 80's. It could have also been the Lincoln Continental when it went front wheel drive.

It boosts power steering pressure when parking and restricts it at speed for better feel of the road. Then it was strictly on hydraulic assist only, the electronic system is fairly new.

Same principle though.

.

mamonti

There you go! What's funny is that it probably was out in the 50's but never caught on.... I love some of the stuff they come out with that cars had way back! Even now they are selling the self parking,,,, which was on some cars back in the 40's.... But of course the radio's had tubes back then,, so electronic steering is fairly new..

bigmike67

Today I learned that Ford will pay for the part ($1,200), and I will pay for the labor ($400). That's fair in my book since the truck is outside of warranty.

Bottom line - I have owned four trucks in my lifetime (Silverado & Super Duty), and I really enjoy this eco-boost. I've loaded this truck to capacity and towed up to 10,000 Lbs without a problem. In fact, it's been fun to experiment with just how well this 6 cylinder engine can perform.

I do think the EPAS system is a poor design. Ideally you could extract the electric motor without replacing the entire rack and pinion, or Ford would invest in a more robust electric motor design.

Regardless, this failure can be frightening & dangerous when it occurs. My goal was to make F-150 consumers aware of the problem, and to secure a fair resolution with Ford. Both have been accomplished.