Adaptive steering fault

[Burrcold]

It may seem safe for most of us, but I would definitely not want to drive a mile with my wife behind the wheel if it was that off center. It would freak her out to the point she would be concentrating more on that than the road (and I would suspect many would be similar in their reaction).

[junehhan]

Actually, I believe the active steering system does use a mechanical linkage if I am not mistaken. That was one of the unique aspects to Ford's active ratio steering system compared to the competition. Ford developed their system utilizing a set of gears inside the steering wheel itself that does all of the work. If Ford was using a steer by wire system like some high end luxury cars, you sure as hell can bet I would not have bought this vehicle. The thought of a steer by wire system would freak me out when I barely even trust these drive by wire systems with the electronic throttle bodies. Ford's design is pretty unique and is a way of doing adaptive active ratio steering in a way no one else even considered. A German company makes it, but Ford owns a few patents on it.

[CapeDave]

Actually, I believe the active steering system does use a mechanical linkage if I am not mistaken. That was one of the unique aspects to Ford's active ratio steering system compared to the competition. Ford developed their system utilizing a set of gears inside the steering wheel itself that does all of the work. If Ford was using a steer by wire system like some high end luxury cars, you sure as hell can bet I would not have bought this vehicle. The thought of a steer by wire system would freak me out when I barely even trust these drive by wire systems with the electronic throttle bodies. Ford's design is pretty unique and is a way of doing adaptive active ratio steering in a way no one else even considered. A German company makes it, but Ford owns a few patents on it.

 

There is no end to this intrigue surrounding the "Adaptive Steering Warning!" issues That is good stuff. All said, I think I would have preferred a light power boost rack and pinion steering assembly LOL.

 

Does anyone else here think that Ford maybe owes us something for the time wasted regarding this issue which for sure should not really have been released? In the real world, beta testers 1. get paid and 2. are informed of their beta tester status. I am thinking 2 car payments would be good and possibly a buy back offer.

[junehhan]

Alpha testers are usually in house and get paid. Beta testers are usually public and do not get paid. It is very likely that the system was indeed beta tested thoroughly by the quality control experts. After all, this issue has still remained isolated in nature as we have not seen any mobs with pitchforks the way we saw when the Yamaha v8's started failing in the 96-99 Taurus SHO's. The difference is that with any new technology, there will be a learning curve involved with the manufacture and assembly processes. There are 3 possible fixes according to the TSB. Only one indicates a complete defect requiring a complete replacement of the wheel. While it still makes me very nervous to have something like this, I have fallen in love with this as it makes driving in tight underground parking garages and tight city streets very easy. Someone will always have to take one for the team in the form of early adopters. Be glad most of you guys were instrumental in the development of the 3 TSB's that will benefit other fellow early adopters who potentially could still have this issue. You guys have done a good service for the enthusiast community and your successes are why this amazing feature is now being offered on the 2017+ Superduty trucks!

[CapeDave]

Alpha testers are usually in house and get paid. Beta testers are usually public and do not get paid. It is very likely that the system was indeed beta tested thoroughly by the quality control experts. After all, this issue has still remained isolated in nature as we have not seen any mobs with pitchforks the way we saw when the Yamaha v8's started failing in the 96-99 Taurus SHO's. The difference is that with any new technology, there will be a learning curve involved with the manufacture and assembly processes. There are 3 possible fixes according to the TSB. Only one indicates a complete defect requiring a complete replacement of the wheel. While it still makes me very nervous to have something like this, I have fallen in love with this as it makes driving in tight underground parking garages and tight city streets very easy. Someone will always have to take one for the team in the form of early adopters. Be glad most of you guys were instrumental in the development of the 3 TSB's that will benefit other fellow early adopters who potentially could still have this issue. You guys have done a good service for the enthusiast community and your successes are why this amazing feature is now being offered on the 2017+ Superduty trucks!

 

Well spoken. We may just have to accept that we have "taken one for the team" and let that be our satisfaction.

