2008 FEH: Power Steering failed at 218K miles
 

I saw another power steering failure post on Escape city and had the same reaction at the dealership when I received the $1500 estimate to replace the bad steering column. We are getting ready to sell the car so investing $1500 is not an option. I located a used Steering assy for $150 and after watching a couple of youtubes decided to take on the project. I would be very interested in any tips or hints to make this job as friendly as possible.

Note: I do understand that this was recall issue on these models, our dealer re-programmed the steering and shortened our turning radius and called it good a few years ago. We got another 60K miles or so before the steering finally failed this week. At 218K they aren't going to honor any defects or recalls. It's been a great little car it would have been nice if Ford had replaced the unit then.

Part replacement questions:

This vehicle has modules I never worried about as a mechanic in the 70's and 80's (air bags, 300 VDC, etc...). Some questions that I do have and would really appreciate any advice.

1) The dealer service mgr. was pretty friendly and did tell me that after the unit is replaced that it will need to be re-programmed by Ford. Does anyone know if this is true and if it can be done by someone other than the dealer?

2) Has anyone replaced the steering column assy in an FEH, any tips or special tool recommendations would be appreciated. From the videos I've watched, once the wheel and cowling is off the replacement looks pretty straight forward.

3) Electrocution by Hybrid concerns: All of the work appears to be inside the car and I don't see any place that accesses high voltage areas. Is there any reason to disconnect the Hybrid battery switch?

4) Air bag in steering wheel. One video suggested disconnecting the 12v battery as a safety measure. Can the 12v battery be disconnected on a FEH without creating any computer issues? Or??? I would like to avoid setting it off in case I'm clumsy removing the horn cover.

Thanks in advance,

Max