Problems with 2011 Ford Explorer ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The interface module on ford explorer stop working and hazard lights stay on and only fix and by a dealership

Started the ford and the backup camera was not functioning. also noticed the 'sync' screen was blank, climate controls were not visible (functioning) as well as the radio system was not functioning. went out and started the suv in my driveway, everything was correct when i returned home the night before.

When you shift the vehicle in park, the parking sensor does not always recognize the shift thus leaving a message on the dashboard/screen saying 'shift to park.' to correct the issue you have depress the shift lever over and over to get it to shift in park. this is a known problem on the blogs, amongst various ford owners.

Engine damage due to overheating. regular and required oil changes are documented and implemented as scheduled. no other engine or vehicle malfunctions during the course of ownership, except regular oil changes and tire replacement. however, on may 15, 2019, vehicle sensor notified oil change needed. five days later vehicle stalled at local motel due to decreased power, rocking motion of car and luckily we were able to slowly turn into local hotel to cut off engine and get to safety. after 2 hours of letting vehicle set and cool down, local mechanic, checked and said we had enough oil in vehicle and not sure what happened. was able to drive vehicle home, with no sensors on dashboard alerting us to any further problems. three days later, with no visible sensors flashing, car began to exhibit rocking motion not sputtering motion as i began to pull out in four-way intersection, and approaching traffic heading my way. then suddenly, car regained power and was able to continue to proper lane as if nothing was wrong. after traveling another 1.6 miles, car just starting losing power, check engine, low oil pressure light, temperature light warning all appeared suddenly. i was able to drift in middle lane in front of dealership where vehicle was purchased. i immediatedly turned vehicle off and walked to dealership to get help in moving vehicle off the road. after 3days of waiting, duncah dealership in christiansburg, va, notifed us that head gasget was cracked and over 7,000 repair bill was needed to fix engine repair. as noted before no major problems has ever been repaired or replaced regarding this vehicle. during the two incidents regarding the vehhicle losing power, without no visible vehicle sensor notifications is of great concern to us regarding our safety in driving our vehicle. thankfully, we weren't on a major highway.

Service power steering warning light came on, code was for left steering control module. one week later, power steering was intermittent, then went out completely. took in to ford dealership, code for safety recall 15n01 came up, ford dealership says my vehicle is covered under recall but ford motor company refuses to fix, stating "no household loyalty", because i've not purchased a ford brand new. when calling ford about the issue, they say they "will stand behind the ford dealerahip in their decision"; yet now that the dealership is ready to fix and waiting for the authorization code from fmc, fmc will not stand behind the dealerships decision.

Every time i go in the highway and i go 60 miles per hour i start smelling the exhaust smell inside my car start feeling kind of dizzy with headaches took the car to the dealer check that and it's doing it again exhaust smell comes inside of car really bad

This vehicle was in for a recall for the electrical power steering. recall was done on the vehicle in 2014 now in 2019 at 150,000 miles and again the same problem only this time it cost me $1,800 to get fix just to have the same problem recur 3 times. i also got into an accident. this is more than a safety issue and i notice a lot of people complaining about the same thing. when will ford decided to address this issue!

I lose power steering when i turn the car on and have to turn it off and back on to regain power steering. this has occurred multiple times throughout the last few years.

The "sync" touchscreen stopped working. once this happened the passenger side airbag sets to "off" all the time. the ford dealer reports it requires a new apin, which was covered under a recall but only for 5 years from date of new purchase.

Experiencing intermittent connection in the electric power steering gear. causes a loss of the motor position sensor signal resulting in a shut down of the power steering assist.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact heard an abnormal noise progressing from the area of the alternator assembly and the serpentine belt. while driving approximately 65 mph, there was a sudden loss of power. the contact had to coast the vehicle slowly to be parked at the contact's residence. the dealer (bergey's ford, 700 n bethlehem pike, ambler, pa 19002, (215) 793-3700) indicated that the vehicle would need to be diagnosed. the manufacturer indicated that there was no warranty, recall, or manufacturer campaign; therefore, no solution was offered other than the dealer diagnosing and repairing the vehicle. the vin and failure mileage were not available.

