Power Steering Burned Out
 

Hmm.. Did I get a lemon? The day after took delivery of my new 2006 Escape Hybrid, the cruise control button failed. By the way, the car is not even a month old yet. This Saturday I went to start the car and a burned circuit board smell let me know there was a problem. The car's power steering failed if you attempted to turn right, but no fault showed on a left hand turn. It is at the dealers this very minute, and they gave me a Chevy for transportation while it is being repaired. Hope to heck I did not make a very expensive mistake buying this
thing! Time will tell....

Please, not the old days of Fix Or Repair Daily again.

:thumbs_do

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

When I was a kid, it was Found On Road, Dead.

Wow, keep everyone posted! I just got my 2006 FEH Friday, so I'm definitely interested as to what happened.... :(

Fred

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

Tonights Ford garage tap dance was "we think it is a software issue... the Ford factory will call us in the morning". This is in spite of the fact that I told them something smelled like it had burned. As long as I have been an engineer, I can't recall software smoking... just hardware. I am losing confidence in these folks very rapidly'
:confused:

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

If it is any consolation to you, I have had two problem free Escape Hybrids for the last 6 and 3 months and many others here have had many problem free miles. It sucks having it go right off the lot but give them a chance to fix it and I think you'll be impressed ultimately. We have one regular poster around that got a lemon replaced. I don't think Ford wants to play around with the few bad ones that might make it to the dealers - they have a good thing going, the last thing they need is to get a reputation for these cars being unreliable.

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

You may want to see if there is another dealer around to get your car serviced at.

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

Toyota had problems with steering racks in the 2001-02 Prius. Torque sensor got the blame, and Toyota ended up extending the warranty of the steering rack to 5years/unlimited miles on these cars. Symptom was a shuddering of the wheel on some turns.

This sounds like a different problem. Pls do update when you have more info!

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

Yesterday the service department at Ford decided that I might be right and that software does not smoke. They started diagnostics, (2 days after I brought it in) and decided that a control module had failed. A new one has been ordered with an ETA for Friday from Lansing MI. The car had it's 1 month anniversary yesterday. Twice in the shop the first month, with a one week stay for one of them, is not a great track record thus far.

:cry:

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

Hey rcrescitelli,

Did any warning lights come on to indicate problem? If you smelled smoke, then that would seem to indicate a short occurred to cause the control module failure. I would strongly advise they perform wiring check.

One FEH owner had multiple error lights that got worse over a few days, starting with "Check Brakes" progressing to "System Alert/Caution". The cause turned out to be an electrical harness screw fell off, where the wires then frayed from movement and shorted-out systems. First they replaced her electrical drive train and voltage converter before finding problem source. Ford showed commendable customer service by replacing her FEH with a new one.

I agree with nitramjr that most FEH owners have been reporting trouble-free operation and the Ford Escape has an excellent reliability track record over the last few years. While you may have reason to be upset, but I don't think it fair to start slamming Ford and promoting Honda over something that could be as simple as a loose screw or bad sensor from supplier.

Please report back on progress.
-Dan

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

I suppose you are right... Why in the world should I be upset about a brand new and expensive vehicle spending one week of its first month on the road in the shop for its second, and a very, major repair? I guess I am being "unfair" in wanting a brand new car to work correctly for at least a year. After all, this thing has almost 450 miles on it already.

Progress Report: Still in the shop, still running diagnostics.

;)

Re: Power Steering Burned Out
 

I had a strong smoke smell three times within my first 3,000 miles. The last time was overwhelming and it has stopped now completely. There was no lights or problem with driving but I took it to the dealer. They told me if everything still worked right that they wouldn't find anything either without an engine light going on.

Latter I notice that my auto door locks were not working. I tried to reset per the manual and still no responce. I think the two were connected. Everything else is perfect and couldn't be happier. I've been waiting for something else to go wrong before I take it in for that repair. Five months have pasted now so it looks like nothing else is going give me a reason to take it in. I need to just make an appointment and get it over with.

A smell of smoke like you and I had can be very scary and can be serious enough to destroy the car. As a firefighter, I put out many car fires in my day. Sadly, there was not much left of the cars to save most of the time. Trust me, we are the luckly ones.