Power steering rack part compatibility

[ShoMe1More]

I have a 2013 interceptor ecoboost. The power steering assist fault has cropped up again (I replaced rack under 2 years ago).

Looks as though that part number for the interceptor is no longer made by Ford.

Since it is the SHO guts in the car, would the rack from an SHO work? The computer module is the faulty point on these racks. So I'm wondering if I source from a later year of interceptor or SHO, up to 2016, if the computer module on the rack will be able to be programmed.

Any thoughts? Ford parts department says I'm stuck at that year and base model rack part number. Even though their compatibility search shows 2014 as possible.

 

[Texas Marauder]

This is likely to get complicated. Off hand I'd say the SHO steering gear will not work. However, if you look up the gear for a 2013 SHO, you'll see four new or remanufactured racks listed for Police. Part number depends on manufacture date. Of course, they may not actually be available. You'll need a parts guy who will take the time to investigate.

 

[marshallma0504]

I am currently in the middle of this headache with my SHO (2013) and what I have learned is the PSCM is a flashable module meaning the firmware and the AsBuilt programming data can be altered as long as the part numbers are compatible. But that would need to be confirmed by someone who’s done it successfully as the donor rack I bought turned out to be junk. Don’t buy a used one even though it looks a lot cheaper.

 

[ShoMe1More]

This is likely to get complicated. Off hand I'd say the SHO steering gear will not work. However, if you look up the gear for a 2013 SHO, you'll see four new or remanufactured racks listed for Police. Part number depends on manufacture date. Of course, they may not actually be available. You'll need a parts guy who will take the time to investigate.

View attachment 95382

What's the deal with the manufacturing date? There was a recall for the rack issue on my model year of interceptor (2013). But the build date has to be prior to sometime in Feb 2012 to qualify.

Then if you goto salvage yards, they have a build date changeover on parts from June 2012. As if the cars assembled after February 2012, but before June 2012 would be the only racks compatible and not vulnerable to the recall. I don't buy this specificity. How much of a difference other than improvements on the rack would come with these build dates. Same dimensions and diameter specs mechanically.

What does it matter, the same overall 2013 for an interceptor rack shows its compatible to model year 2014 with no build date difference. So why wouldn't a 2014 rack be compatible? Or a 2015 rack for that matter, as it shows compatible with the 2014 model year.

 

[marshallma0504]

What's the deal with the manufacturing date? There was a recall for the rack issue on my model year of interceptor (2013). But the build date has to be prior to sometime in Feb 2012 to qualify.

Then if you goto salvage yards, they have a build date changeover on parts from June 2012. As if the cars assembled after February 2012, but before June 2012 would be the only racks compatible and not vulnerable to the recall. I don't buy this specificity. How much of a difference other than improvements on the rack would come with these build dates. Same dimensions and diameter specs mechanically.

What does it matter, the same overall 2013 for an interceptor rack shows its compatible to model year 2014 with no build date difference. So why wouldn't a 2014 rack be compatible? Or a 2015 rack for that matter, as it shows compatible with the 2014 model year.

Because all of the modules have to handshake with the PSCM for it to work properly due to it being a safety system. The hardware has to match between the PCM, SCCM, PSCM, etc. 2012 was the year they switched to the facelift design and changed the racks design as the early 2009-2011 build date cars had the recall as the racks were overheating and getting the control boards cooked. So the build date does matter. The police version must have a programming incompatibility being a government vehicle spec would be my guess vs the consumer Taurus and the SHO also having different torque sensor and responsiveness interpretation implementation. I thought this would be a simple part but it appears to be the most complex and most highly calibrated part of these cars in order for the auto parking feature and everything else to be able to talk and communicate effectively. God knows why they did 3-4 iterations of the almost exact same part but there are subtle internal differences that only ford engineers know why and what they are. That’s why the build date is there. TLDR: complicated system software can freak out if the wrong hardware is there even if programmed properly.

