Have an 03 Escape / 3.0 and the steering catches when turning left. Steering wheel jerks. Replaced the pump about 2 mo. ago and seemed to work, but now it is back. Is there something else I should look at?
View 3 Replies2005 Ford Escape XLT (4WD) (non-Hybrid). Our Escape had uneven wear on the front tires. Because the mechanic we've used over the year we've lived here doesn't do alignments, my wife took it to a chain tire place on a Sunday afternoon because they were open. He said the ball joint was bad, so he wouldn't do an alignment and because they were super-busy and short-handed, he asked if we could bring it back during the week for an estimate.
A couple of weeks later I called my guy, who recommended a shop a few blocks over who does alignments, so we took it to him. We told him that the chain store had said about the ball joint. I'm pretty sure that before we took it to him, the car had started occasionally started jerking a bit in a curve, but it's been a couple of months and I only know for certain it was doing it after. (I'm not certain if it was doing it before because my wife was mostly driving that vehicle, then)
The first time it was in his shop, the mechanic said it wasn't the ball joint, but the tie-rod. After fixing that, he sold us a couple of tires and aligned the vehicle. On the way home is when I know I was aware of the car jerking a bit in curves. I'm pretty sure it was jerking in the direction of the curve, but again, it's been a couple of months.
Took it back to him the next day and though we suggested he test drive in one direction which had multiple curves, he said he retightened the tie-rod because one side wasn't right, ran it through alignment again and test drove it in another direction which only had one s-curve.
I want to say it was better for a while, but I can't really swear that to be the case. We've long had an ABS light which our previous mechanic in another part of the country said was the sensor. I had forgotten, but the first mechanic we used here had broken the axle and replaced it at no charge, when he was replacing the alternator.
The alignment mechanic said that we had a bad tone ring and the easiest thing to do would be to replace the axle. A week or so later, I called him and said we were ready to do the brakes, but I have one car and he does many and I wasn't really clear, instead of doing anything with the axle or the tone ring, his shop replaced the brakes.
Somewhere around this time, the vehicle started occasionally jerking to the left. Not in a curve, but in the straightways and the best we can tell, it's mostly when we're accelerating and is most noticeable between 30 & 45 MPH. This may not be entirely true, but it's true enough that we believe it. The "jerk" sort of feels like a car driving through fresh snow "falling" into a rut. It also sort of feels what I imagine a faulty ball joint might feel like.
While it was still more of a minor issue -- it happened more rarely than it's happening now -- we took it to what I'd consider our regular mechanic and got him to replace the axle. I didn't actually say anything to him about the jerking because it was still too occasional and I was hoping it was related to the tone ring. It's now gotten progressively worse and I'm at a loss for diagnosis. You'd think that if it was the ball joint, between the two alignments, the brake job, tire replacement and rotation and getting a new axle, one of the mechanics would have noticed it.
Compounding the issue is the fact that there's two (or three if you count the first guy, four if you count the chain tire place) garages involved. Also, I've done some of the engine work my regular mechanic recommended, so there could be a thing about me getting them to diagnose and then doing the work myself or the one mechanic replacing the axle like the alignment guy had suggested. Who knows. We haven't lived here long, so there's not really a lot of history. All I know is that they all get good Yelp reviews.
Also should probably be factored... the alignment mechanic said he felt vibration around 45 MPH and because didn't think we use the 4WD, he said he disconnected the drive shaft from the CV joint (or something like that) as a means of diagnosis. (If there had been a vibration, we hadn't paid attention to it and he did this at no charge, all on his own) Also, a few years ago, prior to our move, the transmission was rebuilt twice (once under the transmission shop's warranty) and I don't remember what the vehicle was doing, but on a third trip the transmission shop had to do something with the transfer case.
Mostly around 40 MPH -- though it may just be too subtle to notice at higher speeds and we rarely drive this vehicle on the highway, so we're mostly traveling short distances at 35 & 45 MPH -- the SUV lurches a bit toward the left and there's a little jerk in the steering wheel. It really feels like I described, like it's getting caught in a rut. Both the car and the steering wheel jerks to the left side. There hasn't been any noticeable uneven wear over the three months we've been trying to figure this out and the front tires look straight up and down. We also haven't noticed any noise. Not going down the road, not when we turn or when the steering wheel jerks.
2002 XLT 3.0L 4X4
Making a grinding sound when traveling straight or turning left. Any turn to the right (even the camber of the passing lane) and there is no grinding sound so I figured it was the drivers side wheel bearing. Replaced it yesterday.... symptoms are still there.
