2013 Ford Flex: jerking or lurching

Filed May 22, 2023 · Steering · MI

I my 2013 Dorf Flex after stopping at a store and when I turned the vehicle on the steering wheel jerked my wheels straight. Then a error came up saying power steering assist reduced. I turned the vehicle off and started it back up a few minutes later and the problem when away. I am concerned that there is an issue with this and Ford is not addressing it based on google searches and other peoples experiences. There have been multiple reports saying that they almost got into an accident while going down the road and this had happened. We do not feel safe driving this vehicle in its current condition. I reached out to Ford and they say this vehicle based on the vin number does not have a current recall on it.

Filed Aug 30, 2022 · Steering · UT

Power steering completely went out as we were driving jerking the wheel out of our hands , and almost causing an accident. An indicator on the dashboard says “power steering assist failure” . Shortly after that the traction control light/abs light came on as well. There were no warnings lamps, messages, or symptoms before this occurred and the power steering has been out ever since. This seems to be a Ford Flex recall problem and somehow ford doesnt want to cover the cost to repair/fix it because my VIN is not included in the recall.

Filed Jan 24, 2021 · Suspension · 110,000 miles · CA

On friday, january 22, 2021 at approximately 12:05 p.m. While driving the interchange from the southbound 55 fwy to the northbound 405 fwy (in costa mesa, ca) at a speed of 60 MPH my 2013 ford flex sel began fishtailing erratically ' swerving and jerking back and forth between lanes. After a frightening 10-20 seconds, I was able to maneuver the car to the right shoulder of the interchange without rolling the car or hitting anything or anyone. (at the time there was an average amount of traffic on the road all going about 50-60 MPH and weather conditions were sunny, 65). My initial stopping point was not in a safe location so when I proceeded to go forward about 300 feet to a slightly safer location, I could again feel the car start to fishtail while going only 5-10 MPH and my steering wheel was completely off balance and not centered. I inspected the car and could see no visible problem besides my steering wheel being off center. The car was towed via flat bed tow truck 13 miles to villa ford in orange, ca where it was subsequently determined to be a failed toe link suspension associated with ford recall 20s04. I wanted to report my experience and reiterate that this is a very serious issue!! I could have easily been killed had I hit something like the freeway concrete barrier or over-corrected too fast when the car started to fishtail and swerve and not been able to decelerate quick enough (and thank goodness my three kids weren't in the car with me!) I urge you to start pushing ford to take this recall more seriously!! I never received a recall notice and only learned of this issue after googling to see if any others have had a similar experience because it had scared me so much. I was shocked at reading all the stories of similar experiences. Please, please continue to push ford to communicate this issue out to people that have cars that are affected!!

Filed Jul 25, 2018 · Electrical, Fuel system · 82,000 miles · CA

2 issues 1) the front passenger door though closed is read as a warning "door ajar". The warning stays on at all times. It drains the battery and I have replaced the battery once since owning the 2013 ford flex when purchased in 2016 with just under 20,000 miles on it. The interior lights stay on from starting the engine until accelerated speed. The interior lights after parked stay on for a minimum of 30 minutes though it could be longer contributing to draining the vehicle battery. 2) the vehicle began to feel as if it is pulled while in commute. Not starting right away or shuts down/stalls. It has stalled and not turned over though the lights and radio work. Fortunately this has happened after being parked in my parking spot. It will not turn over, but the next morning it will start. After reading about similar issues for other ford flex vehicles last week with my vehicle doing the above action I replaced the fuel pump relay module. Which is located in the rear passenger area between rear passenger door and furthest rear window where the seat belt pulls from I felt I had resolved the issue. However, a week exactly later I attempted to start my vehicle when the exact scenario happened all over again. Vehicle would not start, but lights and radio worked. Left alone overnight I went to start it this morning and it starts. Through out the duration of this issue of stalling, not starting, pulling while in motion as it feels like the vehicle is being jerked there is no check engine light or when checking system the only warning is passenger seat ajar.

Filed Oct 27, 2017 · Steering · 117,000 miles · CA

I was doing a u-turn on a cul de sac and all of a sudden the steering wheel jerked and the motor died and when I restarted the car I had no power steering capabilities and the warning lights for the power steering control and the advance trac came on and the turn signals would not stay on without holding them in the up or down position.

Filed Oct 8, 2013 · Engine · 2,080 miles · WA

While traveling at 55 MPH, on cruise control, the engine began to knock and then the car lurched forward twice and began to shake pretty bad. I pulled off the road and called the dealership. After holding up the cell phone to the engine, I was told to "turn that engine off now!". The car was towed to the dealership and I was later told there was a catastrophic engine failure due to an cylinder within the internal piston that broke free and put a whole in the engine block, requiring the engine to be replaced. The service manager gave me the mangled cylinder and stated he thought the ball bearings had failed and caused the cylinder to wreak havoc with the engine. After seeing the piece that broke off. I feel that we were very lucky it did not come through into the passenger compartment; it could have caused a serious injury, if it had. Ford has agreed to replace the entire engine under the extended warranty, saying this type of failure only happens "1 in a million". I do not have any confidence that the same type of engine failure would not happen again if the ball bearings and or cylinder are inferior. I have pictures available if needed.