Feb 16, 2015: upon the first start after replacing the battery, the "power steering assist failure" warning was displayed. This is the first known appearance of this warning. The warning message went away after re-starting the engine. Mid-to-late, march, 2015: several occurrences of the power steering warning; all went away after re-starting the engine. The warning did not occur at every start of the engine. April 1, 2015: vehicle taken in to a ford dealer for service. The power steering control module (pscm) was programmed. April 20, 2015: the power steering warning message displayed again after starting the engine. Message went away upon re-start. April 23, 2015: vehicle was examined by a ford dealer. It was determined the pscm needed to be replaced. The part needed to be ordered and the replacement would be done at a later date. May 1, 2015: vehicle scheduled to have the pscm replaced.
2011 Ford Fusion steering complaints
Page 37 of 49: complaints 1,061 to 1,090 of 1,436, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have had intermittent issues with my power steering since I purchased the car in 2012. During the colder days of the year when I started my car I received a message saying power steering fault and I did not have power steering while the message was up. Restarting the car resolved the issue so I ignored it as it only occurred on cold winter mornings and it did not occur while I was driving. I wasn't aware ford fusions used the epas system, I thought the error was coming from the power steering fluid thickening up but I soon realized my car did not have a hydraulic system. On 4/25/2015 I was driving down main st and I noticed my car was suddenly pulling me to the right side of the road and I had a harder time steering the vehicle. Soon after I received a message saying "service advancetrac", and "service power steering now" appeared on my console. I pulled into a parking lot and realized I lost my power steering. I powered off the car and turned it back on and the error messages came back. I was able to drive my car back to my apartment with some difficulty, I'm just happy I wasn't on the highway otherwise I could of got into an accident. I will drop the car off to the dealer tomorrow but I'm hoping my warranty covers the part. If not, I may never purchase a ford again after reading up on the epas system failures. Ford really needs to get their act together and create a recall for this dangerous issue.
Power steering went out shutting at mcdonalds drive thru. I could not turn the car. Power assist light was in. I finally got the car to turn but ur was very difficult. When I got through the drive thru I parked turned the car off and back on and the steering returned to normal.
Just got done getting gas at a gas station went in and paid came out to find I could barely steer my car. It almost has caused multiple accidents driving in parking lots as its very hard to turn sharp and fast at a slow speed. Being as I cannot afford a new car nor the amount to fix my car I am forced to drive this vehicle as is.
Upon shifting into gear after startup, I received a message on the dash display that the power steering system had a "fault." when I slowly proceeded from a parked position and began to turn from the parking area, I discovered that there was no steering assist and that the power steering system had failed. I was able to slowly back up into a parked position.
As I was driving around and prospecting for my job, my power steering suddenly quit and the warning dinged 3 times. As this was the first time this had happened, I simply shut off my car quickly and restarted it and the system reset and I had power steering again. This went on annoyingly for a few months having to stop and shut off the engine to fix the problem until april of 2015 when I was driving around prospecting and my car did the same thing except at a faster rate of speed. Until this point it generally happened as I shifted gears to reverse or drive when the power steering failed; this time it happened in drive while I was going about 15 MPH and the simple fix of shutting off the engine and restarting it did not work. Another error message appeared "service advancetrac" and I was unable to get my power steering to work until I took it into the dealer. Thankfully I was only going 15 MPH but with the amount of similar stories (some unfortunately not so lucky) I have encountered online, I strongly feel the federal safety agency needs to move their ass on this investigation and get these potentially destructing machines off the roads and highways! Get ford to issue a recall! I think over 1 million vehicles warrants it!!
Power steering has gone out several times since I first bought this car. Each time I have taken it into the dealer in the past they have told me they weren't willing to look at it without a fault code on the dash. Today (04/17/2015) I finally managed to get them to look at the code and they are unwilling to fix the problem under warranty despite it having been an ongoing issue. Looking it seems to be a problem not just related to my car, but a number of these 2011 fusions.
I was driving my car to the gas station and all of a sudden I was unable to turn the steering wheel. The message popped up saying service power steering now. I was eventually able to turn it but it is very hard to do so.