When driving a warm vehicle (meaning it was driven and then parked for 1-5 hours) then driving it a second time within this time frame, the vehicle will die after driving 15-25 minutes. when this happens, the radio continues to work, the engine shuts off, the interior lights come on and the lights around the speedometer come on. the rest of the instrumental panel is dead. the remote will lock and unlock the doors. the car will remain in this state for anywhere from 10 seconds to 4 or 5 minutes. this has happened 6 or so times in the month that i have had the vehicle. it has happened pulling up to a stop sign and also going 75 mph on the interstate (which is very scary). it has always happened in this 15-25 min timeframe. i have never had it happen in less time than this nor have i had it happen after the vehicle has run cleanly for 25-30 min. i have driven the vehicle to akron, oh and back. it happened twice on that trip. one time after we had driven for ~3 hours, stopped to eat for an hour and then got back on the road. it died about 15-20 min after we were on the road. it stayed in the "dead" state for about 2 min, then started back up and i was able to drive another 3 hours with no issue. it happened a second time when we were getting ready to travel home. we drove about 3 miles to a restaurant, ate for about an hour again. then when we got on the road to travel back it died about 15-20 min after we got on the road. this time it was only out for about 15 seconds because it came back on and jump started before i could even get it off the road. this is the only time that has happened.

When placed in park the vehicle will not light up the park indicator light 95% of the time. because of this the remote start will not work and the car chime will ring consistently. i have brought it to the dealership and told it is a switch that needs to be replaced that will cost me @ 500.00. i see this complaint list on the internet for many of the explorers and other models yet is has not been addressed in a recall. i believe jeep had a similar problem where the vehicle did not actually go into park and it killed several people. will this be the next problem with these fords that show they are not in park? this needs to be addressed as it seems a very common problem despite ford denying it at the dealership. this has been an ongoing issue for me for @ 2 months until i could get it in for service

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that the air conditioner/heating unit failed causing the windows and the windshield to be unable to defrost. the vehicle was taken to the dealer (autonation ford north canton, 5900 whipple ave nw, north canton, oh 44720, 1-877-346-8338) where it was diagnosed that 1 of the 4 motor blenders failed and needed replacement. the vehicle was repaired at a discounted rate but approximately one year later the failure reoccurred where another 1 of the 4 motor blenders failed. the vehicle was taken back to the same dealer where the second motor blender was replaced. the vehicle was repaired and covered under an extended warranty program purchased by the contact. the vehicle was repaired however the contact was concerned that the other 2 motor blenders in the vehicle would also fail. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 29,416. *tt *jb

Apim not working in too many cars i seen internet

My steering went out on my vehicle while i was driving. my radio and screen goes out several times a month.

I've reported to a local ford dealership that when i turn my car on, an alarm alert sounds and i get a warning light that says, power steering assist fault and i can't move my steering wheel. i have to re-start my car 1-5 times for it to start working. this is a major safety issue and a liability. i took it to ford and they said they couldn't pull a code. however literally an hour after picking up my car, i got the warning again and i took a picture of it with mileage showing to show it happened after. they charged me $100 to be told my car is fine. it is not. since taking it in, my rear view camera will now not work. i have made ford aware of this steering issue and want it fixed immediately. clearly the recall did not accurately hit all vin numbers. this has happened at least 10 times in past 6-8 months.

Got into my car after being parked for about an hour and console screen never turned on. no handsfree phone connection, no radio, no navigation, no back up camera. did not come back after more than 2 weeks of driving. apim failure and needs to be replaced. ford knew this part was poor because they extended the warranty on it up to five years but would now allow replacement under the warranty unless the apim failed. $1300 repair. applies to ford customer satisfaction program 12m01 and nhtsa id number 10044905.

