Ford Excursion :: 2001 - Sloppy Steering When Driving On The Interstate
Apr 30, 2013
I am the original owner of a 2001 Ford Excursion with about 262K miles on it. I have thought about selling it more than once but I have finally come to realize that this is a very sturdy and reliable truck - so why sell it?
With that said, there are a few items that I need to address. The most important right now for me is to get the steering adjusted some how to eliminate the looseness. It is especially noticeable when driving on the interstate, I guess because I am traveling faster.
I am not a skilled mechanic but I do want to learn more about performing some of the simpler maintenance items since I have lost faith in the auto repair shops.
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I have an 01 Ex, 6"lift, 35" tires, 185,000 miles. I have gradually gotten to this point where the steering is very loose. I can roll the steering wheel back and forth with out "catching" the wheels & with the bigger tires, they catch grooves in the road & pull the vehicle side to side. I took in to a reputable 4x4 shop & he suggested the steering gear box was going bad. So I had them replace that. That did solve about 50% of the problem. So what is the next thing to look at??? Ball joints?
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My first 2001 Excursion when I bot it had a 124K on it..We took off on a trip to Colorado from OKC and noticed the Cruise didn't work replaced the Deactivation switch with one from Advanced Auto it worked for a couple days. We went to get on to the Interstate and it worked for a split second and then stopped I would try to set the Cruise and the Horn would honk...
So I put it in the shop for two days he changed out the switches in The steering wheel,Which the off & on kind of sticks, Changed out the Deactivation switch on the master cylinder checked all the fuses Lights & Servo. The mechanic could not figure it out...So I brought it home and when I run the self diagnostic and I get as far as holding the off button and turning it to on and it blinks once... press the On button & nothing...I have been working on this for the last two days..
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got an issue with my 01 excursion. When driving the steering wheel with vibrate or shimmy. As in if the rotor maybe warped or tire has a small bubble in it. Here is the kicker. It does not do it all the time. Some times I can drive it and it drives just as smooth as can be and I can go all the way to town and back. Then sometimes I can drive it to town and either turn a curve or hit a bump and then it will start doing it. Then I will come back home. Then the next time i jump in it and start driving down the road and it is just fine. I just had the brakes and rotors were just changed.
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I've been experiencing the ever so popular sloppy shifter lever in my 02 excursion. So naturally I started prowling around the site looking for answers to my issues. I have ensured both of the torx bolts are present and tight at the end of the shift tube on the bracket that connects to the shifter cable and have replaced the shift tube (It was worn out) and it worked great but has not completely fixed the issue so today I crawled underneath the truck to try and adjust the shift cable and have found that the detent in the shift linkage from the gear position sensor that runs to the shift mechanism (not sure what it's called) that is inside the transmission is really nonexistent, it is effortless to move it from P to R but from R to N is good and stiff like it should be but from N to D and D to 2 is effortless. I have zero experience with what creates the detent inside of the transmission and looking for a link or pictures or write up something that I can look over and attempt to educate myself on before I dive in to this blind....
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I have a 2002 ford f350 sd crew cab, i have changed the front and rear brakes, since then the steering has gotten sloppy. I was driving around 30-40mph and making a sweeping right turn and the front end was wobbly at a low speed it is fine and on a left turn it is fine. It feels like it is the drivers side tire that is the problem. I have to change the tie rod that is attached to the pitman arm. I don't want to bring it to a shop.
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just bought this f250 seems to walk on the road alot, had it looked at has new balljoints, he says everything seems tight except there is lots of play at the gearbox, is it recommended to have it rebuilt or buy a reman, was told that even the reman seems to be the same way
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My 2000 f250 7.3 has pretty sloppy steering and noise in the front end when going over bumps. I have replace the drop links, swap bar bushings, both wheel hubs including new seals and the drag link. The rest of the front end seems to be in good shape. I put it up on jack stands and there is some movement in the front end but it seems to all be in the steering box.
