Problems with 2011 Ford Fusion STEERING

While driving, the advance trac light came on. then an error message telling me to service power steering. the wheel suddenly became hard to turn while driving. there was no advanced warning. as soon as the light came on, the car became difficult to steer. *js

As i was pulling into my driveway the power steering shut down and the "power steering assist default" warning came on. at that point i was already in my driveway but could no longer steer the car at all. now i cannot drive the car. *js

While driving my 2011 ford fusion sel v6 on december 25th, 2014, the advance track light came on. it stayed on until i parked the car in the garage about 10 miles (15 minutes) later. two days later, on a trip from north carolina to kentucky, the advance track light came on again. this time it came on and stayed again until the car was parked at the final destination in kentucky. it stayed on for about 50 miles +/-. later in the day, i got in the vehicle to take a short trip to the grocery store. when i started down the road, at approximately 30 mph, the "service power steering" and " service advance track system" error codes popped up and the power steering just quit working. i still had steering in the car but it took most all the strength i had (and i'm no small guy) to muscle the car to the side of the road and get it stopped. i hate to think what would have happened if my wife, son, or daughter had been driving the car at the time. i towed the car home on 12/28/14 and scheduled an appointment at the local ford dealer for 2 pm today (12/29/14). *tr

After getting gas and car was off and in park, tried to go the power steering was gone and the car was not controllable. no one seems to know the exact problem. *tr

While driving on 12/21/14, a service power steering and service advancetrac warning lights came on. i was able to get home but the following morning had no power steering whatsoever. leo kaytes ford in warwick, ny performed a software update which seemed to correct the issue but said i would need to replace the ps system at a price of $2200 if it occurred again. on 1/28, the same warning lights came over an hour from home on a busy highway. i was just barely able to get home and lost all power steering altogether as soon as i turned my car off. this is an extremely dangerous situation that seems to impact ford fusions from 2010 to 2012. ford needs to issue a recall. *tr

On december 19 i started my car and tried to drive away. however, the steering wheel appeared locked. it would not budge. i cut the car off and restarted it, and the wheel then moved. this happened again on december 21, 25, and 27, but on the 27, a message appeared: "power steering assist fault." on december 28, the power steering went out while i was driving down a nearby street. i had to manhandle the steering wheel and coast to a stop. again i received the message. *tr

My 2011 ford fusion worked fine for about a year after the original purchase in november of 2013 from framingham ford lincoln. in december of 2014, the power steering and advancetrac suffered a total system failure. i brought it in to framingham ford lincoln's service department where it was repaired. the same failure occurred in january of 2015. i brought the car in again and the service department told me they replaced the rack which they did not feel was necessary the first time, and expressed their confidence that the car would hold up this time around. the power steering and advancetrac failed for a third time in february of 2015, and i forced ford to take the car back and provide me with another one. however, over 5000 dollars of my original financing has been rolled into my new loan for the car i received to replace the fusion. this is unacceptable to me, and i filed a complaint with the massachusetts attorney general seeking mediation to get that money back. every time this error occurred, the car become unsafe and unreliable as the steering would toughen up and make it near impossible to operate. the three times the steering and advancetrac failed, i was on the road driving and i could have seriously injured myself or others. ford refuses to publicly acknowledge this issue. they are endangering drivers across the country with their gross negligence and lack of concern for their customers' safety. i want to report this issue because apparently, according to what i have read on the internet, many other people have experienced this same issue and some have even been hurt. please force ford motor company to recall these vehicles and make sure they are in good enough condition to operate on the road. at least force them to acknowledge this is a pervasive issue, so people know what they are getting into before purchasing a car from them in good faith. *tr

I was driving into a parking lot and my power steering light came on to service soon i parked my car then when i went to leave and started my car, the light went to service now and i had no power steering at all. i am a college student and just bought this car less than 5 months ago and i am very lucky that this didn't happen on my way home while driving through the mountain areas i have to drive through from college or i could have had a fatal or serious accident. i don't have the money to fix this and i believe ford motor company should recall and repair this serious issue and since there is several complaints. *tr

