There is a bolt that holds steering column in place. While driving that bolt broke off, and consumer could no longer control vehicle. Contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything.
2001 Ford Escape steering complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 58 of 58, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have spoken with a ford rep. For a new car, too many things have gone wrong. It is currently in the shop have the window and ABS brakes fixed. Every time it's somehting new! Nlm
My escape stalled 4 different times while driving down the street. My speed was 40 MPH or less. There is the tightness in the steering and the engine light goes on and all power is lost.it starts up with no problem.
Car electrical, steering and brakes cut off driving at 35-40 MPH on curvy road. Just bought the car used 2 days ago. First time this has happened. Now that ive looked at this site, seems many people have this problem. Going to dealer tommorow. We like the car, but we're afraid we have ourselves a lemon. I hope the dealer/ford will fix this problem and stand behind their product.
Engine stalled while going downhill, power brakes and steering went out so very hard to control on an incline. Seems to be a common problem with the exact same situations with this vehicle.
I lost control of my vehicle while traveling downhill. I lost power to the car which apparently, caused complete system failure. The battery, engine, and oil lights came on. I lost 90% of my brakes and lost all steering ability. I had to pull the emergency brake in order to stop the vehicle. The car restarted afterwards. The company told me it was a problem with the relay. But I still have an issue with the fact that I lost steering capabilities and probably could happen again in the future.
Driving around 40mph, and car has stalled three times on me now with loss of steering and brakes, most recently on 10/11/2001. Ford says they don't know what is wrong.
The SUV was purchased new in mid-december 2000. On 9/7/07, I was slowing down, on a downhill slope, to make a right turn when the SUV shut itself off and the steering column locked up. It had 1/3 tank of gas. I shifted the automatic into park, turned the key, the car started and I extricated my 7 year old son and myself from the busy intersection and from the mouth of on-coming traffic (we landed in the left turn lane, much to a jeep's dismay). I drove slowly to my son's school (3 blocks down), then to work where I notified ford via it's 800 number. I made an appointment for that afternoon with the dealership to have the car fixed. I left the car with the dealership. On 9/8/01, I called and the dealership said the car was ready. I asked the service manager to review the repairs with me & my husband and to explain why the repair "fixed" the problem. He said they replaced a valve which controls air flow. He said this would cause the car to shut off, especially if I had been engaging the brakes when the car shut off. I was engaging the brakes when it shut off, so I accepted this explanation. I packed my 7 year old into the SUV and left. Within 7-10 miles, the car shut itself off, again (only 26 hours after the first incident and the supposed "fix")! This time I was accelerating up a semi-steep incline. My eyes were forward. I noticed out of the bottom of my field of vision a red glow. I looked down and the oil lamp was glowing. I just had the oil changed within 1,000 miles and the car was just at the dealership that morning, so that couldn't be a problem. I then noticed that all of the other dashboard lights (most in white light) also were lit up. At that point, the steering began to locked up and the car slowed to a stop. I managed to maneuver the SUV to the community center's driveway on the right. We narrowly missed being mowed down by a van which had gained signficant momentum having just swooped down the downgrade and was racing up the incline. 1/4 tank gas.
While the escape is driving at no particular speed, the steering wheel tugs a little then it locks completely up, then the brakes fail, the engine light comes on and the only way to get the car to stop is to use the emergency brake. My escape has done this three times since I bought it in may of this year. Two of the incidents almost resulted in car accidents because the car can not be steered. The car totally freezes up with all engines lights coming on. The speed doesn't seem to be a factor. All three occassions my cd player has been on, the air has been on low and my lights have been on. After the car finally stops by using the emergengy brake, I shut everything off and it starts right back up again.
Was traveling 40mph on highway went to change lanes and power steering didn't respond. Dealership was aware of problem.*ak check engine light illuminated and oil light illuminated, dealer cleaned ground connections under the battery. Sub woofer inoperable, dealer replaced.
Consume r was traveling about 45mph on a mountain road, and without prior warning, engine check light came on the dashboard. Then, there were no brakes or power steering. Also, speed pedal went all the way to the floor. Consumer was able to control vehicle. Dealership was aware of problems.
While traveling 15-20mph on a neighborhood side street consumer ran into a parked car, causing vehicle to rollover 360 degrees. Dealer was contacted. *ak consumer suffered a fractured rib in the accident, consumer thinks that this vehicle should not have rolled over as easily as it did.
Engine has shut off 3 times while driving, since car bought 6 weeks ago. Always on hilly, curvey roads, doing 35-40 MPH, coasting and braking lightly. Check engine light comes on. Power steering and brakes go. Have to muscle car to roadside. Turning off key and restarting seems to work. Have also put in neutral, turned key off and restarted, shifting back into drive. Been to dealer once last week for problem. They could not detect or recreate. Dealer contacted ford hot-line, who made suggestions, to no avail. Dealer says they nor ford have heard of this problem. Hard to believe this. Have spoken with ford customer service twice, sympathetic reaction but with no advice or solution. Happened again yesterday. Car back to dealer now for week while on vacation. Very afraid I'm going to kill myself or someone else in accident. Expressed concerns to dealer and ford. There are 16 like complaints on the federal safety agency sight. Is anything being done?
Driving down a slight grade the engine just quit on six occasions at the same location adjacent to a cellular antenna tower. Took vehicle to dealer who said the diagnostic computer code indicated interruption in the anti-theft smart key system. When the same problem reoccurred, the dealer had the car for a week and ford's service hotline told them to shield the ignition and add grounding to that electrical system. The engine has shut down once again and dealer wants us to bring car back so they can try to duplicate failure while hooked up to their service computer.occurred
While traveling at 20-25 MPH steering pulled sharply to left. Rear wheels locked, causing vehicle to travel across lains, hiting steering wheel unlocked. Please provide furthre information.
While traveling and arriving at destination saw smoke coming under hood. Opened hood and saw flames. Put fire out. Dealer inspected vehicle, and stated that power steering pump caught on fire.
Consumer noticed that the steering was very tight and was having trouble keeping the vehicle on the road. Nlm
While driving the vehicle the steering wheel would get stuck in right turns when turning right. When turning left the steering wheel would not fully turn unless forced into the needed range. Finally steering wheel got stuck in a right turn and had to be towed. Less than 24 hours of ownership and less than me driving 15 miles.
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