NHTSA Complaint #10396531 — 2008 FORD ESCAPE

?WE OWN A 2008 FORD ESCAPE XLS WITH APPROXIMATELY 76,XXX MILES ON IT. ?4/2: WITHIN 2 HOURS OF BEING ON THE ROAD IN THE EARLY MORNING, WE WENT TO PULL OFF THE ROAD INTO A GAS STATION AND IT TOOK GREAT EFFORT TO TURN THE CAR. THIS WAS SUDDEN AND VERY DANGEROUS AS THERE WERE OTHER CARS AT THE ENTRY/EXIT POINT AND WE WERE NOT EXPECTING THE NEED TO APPLY SUCH PRESSURE TO TURN THE WHEEL. IF THERE HAD BEEN A CAR AT THE ENTRANCE, WE WOULD HAVE HIT THEM DUE TO THE WIDE TURN WE MADE. OWE WERE ABLE TO ENGAGE POWER STEERING AFTER MOVING THE STEERING WHEEL BACK AND FORTH SEVERAL TIMES. SUCCESSFULLY PULLED OUT OF PARKING LOT, BUT POWER STEERING WENT OUT AGAIN WITHIN 5 MINUTES OF BEING ON THE ROAD. SUBSEQUENTLY STOPS HAD SIMILAR RESULTS. SOMETIMES THE POWER STEERING ENGAGED IMMEDIATELY, AND SOMETIMES IT TOOK SEVERAL TURN OFF/TURN ON ATTEMPTS FOR IT TO RE-ENGAGE. OWE HAVE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE STEERING COLUMN BEGAN TO PULSATE UPON IGNITION WHEN POWER STEERING WAS ENGAGED. THERE IS ALSO A LOW-LEVEL VIBRATION NOISE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. HOWEVER, WHEN POWER STEERING GOES OUT, THE VIBRATION AND NOISE IS ELIMINATED. ?WE CONTACTED BOTH OUR LOCAL FORD DEALER AS WELL AS ANOTHER DEALER NEAR OUR DESTINATION. BOTH SERVICE DEPARTMENTS WERE UNAWARE OF ANY SERVICE BULLETINS OF THIS BEING A COMMON OCCURRENCE IN FORD ESCAPE?S. ?WHILE THE CAR IS STILL DRIVABLE WITH MANUAL STEERING, NOT KNOWING WHEN THE POWER STEERING WILL DISENGAGE MAKES FOR VERY HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY WHEN MAKING TURNS OR SUDDEN MANEUVERS. ?UPON SEARCHING THE INTERNET, IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THIS IS BECOMING A MORE COMMON OCCURRENCE IN FORD VEHICLES THAT POSSESS THE EPS TECHNOLOGY AND HAVE SIMILAR MILEAGE. *ADDITIONALLY, CUSTOMERS ARE REPORTING MANY DIFFERENT ATTEMPTS TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, INCLUDING THE REPLACEMENT OF WIRING HARNESSES, STEERING COLUMNS, AND OTHER COSTLY REPAIRS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT FIX THE ISSUE. *TR