Car was fine then all of a sudden over heating sign went on in the car . i pulled over on the freeway called a tow truck because i was told not to drive the car. i had it towed to my house had a professional mechanic look at it at my house i was then told that there was a leak and the water tank was not holding water because of it. the next day i went to my car i turned it on and check engine light was on. i then turned off the car cause i did not want to cause anymore damage. the mechanic came back to my house and told me it was now leaking water and oil to take it in right away. i had no previous problems with my car until that point. i take it to the dealer they tell me that it was an internal problem within the engine that i, the driver, could not have known about unless i was having previous problems with the car which i was not. 230 dollars later just to tell me what is wrong with the car ford is telling me that water got into the engine, transmission, all of the fluids and pipes. how does this happen with no previous problems with the car? i believe this issue needs to be resolved i have read many reviews on this model and this issue needs to be recalled

The battery charging system comes on while drive at normal speed and the steering becomes very hard and then everything shuts down and if you are lucky you might make it off the side of the road. this is very scary as i live in a rural around where you can't always get over in an appropriate area. in the past i could let it set for a minute and restart it and would be fine. recently had to have it jump started for it to run again and then seems fine. just last night/this morning it was so bad that we had to let it sit for several hours before we could get it to jump start it again. i have saw that others have had similar complaints. when i searched my vin number it says there is no recalls but when i was searching for recalls it mentions the power steering as a recall. the recall was prior to me purchasing this unit. i am frustrated and this is a great safety recall that ford should fix on all vehicles. the date entering as event happened was the last event but it started back in may of 2016. *tr

There are allot of issues going on with the truck we have just hit around 70k miles, this started a few months ago the passenger back door is not latching correctly upon being closed. the whole electrical system has been faulty for some time now a/c doesn't work correctly/ remotes and lights on car on constantly flickering... happens while vehicle isnt in motion and when in motion

The steering has never worked correctly, something just does not feel right with this vehicle. also - the sync system does not work correctly and the screen randomly reboots and is not working correctly. lastly the car system does not recognize when keys are in the car, so every time you go to start the car does not work. how this is unsafe - is in cold weather you have your keys in hand and the car will not start, which means you could be left in the cold and the car will not start. this is not safe.

My whole sync system has turned off not allowing in visual on controlling radio, temperature, or destination. the problem occurred after purchasing but i had live now noticed it's gettibg worse. there are a lot of trouble shooting ideas suggested. disconnecting negative cable, removing a fuse, and restarting sync system. i am now going on three weeks and my issue is yet to be resolved. i believe this may be more electrical then sync system.

While driving at a speed of 55 mph, in a down-pour rain, on a state hwy, on a straightaway, the power steering was lost when the "check charging system" warning light came on (check battery light came on as well). steering was extremely difficult. cause at this time is unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. while the vehicle was parked, the steering wheel seized. in addition, the "service power steering" and "service advance track" warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 14v286000 (steering); however, the failure recurred while driving 35 mph. the vehicle was towed to multiple dealers where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired and the failure persisted. the manufacturer was notified of the failures. the failure mileage was 118,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. while accelerating from a traffic light, the vehicle started to vibrate uncontrollably. the contact stated that the failure only occurred when driving from a complete stop or when decreasing in speed. also, while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. the contact was able to restart the vehicle. the failure only occurred once. the contact also stated that the interior lighting on the instrument panel would dim occasionally while driving. the contact stated that the failure was intermittent. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 36,800.

Faulty electrical switch within the gear shifter knob periodically indicates that car is not in "park" when the car is actually in park. this is worrisome since you are always afraid your car will roll away. this problem occurs periodically for me and is remedied temporarily by frantically "clicking" the gear shifter switch until the message goes away. this problem seems to be a problem that is not unique to me. there are several posts online about the exact same issue.

When starting, non of the safty features work, no backup camera, proximity alerts, radio, air conditions; no of the info/safety system works. after driving a few blocks, "sync" comes on screen and you are notified that the system is doing maintenance on itself, after a few minutes, all appears repaired. your car should not reboot at inconvenient and unsafe times

While idling and while getting car up to speed the ac cooling makes a weak sound and does not produce cool air. while idling the car overheats when the ac is on and blows hot air. due to the effect this is a car with less than 60,000 miles on it the ac should still be in operational condition given it's only used 2-3 months a year since ownership. car will also overheat while it's blowing heat during winter months. engine coolant is at optimum levels and car will smoke while exhaust is on. this needs to be addressed and an investigation should be done as reading numbers reviews on-line this is an ongoing issue with all ford model vehicles, average costs to repair are over $2,000 to replace what should be a new ac system, we should not be having to replace the entire system due to known failure by ford.

