The almighty 2xx,xxx mile Escape I sold to my coworker for his daughter a while back has been rock solid up until now. She has driven to LA and back and a bunch of other places but with no prior warning the power steering died on her. She took it to the Ford dealer... symptoms are the wrench light came on and the steering wheel was hard to turn (as in, it lost power steering).
They are quoting $1900 to repair the vehicle (it eats oil so not worth putting $1900 into). I know that the electric power steering is a common problem with these: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2008/steering/
I've done some research and it seems like the most common solution is to replace the entire steering column assembly, however some people mention a torque sensor that can be replaced without changing the whole column. It looks like there are a few different codes that could lead to different things. Once I get my hands on the car (we are not accepting the Ford dealer's quote) I'll hook up my laptop and check things out.
Anyone here have experience with these systems, how to troubleshoot/diagnose, and how difficult it is to work on? We intend to use used/junkyard parts to repair it, if possible.
I am concerned that the failure was sort of our fault... I read on here, or somewhere else, when I first bought it, that it's extremely important for the electric power steering system to have matching front tires. Of course, the first thing I did was buy 3 random used tires and have them installed (when I first bought it, it had 1 new tire and 3 worn out ones). So it has four mismatched tires.
They are quoting $1900 to repair the vehicle (it eats oil so not worth putting $1900 into). I know that the electric power steering is a common problem with these: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Escape/2008/steering/
I've done some research and it seems like the most common solution is to replace the entire steering column assembly, however some people mention a torque sensor that can be replaced without changing the whole column. It looks like there are a few different codes that could lead to different things. Once I get my hands on the car (we are not accepting the Ford dealer's quote) I'll hook up my laptop and check things out.
Anyone here have experience with these systems, how to troubleshoot/diagnose, and how difficult it is to work on? We intend to use used/junkyard parts to repair it, if possible.
I am concerned that the failure was sort of our fault... I read on here, or somewhere else, when I first bought it, that it's extremely important for the electric power steering system to have matching front tires. Of course, the first thing I did was buy 3 random used tires and have them installed (when I first bought it, it had 1 new tire and 3 worn out ones). So it has four mismatched tires.
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