I purchased my 2000 Expedition in June of 2000 and from the start the steering was overly sensitive & quick to react. I owned a 1996 Tahoe prior to the expedition and the steering was excellent, tight & responsive.

I took the expedition back to Ford for an alignment right after I purchased it, it was out but the corrections did not fix the steering problem.

After reading some of the previous comments of others,this could be inherent to the expedition, it is also terrible in side winds at 60/70 mph, which could be from the steering problem.

By comments of others this could be a power steering unit problem? I was wondering if it also could be a tire problem or both, what tires are the expeditions with steering problems using? I have Firestone AT's now which I will be replacing shortly.

 

My wife's 2001 is the same way with Goodyear tires. I hate it for that. It uses an electronic variable orifice p/s pump that reduces pressure at highway speeds. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. If the system is made by Delphi, then it should be programmable. I'm considering replacing the pump with one from a F150 or installing the same pressure relief springs in the pump. I took it in for this problem and it was a little better when I got it back but nowhere near what it should be. Ford needs to quit marketing to the first time truck owner by making 6000 lb. vehicles behave like 2000 lb. sports cars. I think some of the cross wind problem can be corrected by installing a Helwig sway bar in the rear. That's the next step for me. The thing feels like a bowl full of Jello on uneven roads. My 2001 F150 SC doesn't do that.

 

Other people (those from the Xpedition.net Owners group have had the same concern and some have had their power steering pumps changed by Ford for free. They put in the 97-98 steering pump which makes the truck turn with more feedback to the steering wheel (ie, harder to turn the steering wheel). MOst people have liked this change. It may be something to look into. As I recall, there's a TSB on this problem, so, as long as you are under warrantee (ie, 3/36), this will be taken care of. You can find more information by going to http://www.Xpedition.NET/archives/expq.html. Once there, do a search on weak steering, or loose steering and see what pops up. I'm sure once in the search engine, you can find more info than your really care to look at.

Hope this helps, Chris "Thermo" Coleman
http://www.geocities.com/napavalley/6916/exped.htm
The green monster.

 

Took my wife's 2001 expi to the dealer last week (02/01 date of manufacture). I had the same symptoms... they found a control arm bracket LOOSE!! Replaced the idler bracket and aligned front end... Drives MUCH better.... I'm still going to put in the F150 pump after the warranty expires for better low speed road feel, but it doesn't change lanes when I sneeze now...

Key words are:

1. Safety issue
2. Wait on the truck
3. Too dangerous to drive!

Don't put off having this checked if under warranty..

 

Hey OldGuy, thanks for the heads up. I'm with you on the F150 pump, except I'm going to try to get Ford to put it on. Our F150 SuperCrew drove like a dream. I'm composing a nasty gram at the moment citing several NHTSA complaints filed for this problem and all of the messages posted on Internet bulletin boards. I agree, just plain dangerous to drive this way. I don't care how it maneuvers in a parking lot, after all, how many miles will be put on it in a parking lot anyway? I also don't like the way it pitches and rolls on rough roads. I want Ford to install heavy duty shocks and a stiffer anti-sway bar in the rear. Sorry to say, with the purchase of my wifes '01 Expy and my '01 F150 this makes 8 new Fords in the last 15 years. They'll probably be my last.

 

found this on the NTSB TSB link.....

Service Bulletin Number: 14814
Bulletin Sequence Number: 192
Date of Bulletin: 0104
NHTSA Item Number: SB619294
Make: FORD TRUCK
Model: EXPEDITION
Year: 2001
Component: STEERING
Summary: INFORMATION ON DISCONTINUATION OF ELECTRONIC VARIABLE ORIFICE (EVO) STEERING. *TT

looks like Ford is admitting they made a mistake... Anyone have any furthur information?

 

You saved the day again! My wife had her '01 Expy in the shop on Tuesday for an annoying rattle in the door and the tech said something is wrong with the steering. It goes back in Thursday to have it looked at. I will print the NHTSA page and take it with me. Thanks again!!

 

As it turns out, Ford knows nothing about this TSB. They say they didn't write it. I've requested more info from NHTSA about this TSB. And, of course, every dealer I've taken my truck to says they've never had anyone complain about the steering. I find that odd since I have 70+ pages of printed material from this site and others written by people that have the same concern. I really beginning to doubt my decision to purchase this thing.

 

cut and past this link to you browser.... It's Ford's Customer Relations center link!

http://www.ownerconnection.com/Home/ExternalLink.asp?U={551A54FB-E688-9694-D0B1-D2CB4ED89AB5}&V={B4186548-1E9C-EEF7-2CD3-F24F22BFA38C}&CIID=0&URL=http%3A//164.109.71.248/5001.asp

here's the Voice numbers pasted from the web page:

Contact your Sales Representative or Service Advisor at your selling/servicing dealership.
If the inquiry or concern remains unresolved, contact the Sales Manager or Service Manager at the dealership.
If the inquiry or concern cannot be resolved at the dealership level, please contact the North America Customer Relationship Center. When you call, be prepared to give the following information:
Your telephone number (both business and home)
The name of the dealer and the city where the dealership is located
The year and make of your vehicle
The date your vehicle was purchased
The current mileage on your vehicle
Your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Call our North America Customer Relationship Center with inquiries or concerns at:

United States
1-800-392-3673 (FORD/MERCURY)
1-800-521-4140 (LINCOLN)
1-800-232-5952 (TDD for the Hearing Impaired)

United States and Canada Office Hours:
8 a.m. - 11 p.m. (Monday-Friday)
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Saturday)
Eastern Time

 

Been there, done that already. They were somewhat helpful in they contacted another dealer in my area that seemed a bit more concerned about my problem than the last 2. They did say that Ford is unwilling to modify a vehicle beyond the way it was originally built. I have the name and number of an engineer at Saginaw Steering who I plan to extract more information from regarding the EVO system. The Delphi web site says that this system can be fine tuned to match specific performance criteria.

 

Sorry that wasn't more help...

Wonder what happens if you unplug the feed to the puimp. I'm guessing you set a trouble code, but does it fail to max or min boost?

 

Tried that too. However, I didn't receive an error code as expected. That's why I suspect my system isn't working properly. As far as the fail-safe default, that's one of the questions I intend to ask the engineer at Saginaw. I suspect it defaults to max psi output but can't be certain just yet. I intend to connect a multi-meter to the solenoid connection to see what the voltage does. It has 5 volts reference at idle. Once I determine the characteristics, I can then fool the system and do some more testing.

 

 

Did anyone get a fix to their overly sensitive steering concern? I could really use some help in making my expedition drive better at higher speeds. I've heard possible solutions of steering stabilizer bar, new power steering pump, new steering gear, tire inflations....

Any help would be appreciated.

Glenn