Diagsheet

2014 Ford Fusion · symptom sheet

Power steering cuts out or goes heavy

  • 203owner reports
  • 78,000median miles
  • $2,000median quote
  • 2involved a crash

Newest report Mar 10, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

321 of the 1,287 complaints on this car are about the steering system. 203 of those describe power steering loss, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2014 Fusion.

Tick what matches of 203 reports

14
118
25
27
134

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the steering rack (39 reports), the EPS motor or module (24 reports) and the column (5 reports).

Recalls and investigations

3 recalls on the steering system cover the 2014 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.

19V-632Aug 29, 2019
Steering:Electric Power Assist System

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2013-2016 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ, 2015-2016 Ford Edge, and 2016 Lincoln MKX vehicles originally sold, or currently registered in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Road salt or other contaminants may corrode the electric power steering gear motor attachment bolts.

Risk and remedy
Risk: If the bolts corrode, the steering gear motor may detach from the gear housing resulting in a loss of power steering assist, requiring a greater steering effort, especially at lower speeds, and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering gear motor bolts and apply a wax sealer. If any of the steering gear motor attachment bolts are broken or missing, a new steering gear will be installed in the vehicle. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began October 18, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S26.
18V-167Mar 12, 2018
Steering: Steering Wheel/Handle Bar

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Lincoln MKZ and Ford Fusion vehicles. The steering wheel retaining bolt may loosen allowing the steering wheel to detach while driving.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A steering wheel detachment can cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering wheel bolt with a longer bolt, free of charge. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S08.
15V-250Apr 28, 2015
Steering:Electric Power Assist System

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured February 3, 2012, to March 20, 2015, and 2015 Ford Edge vehicles manufactured February 26, 2015, to February 28, 2015, and originally sold, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. In the affected vehicles, snow or water containing road salt or other contaminants may corrode the electric power steering gear motor attachment bolts.

Risk and remedy
Risk: If the bolts corrode, the steering gear motor may detach from the gear housing resulting in a loss of power steering assist. Loss of power steering assist would require a higher steering effort, especially at lower speeds, which may increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will apply sealer and replace the steering gear motor bolts as required. If one or more of the steering gear motor attachment bolts are broken or missing, a new steering gear will be installed in the vehicle. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on June 24, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S14.

NHTSA investigations into the steering system on the Fusion

EA17-004opened Nov 20, 2017
Steering · model years 2010 to 2012

Power steering failure. Closed feb 9, 2024.

NHTSA summary
On September 28, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles. During the PE, ODI received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the power steering assist failed while driving at various speeds with no warning. Ford Motor Company (Ford) provided 1,851 unique reports and 1,720 warranty claims related to the alleged problem. It should be noted that as the result of investigation PE14-030, Ford conducted a safety recall (15V-340) ofMY 2011-2012 Ford Fusion and other vehicles using the same electric power assist steering unit to rectify incidents of loss of power steering assist. On November 20, 2017, PE16-011 was upgraded to this Engineering Analysis (EA17-004) to further assess the scope, frequency, and consequence of this failure. This was based on an analysis of the subject vehicle complaint data that had indicated an increased likelihood of failure as the vehicles age. At the time, the rate of occurrence of this failure was comparable to previous investigations involving loss of power steering assist including the previously mentioned PE14-030. During the EA, ODI’s analysis of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles identified the following: testing showed minor steering effort changes between “assist” and “no assist”, no root cause identified, a declining failure trend,
PE17-007opened Oct 23, 2017
Steering · model years 2014 to 2016

Steering wheel fastening bolt loosens. Closed apr 23, 2018, led to recall 18V-167.

NHTSA summary
On March 12th, 2018, Ford Motor Company submitted a Defect Information Report to NHTSA describing a defect in the steering wheel fastening system of approximately 1,301,986 model year (MY) Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ. On March 1, 2018, Ford discovered a design change that affected the MY 2014-2018 subject vehicles. The affected population are MY 2014-2016 Fusion and MKZ with manual and power adjust steering columns and MY 2017-2018 Fusion and MKZ equipped with manual adjust steering columns only. The affected populations have steering shafts with a reduced amount of threads for the steering wheel bolt to engage. The thread length was decreased by 5mm in the affected models. Ford stated that another contributing factor was the placement of a nylon locking patch torque retention on the fastening bolt.As a result, the steering wheel bolt may not maintain torque allowing the bolt to loosen and eventually separate from the steering shaft, resulting in a loose or detached steering wheel. The two crashes and one injury noted in Ford?s Defect Information Report are from two legal claims. The first accident is a claim where the driver reported the steering wheel twisted freely on the shaft which caused the driver to lose control.An injury was alleged but no details were provided. The second claim resulted in minor damage to the driver side of the vehicle including a punctured tire. No injury was reported.Ford?s recall remedy procedure will use a bolt that is 17mm longer, providing a m
PE16-011opened Sep 28, 2016
Steering · model years 2010