Steering box appears to be original with 220k miles. I went to tighten it and it appears the PO did it at least once already. Is it safe to try tightening it again? Does tightening it increase the risk of failure? I'd like to try tightening it first but not at the risk of losing steering at 65mph with my kids in the truck.
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Today I was driving on the interstate at about 70 mph and my truck seemed like it popped out of gear...no loud noise or anything. I was able to coast off the off ramp and my truck was still running but sounded a little odd when I revved it. No gears work and when i revved it in gear it sounded like something loose in the bell housing area maybe. After I turned it off I was not able to restart it, sounded like the starter was just free spinning. Flywheel maybe?
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Truck in question is 2002 F150 4.6 with 150K miles. Crew was on interstate tonight driving 65 MPH and truck shut off. They called me out to trouble shoot. Engine had oil (was a quart low) and will not start. Starter engages but will not turn motor over. Had truck towed back to my shop. I removed belt just to see if it may be a locked up pulley i know, long shot)... it was not.
Employed called a shade tree mechanic he knows and trusts. He said was likely a broken timing chain and that is a common problem in 4.6. Said locked engine is probably because broken chain is wrapped around shaft. When I turn key fan does move about 1/4 inch.
1) Does this sound like a possibility or even a plausible explanation? Just trying to verify the information.
2) If this is the case, would a repair be advisable, or is engine likely shot and i should just replace it?
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My daughter was driving down the interstate doing 70 mph when her explorer lost power and died. It will not re-start. Checked the DTCs and there were no codes. This same thing happened about a year ago and she had it towed to the dealership. After 3 weeks, they called and said to come pick it up. They said they had no idea what had been wrong but it was running. They replaced crank sensor, cam sensor, cleaned and checked several others an it still would not start. Then one day they sent one of the flunkies to move it back into the shop and he started it up and drove it in! They checked several more things but claimed they really didn't know what was wrong or why it started running. Now it has done it again. I suspect it may be a faulty ECM.
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For the past month or so my car is very twitchy and wanders a lot. The steering is so loose that it feels flimsy and sloppy. The front wheels grab every little rut and grooves in the road and pull my car left or right. I have to keep my hands on the steering all the time. I switched out my regular Lexus wheels/tires for my winter wheels/tires and the problem is still there so its not anything to do with the tires.
The car does not feel heavy or planted anymore. The steering feel is like an old Lexus ES from 10 years ago to be exact. At this moment I feel nervous driving the car. Never felt this way ever before.
I had my alignment done last year but haven't hit any potholes or anything. But this feeling feels like the steering pump leak, loose tie-rods, etc. I am not sure. Either way its unacceptable for a 2 year and 10 month old car with only 36k miles.
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I own a 2004 Passat- 1.8. I want to make my steering and throttle more responsive. The throttle is very slow responding, and the steering is very sloppy. I know this is supposed to be VW's Luxury car, but this would greatly enhance the performance and driveability of this car. How do I do this?
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I have an 06 F-250 Lariat with the crew cab. Even though the windows are tinted, the A/C struggles to keep the cab at 70 degrees on any given sunny day oer 80 degrees outside.
As long as you're driving on the interstate, it blows cold, but when slowing down (like a traffic jam or a stop sign) the air gets warmer and has a funny smell (like it's wet).
When I got the truck it had just gotten a new A/C compressor (160k miles). It stopped working last summer (180k miles) so I had the truck at the Ford dealer here and they replaced the A/C compressor, condenser, pressure regulator and dryer...basically all A/C components under the hood.
They tell me its working fine, but I find that hard to believe. No Ford I've ever had has had trouble keeping the cab ice cold even on the hottest days... How are your air conditioners working? Do they keep the cab cold? What I should look at?
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I just drove a car I'm looking to buy and the steering wheel was pretty loose. Not jerky, just sloppy.
I can tell it needs an alignment, but what could I be looking at in order to tighten it up?
I've learned that front ends can get pricey pretty quick.