I was driving my vehicle on the highway at 60 miles per hour when the power steering when out completely. when this happened i was at a off ramp exit and had almost zero steering i panicked and tried to get off the exit which had a sharp radius turn, i could not keep the vehicle on the road and traveled off into to grass until i could skid to a stop. if there would have been a different situation other then the grass i was able to crash off into i or someone else could have been killed or seriously injured. it took every bit of strength i have to try to control the vehicle to keep it from a very serious accident, as my vehicle lost steering i had two dash warnings that came on. advanced trac and power steering both quit working. with the research i've done i think its a disgrace that ford has done nothing to fix this issue. i have no way to pay over $2000 to get my car operational again. i will no doubt loose my job do to now not having transportation. my car only has 48500 miles on it. thanks ford *tr

Letter from congresswoman slaughter on behalf of constituent re safety concerns with certain ford automotive products (attn: john pellito). *smd 2011 ford fusion. the consumer stated her son was driving, when suddenly the vehicle became difficult to steer. *jb

While pilling out of a parking space the steering assist failed making the vehicle difficult to steer. car had to sit and be restarted before regaining steering. since the incident there are steering assist warnings on the dash. the problem appears randomly and very concerned steering will be lost at high speeds or hit someone or something at low speeds.

Power steering failed. received indication of advancetrac needing service as well as power steering failure. i have noticed some issues of this nature for over one year and 15,000 miles as when the car is first started and put into reverse there would be, on occasion, no power steering and i'd get advancetrac needs service warning. by putting the car in drive i could sometimes get the power steering back or if i shut the engine off and restarted. power steering completely failed now at 43,000 miles and i've been told by the ford dealership that the module as well as the steering gear--the whole system--has to be replaced per diagnostics. *tr

When turning on the vehicle, i get a "power steering assist fault" error message. the car loses power steering and i am not able to turn the wheel. *tr

My vehicle lost its power steering. a error message came up "power steering assist fault and service autotrac.. i restarted the car hoping it was just a glitch in the system,but it was not. i had no power steering. i took it to the ford dealer and they told me it was the sensor the cost of the repair is close to $2000.00. i had no choice but to get it fixed and it was very costly. i have asked other owners of this same vehicle and a few of them have had the same problem. this is a disgrace that ford does not see this as a issue for a recall. this is my last ford vehicle. *tr

I have lost power steering twice now. it has always been when i have just started my car. i start the car, back out of a parking spot and when i put the car in drive i lose power steering and a power steering failure light comes on. i have been able to drive the car to a safe area and turn it off and restart the car. this seems to reset the power steering. *tr

Driving son to school on secondary road with turns; light came on indicating failure of the power steering assist and the power steering went out. had to drive several hundred feet to attempt to get the vehicle off the road safely. turned the car off; then restarted and the system reset. second occurrence a few days later when is started the vehicle. i put it in reverse and again the indicator lights came on with the same error message. restarted the vehicle and the system reset. *tr

While driving on the interstate at 70 mph the steering wheel went firm and the power steering assist warning started flashing on the dash. i had to struggle to get to the car pulled over, muscled it over with everything humanly possible in me. i shut it off, start it again, warning had cleared, and i continued to drive without problems. this area is mountainous and very dangerous. this has occurred 3 other times while starting the car. *tr

Driving down the road, suddenly my dashboard lights up with bells & whistles saying power steering service now. also advance track service now. there was no crash (thankfully). tried to restart car, hopefully to clear out error code but it still shows. no power steering. when we tried to go home, it took both myself and my husband to turn the wheel onto residential streets and our driveway. thankfully a friend followed us home to avoid an accident caused by lack of control in steering. with only having the car for a year and having 57k miles...it should not have these issues! *tr

As we were driving home tonight from walmart my display said service power steering now and service advancetrac and we lost all power steering thank god my husband was driving because there was no way i could have been able to control the vehicle. it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me in a vehicle along with our 6 year old daughter. we were in the middle of a sharp turn if i had been driving we surely would have went over an embankment. *tr

As the vehicle was being driven down the road the power steer completely went out making it extremely difficult to control and maneuver. i called ford customer care after learning there has been multiple previous problems with the power assist motor. the agent was polite and concern but offered no help only to say "she hadn't received any info from ford on any recalls". *tr

I was slowing to make a right turn, power steering assist failed, forcing me to steer manually ,with great difficulty, to safely stop. warning light came on indicating power steering assist failure. i turned engine off, then restarted and system functioned properly. research on the internet indicates i am not the only case. ford should issue a recall for repair of this potentially dangerous failure. *tr