Power steering failure. Closed dec 25, 2017.

NHTSA summary
On September 28th, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE16-011 to investigate claims of power steering assist loss on model year 2010 Ford Fusion vehicles.ODI has received 718 unique claims related to the alleged problem with 598 reports indicating the power steering assist failed while driving at speed with no warning.During the PE16-011 investigation, Ford Motor Company (Ford) provided 1851 unique reports and 1720 warranty claims related to the alleged problem.As the result of investigation PE14-030, Ford previously conducted a recall (15V-340) of the 2011-2012 Ford Fusion and other vehicles using the same electric power assist steering unit to rectify incidents of loss of power steering assist.An analysis of the subject vehicle complaint data indicates an increased likelihood of failure as the vehicles age.The rate of occurrence of this failure is comparable to previous investigations involving loss of power steering assist including the previously mentioned PE14-030.Therefore, the Preliminary Evaluation (PE16-011) has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis to further assess the scope, frequency and consequence of this failure. ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls#vehicle under the identification (NHTSA ID) numbers found in the attached list.
PE14-030opened Oct 2, 2014
Steering · model years 2010 to 2012

Electric power steering failure. Closed sep 10, 2015, led to recall 15V-340.

NHTSA summary
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a preliminary evaluation to investigate complaints of the loss of power steering while driving. The subject vehicles are equipped with a rack mounted Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) unit.Some of the complaints alleged that the steering assist failed and resulted in increased steering efforts that contributed to a loss of control and in some cases a crash.The EPAS system was manufactured by TRW Automotive for Ford and was designated as Generation I.These units were first produced and put into vehicle production in July 2008 beginning with the model year (MY) 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.The system is comprised of a mechanical steering rack-and-pinion gear with torque sensor, electric assist motor, motor position sensor and a power steering control module (PSCM). The PSCM is self-monitoring and designed to detect faults within the system and can store diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) if a problem is detected.There are 29 potential DTCs the system can detect.Many of these allow the system to go into reduced-assist steering mode by using the default vehicle speed signal should the live speed signal be lost, if voltage to EPAS system falls below 10.7 or goes above 17 volts, the temperature at the PSCM goes above 105C (221F), or if high friction is detected.Some DTCs will cause the system to go into manual steering mode (no assist). On July 1, 2015, Ford filed a Defect Information Report (DIR) identifying a safety relate

What owners paid

31 of the 203 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $1,200 to $2,700.

$1,200$2,000$2,700
$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 52,490 and 105,000 miles, from the 150 reports that gave a mileage.

415
1016
1917
1318
2719
1920
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2822
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2624
1425
426

What owners wrote

“Steering gear in rack in pinion grinding and felt like car stalled and steering went hard..no warnings or indications prior to..67,000 miles on Car …now there is a continuous grinding sound coming from steering wheel and Ford had a recall on 2014 Fusion but my car doesn’t show any …afraid steering may lock up without warning”

Filed Jun 28, 2025 · 67,000 miles

“I was making your left turn into a parking spot and suddenly I've got lights on my dash service advanced track check rear Park aid ABS light on traction control lights on airbag light on and power steering got tight”

Filed Dec 30, 2021

“Driving my 2014 Ford Fusion I lost power steering when making a right hand turn almost causing me to lose control of the vehicle and almost hit a full bus stop. I have heard a number of people that have had the same issue, Ford recalled this for previous model years.”

Filed Dec 15, 2021

“While driving, my steering wheel locked and it felt as if I was driving a vehicle without power steering and it became hard to turn my wheel and two service lights came on; the stability control. It was normal road conditions on a straight road.”

Filed Oct 11, 2021

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 2 of 203 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.

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