The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner vehicles manufactured August 18, 2006, through September 11, 2010. The affected vehicles have a steering torque sensor that may not be able to properly detect driver steering input. As a result, the system could remove the Electric Power Steering (EPS) assist.
The risk
If power steering assist is lost, greater driver effort would be required to steer the vehicle at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the power steering control module (PSCM) and the instrument cluster module, free of charge. If a vehicle shows a history of a loss of the torque sensor signal or fault codes relating to the PSCM when the vehicle is brought in for the recall remedy, the affected components will be replaced, free of charge. The recall began on July 18, 2014. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford's number for this recall is 14S05.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Escape | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| Mercury Mariner | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
Components: STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Escape | 2008 | 1,974 | 3 |
| Ford Escape | 2009 | 1,693 | 1 |
| Ford Escape | 2010 | 2,070 | 3 |
| Ford Escape | 2011 | 1,318 | 2 |
| Mercury Mariner | 2008 | 461 | 3 |
| Mercury Mariner | 2009 | 315 | 1 |
| Mercury Mariner | 2010 | 270 | 2 |
| Mercury Mariner | 2011 | 87 | 2 |
Other steering recalls in 2014
30 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the steering; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 14V829000 30 Dec 2014 | Spartan Motors, Inc. |
| 14V812000 23 Dec 2014 | Spartan Motors, Inc. |
| 14V737000 18 Nov 2014 | Mack Trucks, Inc. |
| 14V731000 13 Nov 2014 | PACCAR Incorporated |
| 14V723000 12 Nov 2014 | Setra of North America |
| 14V719000 10 Nov 2014 | General Motors LLC |
| 14V704000 5 Nov 2014 | Ford Motor Company |
| 14V665000 22 Oct 2014 | Neely Coble Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014