I have seen many posts about the same issue with fellow 2011 ford f-150 owners. My truck also locked up on me driving on a city street during lunch hour and when I took it to the dealer (under warranty) they advised after diagnostics that the electronic rack and pinion needed to be changed. After hearing a ridiculous price of $1800.00 (part and labor) I asked why was it not covered under drivetrain warranty in which they advised it was "electrical." ford needs to assist all ford f-150 owners on this matter if they don't want a huge lawsuit if, god forbid, anyone gets into an accident.
2011 Ford F-150 steering complaints
Page 12 of 15: complaints 311 to 340 of 419, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving down a state highway, and signaled for a right turn. As I slowed and began my turn the power steering system quit and because of the increased turning effort I wound up on the wrong side of the road onto which I was turning. A warning message appeared on my dash that I had a power steering failure. I muscled the truck over to the side of the road. I turned off the engine and restarted it. The power steering worked for about 1-200 feet, then failed again. Fortunately, there were no other vehicles heading in my direction when I went into the opposite lane. I was able to "muscle" the truck to the side of the road and stop safely. I got the truck to the dealer and was told it need a new electronic power steering assist unit at a cost of $1,600+. This seems like a safety issue to me. What if an inexperience driver had been driving or someone without my size or strength?
2011 ford f150 ecoboost with 23,000 miles: while travelling at speeds 45 MPH and greater, the steering becomes difficult to maneuver or correct during at speed turns, (ie. Driving on twisting highways). The local ford dealer inspected the problem and stated that the epas system needed replacing and that the vehicle was unsafe and to not drive it. The estimate called for a $1160 steering gear part, and $80 "adjust toe in" and labor for a grand total of $1370!! After reading so many other complaints with the same issue, and recalls present for different model years, it is concerning that this is not a recall issue for the 2011's as well.
When I drive my power steering will go out as I'm turning it will be fine one min and the next min I'm in the grass trying not to die
This concerns ford motor company safety recall # 14s09. Ford motor co. Internal letter from [xxx]. Dated june 10, 2014 to dealers. A "do not drive warning." this letter applies to only select 2014 f150 models. My ford f150 fx4; 2011 has an "identical" problem with the same required part number and repair needed. Only instead of being a recall it is classified as a repair at a cost of $1,641.00. I have documentation from a dealer "uftring ford automall" stating the identical problem. Dated today november 9, 2015. In ford's letter I referred too, above. It warns dealers that the epas gear motor position sensor magnet may lead to impaired steering, loss of steering control, which could increase the risk of a crash. Why is my vehicle not covered? Note: on the internet there are more f150 owners complaining about this problem. A warning pops up on the dash monitor screen. In bold orange letters. "service advance trac." this happens when turning the steering wheel to park at a slow speed. It appears randomly when driving and the turn signal cannot work. Plus the steering wheel can vibrate. If the reset button is depressed the warning on the screen disappears. But you have to shut the vehicle off and restart it to get the turn signal to work again and the vibration to end. The effected part # is: el3z3504be. The same part number and procedure to repair the 2014's. This can happen to 2011 trucks at any mileage and other years. Ford even admits it is a "do not drive situation." I want ford to fix my vehicle at their cost. It is a defect that they admit too. I would upload the ford letter. Also the dealer analysis. I do not know how to upload it. ? It is a pdf file. Please reply thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
At speed when turning left the steering sticks, and does not return to center when you let go of the wheel. Most noticeable on highway in a left hand turn.
My 2011 f150, at just under 60,000 miles, started to have the steering lock up. It can still be turned, but only with considerable effort. This seems to happen mainly on the highway after the wheel has not been moved for a few seconds. The dealer said the rack needs to be replaced (a $2k job), and it is not covered under warranty, which seems unbelievable.
While driving the vehicle at approximately 40mph, down a windy, canyon road, I noticed a loud squealing noise as I was rounding a left turn at two different intervals of my steering to the left. At each interval/squeal, I noticed the vehicle was not actually turning, causing me to almost miss the turn and go off the road. I was able to slow down to about 15mph, and with continued force pulling the steering wheel harder left, I was able to make the turn. This continued for the remainder of my 8 mile drive into town, with problems persisting when turning either left or right. I also noticed, as I got into town, that my blinkers suddenly stopped "staying on." they would blink once and turn back off. This was true for both the right and left blinker. I drove straight to the dealership, and in parking noticed that the squealing and the lack of "turning during the squeal" was even worse when the vehicle was moving at a slower speed -- pulling into a parking spot. After diagnosing my truck, they found the gear assembly - steering needed replacing. On my invoice it says "1 el3z*3504*be gear asy - steering". My truck has 56283 miles on it. I have found numerous cases online of people that the same thing has happened to, even some who have actually gotten into an accident because of the same electronic power assisted steering failure.
