NHTSA complaint #11742754

Owner complaint summary

Was operating the vehicle around a slight bend at about 45mph. The brakes and steering then stopped working and was non responsive. The vehicle was sliding off the road toward a parked dump truck. After about 2 or 3 seconds the steering and brakes started working again and I regained control of the vehicle. I then fishtailed across 2 lanes of traffic and managed to keep the vehicle straight. Immediately after a warning popped on the dash stating "Drive control fault service required." Upon calling roadside and bringing the vehicle to the service center the following was identified. The Vehicle Dynamics Control Module (VDM) failed. This caused the vehicle to detect a rollover, which means the vehicle took control of the steering and brakes according to the service manager and would not allow the driver to intervene. This module was replaced. A cause for the module failure could not be found. The module was not allowed to be inspected and was sent to Lincoln corporate. The service tech was not allowed to open the module and identify the reason for failure. The risk for this part failing means that steering and braking are non operational. In my situation this was potentially a lethal accident with myself and family in the car. To slide off the road and hit a parked dump truck surely could have been life ending for myself and others. Vehicle diagnosed for DTC C1112:92 in the VDM The problem was not able to be reproduced. A cause of the problem has not been identified and is not known. The service center sounded concerned that they could not find the reason for failure and could not confirm it wont happen again. The vehicle was only inspected by the service center. There were no prior symptoms or warning lights or messages prior to the module failure.