I was driving home on city streets when the power steering went out. Car became almost impossible to turn, even using all my strength. I could not have reacted to any obstacle that suddenly presented itself, and I could hardly make turns, even at very low speeds. It was a dangerous situation.
Ford Taurus X power steering loss problems
13 of the 164 owner complaints about the Ford Taurus X describe loss of power steering, most of them for the 2008 model year.
- owner complaints
- 13
- worst model year
- 2008
- typical mileage
- 78,850
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 20091
- 200812
Often reported together
What owners say
Steering suddenly becomes very difficult like the power steering failed. It intermittently has power assist and the fluid level is good. I was told this a well known problem that is more common in the 2008 model. Diagnosis indicated the rack and pinion and/or gearbox is bad. It's a very dangerous situation when it suddenly cannot be controlled. The first time, I was at an intersection making a left turn going 15 MPH when I was completing the turn, the steering wheel became extremely difficult to straighten out direction of travel forcing me brake hard to prevent going into head-on traffic until I could force the wheel back. Now, it has limited intermittent power assist going through the full steering range.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. While driving 70 MPH, the power steering failed. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who diagnosed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced due to a hose within the steering column prematurely deteriorating without warning. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 57,000.
For the past 2-3 year, when attempting to turn the steering wheel left or right, vehicle looses power steering. Took the car into ford dealership, while under warranty, and was repeatedly told by service tech, mechanic did not notice a problem. Vehicle shudders when backing up and struggles to shift gears when accelerating on highway. Abs brake system kicks in for no apparent reason when driving. Grinding noise coming from rear wheel on drivers side when driving the vehicle. Took car to mechanic and was told no power steering, need ball bearing replacement and need new/ rebuilt transmission. Completely disgusted as the car is only 7 years old. Why cant similarly situated owners of the ford taurus-x seem to get the federal safety agency to take any real action on our behalf? I'm confused. Please help!!!
As I was out running errands and backing in to park my 2008 ford taurus x, it became very difficult to turn the steering wheel in either direction. The steering was very stiff and required a good bit of effort. I immediately called the dealership repair shop and was instructed to bring in the car for evaluation. Ford determined that I needed to replace the steering column (rack & pinion) as well as the power steering pump & reservoir. Prior to the initial complete power steering failure in december of 2014, I had complained to ford numerous times about the steering and had had the rack & pinion unit & power steering pumps replaced (at 100268 miles) in february of 2013! In december 2014 they quoted an astronomical price to again repair my car, at which point, I took it elsewhere and ordered the parts on-line. Fast forward 6-months later (june 8, 2015) and my steering has again failed with the same issue - power steering failure. The parts are still under warranty and the repair shop has replaced the pump - which they stated was not working at all, but my steering is still not functioning. This is the third time I'm making this repair, clearly it's a symptom and not the real issue. When is ford going to address this problem?!
When trying to make a ninety degree turn right or left into a parking space or pulling out while making a turn, I lose power steering and only have manual steering. I almost hit a car or the corner of the road/building as using all my strength, I cannot make a sharp turn. I have to back up and make wide turns. I am not driving this car much as afraid I will lose steering at a higher speed. It has become very difficult to pull into a parking lot to park at slow speeds as I completely lose the power assisted power steering and I have trouble steering in manual mode--can barely turn the wheel using all my strength at 1 mile per hour. I learned that ford has recalled thousands of cars for this recently and online blogs show there have been complaints about the power steering for this model.
I have a 2008 ford taurus x , it jerks intermittently, but there is never a specific speed - it jerks at take off, at low speeds, high speeds, there were 2 incidents and it was just for a moment that the vehicle seemed to have lost power no brake, no gas, no steering and I almost went out into traffic ( I was coming out of a parking lot). I called the dealer I bought it from because I thought it was the brakes and took it in they checked the brakes and found nothing wrong. The second "loss" of power was again in a parking lot at an incline I started rolling back and a couple of jerks the vehicle regained power, the check engine light would never come one, as the jerking kept happening and the 2 incidents of loss of power, I took it to a ford dealer and they said they will charge me $100 but if the check engine light is has not on, they will not find anything because the computer records mishaps and will indicate a record by lighting up. Then my transmission clutch fell apart and had to have that replaced on 9/22/14. I thought that must have been the issue with the jerking but was going out of town yesterday 10/12/14 and accelerated to pass an 18 wheeler and my vehicle jerked really hard and continue a couple more times after that. I had to drive 65mph on a 75 MPH, and not accelerate to much to fast.
2008 ford taurus x -- power steering stopped working at low speeds and then would re-engage without notice creating significant potential for swerving due to unavoidable over-correction. The vehicle is especially difficult to turn left at low speeds, but all turning is difficult. The steering rack was replaced at substantial cost. Steering rack failure appears to be a common problem in 2008 ford taurus x vehicles, which creates a substantial safety risk for the public.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 ford taurus x. The contact stated while driving at the speeds of 7 MPH with no warnings the power failed causing the steering wheel to lock while making a right turn . The vehicle was driven onto the emergency lane and turned off; however, the power steering failed to function correctly when it was turned back on. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the power steering pump and steering gear mechanism needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 56,645 and the current mileage was 56,710. Updated 03/14/12*lj updated 03/30/12
Loss of steering wrecked 2 tires.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Ford Taurus X power steering loss
Which Ford Taurus X years have loss of power steering problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2008 (12 complaints) and 2009 (1 complaints).
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