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I have 2001 X V10 4WD. It has a really touchy steering to it. you barely move the wheel and you are moving. I have had a Les Schwab tires check out the suspension and alignment and everything checks out fine. I was towing our 31 foot trailer with a equalizer hitch and I was fighting it the entire way. Is there anything can do to improve the steering?
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My dad has a 2002 Limited X and my uncle had a '99? F350 dually. Both have this issue:
-Occasionally when driving down the road the truck will suddenly just try to veer off to one side or the other and then the steering gets really rough (The steering wheel moves back and forth rapidly. My dad has to pull off to the side of the road, completely stop and turn the wheel all the way to each side twice and it seems to correct it momentarily.
-The other issue is that when making a corner there will be a hard "thump" noise, and then the before mentioned issue occurs.
My dad has replaced all 4 ball joints, the 1 bad tie rod and has gone through a set of Warn Lockout Hubs (In less then 6 months. He had to drive around with the hubs locked in to prevent the truck from pulling due to warn out needle bearing. This somehow resulted in the passenger side Hub being internally destroyed and that wasn't even the side the bad ball joint was on.)
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2011 Camry LE with what I would call a mushy or sloppy feel to the steering. It is most noticeable at freeway speeds and requires an almost constant driver input to maintain the car in my lane with slight corrections back and forth right and left. This is fatiguing on long drives. It feels like there is too much power steering assist at higher speeds, although an independent mechanic said he didn't think it has variable assist power steering. There is no pulling in one direction. Alignment has been checked and it's ok, and tires are balanced and properly inflated.
Strong wind or large trucks passing me cause me to struggle to maintain the car in it's lane. Toyota dealer mechanics and the Toyota rep checked it and gave me the "drives as designed" answer and that there is nothing wrong with it. I had an independent mechanic look it over and he said there is nothing wrong and that there is nothing that can be done to change the feel of the steering. It is hydraulic steering and not the electronic power steering. I have test driven other Camrys as well as Corollas and other makes of cars and they all drive with a more sure feel to the steering and I just want my Camry to drive like that.
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Basically when I'm coming into my driveway (I turn to the right into it) I hit with the right front first and get this shuddering sound accompanied by a sloppy feeling in the steering wheel.
Sounds like the old door stop Springs. I sometimes get it as well when hitting bumps with either side at a time but not when hitting speed bumps or bumps where both wheels hit at the same time.
Went to the dealership but they couldn't reproduce it on the newly built read that's as smooth as glass.....
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My 'new to me' 01 Ex has 129k miles on it and the one problem is the steering. I read (all 34 pages of) the wander cure thread and I played with my steering box extensively over the last 3 weeks. The initial tightening really worked with the slack in the steering, as did adding air to the passenger front tire to even it out with the driver's side. But it did not cure everything. In fact, the tightening of the box revealed something else - the steering now exhibits what feels like binding. And now I must make minute corrections every second or two all the way down the road, even perfectly straight, flat roads. It's sorta driving me crazy(er) and my wife won't even consider driving it until it's fixed.
I was so caught up in diagnosing this problem that I completely missed that the steering wheel would not re-center itself after turns. My father noticed when he visited last weekend and tried to drive it but parked it after going around the block. If making a 90 degree turn, the wheel will maybe make it back to 45 degrees and stops. So you must manually turn the wheel back to center if you want to go straight.
So I've gone back and tried to loosen up the steering gears to start again, but now the gears seem tight regardless of how I adjust it.
I have already planned to replace the ball joints and get the alignment adjusted when I do the shocks and rear sway next week. Should i wait to see if the ball joints fix the problem or should i plan to replace the steering box at the same time? What say you all?
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I have a 2001 excursion, v10 4x4 just bought it used thinking I scored until I drove it home (mostly noticeable on freeway, which I didn't do while on my test drive) the steering wheel stays straight, but the truck doesn't stay straight in the road lines,the car turns!! Feels real loose , I hear rattles, rattles going over bumps but mostly real slight uncontrolled steering and seems floaty. Is this a common problem? I did a little searching and found some posts about rattles but noble about sloppy steering.
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