Other steering problem on the 2002 Ford F-250
1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 7 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other steering problem gets reported
There are 7 reports of other steering problem on the 2002 Ford F-250, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 131,500 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,400 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2004, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 150,000 miles.
By volume the 2012 carries the most reports, with 95; the 2002 has 7. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford f250. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact heard a squeaking sound coming from the steering wheel. He also noticed that the brakes were intertwined with the steering equipment. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 83,000. Updated 02/02/10 *bf the consumer stated while traveling in a 35 MPH zone, on a curved road, he heard a noise coming form the engine compartment. He was in the middle of a strong right turn when suddenly he was unable to steer the vehicle without extreme effort on his part. When the steering failed he tried to apply the brakes, but they also failed. The cause of the problem, was the power steering hose chaffed against the steering sector and rubbed a hole in the hose, allowing fluid to escape, disrupting the steering control. Updated 02/04/10.*jb
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford f-250. The contact stated the steering wheel failed. The contact stated the steering wheel was loose and required him to put both hands on the steering wheel in order to keep the vehicle under control. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic twice for the steering wheel failure. The steering box gear box was also adjusted twice; however, it did not correct the failure and the steering wheel continued to be loose. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000. The current mileage was 142,000. Updated 7/26/13 *cn the consumer received a second opinion, and was informed the problem was the ball joints.
My vehicle was being driven out my driveway while making a right turn the steering wheel locked up. Then to the left the same. While sitting still I could turn the steering wheel all the way to the left none stop. Fluid is full. While driving straight steers fine until I turn a little to right or left then it gets tight. I noticed from 2002 to 2006 their were steering problems unsolved. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 Ford F-250
Other engine problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Misfire or rough idle
Tire blowout or tread separation
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 7 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 7 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other steering problem happen on the 2002 Ford F-250?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 130,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other steering problem on the 2002 Ford F-250?
7 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed