Ford bulletin SSM 54918
What it saysSome of the following vehicles: 2025-2026 Mustang Mach-E vehicles built on or before 27-Jan-2026 2025-2026 Maverick/Bronco Sport vehicles built on or before 20-Jan-2026 2024-2026 Nautilus vehicles built on or before… NHTSA’s full summary ↓
Ford filed this with NHTSA as a service bulletin dated Jun 11, 2026, received Jun 16, 2026, about the steering. It names 17 model years across Ford and Lincoln (2023–2026). A service bulletin is not a safety recall: it is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a condition, and whether the work is paid for depends on the warranty in force. Quoting the number at a service desk can save a diagnosis.
One page for every brand it was filed under. Each brand’s bulletins: Ford · Lincoln.
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What the bulletin says
Source: NHTSA's summary of the manufacturer's communicationWhat it applies to, as the document itself states it — the build window in the manufacturer’s own words, read by machine from the PDF NHTSA serves. The build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb; the dealer settles a borderline vehicle by its VIN.
Some of the following vehicles: 2025-2026 Mustang Mach-E vehicles built on or before 27-Jan-2026 2025-2026 Maverick/Bronco Sport vehicles built on or before 20-Jan-2026 2024-2026 Nautilus vehicles built on or before 02-Dec-2025 2023-2026 Escape/Corsair may exhibit reduced steering assist and a "Power Steering Assist Fault" message displayed in the instrument panel cluster (IPC) with the diagnostic trouble code (DTC) U2016:47 only, and no other steering DTCs stored in the power steering control module (PSCM). To correct this condition, reprogram the PSCM using the latest software level of the Ford Diagnosis and Repair System (FDRS). For claiming, use causal part 3C529 and labor operations 3504E and PSCM. If a software update is not available for the PSCM, the PSCM is already at the latest software level. Refer to Workshop Manual (WSM), Section 211-02 for normal diagnostics. If the vehicle does not exhibit any observable symptoms described above and the DTC is only present in continuous memory, this DTC should be ignored. No further service action
Trouble codes it names: U2016
Document filed under this number
| Document | Kind | Dated | NHTSA id | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSM 54918 | Service bulletin | Jun 11, 2026 | 11033854 | PDF, 71 KB |
The summary is NHTSA’s abstract of the document, as filed under 49 CFR 579.5. One communication is usually filed as several documents — the bulletin, a dealer notice, an owner letter — and the number on any of them finds this page. A PDF link is shown only once NHTSA’s own server has been seen to serve that document; the rest are checked over the following nights. Quote the number at a service desk; it is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Model years it names
Source: as the manufacturer filed themFord 10 model years
Lincoln 7 model years
A vehicle page’s bulletin list shows the newest few communications filed against that model year; the count there is every one.
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What owners reported
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseOwners of the 17 model years this bulletin names have filed 531 complaints with NHTSA since 2015. 185 of them name Electrical System, Steering — the same broad component group this bulletin is filed under. NHTSA groups complaints coarsely, so that means the same area of the vehicle, not necessarily the same fault.
On the 2023 Ford Escape, the 16 owners who gave an odometer reading for Electrical System reported it at a median of 15,500 miles. That figure is one model year’s, not the whole range this bulletin covers — medians from different model years are not averaged.
I am requesting a serious investigation into potentially life-threatening steering, braking, and stability-control interventions in modern vehicles. I have experienced unexpected steering forces, directional changes, shaking, and behavior consistent with unintended wheel-specific braking across multiple vehicles, including my 2019 Toyota…
2025 Ford Escape · Steering · filed with NHTSA Oct 10, 2026 · ODI 11770269
If the vehicle sits for more than 36 hours, it enters a deep sleep mode and develops an unresolved battery drain issue, rendering it inoperable. This vehicle has been in the shop four times with three battery replacements having less than $30,000 MI if a person or to drive this out of town or park at a rest stop, it could lead them…
2025 Ford Maverick · Electrical System · filed with NHTSA Oct 8, 2026 · ODI 11769796
The contact owns a 2023 Lincoln Corsair. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V091000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair.
2023 Lincoln Corsair · Electrical System · filed with NHTSA Jul 22, 2026 · ODI 11752196
In depth: 2023 Ford Escape electrical problems →
A complaint is one owner’s account, not a defect finding, and a bulletin is not a recall. Nothing here says this bulletin was issued because of these complaints, or that the repair it describes fixed them. Complaint files on this site begin in 2015.
More bulletins about the steering
Source: same model, same component group7 other manufacturer communications filed against these Ford models under the same component group (steering), newest first.
| Number | Kind | Dated | NHTSA’s summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSM 54917 | Service bulletin | Jun 11, 2026 | Some 2021-2024 Mustang Mach-E vehicles may exhibit only continuous memory diagnostic trouble code (DTC) U2016:47 stored in the power steerin… |
| SCCM-25.AC.AD | Over-the-air update | Feb 26, 2026 | "Quality improvements include: - Robustness action to reduce the potential for inadvertent shifts to neutral when customers use the monostab… |
| SSM 52486 | Service bulletin | Apr 25, 2024 | Some 2023 Bronco Sport vehicles which require replacement of the SCCM may experience an error message when performing the programmable modul… |
| SSM 52268 | Service bulletin | Feb 16, 2024 | Some 2024 Nautilus vehicles may exhibit diagnostic trouble code (DTC) U2300:29 in the power steering control module (PSCM) when a diagnostic… |
| SSM 52114 | Service bulletin | Dec 8, 2023 | Some 2024 Nautilus vehicles may set diagnostic trouble code (DTC) U0415:29 in the power steering control module (PSCM) when a diagnostic sel… |
| SSM 52111 | Service bulletin | Dec 8, 2023 | Some 2024 Nautilus vehicles may set diagnostic trouble code (DTC) U3001:68 in the power steering control module (PSCM) when a diagnostic sel… |
| SSM 51812 | Service bulletin | Jul 24, 2023 | Some 2020-2022 Escape/Corsair, 2021-2022 Bronco Sport, and 2022 Maverick vehicles built on or before 23-Mar-2022 may exhibit a hard, stiff… |
Quote the number at the service desk. It is what the dealer’s system is keyed on.
Every manufacturer communication NHTSA holds for Ford and Lincoln, by the number printed on the letter.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA, 49 CFR 579.5Is Ford SSM 54918 a recall?
No. A service bulletin is a manufacturer communication filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR 579.5; a safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number (two digits, a letter, six digits) and a federal duty to repair for free. Check the vehicle’s recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, or on its page here.
Is the SSM 54918 repair free?
Not automatically. A service bulletin describes how to diagnose or repair a condition; who pays depends on the warranty in force, any extension, and the dealer. Quoting the number can save a diagnosis either way.
Which vehicles does SSM 54918 cover?
The manufacturer filed it against 17 model years across 2 brands (Ford and Lincoln): 2026 Ford Bronco Sport, 2025 Ford Bronco Sport, 2026 Ford Escape, 2025 Ford Escape, 2024 Ford Escape, 2023 Ford Escape and more. Whether one particular vehicle is affected is a matter of its VIN and its build, not its model year alone. The document itself sets the build window: 2025-2026 Mustang Mach-E: built on or before 27 Jan 2026; 2025-2026 Maverick/Bronco Sport: built on or before 20 Jan 2026; 2024-2026 Nautilus: built on or before 2 Dec 2025 — the build date is on the certification label in the driver’s door jamb.