NHTSA Complaint #11472754 — 1993 FORD E-150

The contact owns a 1993 Ford E-150. The contact stated that upon attempting to pull into a parking space and turning the steering wheel, she heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the front driver's side seat and the steering wheel seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact contacted AAA who inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the gear box had detached from the subframe. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front driver's side subframe had three holes and one of the holes had expanded significantly and needed to be welded prior to fastening the gear box to the subframe. The independent mechanic informed the contact that they could not weld the subframe. The dealer was notified and informed the contact that the next availability was in approximately two months. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.