 

One point, in software, often beta testers are given a free copy of what they test. This can be as high as a $1000 value or more, depending on the software being tested. But I think we all for sure deserve a nice FORD baseball hat

Edited January 16, 2017 by CapeDave

[junehhan]

Perhaps that can happen if we get together for a factory tour or something. Maybe you can bring it up with your regional representative who could do something? The concept of taking one for the team is sadly a fact of life. Without people taking one for the team, we would have no product. Without the early adopters(knowingly or unknowingly) who take that risk, no enthusiast level product would ever continue production as the bean counters would be unable to justify a product that didn't sell well and thus we would never see good things continue being developed and refined. These new and neat things are why many of us drive a Ford who is a company that keeps things on the cutting edge technology wise. It is what gives these cars their soul and substance.

[DLink]

As a new forum member, I was surprised to read all of the adaptive steering fault issues out there! I have a 2016 Ford Edge Titanium with the adaptive steering option (part of the "Driver's Package) with a 5/16 build date (purchased 7/16). I currently have 6,340 miles on the car. Yesterday, while driving about 22 miles the "Adaptive Steering Fault Service Required" light came on. This was the first time I had ever seen that. Just prior to arriving at destination, the light went out. I valet parked and when I got the car back, the light was back on and now the steering wheel was positioned 90 degrees toward the right (photo attached). I drove home with the steering wheel in this position the entire way, which made it virtually impossible to see the instrument cluster! This morning when I started up the car, the light was out and the steering wheel "mysteriously" was back to it's normal position...go figure! I did fill out the NHTSA form, and also called my dealer who told me he couldn't see the car for 2 weeks..but not to worry that it would be OK to drive....yikes, if it goes back to the 90 degree position. Looks like I'm in for a 'wait' to get this fixed, which is not a good thing. Does anybody have a copy of the TSB 16-2066 that was mentioned. I want to show it to the dealer service manager.

 

[Burrcold]

Sorry to hear! This is definitely a safety issue and should be treated as such by Ford. So crazy that a safety recall hasn't happened. Scary.

[CynSmith444]

Add me to the list of unhappy Edge Titanium owners. I have 4852 miles on my Edge, and I've seen the Adaptive Steering fault message several times, but hadn't taken it seriously until today.

 

I take my car in tomorrow for the first time. I love my car, and I've loved the adaptive steering feature!

 

I sure hope I'm treated well at the dealership. My husband is disabled and I'll be on my own there.

 

I've taken notes from this forum. Thanks to all whom contributed!

[CynSmith444]

Add me to the list of unhappy Edge Titanium owners. I have 4852 miles on my Edge, and I've seen the Adaptive Steering fault message several times, but hadn't taken it seriously until today.

 

I take my car in tomorrow for the first time. I love my car, and I've loved the adaptive steering feature!

 

I sure hope I'm treated well at the dealership. My husband is disabled and I'll be on my own there.

 

I've taken notes from this forum. Thanks to all whom contributed!

[VisionPilot]

Got my MKX back yesterday. Apparently the actual procedure to replace the steering wheel doesn't take much longer than a couple of hours, as everything is very modular. Having a hard time discerning if my adaptive steering is actually functioning or not though. I think that it is. Unlike the Edge, in the MKX, there is no configuration option in the menu system for it, it's just always on if present.

[CapeDave]

Got my MKX back yesterday. Apparently the actual procedure to replace the steering wheel doesn't take much longer than a couple of hours, as everything is very modular. Having a hard time discerning if my adaptive steering is actually functioning or not though. I think that it is. Unlike the Edge, in the MKX, there is no configuration option in the menu system for it, it's just always on if present.

 

Actually, even in te Edge there is no way to turn the adaptive feature off. Just change it from Normal to Sport. It is also always on.

[CapeDave]

Add me to the list of unhappy Edge Titanium owners. I have 4852 miles on my Edge, and I've seen the Adaptive Steering fault message several times, but hadn't taken it seriously until today.

 

I take my car in tomorrow for the first time. I love my car, and I've loved the adaptive steering feature!

 

I sure hope I'm treated well at the dealership. My husband is disabled and I'll be on my own there.

 

I've taken notes from this forum. Thanks to all whom contributed!

