Unmarked police crown victoria sedan traveling in left lane of 4-lane, grass median-separated highway with posted speed limit 55 MPH. Police officer driver deceased in crash. Witnesses report: after entering highway, vehicle accelerated to high rate of speed; in vicinity police median turnaround, police strobe lights went on; vehicle started wobbling and moving gradually to left in straight path. Event data recorder indicated brakes applied and vehicle slowed before colliding with concrete bridge underpass abutment. Small grass fire extinguished around front-end of vehicle. Cursory vehicle examination on 09/15/11 reports: airbag deployed, seat belt locked up due to impact, unable to check brake pedal, unable to check front brakes, and bad steering (no further details on condition steering parts).
2008 Ford Crown Victoria steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 25 of 25, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Corrected description for complaint 10618222: driving on highway at 70 m.p.h., noticed increasing "play" in steering wheel; stopped at rest area. When ready to leave, started to back out and turned steering wheel less than 1/2 turn to the left. I heard/felt something "pop," at which point the steering wheel would spin freely and no longer affected the front wheels--complete loss of steering control. Had car towed to a ford dealer, who confirmed the steering column had broken components. The dealer also noted that this vehicle had previously received repairs to the steering under ford recall 13s08. Ford dealer stated they had contacted ford motor company about covering all or part of the repair, but "corporate had refused." the expensive repair ($1,093.60) was all mine. Can 't help but wonder if the recall repair went far enough.
Vehicle suddenly jerked to the left causing it to flip over and damaging two utility poles and bringing down power lines.
Tl* the contact owns 2008 ford crown victoria. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, there was a loss of steering control. The contact then unexpectedly crashed into another vehicle. The driver and front seat passenger sustained injuries to the neck, back and body. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent auto center for investigation. Three weeks after the crash, the contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign id number: 13v385000 (steering). The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.
Note: this is a police car. Officer was driving approximately 40mph when suddenly, without warning, the steering wheel had a lot of play in it, which became more apparent when the steering wheel did a complete 360 degree turn while the vehicle kept going straight. He was able to turn the wheel hard enough at the last second and landed onto a homeowners driveway. Unit was towed to the fleet department where the unit is based. Officer did not have any warning that this was about to happen, no popping, grinding or hard steering prior to the event. I am the lead fleet technician, ase master and advanced certified & 30 years experience. Findings upon inspection: I found the splined steering shafts in the column had separated and the light green plastic bushing at the lower section of the column was broken, the splined black hard plastic on the splined shaft was chewed up on the end (unknown if these occurred after shaft separation). After inspection, the column was reassembled and bench tested. No problem was noted. No visible cracks, abnormal wear or looseness noted. New ford steering column and clock-spring installed, alignment and unit was put back in service. The faulty column is on hand.
On wednesday, october 10 at approximately 3:45 pm trooper was traveling on reservoir avenue in the city of cranston. As the trooper approached the on-ramp for route 10 south he attempted to turn onto the ramp. As he did so he heard a loud snap and the steering wheel kept turning without turning the front wheels. He applied the brakes and went up onto the curbing next to the ramp. When he came to a stop the horn was sounding and the lights and siren were also going on and off. The cruiser in question is a 2008 and had not experienced any serious problems until this. It was towed to tasca ford and they advised that the steering column had snapped and affected the wiring in the vehicle. The vehicle is currently at tasca awaiting repairs. Thank you for your assistance.
Inspection found dislocated bushing.
Inspection found dislocated bushing.
Inspection found dislocated bushing.
Inspection found dislocated bushing.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford crown victoria. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the power steering assist failed. The contact stated that he attempted to turn the vehicle but instead, heard a loud noise as the wheel began to move independently. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop for inspection where they stated that the steering column had become disassembled. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Driver felt resistance in steering and heard noise under dash. Drove car for some until it would not shift into park then brought in for service. Technician examining vehicle noticed small plastic parts on floor under steering column and found the lower bushing out of tube. Steering shaft was still connected.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford crown victoria. The contact stated that the steering knuckle and the engine compartment were fractured. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the plastic of the steering knuckle was defective and offered to replace the plastic with a rubber band. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure was 98,000 and the current mileage was 106.000. *update submitted...I am a deputy sheriff and on the date of this incident, I was traveling at 15 MPH. I noticed a granular feeling in the steering column and the steering wheel had no resistance. The steering column wheel could be spun continuously in either direction without affecting the vehicles direction. This is a very dangerous situation and could've been deadly for me and others on the road that day if my speed was faster than what it was.
The steering column in this vehicle separated in the upper portion of the steering column tube. The steering wheel binds as reported at first and is very difficult to steer from left to right. When the upper steering column shafts separated from this vehicle it had no mechanical connection to the front wheels. The operator was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop but they had just begun to accelerate from a traffic light when the shafts separated and the vehicles speed was minimal.
The steering column begins to separate in the upper portion of the steering column tube. The steering wheel binds and is very difficult to move from left to right. We have experienced in a like vehicle that the shafts in the upper column actually separated and the vehicle had no mechanical connection to the front wheels. The operator was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop but they had just begun to accelerate from a traffic light when the shafts separated and the vehicle speed was minimal.
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