Without warning the power steering stopped working and the car was extremely difficult to pull over to the side of the road. Ford informed me the power steering unit had failed for no reason. Extremely difficult to even drive to ford dealership as the steering kept trying to overcorrect left and then right. Just happy to be alive !!!!!
Was driving about 30mph and wheel immediately locked up. Dash board display a message " power steering assist fault and service advancetrac". I was able to turn the car off and back on and that fix the problem however has happen again two days later and turn the engine off and back on is no longer working. Wheel is very hard to turn making the car impossible to drive. Have an appt with ford but from what I'm reading it seem like the issue isn't covered under warranty.
4 times in the last 2 weeks my 2011 ford fusion se has had a power steering failure. Twice causing complete loss of control of the car and another two times turned the car into the sidewalk with pedestrians in the way(no one was hurt....this time). While the car is still drivable there is an excessive amount of force required to steer the car. So much so that my wife-not a weak women at all was not able to steer the car and drove off the road. Even if you are able to steer the car to avoid an accident you can pretty much just drive in a straight line as turning is next to impossible. Something has to be done about this soon. This is not only dangerous for the driver and people in the car but for anyone around a 2010-2012 ford fusion. Like a said, we almost struck pedestrians twice. Lets not wait for someone to get hurt or even killed before action is taken.
While driving my car to the local deli market the power steering in my car just stopped working. I was unable to adequately steer my car. I was fortunate that there was a drive way I could turn into. This is very dangerous and I was also fortunate I wasn't in heavy traffic or trying to make a turn. It has come to my attention that this is an issue with some of the ford fusions however ford is not announcing a recall nor advising owners of this issue. It has the potential to cause a fatal accident.
When I turned on my ford fusion the other day, I saw a power steering failure message come up on my dash. I had lost power steering on the vehicle and was unsure what to do. I shut the vehicle off and started the car back up which resolved the issue for now. I'm nervous this could happen again when driving at high speeds on the freeway during my commute.
Power steering failure.
Driving to the store power steering just went out know warning.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. While driving at an unknown speed, excessive force was required in order to maneuver the steering wheel. The power steering warning light illuminated after the failure occurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,000.
This is now the 6th report of steering failure on this car. This incident happened easter sunday (april 5, 2015) with approximately 176k miles on the car. This time I was turning at a stop sign and the steering failed completely. The power steering failure light came on with no warning and I could not turn. If there would have been a car there, I would have hit it. I had to kill the engine to re-engage the steering control. It reset itself. The other report #10693725 dated 11-mar-2015 referred the other failures: 9/25/2014 power steering complete loss turning into parking space 9/29/2014 power steering complete loss on highway 10/7/2014 power steering complete loss on highway 10/09/2014 power steering complete loss on highway 3/9/2015- power steering complete loss while traveling 83 miles an hour with traffic 4/5/2015- power steering complete loss turning right.
The power steering assist failed on my car 5 times so far, once while I was driving which caused me to crash into a curb and get a flat tire. (!) it seems to reset itself after I turn the car off and turn it back on. I am worried this failure of my power steering is going to happen while I am driving on the freeway which I must drive on in heavy traffic everyday. This is very dangerous. After reading all the other complaints about this issue with this make, model and year of car, I am suprised my car has not yet been recalled. Someone is going to get killed if this problem is not addressed and fixed. I don't have the money to fix my car, and from what I read, ford auto repair doesn't even know how to fix this problem. What a nightmare. Please recall.
One morning I started my car and the steering wheel locked up and a warning "power steering default assist" appeared. I turned the car off then restarted and the power steering was fine. This incident happened 2 more times in february. After the 4th or 5th warning appeared, I made an appointment with the dealership I purchased the car from. The informed me that they could not replicate the problem and that the could not detect a malfunction code. Last week it happened again not just once but twice while I was parked in a hospital parking deck. After the third try, the steering reset itself. The next day the power steering locked up and it did not reset. I had to have the car towed to the dealership. Now they want to stick me with at $2000.00 repair stating that the problem is not covered under warranty and that ford does not have a recall. I had the car in the shop three times in 2014 for a problem we thought was the rack and pinion. Again, because the service department could not duplicate the problem, the car now has had more damage to the steering. Thankfully, my son and I made it home across the mountain after his doctors appointment before the car's steering completely locked up.
