[ascertain]

I had 2 disturbing incidents with my car- a Ford Figo Titanium diesel (Purchased 1 year ago) this month. Please go through the write-up and let me know if any of the members have faced the same issue.

3 weeks ago, I was travelling with my family on one of the city roads in Mysore, maintaining an average speed of 40 Kmph, and had to decelerate at a turn, it was at this point that the steering wheel locked, and was stiff. I saw the engine oil signal light up - and was surprised since the car had been serviced 4 days prior. I noticed that the fuel levels was slightly low. I shut off the engine, and restarted the car , and the steering was back in my control- the engine oil indicator had also gone off. I then slowly made my way back home, and after dropping off my family, refueled the car. Thereafter no problems were encountered for 2 weeks. Luckily we were not on a high traffic road during the incident.

Yesterday, I had the same problem twice - in exactly the same sequence. I got worried this time around because the fuel levels were full, and I didn't want this sort of thing happening when I was travelling with my family.

I sent the car to Ford service (Cauvery Ford Mysore), and was told that they would do a detailed inspection of the car. I was then informed that they had found some rusting inside the steering column, and had sprayed some anti rusting solution inside.
Apparently, one more Figo had been brought with the same problem a week back. That car too was managed in the same way, and the owner had not yet returned with any other complaints.

I have been told to keep a lookout for the problem, and if it recurred, the entire steering assembly would have to be replaced.

Hoping that things work out. Have any of the other members had any similar problem with Ford Figos?. Kindly discuss.

[dhanushs]

I think this is not a steering issue but a common issue, of engine dying out in situations like above.

Hence the steering gets hard.

Check THIS

[ascertain]

Thanks Dhanush - looks like a lot many people have been having this issue.

I suggest- why wait to see how many people replicate the incident- because it puts a big risk on the passengers because ford is not aware of the problem nor its solution.

Is there anyone (other than the dealer) that I can contact for the same? - preferably higher ups who can do something?

I would request all the members reading this forum and who have had similar experiences to post their Engine No., and year/month of manufacture so that we can see if this problem afflicts only a certain batch of vehicles, in which case Vehicle recalls would be warranted.

I have shot off a letter to Ford customer care and to Cauvery ford service(Mysore). Let's see what their response is.

My car's engine No. is BU07016.
Model: TITANIUM DIESEL 1.4 BS IV

[Deep Blue]

If your problem is indeed that of engine stalling while downshifting, Ford is aware of it and the solution provided is in updating ECU or PCM as they call it. You can ask the SA at Cauvery Ford, Mysore for it. I got it done at Cauvery Ford, Mangalore.

[jhaji]

Do you mean to say that ECU upgrades for such problems is done only when a customer experiences an engine die-out on the move? Since it can be dangerous in some situations, why doesn't Ford write to all Figo owners to come and do the upgrades, if indeed the upgrades solve the problem?

[vigsom]

@ ascertain , the same issue was reported by one of my direct reports on his Figo three days back.

He was negotiating a left curve near Loyola College at 40kmph ,braked slightly and then he reported experiencing the following:

His observations:

1.steering locked
2.engine running
3.engine oil low pressure light on

he braked,shifted to neutral,engaged gear but car was not moving after releasing clutch.

He switched the engine off , then restarted and all was fine.

I am yet to hear from him on what the dealer diagnosis was.

[blackfire_9]

This is a scary incident, & it appears different than the much highlighted engine stalling issue. Just a request to the thread opener, kindly keep updating this thread so that all of us are aware of what the actual diagnosis was.

Drive safe.

[Deep Blue]

Originally Posted by jhaji

Do you mean to say that ECU upgrades for such problems is done only when a customer experiences an engine die-out on the move?

Yes.
To my knowledge, Ford has not issued a general recall publicly or privately to update the ECU.

Originally Posted by jhaji

Since it can be dangerous in some situations, why doesn't Ford write to all Figo owners to come and do the upgrades, if indeed the upgrades solve the problem?

That is something only Ford can answer

Originally Posted by blackfire_9

This is a scary incident, & it appears different than the much highlighted engine stalling issue.

Yes, this issue seems different. Both with ascertain and vigsom, the engine is still running.

[ascertain]

@blackfire9 - thanks for the interest. I sincerely hope that this thread is viewed by ford figo owners, and all of us join to get Ford India to do something about it.

Imagine if one was travelling in a vehicle which manifested such problems on a hilly terrain?- what would prevent the car from losing control and falling off?.

Instead of waiting for such things to happen, I think all of us should write to Ford India, and ask them for a concrete answer- will they admit there is a problem with the car?.

Also in the interest of public safety, it becomes very very important that a notice/communication is sent to all Figo owners to have their vehicles checked (If the fault is indeed with the ECU), otherwise we may just be a bit too late to prevent un-necessary causalities.

[blackfire_9]

Try posting this incident on the FB page for Ford Figo. I have read here on TBhp that Ford does pay heed to whatever is written/posted over there. Just my 2 cents, in regards to a humble quest towards the resolution of this strange issue.

Originally Posted by ascertain

@blackfire9 - thanks for the interest. I sincerely hope that this thread is viewed by ford figo owners, and all of us join to get Ford India to do something about it.

Imagine if one was travelling in a vehicle which manifested such problems on a hilly terrain?- what would prevent the car from losing control and falling off?.

Instead of waiting for such things to happen, I think all of us should write to Ford India, and ask them for a concrete answer- will they admit there is a problem with the car?.

Also in the interest of public safety, it becomes very very important that a notice/communication is sent to all Figo owners to have their vehicles checked (If the fault is indeed with the ECU), otherwise we may just be a bit too late to prevent un-necessary causalities.

[vigsom]

Update

I checked with my friend on what the dealer "diagnosis" was.

As expected , a robot type response.

They hooked the vehicle on to the scanner and just told him all was well , and reported that fluid levels were normal.

Figo owners - this is a serious design fault and requires mass protest,even if some of you have not faced this problem.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by vigsom

1.steering locked

Hi vigsom,
You mean, steering lost power assist, right?

The only way for that to happen is: PS pump OFF, or engine OFF.

hmm.. or am i missing something?

[vigsom]

^^ what my friend reported was he was not able to move the steering.

logically , with engine is running , the PS pump should be running and if the fluid level is normal , power assist should be normal.

Why should the oil warning light come on , and vehicle stop moving even with engine running , gear engaged and clutch released?

this is an absolute weird case and needs immediate attention by Ford.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Why should the oil warning light come on , and vehicle stop moving even with engine running , gear engaged and clutch released?

this is an absolute weird case and needs immediate attention by Ford.

vigsom, that is why I suspect the engine is OFF. and not ON, because, the above problem is purely mechanical, and cannot just get ok, by turning off the ignition and starting again.

Basically, what would be happening is that engine would die, which makes the steering really hard.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by vigsom

logically , with engine is running , the PS pump should be running and if the fluid level is normal , power assist should be normal.

The engine had stalled, clearly. This is why he lost power assist on the steering.

Has he updated his ECU as suggested by the others here?

@Mods: Most of the queries in this thread match that of the original Ford Figo stalling issue. The threads could be merged.