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that while the vehicle was being serviced, the technician discovered that the electrical pump failed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 80,000.

While driving to work, my vehicle experience an issue with throttle response. a wrench warning light appeared and the check engine light came on. at that point, the vehicle began shuddering and the internal systems slowed the vehicle to approximately 5mph. after stopping on the shoulder of the interstate, i shut the car off, pulled the key, reinserted the key and restarted the vehicle. it started up normally, but immediately exhibited the same symptoms. i checked the owner's manual and found that the wrench warning light indicates a "powertrain fault". i contacted ford roadside assistance and got the vehicle towed to the nearest dealership, thinking that a warning light indicating a "powertrain fault" would be covered under my powertrain warranty. the dealership diagnosed the problem as an issue with the throttle body of the vehicle, that the throttle body is not covered under the powertrain warranty, and charged me over $700 to fix the problem. *tr

On june 16th, 2014, i was traveling 40 mph with my 3 year old and 18 month old in the car and i lost all power steering and ended up in a ditch. there was no way to control it or even turn the wheel. it happened again on june 19th, 2014 however, my husband was driving and was able to get the car off the road. *tr

At approx 1430 on june 2nd on highway on ramp accelerating had the service advancetrac warning light and chime come on and the traction control off light and chime come on and lost all power steering control of vehicle. i immediately put on my emergency flasher and let off the accelerator and forced my explorer to the shoulder. once on the shoulder of the highway i cleared the faults, i wish i would have taken cell photo of fault, and turned vehicle off and then restarted vehicle with no issues. i did not have any other issues for the rest of the drive approx 25 to 30 min. *tr

While driving on the interstate at about 70 mph, an electrical light came up on the dash and i immediately lost power steering. my family was in the car and it was extremely frightening. i was able to muscle the car over to the right lane at which point, power steering was restored. the issue happened again around 20 minutes later and then rectified itself after a minute or so. i drove the car to the dealer and spoke with them about what happened. they kept the car for a week and could not "replicate the issue". this was the first week of april. i am now learning that ford was aware of this problem back in january and has issued a recall. *tr

The car basically shuts off and you lose power steering. no warn lights just cuts off immediately. we brought the car to the dealership and they ran a diagnostic and told us the issue was with the power steering sensor and that it would cost $2,000 to fix. i took to the internet and searched the issue to find out that there have been a number of owners that have had the same problem. i called ford customer service and they opened a case for us. they came back with $1,000 in financial assistance but it will still cost us $1,000 for soemthing i feel is not a part that "wears out". it is a very dangerous issue and i think that ford should take care of replacing the part before someone really gets hurt. *js

I was traveling at 40 mph on a busy city street when all of the sudden i heard a warning bing sound and saw the power steering fault and all terrain management failure warnings on my instrument panel. lost total ability to steer the vehicle and had to put on emergency lights, stop on side of the road, turn the vehicle off and on (hoping that it would reset and resolve the issue) and doing this cleared the warnings and i was able to steer again. however, two days later the problem happened again after starting the vehicle in a parking lot and before starting to back out of the parking space. once again turning the vehicle off and on again reset the warning and regained steering ability again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that the vehicle failed to start with the illumination of the key not detected warning message. the vehicle was towed to the contact's home where she received directions from the dealer over the phone in how to restart the vehicle. the manufacturer was not notified. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 20,000. the consumer stated the vehicle was installed with a no mechanical key start system. the ia key failed, which left the consumer stranded. the no key detected alert appeared on the dashboard. the key was fixed. however, the error message remained on the dashboard. also, the engine overheated.

