[DirtyTurtle]

Hello escape community,

I have a 2008 Ford Escape having odd problem lately. Twice within the last week randomly It has a bad front end shake at speeds over 30-40mph+ and we get a terrible smell under hood I would like to believe it’s electrical smell.
First time I pulled over. Shut the car off and it didn’t do it again but today I tried to turn it off and back on and it continued to shake and have terrible smell under hood. Both times so happen to be one of hottest days we’ve had lately (mid 90°F)

Just tried to drive it again a couple hours after it did that problem today and it got up to speed just fine driving as should normally. Like it never happened? It’s happening only sometimes

All tie rods and front end are good. Brake pads are new and calipers are greased. No check engine lights or nothing I’m just stumped I don’t know what to check next what could be giving it this terrible smell when it sometimes happens? And why would it shake the frontend and steering wheel violently

Any advice helps thanks!

 

[tomw]

Wheel shake is caused when a potentially slight imbalance gyrates more than normal due to loose bushings/fittings/etc in the steering. Ball joint wear can allow the tires to move. Any looseness can shake back and forth, and increase the shake with increased speed. It was called shimmy back in the day. Imbalance would shake the steering wheel, and due to going over a bump/pothole, it would start shaking with imbalance that increased with speed getting worse as the parts went back and forth. Slow down, and the shaking went away, and you could speed up until the next bump started things oscillating.
If it smells of burned rubber, it could be caused by slippage because of oil/liquid getting onto the serpentine belt, which will generate odor.
OTOH, if you have EPAS - electrically power assisted steering - the shaking could be the sensor in the steering column getting bogus information indicating you wanted to turn L or R, and the system then applying power to the motor that helps you steer. That could also cause electrical smell.
Given the need to have steering that WORKS.... I would suggest taking it to a mechanic or dealer for inspection. If you have access to a scan tool, you may be able to read a code stored that indicated if there was an EPAS problem.

DO not ignore the problem hoping it will go away, as it could prove expensive.
tom

 

[DirtyTurtle]

Thanks Tom,
I did hook my laptop up to it and There was only one stored code, and that was for the key security . I reset the power steering module power steering module and recalibrated the torque sensor with laptop program. I will check balljoints again. I changed wheel torque sensor but I didn’t calibrate it when I installed it last year i didn’t have the laptop program I do now and it drove fine when I installed that so curious if that was a reason it could’ve been doing that.

appreciate your help sir