I have a 2011 ford fusion that started having power steering issues to where i would intermittently have increased steering resistance while driving. this went on for a few weeks but i was still able to steer the car however it was a major annoyance. no warning lights ever came on however eventually it came to where when i went to start my car the wheels would lock up and i could not turn the steering wheel at all. after restarting or warming my car the steering would occasionally come back, but it was extremely frustrating. i had no choice but to take it to my ford dealership and pay the $1500 to have the steering rack replaced. with 64000 miles on the car this is truly unacceptable and i'm hoping after a recall investigation i will be able to have my repair cost refunded. *tr

Was driving and my power steering stopped working. dash indicates power steering assist fault. service autotrac. i have no power steering and it is extremely hard to turn my steering. i have noticed that this is a problem with multiple fusion owners and the car is quite new to be having such a serious problem. not being able to steer or control your vehicle seems very dangerous. *tr

The power steering assist default has gone out on my car causing my whole steering to lock up it has done it more than once even as i was turning in a intersection. *tr

While driving i received an alert to service power steering and advance trac. i drove 1 mile and parked at my home, 11/17/2014 started the vehicle to go to work and had no power steering at all. my car is undriveable and is being towed to near by dealership. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. while driving approximately 35 mph, the service power steering light illuminated and the steering wheel locked. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the failure mileage was 67,000. the vin was not available.

Mpg was not adding up though it was just me than i would notice spots of gasoline on the floor and did a inspection and looked normal until filled gas a bit higher than half and started leaking.and some loss of steering would happen here and there and decided to inspect it to couple of codes would come up in a dtc test.

Put car in drive and went to back out of drive way. steering wheel went stiff and warnings of power assist steering fault and service advancetrac came up. car has been this way since 11/12/2014 with no changes. *tr

Started my 2011 fusion to go home after work today. got "power steering assist fault" in information window. found power steering was indeed not working. turned car off and restarted. didn't get warning this time. drove 10 minutes to home with no further issues. very nervous about it happening again at the worst time. after seeing so many complaints here, ford definitely needs to address this problem. i'm not really convinced that the gearbox replacement is the "fix". *tr

While driving my 2011 ford fusion, my power steering suddenly malfunctioned and stopped working. a message on the service dashboard stated "service advancetrac system". this occurred while turning the car. my children were in the car and an accident could have occurred. the car is very difficult to turn without the assisted power steering. i've reviewed the incident on several web sites and require assistance from the nhtsa in advising ford to look into the issue and to take action to replace this apparent defect. please visit these sites for additional concerns. http://www.fordfusionforum.com/topic/8411-service-advancetrac-and-power-steering-failure/ http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/fusion/2011/steering/power_steering_failure.shtml thank you for reviewing. *tr

While turning into a parking lot the steering became very difficult. once the car was in the parking spot i noticed that several warning lights had come on including the advanced track and power steering lights. the car was turned off then restarted. the advanced track light flashed while the power steering light stayed on. at that point the steering wheel could not be turned and the car had to be towed to a ford dealership. they advised that the entire rack and pinion assembly had to be replaced. prior to this event there were no indications of a problem. *tr

2011 ford fusion has had multiple occurrences at low speed either parking or backing in reverse where steering locks up and a warning light for advance trac comes on as well as a warning message about "power steering failed assist." ability to steer becomes very difficult. vehicle has under 28,000 miles on it and has always been maintained by ford dealership. ford dealer says warranty has "timed out" and the repairs will cost $1,900 and are not covered by any warranty support. diagnosed part by ford dealership is replacement needed of the electronic rack and pinion. a case number and complaint was also documented to ford motor company in december 2014. *tr

Son driving southbound interstate 25 from greeley, co to denver, co. power steering failed without notice. warning light on dash reads "service advance trac power steering assist fault" . son continued to destination, turned vehicle off. once restarted, power steering returned, but failed again on return to greeley, co. same warning light. system will no longer reset. reviewed possible causes on line and found numerous incidents identical to mine. *tr

I went to start the car and the message "power steering assist fault" came on the dashboard and i could not move the steering wheel. this was the first time it happened. it has now happened 3 more times. the last time this happened so far was today. today it happened while i was driving in a parking lot getting ready to park. the immediate loss of power steering caused me to almost hit another car while parking. *tr

While exiting the highway my car suddenly become extremely hard to steer my wife, child and myself where in the car at the time. i have bad the car looked at the can not find anything wrong with the rack assembly. *tr

