A safety defect in the steering system of certain 2014 Ford C-Max and Focus vehicles will have customers returning their cars for repairs. According to reports on the NHTSA website, on August 12, 2014, Ford was notified by their steering gear supplier that some gears were produced with less than the intended number of ball bearings. Steering gears with this condition could experience deformation and degradation of the ball bearings which could result in loss of steering control.

After issuing a stop ship, it was determined that approximately 508 vehicles had been delivered to dealers. Ford will notify these owners to return their vehicles to the nearest dealer to have the steering gears replaced.

For more information about the problem contact Ford customer service at 1-800-392-3673. Ford’s number for this recall is 14S18 and the NHTSA campaign number is 14V-514.