Ford Motor Company: Steering › Electric Power Assist System
Ford Motor Company reported this defect to federal regulators on May 29, 2014 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 740,878. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner vehicles manufactured August 18, 2006, through September 11, 2010. The affected vehicles have a steering torque sensor that may not be able to properly detect driver steering input. As a result, the system could remove the Electric Power Steering (EPS) assist.
The risk
If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power steering control module (PSCM) and the instrument cluster module, free of charge. If a vehicle shows a history of a loss of the torque sensor signal or fault codes relating to the PSCM when the vehicle is brought in for the recall remedy, the affected components will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on July 18, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14S05.
8 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Ford Escape | 1,319 | 3 | 7 | 38 |
| 2011 Mercury Mariner | 87 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 Ford Escape | 2,071 | 5 | 3 | 29 |
| 2010 Mercury Mariner | 270 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 2009 Ford Escape | 1,693 | 3 | 2 | 34 |
| 2009 Mercury Mariner | 315 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 2008 Ford Escape | 1,974 | 5 | 6 | 59 |
| 2008 Mercury Mariner | 461 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 14V284000.
Full record for the 2011 Ford Escape → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →