Ford Steering: Electric Power Assist System

Ford is recalling about 487,301 vehicles over a problem with the steering. If the bolts corrode, the steering gear motor may detach from the gear housing resulting in a loss of power steering assist.

Campaign
15V250000
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Reported
28 April 2015
Vehicles
487,301
Built between
Feb 2012 – Mar 2015
Models
3
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
24 June 2015
Repaired
91%
Unrepaired
39,249

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between February 2012 and March 2015. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2015 Ford EdgeBuilt February 2015 to February 2015
  • 2013-2015 Ford FusionBuilt February 2012 to March 2015
  • 2013-2015 Lincoln MKZBuilt February 2012 to March 2015

Repair progress

39,249 of 487,301 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q3 2016.

91% repaired — 442,273 of 487,301 reported

Owners not reachable
5,117
Scrapped or exported
662

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured February 3, 2012, to March 20, 2015, and 2015 Ford Edge vehicles manufactured February 26, 2015, to February 28, 2015, and originally sold, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. In the affected vehicles, snow or water containing road salt or other contaminants may corrode the electric power steering gear motor attachment bolts.

What could happen

If the bolts corrode, the steering gear motor may detach from the gear housing resulting in a loss of power steering assist. Loss of power steering assist would require a higher steering effort, especially at lower speeds, which may increase the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will apply sealer and replace the steering gear motor bolts as required. If one or more of the steering gear motor attachment bolts are broken or missing, a new steering gear will be installed in the vehicle. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on June 24, 2015.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtFebruary 2012 to March 2015
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA28 April 2015
  3. Owners notified24 June 2015
  4. Latest repair reportQ3 2016 — 91% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 28 April 2015.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S14.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
15S14
Recalling manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand