After only 350 miles I'm finding it exhausting keeping it in a straight line on the motorway (freeway) over any distance.
The micro adjustments you would normally make to keep in your lane are impossible. At over 60 mph the electric power steering's 'pull drift compensation' is kicking in and stiffening the wheel making it difficult to move. Once it kicks in it is strong enough to hold the steering wheel off center with your hands off the wheel. Once you try and turn in the opposite direction there's sufficient resistance that once it does start to move it over compensates and you end up zigzagging in your lane.
The TSB that's listed above may not be the particular fix for your car, but the symptoms you've described are exactly what I experienced. The fix was applied to my car and voila ... right as rain.
The issue for mine ended up being a steering rack that had been over torqued in the factory. Once the car was warmed up and at highway speeds, the "stiction" problem would rear its ugly head. At speed, the amount of electric assist drops off (as it should for better steering feel). It's when that assist drops off that there is not enough umph to overcome the slightly too tight situation in the rack.
It may take Ford a little while to own up, but they will. Just be patient and take your new gem into the dealer.
Great description, and makes sense that the assistance drops off at speed, so if there is mechanical resistance you would notice it more. I wonder if this resistance will reduce once I get more miles on the clock?
I still have steering issues. I haven't had my rack replaced but it was serviced and did alleviate most of the problem .... but not all. here was my problem:
And any one that says that heavy steering is "just how electric steering is" doesn't know what they are talking about. I had a 2011 Fiesta that I bought new last year. Had it for 5 months and drove it 8700 miles. The steering was perfect. Did not even feel like electric steering. The Fiesta drove in a straight line down the highway, no drift to the left or right what so ever. The nibble control was amazing. In high side winds, the little Fiesta didn't even get pushed sideways while much larger cars on the highway were. It was a fun car to drive. In contrast, my Focus is a chore to drive. I drive like 85% or more highway miles. my commute to and from work every day is 39 miles. Now i'm not saying the steering effort to correct the slight drift is huge, but after a few miles, it gets tiresome. I drove to Maine last month and nothing like driving hundreds of miles and trying to compensate for drift (seemed like a left drift) the whole way. I'm going to talk to the dealer again and if it don't get corrected, I'll be car shopping again next year, re-sale value be damned. I like everything else about my Focus, but having heavy, lousy steering just ruins the whole driving experience.
I think you need a new steering rack too.
We traded in a 2012 Fusion on our 2012 Focus. The Fusion had to have a new steering rack installed at 6,100 miles. I told the dealership's service department about the trouble we were having with the Fusion's steering and they fixed it no questions asked...
I think you need a new steering rack too.
We traded in a 2012 Fusion on our 2012 Focus. The Fusion had to have a new steering rack installed at 6,100 miles. I told the dealership's service department about the trouble we were having with the Fusion's steering and they fixed it no questions asked. Ford KNOWS there is a problem with some steering rack assemblies.
Well the Ford dealer just rang and said there's nothing they can do until more people complain about the same fault as Ford Technical say they have never heard of it.
My reply was that this is unacceptable as it is dangerous because at times it can be virtually impossible to keep the car in the lane due to zig-zagging between the white lines. This is to the extent that I had to pull over on a busy freeway to stop/start the engine.
They said their hands are tied, and unless I have an engine management light showing then there was no point in bringing the car in.
2 weeks old, and I have a lemon. Ford Customer service here I come.
Shamone, did this ever get fixed? Since your last post was more than 4 months ago it's kinda' scary thinking that something might have happened to you trying to drive it this way.
Mine is doing the same thing I noticed so far on my trip to Ohio. Anything over 60 and im all over the road. My dad noticed it to. Unfortunately I'm almost 1000 miles from home
This is interesting - Just picked up my ST3 last thursday. I picked it up and left our truck at the dealership. The next day, my wife and I went to the dealer to get the truck. It's about 15 miles away down a 70mph highway. She wanted to drive it and she complained of exactly this issue. I personally haven't noticed it (maybe very mild, but not bad). She could barely keep it between the lines.
When I was driving there was no winds. My brother has a 2012 se and his did not do it the whole trip up here my dad drove both and said mine was worse.
I wish that, for the ST, they had put a conventional steering rack in it w/o any electronic trickery, etc. Who cares about 1-2 mpg in a pocket rocket?
Ford really needs to thoroughly test new components before letting them out. I know that the ST is a new model, but wasn't anything learned with the problems they've had with the normal Mk.3 steering over the last 1.5 years?
I had the steering gear replaced in my regular Mk3...it goes in a straight line, but the steering feel is not all that good. Nothing like a good hydraulic setup...
Hope that the dealer will be able to fix your steering ASAP...
Probably has to do with the e-diff, IMO. The ECU is overcompensating. I'd find that fuse and pull it, or have the crap tuned out. Half the fun of a powerful FWD car is compensating for the power by having to cock the wheel 45 degrees to drive straight.
Computers controlling everything, fear of lawsuits, legistlation and regulations, high gas prices, and on and on are leading to the tuning out of so much of what is (used to be) fun. For our own good, of course.
Sometimes the outcome is better -- I remember anything with a turbo being like a hand grenade with the pin pulled out and an unknown fuse delay -- but everything sure feels different now. Especially when we end up fighting the technology that's supposed to make everything better, like with these steering problems. (And fake engine sounds being fed into the cockpit? Why not just play with a video game?)
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There's no fool like an old fool. It's like anything else -- the longer you are one, the better you get at it.
Looking in the Owners Manual it seems that the Electronic Steering Assist is tied into the ABS system also. There was only one fuse that didn't have ABS in it. So 3 total but they also list something with the number 15 in it not sure what that means.
I'm experiencing something a bit different, but still under the “very sensitive steering” subject. I notice this when I accelerate and change lanes (like when merging) at the same time. The car’s steering loosens (I feel that the EPAS might be over compensating). As a result, the steering wheel jerks enough where I have to compensate in the opposite direction (which ends up being over compensating with the loose steering). The outcome is a “decent wiggle” during lane changes - looks totally amateurish. I haven’t taken my ST on a long drive yet, thus I can’t speak to the drifting that occurs at the 30 min mark.
Sounds like you need a new steering rack. It senses the forces on the front wheels compared with your steering input, and decides how much to compensate for torque steer or cross winds.
Any chance you could get more info about the technician, what dealer you were at, etc?? I'm still unable to resolve my exact same issue. Some days it's ok, some days it's terrible.
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