Steering issue

[swalker]

Hello. Just wondering if anyone else has problems with the steering being really hard on their Edge when it gets cold out? I've owned my Edge since new and it's been through winters now in Nebraska and I've never had this happen before. Now all of the sudden when it gets cold out, the car growls really bad and the steering wheel is really hard to turn almost like the power steering fluid if frozen. The car is garage kept. So not like it is sitting outside in -20 weather. Any ideas? My wife said it was so bad yesterday she almost got in an accident because she couldn't turn the wheel.

 

Thanks.

[2011edgese]

I don't live in a cold climate area but there's definitely something wrong with your steering it should not feel hard at all. I would definitely change the fluid and see if that does anything since that's the cheapest route at the moment.if that doesn't help then there's a problem with the steering rack.

[swalker]

Well last night I checked the fluid. I've gotten bad at that since I just take it to the dealer for oil changes. Well that is going to stop, at least the last dealer I went to. The power steering fluid was almost completely empty!! I would just add some myself but I don't have any. So I plan to go back and ask why they don't check the fluids when I'm paying for a $60 oil change. Heck, now I'm even wondering if they changed the oil. Definitely not happy about this. Think I will have to go back to doing it myself. Not sure where all the fluid went though. There are lo leaks or anything that I've noticed. Also, did I read correctly in the owners manual that you put transmission fluid in the power steering? Just want to make sure I saw that right.

[2011edgese]

Low fluid or no fluid will make it fail fast! Dumb of the shop not too check. But maybe they did, on these components, they are very high pressure. So maybe you developed a leak it just pissed it out fast as you drove. You should see the fluid where ever you park. Reddish pinkish type. Normally they are set right above the car uni frame. So the leaks will drip there and run down tge sides until it drips on another location. Again. .. Very high pressure. Now. . If you have absolutely no leaks. Then it's collecting on the steering rack boots where the tie rods are. They will ballon until they burst. Just fell them with your hand when its cool. If its squishy like a water ballon, that's your leak. Most likely you need a new steering rack. When these go low on fluid, they squeal loudly like a cornered angry pig.

[2011edgese]

On some cars, it's the same fluid. But always confirm it thru the manual.

[swalker]

Took it back to the dealer to find out what's going on. Asked them if they checked the power steering fluid when they did a service. Of course I was told yes, but could not answer why the resevoir was empty. They pulled it in, added some, and then came back to tell me that it really didn't need much and that shouldn't cause a problem but also couldn't answer when I said it was completely empty when I looked and after they added fluid it drove fine. Wanted me to bring the car back to have their "best guy" look at it. I won't be doing that, nor will I ever use the Woodhouse Quicklane in Omaha again. I may have given them a second chance if they had just apologized and said it must have gotten missed. But instead they treated me like I didn't know what I was talking about and didn't even give me a car wash for my trouble. Wish I hadn't completed the Ford survey already. I will definitley be emailing Ford Customer Service about this. I know it won't do any good but will make me feel better. Then I need to just go back to doing my own oil changes. It's the only way I can guarantee it gets done right.

 

Thanks for listening.

[FordService]

Wanted me to bring the car back to have their "best guy" look at it. I won't be doing that, nor will I ever use the Woodhouse Quicklane in Omaha again. I may have given them a second chance if they had just apologized and said it must have gotten missed. But instead they treated me like I didn't know what I was talking about and didn't even give me a car wash for my trouble. Wish I hadn't completed the Ford survey already. I will definitley be emailing Ford Customer Service about this.

 

This isn't the experience I want for you, swalker. I'd like to document this feedback for internal review. Please send me a PM with your full name, VIN, and any more details you'd like recorded.