 

[marshallma0504]

What's the deal with the manufacturing date? There was a recall for the rack issue on my model year of interceptor (2013). But the build date has to be prior to sometime in Feb 2012 to qualify.

Then if you goto salvage yards, they have a build date changeover on parts from June 2012. As if the cars assembled after February 2012, but before June 2012 would be the only racks compatible and not vulnerable to the recall. I don't buy this specificity. How much of a difference other than improvements on the rack would come with these build dates. Same dimensions and diameter specs mechanically.

What does it matter, the same overall 2013 for an interceptor rack shows its compatible to model year 2014 with no build date difference. So why wouldn't a 2014 rack be compatible? Or a 2015 rack for that matter, as it shows compatible with the 2014 model year.

Also the latest iteration they had spanning the most years for the early model cars was 09/2012-2015 build dates. So they eventually settled on something. And maybe some of the different build date parts were due to the recall itself and they were trying new things internally to try and stop it from happening to more batches of cars rather than sticking with one design that had issues.

 

[ShoMe1More]

Also the latest iteration they had spanning the most years for the early model cars was 09/2012-2015 build dates. So they eventually settled on something. And maybe some of the different build date parts were due to the recall itself and they were trying new things internally to try and stop it from happening to more batches of cars rather than sticking with one design that had issues.

As far as I can tell, these iterations were a result of the the recall rack problems still needing to be worked out. When they finally landed on the rack part # from 09/2012 forward to the 2015 model year, it was the rack being used for replacement across the board for many years.

Ford's own parts website (corporate/ non-dealer) shows that the part from 09/2012 onward fits interceptors from 2013-2015. From a supply chain standpoint Ford would have to ensure that part was backward compatible for the entire 2013 manufacturing run, no matter the assembly date prior to 09/2012.

Seems to me the other 'iterations' were discontinued because they were faulty at some level until Ford finally landed on that part from 09/2012 forward.

And the dealers probably have the databases for what parts are compatible for that 2013 model year based on vin(assembly date) as there were 4 different racks/part numbers tried throughout that model year manufacturing. My conclusion is that it's all jacked up because of the ridiculous amount of iterations Ford had to attempt to get a reliable rack mid-cycle for that 2013 model's manufacturing run. But ultimately the final design that ran 3 model years (2013-2015) should be compatible, as Ford specifies.

 

[marshallma0504]

As far as I can tell, these iterations were a result of the the recall rack problems still needing to be worked out. When they finally landed on the rack part # from 09/2012 forward to the 2015 model year, it was the rack being used for replacement across the board for many years.

Ford's own parts website (corporate/ non-dealer) shows that the part from 09/2012 onward fits interceptors from 2013-2015. From a supply chain standpoint Ford would have to ensure that part was backward compatible for the entire 2013 manufacturing run, no matter the assembly date prior to 09/2012.

Seems to me the other 'iterations' were discontinued because they were faulty at some level until Ford finally landed on that part from 09/2012 forward.

And the dealers probably have the databases for what parts are compatible for that 2013 model year based on vin(assembly date) as there were 4 different racks/part numbers tried throughout that model year manufacturing. My conclusion is that it's all jacked up because of the ridiculous amount of iterations Ford had to attempt to get a reliable rack mid-cycle for that 2013 model's manufacturing run. But ultimately the final design that ran 3 model years (2013-2015) should be compatible, as Ford specifies.

I agree I just can’t hold a candle to if the police interceptor versions had extra beefed-up components versus the regular racks that say they’re compatible for all trims such as the fact that the hot pipes on the police interceptor have the aluminum heat reflecting the performance pack PTU and a few other notable upgrades to help with heat dissipation on the interceptors But I would think that the 09/2012 to 2015 part number would be your best bet for a reliability standpoint just compatibility with the police interceptor ECU and torque sensor/ steering wheel angle sensor coding would be the deciding factor.