 

Sorry about the circumstances, but nevertheless, welcome to this thread. We feel your pain! I think you should be OK at the dealers because at least we have made a big enough fuss here that the issue is forefront and good knowledge of it has been gained. I would push for a whole new steering wheel assembly. That seems to be the current fix.

[junehhan]

Yup welcome. You are in good hands here because most of the guys posting in this thread have already went through it.

[commbubba19]

I posted this on the FB group. My 2016 Edge Sport built 8/16 has had the steering fault twice now in the last 2 weeks. It clears on the next key cycle.

 

I've made an appointment with my local dealer for Friday morning to look at that. Plus i'll have them look at the driver's front and passenger rear door alignment issues. I might even have them look at the poor interior panels.

[VisionPilot]

I posted this on the FB group. My 2016 Edge Sport built 8/16 has had the steering fault twice now in the last 2 weeks. It clears on the next key cycle.

 

I've made an appointment with my local dealer for Friday morning to look at that. Plus i'll have them look at the driver's front and passenger rear door alignment issues. I might even have them look at the poor interior panels.

 

I only saw the fault on my '16 MKX once, but the adaptive functionality of the steering was clearly no longer working. The dealer replaced the entire steering assembly a week ago. The actual procedure is only an hour or two. I can tell that the adaptive functionality is working again with the new wheel assembly.

[thoughgtpet]

Hello everyone. New here. Just dropped off my our vehicle due to this very adaptive steering fault issue. The light has been on for some time now. The dealership told us today that it would be at least a month to get a new steering wheel and column in. We have the 2016 Edge Sport model. Can anyone familiar with the issue summarize or bullet point the past 14 pages worth of information by chance? I saw something about a clock spring. I want to make sure the dealership fixes this properly the first time around and I don't have a ton of time right now to read through the whole thread. I would really appreciate it.

 

-also, the dealership is not sure if they can find us a loaner car for us. I have no clue what we will do as we must have another car and coming out of pocket for a rental for at least a month is not an option either.... anyone have to fight them on this issue? Thanks again.

Edited January 27, 2017 by thoughgtpet

[CapeDave]

Hello everyone. New here. Just dropped off my our vehicle due to this very adaptive steering fault issue. The light has been on for some time now. The dealership told us today that it would be at least a month to get a new steering wheel and column in. We have the 2016 Edge Sport model. Can anyone familiar with the issue summarize or bullet point the past 14 pages worth of information by chance? I saw something about a clock spring. I want to make sure the dealership fixes this properly the first time around and I don't have a ton of time right now to read through the whole thread. I would really appreciate it.

 

-also, the dealership is not sure if they can find us a loaner car for us. I have no clue what we will do as we must have another car and coming out of pocket for a rental for at least a month is not an option either.... anyone have to fight them on this issue? Thanks again.

 

I got a loaner thru them they used Enterprise rental, so they can ALWAYS get you a loaner of some sort However, my loaner was only for a day, while they were actually working on it. I drove the damn thing for weeks with the error message showing.

 

I believe that the current best fix is what you are getting. A full steering wheel/assembly replacement.

 

I think but am not sure that includes the clock spring. You may want to double check me on that.

 

I myself got the clock spring module/software update fix and all is running very good. Feels like better than new.

[VisionPilot]

Hello everyone. New here. Just dropped off my our vehicle due to this very adaptive steering fault issue. The light has been on for some time now. The dealership told us today that it would be at least a month to get a new steering wheel and column in. We have the 2016 Edge Sport model. Can anyone familiar with the issue summarize or bullet point the past 14 pages worth of information by chance? I saw something about a clock spring. I want to make sure the dealership fixes this properly the first time around and I don't have a ton of time right now to read through the whole thread. I would really appreciate it.

 

-also, the dealership is not sure if they can find us a loaner car for us. I have no clue what we will do as we must have another car and coming out of pocket for a rental for at least a month is not an option either.... anyone have to fight them on this issue? Thanks again.

 

The repair only takes a couple of hours, not sure why you would need a rental or loaner. I drove my car for a month without adaptive steering, in other words, just normal steering. Big whoop. They got the wheel in, and we scheduled a time to do the swap. Since I drive a Lincoln, they have to give me a loaner, which I took for the day, but certainly not for the month between when the adaptive steering first went out, and the scheduled repair date.