Tight left/right turns don't result in the popping/snapping of a bad CV joint so I don't think that's it.
I don't think it's transmission related since shifting is good and the grinding is not throttle related. Besides, turning shouldn't have an effect on the sound if it was something in the transmission, right?
Seems that after a sharp right turn, for instance turning right at a stop sign I'll get a loud pop that I can feel in the floor pan under my feet.
After the pop the steering wheel and whole front of the truck will shift left and right like someone is grabbing the wheel, sometimes violently. If I drive slowly it will cure itself and sometimes not do it again for several days. I've check ball joints and hubs and they are in great shape. I pulled the hubs and greased the needle bearings about 6 months ago. I checked all steering components and the linkage that attached to the steering arm had some play so I replaced it. Then I found that some idiot took the steel sleeve out of the bushing in one end of the steering stabilizer. I bought a new stabilizer and cured a pop I'd had since I got the truck, but the other issues were not solved.
Alignment has been checked too.
Looking for info on how to remove the steering wheel on 2006 escape to get to cruise control switches and is there a self test you can do for cruise control functions like holding on button while you turning switch on as in other models ???
View 6 RepliesMy 2008 Escape LTD AT steering wheel has a chunk out of it, so I got a steering wheel off eBay advertised as a '2008 Escape' steering wheel (came with upper part of column also). The color is the same, and it looks exactly the same - except for one cruise control button.
I don't know if there was a difference between the MT and AT cruise controls; the owners manual doesn't say. Or if maybe this wheel is from a different year than 2008. What I would like to know is if the wire connections will be the same, if the 'Set-' button is the same as the 'Cst-' button.
I'd hate to swap them and then find out there was a different pinout for the eBay cruise buttons....
Just started getting a creaking noise when I turn the steering wheel. It sounds like it's coming from underneath the vehicle in the area behind the left front wheel. It sounds like rubber against steel and drones as long as I turn the wheel. It also sounds when the suspension is activated. ie when I go over a bump. It's pretty loud. 2005 Limited ....
View 5 RepliesI have been having this problem with Gf's car for a few months it is a 06 3.0 escape with 141K on the clock the car seems to run ok except at red lights and when in drive it seems to idle like its just about 100 rpms low when I give it a little gas just a touch it smoothes out. if I put it in neutral the car smooth's out but in drive when you come to a stop light or stop sign you can feel the rough or low idle in the steering wheel. She is nagging me and it has been very cold here in Pa and I'm trying to wrap my head around if it is a cold thing or just a coincidence. I'm fairly good at wrenching and I just need some things to look for as when you start the car up cold it idles fast like 12 to 1300 rpms and then drops to about 900 and in drive it seems like maybe it's about 600 to 700 rpms. but where to start to look Is it a sensor, vacuum leak ?
View 6 RepliesRecently picked up a 2007 Escape with 108,000 miles. The vehicle is in great condition with a full service history. Recently I've noticed a bit of shimmy in the steering wheel and noise from the front drivers side wheel accompanying the shimmy.
At speeds of 50mph+ the shimmy will start. When going straight there is not much of an issue but when a gradual right hand turn on the highway the shimmy starts. Back to straight and it goes away. Not really noticeable on left hand curves.
Steering issue?
Tie Rods?
Bearings?
I'm going to dig into it to get it fixed.
My wife's having some car trouble. When I turn the steering wheel back and forth there's a cracking sound and I can feel it into the wheel. And now the steering's gotten really stiff.
View 1 RepliesI was out driving tonight and our 03 escape started making a thumping sound like you hear when you have a flat. I turned the corner and noticed that the steering wheel is now at a 30 degree angle as I'm going straight and when I hit the brakes the steering wheel straightens out but the car doesn't change direction. It's dark so I can only see so much but the tie rods are good and tight from what I can tell same with ball joints. They just did that subframe recall a month or so ago. My concern is steering box but other than these symptoms it seems to be working fine.
View 4 RepliesMy 97F250, 7.3 diesel, 4WD has an intermittent steering issue. When I come out of a turn, it doesn't want to come out of the turn all the way. It will keep pulling one way, and I have to jerk the steering wheel in opposite direction, and sometimes the truck then over corrects quickly the other direction. Mechanic said front end looks good, so he replace the power steering pump. That didn't work...
View 4 RepliesOur escape recently started loosing its power steering, once the engine is shut off the power steering is ok. Also some times you can feel a pulsing in the steering wheel. I've been doing some googling and it looks like the dealers are replacing the steering columns to fix the problem.