When my truck hit about 40k miles, the steering started periodically "locking up". It can still be turned but it takes some muscle and is very choppy. When it does this and I'm in a turn, when you release the wheel it will hold position in the turn rather than returning to center. You have to physically turn it back to center. The frequency of this seems to be increasing. My mechanic says it's the electronic steering module( eaps ) and cost almost 1800.00 to repair parts and labor. Forums are full of people having this issue. This will be a lawsuit coming and someone is going to get hurt. Some models have a recall for this issue. Mine does not.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the power steering would momentarily malfunction and the steering wheel would become very difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering gear needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 29,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving 15 MPH, the steering column seized. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving at approximately 20 MPH, the steering wheel seized. In addition, the vehicle drifted slightly to the left and the brake pedal was hard when depressed. The vehicle continued to drift and crashed into the front of another vehicle. The contact stated that the "service advancetrac" warning message displayed. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A police report was filed and no injuries were reported. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.
When driving steering wheel grabs or locks especially but not always at low speeds, this occurs for 1-2 seconds then releases and is "normal" again. It seems to occur more frequently when outside air temperature is above 90 degrees. Definitely a safety issue as you have no idea when or where it will occur and you have no control...
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While making a left turn, the electronic assist for the power steering malfunctioned and the steering wheel became very difficult to turn. The contact indicated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,000.
Noticed a sticking spot in long sweeping turns at 35+ MPH that was manageable. Turned into concernig clicking sounds while turning wheel in any direction. Scared to drive ended up at dealership and diagnosed as another issue with epas and binding. Replaced rack and pinion assembly. Expecting to see more of this as these systems are now being tested. Hopefully ford owns up to design/reliability flaws on this safety issue.
Steering started freezing at speeds around 20-25 MPH. Not a huge deal at first because of city driving.. It eventually got worse at higher speeds..august 7th 2015 , the steering failed at 65mph and sent the truck towards the concrete median. It could have been tragic. I ended up taking it to the shop that monday and having the electronic power steering unit replaced at 1200.00 plus. I am really upset that there is no recall on this with the danger it can cause!
Power steering assist fault came on .lost power steering almost got in a accident. Almost hit a semi ..took in to shop and they said,faulty gear box...someone is going to get killed.you are recalling 2015 on this same issue..ford need to step up and fix this problem on all electrical power steering I.am going to seek a lawyer on this problem..they say it going to cost me 2500.00.....I don't have this amount to fit this
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving approximately 15 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The failure recurred on two other occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 29,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the steering wheel was hard to turn and a warning displayed on the panel that read 'service advance trap". The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was not able to diagnose the failure. In addition, the contact stated that when attempting to pass another vehicle, the accelerator pedal was activated and there was loss of acceleration as the check engine light flashed on and off. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 57,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving at various speeds and making a left turn, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that the electric power assist steering needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000.
My 2011 ford f150, with less than 23500 miles, suddenly developed problems with its electronic steering system consisting of (a) very loose steering, (b) a "service advanctrac" warning message, (c) the control for the left & right blinkers no longer working. I was driving down a dirt at a low rate of speed when the problem struck without warning, and then got onto a paved road where the steering continued to feel very 'sloppy' and somewhat difficult to control the truck. The local ford dealership diagnosed the problem with the epas (electronic) steering system which was first introduced on the 2011 f150 model. They first quoted $1300 to repair it since I am out of the 3/36 warranty, but later came down to $480 when I complained about it being a safety issue and that it was ridiculous for something like this to happen on a truck with less than 25k miles (mostly highway miles). According to the dealer, ford covered the cost of the expensive replacement part. There are many online complaints (websites & the federal safety agency) regarding problems with the ford epas steering system. Its sudden and unexplainable failure, especially on trucks with low mileage, makes this a significant safety concern in my opinion.