We purchased our 2011 ford explorer in january of 2011 and have been the exclusive users of the car ever since. our vehicle has experienced three total losses of power steering ability since july 8, 2013. when an event occurs, the "power steering failure" light comes on and the vehicle immediately becomes difficult to steer. two of the occurrences have taken place while traveling at high speed on the highway. in one instance, my wife was driving the car with our young son and struggled to control the vehicle after the failure. ford attempted to address the problem by installing two separate new steering columns into the vehicle, yet the problem persists and seems to have had collateral effects on other electrical and mechanical components of the car. i have advised ford customer service of the problem but as of 11/20/2013 i have not had any kind of affirmative response. *tr

Traveling at freeway speed the warning message appeared on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. when i restarted the car it appeared to have corrected the problem. on september 10th, the same warning came on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. i was traveling at 35mph. i restarted the car and it appeared to correct the problem again. when i previously took it into the dealership they said there was nothing wrong and reset the system. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. while driving at any speed, the power steering and computer failed. in addition, the engine, abs, traction control, air bag, and security sensors illuminated. the dealer advised the contact to reset the master controls. the vehicle also exhibited computer failure. the firmware was updated multiple times, however the failure recurred months later and included various electrical shorts. while driving at an unknown speed, the power steering failed. the vehicle was towed to the authorized dealer for diagnostic testing. the contact waited for months to determine if the dealer was able to provide a remedy to the firmware failure. the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign numbers: 14v286000 (steering) and 14e001000 (steering). the vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. the approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

While driving my 2011 ford explorer the power steering suddenly went out. the vehicle gave me a warning, but only after the steering failed. the vehicle became almost impossible to steer. my only option was to try and get out of the flow of traffic in order to stop the car. turning the car off, then back on appears to reset the issue. the first time it happened i was pulling out onto a road. because the change was so unexpected the car couldn't be turned in time to merge into traffic. i had to turn off my car, then turn it back on while blocking two lanes of frontage road because it became next to impossible to control the car without power steering. two incidents. the first occurred as i was pulling out of a driveway onto a frontage road (05/03/13). the second was driving down a residential neighborhood going about ~25mph (05/27/13). i can't imagine what would happen if i were going 50, 60, 65 on an interstate when this happened. i can't reasonably expect my family to travel in a car this unpredictable and unsafe. i'm not sure what the best remedy might be, but others need to be warned before purchasing this car. *tr

Vehicle has had problems from month 3 of purchase. cooling fans blew, sunroof rattles, but the worst was a few months ago when backing out of parking space and heard a pop. the steering wheel bolt had broke. took to dealership and they had it for 2 days to fix it. contacted ford motor corporate and never received call or email back from them. then i noticed the steering wheel never seemed straight. it always turned to the left. it went back in the shop on 06/12/2013 to be fixed. they stated it needed a front end alignment but fact is it was never fixed correctly as they never saw this problem before. then on 06/15/2013 drivng vehicle and all of a sudden steering wheel locked up and all the lights started flashing. could not steer the vehicle. i managed to get it pulled over after being in a total panic as i was 1/2 mile from a major highway and would have been driving at a faster speed. my daughter was with me and she was completely in panic as she drives the vehicle and says what if it happened when she is driving it. she will not drive it anymore as she is scared to death. car is at dealership at the present time. we will see what the "reasoning" is this time. *tr

2011 ford explorer. consumer writes in regards to sync malfunction in vehicle. *smd the consumer stated when the system failed, the screen went black and the radio and temperature control stopped working, as well as other components. the sync has been worked on by the dealership 13 times.

I was driving to work going about 55mph give or take 5mph when the steering went stiff and made it hard to steer through the turns. it was worse when i had to make slow turns. if i had to avoid an accident quickly i don't think i would be able to avoid it. when i got to work shut the car off turned it back on and i guess it reset because the steering came back. when i t happened again i called the brewster ford and said to turn the car off and on and that would fix the problem i rough the car to the dealer after if happened a few time but they said they wont be able to find anything since there are no errors when i brought it in it happened a few more times brought it back again the check it said they found nothing and then charged me almost $200 if finally completely went this all happened over a 1yr time period put a call into brewster ford and corporate still waiting to here from either one that was almost 2weeks ago. *tr

