Ford recalls 370,000 Lincoln, Mercury, and Ford sedans

REUTERS - Ford Motor Co is recalling about 370,000 model year 2005 to 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans in the United States and Canada to fix a steering shaft issue, the company said in a statement.

Corrosion of the lower intermediate steering shaft of vehicles in "high corrosion states and provinces" may result in the loss of steering, the company said.

The 355,000 vehicles in the U.S. recall are in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

The remaining 15,000 cars are in Canada.

Ford said that dealers will inspect and replace the lower intermediate steering shaft and, if necessary, secure a lower steering column bearing and replace the upper intermediate steering shaft.

The company was unaware of any accidents or injuries linked to the issue, it said.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago' editing by Gunna Dickson)