After getting gas and car was off and in park, tried to go the power steering was gone and the car was not controllable. No one seems to know the exact problem.
The power steering rack went out on my 2011 ford fusion. I could not drive it while being fixed which was a pain, but I did get a loner vehicle to use for the gas used while being fixed. I paid to have the vehicle towed to the ford garage. It sat for the weekend. After the diagnosis I had to come into town (17 miles) to pay for the part before it would be ordered. The problem occurred on a thursday and it was repaired the following wednesday at the end of the day. Total bill was $1708 and change. With a three warranty it was not covered. However there have been 94 complaints on the vehicle model of which 39 were for the power steering rack. Other fusion models were fixed under a recall. I believe mine should also be covered by ford because other models were covered. I am fortunate the power steering went out on a city street and not on an interstate highway while I was driving the previous week driving at 65 MPH. I am 71 year old widow and do not drive recklessly. Many power steering racks last well over 100,000 miles. I really don't feel safe in this car anymore. I probably will be car shopping at another brand dealer.
The 2011 ford power steering unit failed gave a warning to service the car. The dealer found nothing wrong. Vehicle is not safe to drive post failure and the problem is not repeatable at the dealer. The dashboard reads "steering assist failure'.
While driving car the power steering failed causing a loss of proper control of the car. The car steering would not budge and was very difficult to pull over to a safe place. Message on dashboard read power steering assist failure. This has happened 3 times in the last 7 days.
Tl*the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 MPH, the steering wheel seized as the power assist failure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 93,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Started car and immediately power steering fault assist came on and could not move steering wheel turned car off and back on and it corrected itself and I drove from fl to ga with no problem. 2 days later sitting in driveway the same problem occurred turned car off and back on and it fixed the problem .until next time I have googled the issue and there are 500k reports of this happening and ford needs to do a recall. A 26k car should not have major mechanical problems in 4 years.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact had to apply force to the steering wheel in order to turn the vehicle. The contact stated that the power steering default and power steering low was displayed across the message board. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 82,000. Updated 4/30/15*cn updated 10/23/2015
My power steering is out I waited the 30 seconds and longer with no good results I drove it home and waited and still no steering assist there is a fault light on the instrument cluster.
I have experienced multiple instances of losing power steering both while stationary and driving. The car generates a "power steering assist fault" and "service power steering now" error message. Often after turning off the car and restarting (sometimes taking several times), the fault will clear and the car operates again normally; however, this has recurred at least 3-4 times in the four years I have owned the car. This also occurs while driving, which would present a significant safety hazard for someone unlike myself who does not have prior experience with manual steering vehicles that can adjust on the fly. When taken to the dealer for diagnosis/assistance several times, I am told they cannot diagnose it unless it is actively showing the error code (which is not feasible as the codes clear after the car is turned off, and typically would require either a tow to a dealership or the ability to drive straight to a ford facility at the precise time the incident occurs, without turning the car off at any point) and thus it does not get addressed or fixed. I have read several other reviews of others having the same issue with this same make and model, and many have resulted in highly costly recommendations for repair which do not fix the problem. I see that the federal safety agency currently has an investigation ongoing regarding this same issue, and as such wanted to ensure I did my part by formally documenting another instance of this problem, as I felt ford's report that it is an isolated incident only affecting 3 in 1000 cars seems highly questionable given the extent of others reporting the same failures in a limited number of these cars of the same model year sold, and those being limited only to those (unlike myself, up until this juncture) who elected to take the time to enter an internet complaint.
Recently while turning on the car I have no power steering. I usually wait a while and it kicks on or I turn car on and off to fix it. One time I was leaving on my street and it went out and flashed on my dash. I parked the car and turned on and off to fix... I am concerned that this will go out on the highway and cause a very serious accident...
Power steering failure light came on when starting the car. Resulting in no power steering at all. This has occurred many times over the past seven months. In each case, we were able to reset the system by turning off the ignition and restarting the car. On 3-2-15 failure occurred again, this time it took three attempts to reset the system. We took the car to a ford dealer on 10-27-14. We were told the power steering rack and related components had failed and needed replacement at an approximate cost of $1600.00. We consider this a major safety issue and were surprised to find that ford was not taking care of this safety hazard with a recall.
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