Intermittently, while driving, the advanctrak and terrain management system warning light illuminated, and the "service advanctrak" warning appeared. at the same time, the power steering failed to work, and the "power steering fault" warning appeared. the turn signals also stopped working during these episodes. this has happened 5 times since september 9, 2012, all while driving the vehicle, including yesterday. in all cases, i had to take the truck off the road and completely shut down the vehicle - upon restarting, the warnings disappeared and the power steering was restored. i have had the vehicle to the dealer twice now, with no issues found. i have a 3rd appointment with the dealer today. *tr

I was driving my parents and my toddler daughter back from visting a sibling (approx. 5 hour drive) when we stopped briefly to take a break about 2 1/2 hours away from home. when i started the car up again, i received warnings related to a power steering failure and advance trac failure. the car had no power steering and there appeared to be something wrong with the blinkers as well. on tuesday, following labor day) i took the vehicle to the dealership where i had purchased it for repair. more than a week later, i was informed that the part was on backorder with ford until october 1st and that there was a waiting list to get the part and there were almost 1000 people on the wait list ahead of me. i'm greatful that i had an extended warranty, however, even under the warranty they only have to provide a rental car for 10 days. i'm hopeful that the dealership will do the right thing and keep me in a car until sometime in hopefully october or november when they can repair the vehicle. i believe this to be a manufacturing defect which should be covered under the original warranty regardless of mileage. this appears to be happening to a number of people and is both a safety hazard as well as possibly a deceptive trade practice. *tr

Numerous repairs to airbag system. airbag light is on and previous repairs include, seatbelt tensioner, sevreral jumpers around the connection underneath drivers seat, as well as some kind of programming in the computer system. ive owned the vehicle since it was brand new and it has been in dealer at least 6 times for aiirbag issues. please do a full inspection of the airbag sytem including faulty wiring harness!!!

Upon medium to heavy acceleration, such as accelerating onto a freeway, the vehicle cabin is filled with exhaust fumes from the engine. this injures the respiratory system of the passengers. they are working on a fix (after my family has been breathing polluted air for almost two and a half years). ford has finally admitted that there is a problem, and send me a letter that said. [xxx] ford customer service division march 7, 2014 [xxx] [xxx] subject: customer concern - exhaust odor on 2011-2014 explorer, edge or mkx we thank you for taking the time to discuss the concern of exhaust odor in your vehicle. to address your concern about exhaust odor, we have performed several inspections and sealing actions where applicable on your vehicle to help minimize the amount of odor coming into the passenger compartment. with these changes you may still experience odor under certain driving conditions such as, when performing wide open throttle (wot) accelerations with the climate control system in recirculation mode. ford motor company engineers have evaluated the air entering the cabin during worst case driving conditions (several wot accelerations with the climate system in recirculation mode). test results indicate cabin air quality levels are well within the ambient air quality standards established by various global environmental protection agencies such as the u.s. epa, osha, the kingdom of saudi arabia presidency of meteorology & environment and the government of dubai environment health and safety division. again, thank you for your time. [xxx] customer relations analyst please help me, ford don't want to help [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Power steering failed. *tr

(my wife as on her way to our daughter's one month doctor's appointment. she had just began moving from a traffic light when a bunch of lights on the dash came on and the vehicle became very hard to steer (found to be stabili-trac errors and faulty electric power steering). she managed to get the vehicle onto the shoulder without harm. after reading in the owners manual, she found that with this issue, turning the vehicle off and then back on may "clear" the issue. it did take care of the steering issue and she was able to drive again. it happened again on the way home from the doctors. ford looked at the vehicle and has ordered another steering assembly. the same fault has happened an additional four times since the first day. that is a total of six times. the local dealership has only been able to tell us that the part is on back-order because ford engineers are working on a revised part to correct the issue. the last time this happened to my wife she had both children in the car and was attempting to merge onto the highway. thankfully she was able to stay in an extended shoulder after the merge lane ended. turning the vehicle has corrected the issue every time so far. *tr