2013 FORD FUSION ENERGI Complaints

I WAS MAKING RIGHT TURN FROM ON ROAD TO ANOTHER. AS I STARTED TO BRING THE STEERING BACK TO CENTER IT LOCKED. IT TOOK AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF FORCE TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL BACK TO CENTER. IF MY WIFE WERE DRIVING THE CAR I AM SURE SHE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO SO. I HAVE DRIVEN MAY BIG TRUCKS AND HAVE HAD POWER STEERING FAILURES BEFORE. THE FORCE REQUIRED TO MOVE THE STEERING IN MY SMALL FUSION AFTER IT FAILED WAS 4 TO 5 TIMES AS HARD AS ANY TRUCK THAT I HAVE DRIVEN WITH FAILED POWER STEERING. IF THESE UNITS FAIL THE FORCE REQUIRED TO STEER SHOULD NOT BE THIS MUCH. THIS IS A UNSAFE DESIGN, FORD DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT FAILURES HAPPEN AND WHEN THEY DO THE STEERING SYSTEM SHOULD STILL BE REASONABLY USABLE WHICH IT ISN'T.

REAR PASSENGER DOOR LATCH ON VEHICLE BROKE, CAUSING DOOR TO FLY OPEN WHILE DRIVING. WITHIN 24 HOURS, DRIVER DOOR LATCH SUFFERED THE SAME FAILURE. DOORS ARE OPEN AT ALL TIMES, AND CANNOT BE LATCHED. CUSTOMER BELIEVED THE PROBLEM TO BE COVERED BY THE RECALL OF OTHER 2013 FUSION VEHICLES FOR THE SAME ISSUE, BUT WAS INFORMED THAT THE ENERGI WAS NOT PART OF THAT RECALL.

THE CAR STOPS, A LIGHT TURN ON THAT SAID "STOP SAFETY KNOW " YOU TURN ON THE CAR AND IT STAYS ON FOR 10 SECONDS AND TURNS OFF AGAIN

WIFE WAS DRIVING THE CAR TO WORK APPROACHING A STOP SIGN TO A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY. SHE WENT TO APPLY THE BRAKE WHEN SHE DISCOVERED THAT THE BRAKES HAD COMPLETELY FAILED, STEERING CONTROL HAD BEEN LOST AND THE PARKING BRAKE HAD BEEN DISABLED AS WELL. BASICALLY ALL MEANS OF BRINGING THE VEHICLE TO A CONTROLLED STOP HAD FAILED AT THE SAME TIME. BEING UNABLE TO BRING THE CAR TO A STOP IT CARRIED HER OUT IN THE HIGHWAY WERE LUCKILY THE LARGE TRUCK COMING DOWN THE ROAD WAS PAYING ATTENTION AND MANAGED TO SWERVE AROUND HER. SHE WAS ABLE TO GET THE CAR TO COME TO AN EVENTUAL STOP AT WHICH TIME SHE CALL ME AND I CAME TO LOOK AT IT. I WAS ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT THE CAR HAD NO BRAKES, POWER STEERING WAS LOST AND THAT THE PARKING BREAK WAS IN FAILURE AS WELL. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED TO BILLY HOWELL FORD WHERE THEY INITIALLY TOLD US THAT THEY SUSPECTED THAT THE WIRING HARNESS HAD GONE TO GROUND BUT FOUND OUT LATER THAT THE ABS MODULE FAILED WHICH HAS CONTROLS INTO THE STEERING AND PARKING BRAKE SYSTEM WHICH IS WHY THOSE FAILED AS WELL. I OPENED A CASE WITH FORD GIVEN THE NEAR CATASTROPHIC NATURE OF THE FAILURE AND ASKED THEM WHAT ARE OPTIONS WERE TO TRADE THE CAR IN BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT ANYONE IN MY FAMILY GOING BACK INTO THE VEHICLE. I WAS TOLD BY FORD THAT THE CAR DOESN'T QUALIFY FOR BUY BACK SINCE IT IS A 2013 AND THAT I DID NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY PROGRAMS. EXPLAINED TO FORD THAT I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR A BUY BACK BUT JUST FOR THEM TO WORK WITH THE DEALER TO ALLOW ME TO TRADE IT IN FOR WHAT I OWE WHICH IS NOT FAR FROM THE TRADE IN VALUE. THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT THERE IS NOT AN ACTIVE RECALL ON THE FAILURE WE EXPERIENCED SO WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY APPROXIMATELY $2,000 TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AS WELL.