 

Todd

[2011edgese]

Yup.. Walker. Dealers have such a bad rep. Just like jiffy lube.lol. Don't know why but they just do. When I bought my car, bought it pre certified used. Tom it home and I got scared because that same day I decided to drive it at night. I was so happy with the power. But when I put the key on the on position, I got a low oil warning. But it would go away when I start the car. I never had a Ford, so I got concerned the warning meant something was wrong. So I took the car back the next day and the guy that took me in and asked what's wrong was rude. Just wanted me in and put as fast as he could. Not one smile from him. And I was very polite. I was not surprised because he liked already agitated from the start. But he said all the Ford edges have this warning light. So he took me to another car, a 2012 one. And yes. . It did it as well. So I was relieved. Dumb imo. There Aptos be a programming or warning in the owners manual to ignore the giant "LOW OIL WARNING" at the key on position. But anyways. .. Being a new Ford costumer and my first Ford dealer visit was awful and rude. But I do all my pull changes and diagnostics, so it doesn't bother me. But when warranty work had to be done, im dreading the visit now.

[akirby]

If you had a car with an analog oil pressure gauge, and you turn on the ignition without starting the vehicle, it will show no oil pressure because the engine (and the oil pump) aren't running. This really isn't any different. Lighting up the light also lets you make sure the light is working. Seems perfectly logical to me.

[2011edgese]

I agree. But. .. Since I never owned a Ford. I saw it as "no oil." Ignorance in my part. All my other cars never have me a warning like that. I'm used to the oil light coming on briefly to show the cel light working. But that's what I was explained. It's too tell you the pump is working. Lol. Just not a good way too tell you imo. Again. . Doing a Google search. . Lots of others had the same concern and they even took it to the dealer to be told that is normal. One guy said it should be written in the manual in big letter for dummies. Haha

[bce]

I agree. But. .. Since I never owned a Ford. I saw it as "no oil." Ignorance in my part. All my other cars never have me a warning like that. I'm used to the oil light coming on briefly to show the cel light working. But that's what I was explained. It's too tell you the pump is working. Lol. Just not a good way too tell you imo. Again. . Doing a Google search. . Lots of others had the same concern and they even took it to the dealer to be told that is normal. One guy said it should be written in the manual in big letter for dummies. Haha

 

That's weird because all of the cars that I have had that had idiot lights (Dodge, Chevy and Ford) instead of analog gauges always turned all the lights on when you first started them. This is going back to a 74 Dart. Like akirby said, it's the only way you know the lights work or not. I remember my father getting mad at me when I didn't notice that one of them didn't work one time.

[2011edgese]

Well... I coming from Japanese cars. They all got the idiot light right before start up. This the first time I get a large message saying "low oil pressure". I thought the ecm recorded low oil pressure on the last drive and it freaked me out. When I called the sales guy directly, he said that it sounds bad and to tow it.haha . I know enough of cars that there was oil and it wasn't doing damage. I drove it.

Edited January 30, 2014 by 2011edgese

[2011edgese]

But I don't blame walker, I've never had a good experience with dealers. Always a pain. And they do look at you like a idiot Misty of the time. Lol. My sister was a saturn owner since 1992. Loved her dealer, she claimed she was treated very well by them. Who knows.

[akirby]

There Aptos be a programming or warning in the owners manual to ignore the giant "LOW OIL WARNING" at the key on position.

 

You mean like this?

 

Many lights will illuminate when you start your vehicle to make sure the

indicators work. If any light remains on after starting the vehicle, refer to

the respective system warning light for additional information.

 

RTFM

[2011edgese]

Yeah. .. Just like that. But it should state to ignore words. Not just warning lights. Warning lights to most who don't know a lot would consider the red symbols that glow. On these cars, it's a clear "word" warning on the screen. To me, since it's my first American car... Just concerned me. And I'm not alone. Do a Google search on it. There's plenty of others that got alarmed. Trust me, there's many idiots like myself. Lol

[swalker]

