14S05 Escape Steering Recall.

[tmshannon]

For all of you not familiar with the recall on '08-'11 Ford Escape and Mariner Electric Power Steering....

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21386595/RCMN-14V284-2543.pdf

 

 

Now, I have a customer with a vehicle that is actually in the recall. The vehicle loses power steering erratically, the steering wheel vibrates with a slight pressure on it.

 

She took it in to her normal dealer (not closest dealer) to have them look at it because she was having steering problems and also because she recently received the recall letter.

 

Apparently, they scanned for codes and found none,(it has shown a B2278 , though, everytime it's been here since the problem started showing up), so, according to the pdf posted, they were to only reprogram. They did. Didn't make a difference, of course. I'm wondering if they just "say" there was no code so they could charge for problems after the recall was completed.....

 

Anyway....she brings it to my shop today. I check it out, find B2278 again...go over her recall papers, do a little research and then have a friend do an Oasis report....

 

I come to find out that the local dealer has claimed to have done the recall, and actually claimed to have replaced the torque sensor per the instructions in the pdf I posted.....However, she has never had her Escape in that dealership and won't....

 

Now....since two dealerships have performed two different operations to complete the recall, (I'm sure one of those is going to be kicked back by FoMoCo)......how does she go about getting her problem fixed without paying for it out of her own pocket since clearly, neither dealership planned on actually fixing the problem?

 

I want to raise hell and help her out, but I know that both dealerships probably want nothing more than to cover their own butts now, and FoMoCo would rather talk to the owner of the vehicle and not an independent shop like mine.

 

Thank you for any ideas or help.

Edited April 12, 2016 by tmshannon

[kslade]

I spent allot of time in the dealer world, so here are some thoughts. You should document everything that you did including the codes that you got and give it to your customer. She should call customer support and explain that she is still having steering problems and let them know she was never at the dealer that replaced the sensor under recall. Tell her to be very nice no matter how she feels, this will go a long way with the Ford rep. Also she could say she feels very unsafe driving the car because of lost steering. Good luck, hope it goes well for her and you.