This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
When driving slowly through a puddle the car can experience a sudden, temporary loss of power steering. This results in difficulty controlling the car.
While driving on I75 around atlanta, car steering failed making car feel like it was hydroplaning but it wasn't. road conditions were wet with light drizzle. Car veered to left and hit concrete median. Bumper was left hanging by a thread. Car wasn't safe to drive and had towed to body shop. Feel this is related to similar incidents where the Contour steering failed after water hits the belts & pulleys.
Consumer was traveling about 55mph on highway and vehicle veered into left to avoid debris in street. Consumer lost control of vehicle, steering was uncontrolable, and then vehicle straightened out on its own. Dealership was aware of problem. Dealer replaced belt and took vehicle for a test drive and could not duplicate problem.
Power steering failed while driving through deep puddle. Cause determined to be water splashing on belt and pulley, causing slippage and temporary loss of power steering. Dealer offered to install revised splash guard (tsb) under warranty.
Whenever the automobile is driven through a puddle of water or upon prolonged driving on a wet road, the power steering locks up. When this occurs, the power steering remains locked for several seconds up to over one minute before returning to normal. These conditions also cause the "battery" light to illuminate. I returned the vehicle to the dealer in approximately June 1998, but their fix action "replacing a headlight wiring assembly" did not appear to address the problem and the problem reoccurred immediately the next time that the autombile was driven on a rainy day. Upon returning the automobile a second tme, I was informed by both a service technician and a service manager that this is a problem that the Ford company is aware of but is making no attempt to inform the automobile owners until they actually experience the problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Centereach, NY, USA