Hi all. I haven't been on the site in several months and there is more to this story I wanted to share. I will send Todd from Ford my information when I get done posting this. So just before my warranty is up I take my Edge to a different dealer, the one who has done most of the service on it since new. They have always been real friendly and never gave me a reason to be upset with them. We have had several little things happen and I wanted them to look at the steering, transmission and just look the entire car over before the warranty was up so if there was anything major wrong they could get it fixed. The transmission occasionally has the same hesitation when you first put it in drive that others have reported. We had the "fix" done a couple years ago, but it must be temporary. They said they couldn't find anything with that, but it fell under the powertrain warranty and we had more time with that. They couldn't find any other issues but did find a small leak in a power steering hose that they replaced. The hard steering had still been an occasional issue but the fluid in the reservoir was full and no visible leaks anywhere. So we went on our way thinking everything was fixed. Well guess what. The power steering problem was still happening. So next oil change (38,000) we take it back to the same dealer that had done all the previous work told them what had been going on. They look at it and do some research to say that there was a TSB for the power steering pump, but now that the car was past warranty it would cost us $600 to replace. Does anyone else see a problem with this? We had been telling the dealer for over a year that there was a problem with the power steering and now they think they figured it out after the warranty was up and want us to pay for the repair. We call Ford Customer Service because the dealer says its up to Ford to decide if they will cover it under warranty and they've had better luck with the customer calling. Everyone we talk to was very polite and sympathetic right up until they tell us sorry, there is nothing they can do. We explain the whole situation and ask the people on the phone if they would be happy with that answer if it was their car and had 2 different reps say no, but their opinion doesn't matter. We tried to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau but were told that our car was too old for them to do anything with. So short of suing Ford, there is nothing I can do. The car is drivable, but with winter coming, I want to get rid of it before it starts acting up again.

 

So long story short. We have decided that as soon as your car hits 36,001 miles no matter what the history is on your vehicle, Ford thinks it is now your problem. So, as soon as I can unload the Edge it will be gone and I will NEVER own another Ford product as long as I live. I am in the customer service industry and it is very important to me to take care of my customers. I can understand if I had just told them about the problem at 38,000 miles for the first time that they would have no responsibility to fix it, but when we have documentation of reporting an issue with the power steering since at least 30,000 miles, I think they should be standing behind their product.

 

Thank you for listening.

Scott

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

I assume this is the TSB the dealer was referring to?

http://www.revbase.com/BBBMOTOR/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=171187

 

REDUCTION OF POWER STEERING ASSIST DURING PARKING LOT MANEUVERS OR AFTER ENGINE START

TSBID: 171187 Mfg Num: 10-21-1 Issue Date: 2010-10-15

 

Considering WHEN the TSB was released, they should have been well aware of the issue at the time of your initial AND last complaint. I feel that Ford SHOULD cover this repair under warranty, since you clearly had the system checked out before NVW expiration, and now only 2K past. Who expects PS pump replacement at < 40K miles?

TSB 10-21-1_REDUCTION OF POWER STEERING ASSIST DURING PARKING LOT MANEUVERS OR AFTER ENGINE START.pdf

Edited October 20, 2014 by WWWPerfA_ZN0W

[omar302]

Scott, as per the TSB, it is clearly mentioned that the technician may not be able to reproduce the

problem, hence I would blame the dealer for their incompetence in finding the solution when the vehicle was under warranty. Also dealers usually can get approvals for warranty repairs after it expires if the symptoms were present before. It shows again how this dealer is at fault. I would suggest going to the service manager and/or dealer owner and explain what happened.