INITIAL FAILURE OF PARKING BREAK SWITCH WARNING LIGHT (AND SWITCH ITSELF) FOLLOW BY WIRE HARNESS FAILURE UNDER DASH DUE TO WIRES RUBBING AGAINST EXPOSED STEEL DASH FRAME CAUSING UNKNOWN ADDITIONAL ISSUES, INCLUDING ACTIVATION OF DASHBOARD CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. FAILURES HAPPENED OVER TIME AS WIRING BECAME FRAYED AND FINALLY CAUSED A SERIES OF SHORT CIRCUITS. THE WIRING HARNESS FAILURE WAS REPORTED TO FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE - CASE NUMBER CAS-10375276-L2-W7-J7. NO ACTION WAS TAKEN OTHER THAN A FOLLOW-UP EMAIL FROM THE DEALER'S SERVICE MANAGER SUGGESTING I HOLD ON TO THE PAPERWORK IN THE EVENT OF A RECALL. NOTE THAT THE MECHANIC INFORMED THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT "I'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE". THE CAR HAS ABOUT 62,200 MILES ON IT AND IS ONLY 3 YEARS OLD. GIVEN THE COMPUTERIZED NATURE OF THIS CAR, A COMPUTER WIRE HARNESS FAILURE IS CLEARLY A SAFETY HAZARD WORTH INVESTIGATION. MY GUESS IS THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL POSSIBLE SIMPLE FIXES, INCLUDING RE-ROUTING THE WIRE HARNESS, LINING THE STEEL FRAME WITH A RUBBER COATING AND SIMILAR APPROPRIATE STEPS THAT COULD BE TAKEN.

REAR RIGHT DOOR LATCH WILL NOT LATCH. DOOR REMAINS IN OPEN POSITION. UNSAFE TO DRIVE AS DOOR CAN FLY OPEN.

THE REGENERATIVE BRAKING WILL CUT OUT UNDER SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE CAR WILL FEEL LIKE IT IS LURCHING FORWARD INSTEAD OF SLOWING DOWN. THE SITUATION IS: BRAKING USING ONLY REGEN BRAKES, NO FRICTION BRAKES; STEADY PEDAL PRESSURE; GOING 15-20 MPH; TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL AT LEAST 90 DEGREES LEFT OR RIGHT; DRIVING ON SMOOTH PAVEMENT. DATA I HAVE LOGGED FROM THE SOBDMC INDICATES THAT THE TRACTION MOTOR BRIEFLY REDUCES ITS NEGATIVE TORQUE WHICH CAUSES THE CAR TO SURGE FORWARD. IN ONE INSTANCE THAT I LOGGED THE NEGATIVE TORQUE SHOWS AROUND 48 FT-LBS AND THEN SUDDENLY DROPS TO ABOUT 8 FT-LBS. THE TRACTION MOTOR THEN GRADUALLY INCREASES TORQUE BACK TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL. IN ANOTHER INSTANCE THE NEGATIVE TORQUE SUDDENLY WENT FROM ABOUT 28 FT-LBS TO 8 FT-LBS. THE DROP IN TORQUE OCCURS IN 1/10 OF ONE SECOND PER MY LOGGED DATA. IT TAKES ABOUT 2.5-3.0 SECONDS FOR THE TRACTION MOTOR TO RETURN TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF NEGATIVE TORQUE TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THIS BEHAVIOR BEGAN OCCURRING RIGHT AFTER OUR VEHICLE WAS SERVICED BY A LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP. THE WORK DONE BY THE FORD DEALERSHIP INCLUDED REPLACING THE 12V BATTERY & 3 RECALLS: 14S21, 15E03 & 15S14. I BELIEVE THAT THIS SERVICE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE PROBLEMS, AS THIS ISSUE WAS NOT PRESENT BEFORE OUR CAR WENT TO THE DEALERSHIP.

WE JUST BOUGHT THIS CAR 3 MONTHS AGO. 4 TIMES WITHIN THE LAST MONTH THE CAR SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL WHILE EITHER ON THE HIGHWAY OR GOING UP HILLS. ONCE IT SHIFTS INTO NEUTRAL THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS COAST TO A SAFE STOP, SHUT THE CAR OFF, AND WAIT A WHILE TO RESTART IT. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WHEN YOU ARE GOING 70 + MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. THE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS THAT FORD VEHICLES ARE HAVING ALSO INCLUDES THE FUSION NOT JUST THE FOCUS AND FIESTA.

I HAD JUST PICKED UP MY DAUGHTER AFTER WORK AND WE STARTED HEADING ON DOWN THE ROAD. THEN AS I WAS TURNING AROUND THIS CURVE A LOUD NOISE HAPPENED AND LOST ALL THE POWER STEERING IN MY CAR. I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN ALL THE YEARS OF DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS AND NOW THE FORD DEALERSHIP SAID THAT THIS IS NOT A RECALL FOR MY VEHICLE. I KNOW THERE IS RECALL FOR THIS EXACT ISSUE SO I WANT TO PROTECT ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS MY VEHICLE. *TR

THE 2013 FORD FUSION LOST POWER AND SHUT-OFF WHILE SITTING IN THE DRIVEWAY. THE CAR WAS STARTED AGAIN AND BY THE TIME I MADE IT TO THE END OF DRIVEWAY AT THE SPEED OF 5 MPH, THE CAR SHUT-OFF BEFORE I COULD MAKE IT ONTO THE STREET. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS OR INDICATORS ON THE DASH WHEN THE CAR LOST POWER. *TR