Power steering assist fault. over the last 3 months, have had multiple random power steering assist faults. by shutting down vehicle and restarting, these have cleared in the past, but on nov.2, 2014, upon start of vehicle, power steering assist fault occurred and would not clear. was forced to drive car home without power steering and almost crashed multiple times. in addition, this fault sometimes has occurred at same time as advancetrac warning. appears that whatever electrical device is failing is related to both systems. *tr

Called carmx where i purchased the car many times..to no avail i have gotten help. my car now won't work. no power steering. was backing out of my driveway. *tr

The first two times, i was backing out of a space and then start to turn the wheels while driving away and the steering locks. i can drive back forward into the space, then turn off the car and turn it back on and things are fine. the third time, i was simply turning out of my subdivision and the steering locked again. *tr

My wife was driving then car she went into a parking lot and the power steering went out. now she has to drive the car another forty five miles to our house with the baby and my younger son and i worry for their safety. *tr

The steering completely locked up in driveway, 3 people tried to turn the tires, stuck at 11 oclock position, we could not turn wheels, and towed to shop. this is the shop writing this.

I bought this 2011 ford fusion with 42,331 miles. the next day after purchasing it i started it and pulled it out of the garage. there was no power steering. a power steering assist light was flashing. i put the car into park and killed the motor. when i started the car again everything was fine. i called to ask about it and they told me i might have just put the car into drive too quick not letting everything boot up. that was all in good but 2 days later it happened again and it never went off. i had no power steering. i took the car in and had it worked on. they replaced the power steering. 1400 dollars later i read all the other complaints about the same thing and wonder how long it will be before this new steering will go out. ford if you have a problem step up and do the right thing before someone really gets hurt.

While driving to doctors appointment, electric power steering failed and caused extreme discomfort to right wrist with existing disability; which requires power assisted steering. *tr

When putting vehicle in reverse to back out of driveway, the power steering assist fault alert sounded and the vehicle lost power steering. i shut vehicle off and restarted it and put in reverse and it happened again. shut if off again and restarted and was able to drive without alert sounding. happened again next day, so i called ford dealer and they said to bring in for analysis. took vehicle to dealer and was told the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. was told they cleared the codes and it would be okay to drive. drove home from dealer (35 miles) and next day same thing happened when backing out driveway. went online and found there are numerous complaints about this problem some happening when vehicle had low mileage. this problem could be dangerous because some people complained about vehicle losing all power steering while driving. ford needs to take these complaints seriously and this should be a recall. my safety should be a high priority with ford. i will have to pay $1,300 to replace these parts. *tr

While driving with my family my service advancetrac and service power steering warning lights came on. after we got home and went to go back out later our power steering was completely gone. car isn't drivable as it has no power steering at all. very dangerous situation my family was put into by this problem!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. the contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the steering wheel seized and the service power steering warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering column needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 102,000. the vin was not available.

Started up the car and the power steering assist failure warning light came on. was unusable to steer the car at all. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. the contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the steering wheel seized. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that the electrical steering gear needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 103,000.

Steering power assist completely failed when vehicle was started, flashed messages for power assist failure and advancetrak needs to be serviced. car was parked at time of failure, the car would be undrivable for most as the force required to turn the wheel without assist requires great effort. had this occurred suddenly while the car was in motion as others have reported my wife would most likely not have been able to steer the vehicle to a safe stop location. further, the cost to repair this issue is overwhelming, dealer advised over $1700.00 out of pocket with no support from ford on this 3 year old vehicle despite the number of complaints currently filed on this specific issue with this vehicle. filing this complaint to document another occurrence of this issue to the nhtsa in support of other owners who have or will experience this problem. *tr

About 3 weeks ago i was driving on highway 60mph service power steering and service advance trac popped up in my message center i stopped at store went in then came out not even 5 mins later crunk car up then it said service power steering now tried to turn and the wheel was real tight. i've tried everything cutting it off disconnect battery etc nothing worked this is ridiculous just got car a month ago plus have two small boys two months n three years old jus by the grace of god they wasn't wit me cause that's dangerous something got to happen. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford fusion. while driving 25 mph, the steering wheel seized and the power steering vault light illuminated. the dealer stated that the power steering gear needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 90,000. updated 7/9/15*cn