[thoughgtpet]

You can't turn off the adaptive steering in the Sport, so it is a safety issue and they don't want us to drive it. The rental car is for the time being. They just called and said they pulled some strings and will be getting us a rental for the duration. I will make sure the clock spring module is part of the unit that is changed out. Thank you for that tip.

[VisionPilot]

You can't turn off the adaptive steering in the Sport, so it is a safety issue and they don't want us to drive it. The rental car is for the time being. They just called and said they pulled some strings and will be getting us a rental for the duration. I will make sure the clock spring module is part of the unit that is changed out. Thank you for that tip.

 

You can't turn off the adaptive steering feature in the MKX either, but when it failed, it was no different than if I was able to simply turn it off. It reverted to not having the adaptive steering option, just like the majority of the MKX's and Edges that are out there. You could tell that the adaptive steering functionality wasn't there, but then it steered no differently than the same models that didn't have the adaptive steering option at all. Since I did pay for the option, I wanted it back, but otherwise, it drove fine.

Edited January 27, 2017 by VisionPilot

[commbubba19]

Still no warning since my earlier post. My appointment is for Thursday. We'll see what they say.

Edited January 31, 2017 by commbubba19

[rvcjew]

Just got my wheel assembly replaced and I have to say the new wheel does not feel like real leather this time and the stalks feel cheap as well as the buttons. It also is not as straight this time it is turned slightly to the left. I have not checked if the horn works. But the biggest issue I think is that in the adaptive steering menu both settings for sport and normal are now greyed out and I can not select them and sport and normal both have light steering. Should I bring it back to the dealer immediately? Has anyone else noticed the cheaper feeling wheel? It does say they reset my toe and trim but now I think that screwed up the computer wheel calibration as I actually have to turn into the crown of the road to stay straight.

 

Malcolm

 

EDIT: Called dealer back and they think it was programmed wrong (i'm thinking a setting in forscan is wrong) and they will look at my toe and what not as they apparently messed with that too so hopefully it gets straightened out. No issue with service though minus this, they have been quick and courteous to get it fixed. Car goes back tomorrow to check programming. But yeah I swear the resistance to the buttons (really light) and the wrap of the wheel is different lol.

Edited February 1, 2017 by rvcjew

[CapeDave]

Just got my wheel assembly replaced and I have to say the new wheel is not even real leather this time and the stalks feel cheap as well as the buttons, wtf man. It also is not as straight this time it is turned slightly to the left. I have not checked if the horn works. But the biggest issue I think is that in the adaptive steering menu both settings for sport and normal are now greyed out and I can not select them and sport and normal both have light steering. Should I bring it back to the dealer immediately? Has anyone else noticed the cheaper feeling wheel? It does say they reset my toe and trim but now I think that screwed up the computer wheel calibration as I actually have to turn into the crown of the road to stay straight.

 

Malcolm

Ouch. Sorry to hear this. I did not get my whole wheel replaced, just the clock spring and some modules. So I cannot speak to the difference of the wheel.

 

But generally, it should be exactly the same (or better) except for it should work So, yes, take it right back. I am so sick of cars that have to have the wheel crooked to drive straight for any reason ever. God luck. Personally, I think it is buy back time for those who desire it.

Edited February 1, 2017 by CapeDave

[rvcjew]

Ouch. Sorry to hear this. I did not get my whole wheel replaced, just the clock spring and some modules. So I cannot speak to the difference of the wheel.

 

But generally, it should be exactly the same (or better) except for it should work So, yes, take it right back. I am so sick of cars that have to have the wheel crooked to drive straight for any reason ever. God luck. Personally, I think it is buy back time for those who desire it.

Doubt I could pull that off but don't want too, love the power and the ride of this vehicle when its working fine. Things I have gotten sure makes the car look bad but I have enjoyed it on multiple road trips up to this point. I have over 13k miles now. I find it also extremely safe. I came from a 2002 Celica GT that did not even have ABS let alone stability control (or torque for that matter). I find the edge even corners closeish which is impressive considering the GT was on BC BR's.

 

Malcolm