At roughly 32000 miles, in october of 2014 I experienced a failure of the electric brake vacuum assist. The symptoms were that the pump constantly ran and could audibly be heard where it was not previously constantly running. As soon as I noticed a change I reported the issue to johnson ford in pittsfield ma.. The pump was replaced in october of 2014 under warranty. No recall or campaign has been implemented for this condition but numerous reports by ford owners have been made regarding the same condition. I believed the audible noise I was hearing was a steering component because I was simultaneously having an issue with "notchy" steering. While negotiating a long, gradual turn my steering would lock while turning left. The wheel would lock when the top of the steering wheel was in the area of the 10 o'clock position. No crash occurred but the condition was very unsafe. The vehicle had to be driven erratically to remedy the condition. A hard yank on the wheel was necessary to forcibly increase steering input. The steering components were also replaced in october of 2014 by johnson ford under warranty. No recall or campaign has been implemented for this condition but numerous reports have been made regarding the same condition. The electric vacuum assist replaced in october of 2014, nine months ago was the same part with no updates as the one that failed. I again hear the vacuum assist motor running almost constant as it was when replaced. The truck is no longer under warranty. I have only had this vacuum assist for nine months. I spoke with ford customer service. No warranty is available as I have driven the truck in excess of 12,000 miles (12,200 miles at the time I reported the problem). The customer service employee offered no service other than to bring it to ford at my expense for repairs, $130.00 diagnosis, $580 pump, $200.00 labor.
I was making a series of turns in a parking lot looking for a building on a college campus and then without warning I lost power steering. A warning light came on and said that there is a braking assist fault. I finally was able to muscle my truck into a parking space and shut the truck off. When I turned the truck back on my power steering was back. It went on for two days without happening again, until today (7-24-15) it occurred twice in one day. The steering wheel is feeling funny especially when turning left. It feels a little lose when turning left. It feels like it is slipping when turning. Again once the vehicle is shut off and restarted the power steering returned.
While making a sharp left turn I heard a loud squeaking sound, and then got the advance trac fault and it reset it self and a few days later got the same sound and fault. About 3 weeks later I heard the same noise and the steering wheel locked intermittently and I wasn't able to turn the steering wheel left direction. Had vehicle taken to local ford dealer and was told by service tech that the steering gear needs to be replaced, cost $1,750. This is a very dangerous problem that needs to be recalled and repaired by ford. This can put a driver in an accident resulting in injury or possible death upon failure.
While driving 45mph down a straight road, my dash displayed the following error "power steering fault" and my power steering stopped working. I pulled over and stopped to read the manual. It says if/when this happens turn your vehicle off for 10 seconds and restart. If the error message appears again, take the vehicle to a dealership immediately. My concern is, how can an electronic error appear for "power steering fault" and stop working instantaneously? I have read numerous blogs and comments online how this is very common and peoples stories of wrecks or this happening on the highway while traveling at high speeds! This needs to be addressed immediately! I unplugged my battery for 10 minutes to clear the error from the "trucks computer". The power steering worked again fine for about a day then it did the same thing. This is an electronic error that can kill somebody if it has not already.
When making a left turn at a light, the steering wheel froze and there was no power steering. The advancetrac service light came on and stayed on. Vehicle was hauled to the dealer where it was purchased. They kept the truck 4 days, said they replaced part #el3z3504be, epas steering gear assembly, and that the truck road tested fine. We picked up the truck and within 20 miles it did the same thing when we attempted to make a right turn. We have owned this truck for 3 years, 4 months and it has less than 53,000 miles. This is clearly a safety issue that ford should recall. It is also very clear that they do not know what is causing, or how to fix, this problem. This is a serious safety hazard as you cannot steer the vehicle when this happens. Ford needs to step up!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, the power steering failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the power steering electronic gear module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving 5 MPH or higher and making a left turn, the steering wheel seized without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred numerous times. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 130,000.
While making a sharp left turn I heard a loud squeaking sound, and then got the advance trac fault and it reset it self and a few days later got the same sound and fault. About 3 weeks later I heard the same noise and the steering wheel locked and I wasn't able to turn the steering wheel either direction. Had vehicle towed to local ford dealer and was told by service tech that the steering gear needs to be replaced, cost $1,750.
Steering had a dead spot at low speed, advancetrac lights came on and stayed on for a few days. Steering was very unresponsive. Took to dealer, was advised of a $2700 repair being needed for the steering gear and a reflash of the computer. 80,000 miles, not covered under warranty or goodwill, haven't even had this truck 2 weeks. So now I'm stuck with a lump, not sure what to do. Ford dealer acknowledged this issue, said that it is likely to be recalled in the future, but until then, there is nothing they can do. This should not happen on a 2011 model vehicle with so few miles.
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