2014 Ford Escape: steering wheel locks up

Filed May 21, 2024 · Steering · 25 miles · IL

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality, and the steering wheel seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the steering rack and pinion had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Jan 21, 2024 · Steering · VA

My power steering locks up on Frozen mornings and will not turn this has happened numerous times since 2023 and it is now January 21st 2024 and is becoming more frequent

Filed Jul 17, 2023 · Steering · 117,000 miles · SC

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel seized. Additionally, the steering assist fault warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who informed the contact that the ECU was defective, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000.

Filed Dec 8, 2022 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · NC

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that he had experienced several failures with the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where an unknown software update was completed; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that while he was driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized, and the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who recommended that the vehicle be towed to the dealer. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and was repaired under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

Filed Aug 22, 2022 · Steering · 69,000 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the message "Power Steering Assist Default" was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that no issues were found. However, the failure reoccurred intermittently. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the failure occurred and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the steering gear assembly was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.

Filed Jun 16, 2022 · Transmission · 166,414 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting pull out of the driveway, the vehicle was shifted to drive(D) however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to move. The contact stated that the gear shifter had seized in drive(D). The brake pedal and steering wheel locked up. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's father, an independent mechanic, diagnosed that the transmission shifter cable bushing had failed. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The contact became aware that the VIN was included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 166,414.

Filed Sep 7, 2019 · Steering · 79,000 miles · PA · crash

Left driveway and a minute down the road (on a city street) as the vehicle began to accelerate the gears jolted and steering seized up making me unable to avoid a car parked around a bend that was a foot in the road. No lights came on and no warning appeared. I had an appointment to take it to the shop in a few days because when switching gears or accelerating after vehicle is stopped it jolts/feels like it's trying harder than it should have to for being such a new vehicle, and haven't even owned the vehicle for a month. It's very upsetting to just get a new to me car and have an unavoidable accident. It's currently at the service shop. Luckily no one was injured but both vehicles are badly damaged. This isn't the first complaint about this issue with this vehicle and there's multiple complaints just this year. I have a feeling as time goes on and vehicles hit between 50-80 thousand miles the issue will become more apparent. Ford should definitely have a recall and fix this problem so no one becomes seriously injured.

Filed Jun 19, 2019 · Steering · 84,725 miles · MI

My 2014 ford escape is only 4 years old and the power steering locked up while it was parked in a parking structure. I could barely turn it to get it out of the structure then I had to have it towed to the dealership who said it would cost $2000 to repair. There are recalls for older models but not 2014. Luckily this happened while parked and not while I was driving on a busy road. Very unsafe. I don't expect such expensive repairs from a car this age.

Filed May 8, 2019 · Steering · 56,000 miles · VA

I was driving on a highway with my family and felt a tightness in the steering so pulled over for a rest stop then when I tried to leave by turning back onto the highway the steering wheel locked up and made it difficult to turn so had to leave vehicle behind dealership said it wasn't nothing wrong with vehicle and no recalls but this is a known issue with later years of escape and other SUV

Filed May 3, 2019 · Steering · 100,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 ford escape. While driving, the steering wheel seized. An independent mechanic assisted the contact with the vehicle for it to be driven. The vehicle was taken to al packer ford west palm beach (1530 n military trl, west palm beach, fl 33409) where it was diagnosed that an unknown part related to the steering needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was not provided. *bf consumer stated steering was totally locked and the vehicle could not steer.

Filed Apr 9, 2019 · Steering · OK

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 ford escape. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and the electric power steering warning indicator illuminated. Randall ford (5500 rogers ave, fort smith, ar 72903, (479) 452-1311) was notified and stated that the vehicle was not included in any steering recall campaigns. The contact felt that if the same oem part was replaced without a remedy, the failure may recur. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided no assistance. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.

Filed Mar 27, 2019 · Steering · 55,000 miles · NY

I was driving on the highway and all of a sudden the steering wheel froze up and would not turn unless using tremendous force. I was lucky not to be in an accident. The car only has 56-58k miles and is not that old. I was now charged by ford almost $2,000 to replace the steering system. I have read abt this from other owners on-line, but there seems not to be a recall for something that can potentially cause an deadly accident.