[swalker]

We did talk to the service manager a few times and he really didn't want anything to do with it. I thought too that the dealer should have been the one talking with Ford on the whole thing and we shouldn't have even been involved, but the service advisor at the dealer said they have had better luck when the customer calls. The whole thing is just really irritating. I am done with that dealer as well. There are lots of dealers around. So if I need one it will not be them. The other thing that irritated me is that we have had all the service done by a dealer since the car was new. At this last oil change they told me that we needed a new cabin air filer and the battery test was showing weak. I told them not to do any of the repairs, but when Ford was trying to decide if they would cover the PS pump they kept asking if we were going to replace the battery and filter. I said what does that have to do with the PS pump and was told they wanted to know how the car had been cared for before they decided. First of all, if they look at their records I have done everything that has ever needed to be done on the car and second, battery and filter are normal wear and tear items that have nothing to do with a defect in the vehicle. So it should have had nothing to do with it. I've been trying to let this go and be done with Ford, but every time I think about it I get mad. I just feel like this car has been a lemon and I can't afford to make payments on a car and pay for repairs on a 3 year old car with 40,000 miles on it. I've never had an issue like this with any of the GM cars I've owned. So I guess that's what I get for trying out a new brand. They must figure they have enough Ford loyal customers that they don't need any new ones. Too bad too because I think the Fusion's look pretty nice but no way I'm going to try out another one.

[swalker]

Don't even get me started on the Sync system or the drivers door keypad that doesn't work and they wouldn't fix. I can live without that, but small things like that have been happening and are really irritating.

[swalker]

** UPDATE **

 

My wife stopped by the dealership yesterday to discuss this problem with the service manager again. It took awhile, but he agreed to look into the situation further and talk to Ford to see if there is anything they can do. Well, someone finally came to their senses and we just got a call back from the service manager that they are going to go ahead and replace the power steering pump. He said he will work with Ford to do whatever they need to do but admitted that they dropped the ball and since we have been good customers they are going to take care of us. I'm glad they finally saw the light, but it still makes me mad that we had to argue with them and Ford for 2 months to try and get this resolved. Now I just hope it solves the problem so we can keep our Edge a little longer. Not really in a position to buy a new car right now, but we couldn't hold on to a potentially dangerous car. Moral of the story, if you believe something isn't being handled right be persistent and eventually someone might listen.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Pretty darned long power outage at the dealership, glad they figured out the ON switch! Good luck, and keep us apprised.

[FordService]

** UPDATE **

 

My wife stopped by the dealership yesterday to discuss this problem with the service manager again. It took awhile, but he agreed to look into the situation further and talk to Ford to see if there is anything they can do. Well, someone finally came to their senses and we just got a call back from the service manager that they are going to go ahead and replace the power steering pump. He said he will work with Ford to do whatever they need to do but admitted that they dropped the ball and since we have been good customers they are going to take care of us. I'm glad they finally saw the light, but it still makes me mad that we had to argue with them and Ford for 2 months to try and get this resolved. Now I just hope it solves the problem so we can keep our Edge a little longer. Not really in a position to buy a new car right now, but we couldn't hold on to a potentially dangerous car. Moral of the story, if you believe something isn't being handled right be persistent and eventually someone might listen.

Swalker,

 

Thanks for the update and please keep me posted.

 

Also, I sent you a response via PM so please check your inbox.

 

 

I’ll be here if you need me and have a great weekend!

 

Tricia

[Kissel]

Hello. Just wondering if anyone else has problems with the steering being really hard on their Edge when it gets cold out? I've owned my Edge since new and it's been through winters now in Nebraska and I've never had this happen before. Now all of the sudden when it gets cold out, the car growls really bad and the steering wheel is really hard to turn almost like the power steering fluid if frozen. The car is garage kept. So not like it is sitting outside in -20 weather. Any ideas? My wife said it was so bad yesterday she almost got in an accident because she couldn't turn the wheel.

 

Thanks.

 

I have a 2012 Sport w/3.7L engine and this is the second consecutive winter where I started the vehicle on a really cold morning (15 degrees F or colder) and the power steering pump began whirring from what I assumed was low fluid. In both instances my mechanic found the power steering pump to be low on fluid but there was no sign of a leak. I don't have stains on the ground where I park the vehicle (outdoors) nor do I have issues the rest of the year when the air temperatures are warmer. I have 29,000 miles on the odometer.