My question : is this the only fix or if something like some contacts being cleaned or maybe replacing a steering sensor of some kind is the fix.
We are a 2 Escape family. We have an '03 and an '05 - both 4WD and 3.0 V6. My college freshman son purchased the '05 this summer to get to and from his summer job. It has a little over 173K on the clock and it has a power steering leak, so I decided to try to tackle this one.
There is a fairly good video on YouTube on replacement of the power steering pump on an '03 - but apparently on the '05 Ford decided to relocate the pump from under the upper right engine mount to a lower location closer to the front bumper so the video is not of much use in this case.
I have searched the web and this site but cannot find any tips or instructions to replace the power steering pump on the '05. The Chilton Manual I have does not acknowledge the difference in the power steering pump location on the '05 and only provides the procedure for those Escapes where the pump is located under the upper engine mount.
I think I may be able to get better access by removing the inner fender plastic and perhaps the front bumper cover, but would really like to know the accepted procedure before I start tearing into this one.
One interesting bit of info regarding power steering fluid on these vehicles. Ford designed them to use automatic transmission fluid (Mercon) instead of power steering fluid. Initially, when I saw the leak, I thought it was a tranny line leak. Then I traced it to the front of the engine which is totally on the opposite side of the vehicle from the tranny lines.
I need to replace my pressure line on my 02 Escape 3.0L. Looking for a DIY for doing this same job?
View 1 RepliesIve got an 02 2wd escape with the v6. Its been an excellent truck until here recently. The wife has had a weird problem twice now, that I have been unable to reproduce. She says the check engine light and low oil light come on and she loses power steering. Shutting it off and restarting fixes the issue.
Took a 400 mile road trip with it last weekend and never had an issue. Only thing I noticed , the readiness meters never went ready. Even after that trip, It still shows a systems not ready code.
Tonight the wife had the issue again. Shutdown and restart fixed it. Battery cables are clean and tight, several grounds were freshly cleaned a couple months ago.
I had some steering issues with my truck so took it for an evaluation at pep boys. They recommended a new steering gear box and tie rod that hooks to the pitman arm so I had them replace them. Steering was improved but now the wheel is canted to the left or right depending on when I make a turn. When I make a left turn, the wheel is canted about 10 o'clock. When I make a right turn, it's canted about 1 o'clock.
I looked under and had my brother turn the wheel and didn't really notice any thing loose. I lifted the front and noticed the left wheel bearings need to be replaced. I also noticed the shocks were shot and replaced them but it didn't make a difference in the crooked wheel.
Do you think it's the wheel bearing that can cause this? How about the ball joints? The truck has 407k miles and I bought it a month ago. Previous owner said he never replaced any steering components. Should I just replace all steering components with the Moog kit? I'd like to hold off on the $600+ kit for now as I just bought a a boat and the boat needs some stuff. I hope to find that one thing (hopefully not more) that's loose.
My 2007 Camry makes clunking noises when I turn the steering wheel to the left mostly. This happens most often when the weather is warm and hot but not during the winter time.
The noise seems to come only from around the steering wheel area inside my vehicle. Hence, I don't think it has to do with the CV Joints or anything like that but the steering wheel unit.
I bought an '08 Elantra about a month ago. A few weeks after buying it i noticed a creaking noise while turning the steering wheel to the left. It happens at low speeds or when stopped, but I haven't heard anything at high speeds. I can't tell for sure but it sounds closer to the inside of the car than the outside and will happen the entire time the steering wheel is turning to the left. No sound turning it to the right.
My brother liked my car so we test drove 3 other Elantras, 2 '08s and an '09. Two of them made the exact same noise. He ended up liking the one that didn't but after a while his started making the EXACT same noise too. I'm thinking this must be a common problem with the '07-'10 Elantras as all 4 cars had the same noise, but I can't find anything about it.
My right strut is bad and I'm having both front struts replaced Monday, so if it's something that can be done while he's doing the struts I'd like to find out before he takes everything apart so he doesn't have to do it twice.
I have 2016 camry 4 cyl have roughly 2300 miles and I'm noticing a click click while turning the steering wheel left or right while stationary and vehicle running sounds like it's coming from under the dash.
I've seen there is a tsb for other year camry intermediate shaft issue, my vehicle is lowered on eibach Springs and would hate to take back to dealer and have them blame it on the springs in a vehicle that has only 2,500 miles.
What do I need to do about the high pitched noise I hear when turning the steering wheel right or left?
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