Problems with 2011 Ford Explorer STEERING

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated the steering wheel locked while driving and it became hard to turn. the power steering light illuminated as the failure occurred. the failure was experienced several times. the dealer reset the power train computer; however, the failure was not corrected. the steering wheel continued to lock while driving. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileage was 52,000.

While driving, power steering assist abruptly fails, as does advance trac stability control. the vehicle becomes much harder to control. if the car is in a turn when the steering fails, the steering wheel lurches and tries to re-aim the vehicle straight ahead, disrupting the turn. dashboard warnings confirm the steering and advance trac failures. also, the turn signal sustain fails, so using the turn signal requires constant pressure on the signal arm. on average, this problem has recurred every 2000 miles, at any speed. turning the car off and restarting "fixes" the problem temporarily until the next failure. two trips to the dealer for examinations have resulted in no answers - both times the results of leaving the car for several days have been shrugged shoulders and "we couldn't duplicate the problem, and there is no trouble code. it worked fine for us." as is nothing ever was wrong with the car, and even if there were something wrong, there is no way to repair it! how the nhtsa and ford motor company can allow these vehicles to roam our highways with no recall, or even a technical service bulletin, knowing there is a chance the drivers may lose control and crash, as some already have, is a crime against vehicle safety and against the very mission statement of the nhtsa. i will be copying this complaint to my elected representative in the united states congress, who in the past has proven to be far more interested in my safety than ford or the nhtsa. *tr

This is the fourth time that it has happened to me. i have been driving down the street, when the car completely loses all power, cannot turn the wheel, cannot accelerate at all and you are completely unable to move the car. i have taken the car in every time to be serviced, they say that the computer shows that nothing is wrong, no codes show up. this past time i was 1 foot over train tracks when the car died. an oncoming train passed before i had time to restart my car. this could have been fatal and if my children where in the car i would never have been able to get them out of the car. it has happened at an intersection and driving 40 mph down a busy street, happened taking a left turn on a busy street. there are no warnings that it is about to happen. it literally just stops working. this is a serious and very dangerous defect on this car that needs to be addressed before a family is killed. *js

Power steer assist default shown on dash. vehicle lost power steering while in motion. it was reset by restarting the vehicle. this occurred several times before becoming fully disabled on may 18, 2014. vehicle became very difficult to control while in motion and nearly impossible 5 mph and under. *tr

While driving a vehicle stability fault message popped up. this was caused by the electric power steering module failing. luckily in this case my wife was able to slow the vehicle down and muscle it off the road without accident or injury. when the electric power steering fails the car is extremely difficult to steer. ford know about this system failure and refuses to recall it. *tr

On thursday evening sept 9, 2013 i was driving east on highway 195 in nj. out of nowhere the power steering fail signal and terrain warning signal came on and immediately the power steering went out at the exact same time. i was driving 65mph in the left lane with my young daughter in the car. the steering wheel froze and barely budged, could move maybe an inch in each direction. thank god i was able to slowly get the car to the shoulder safely. this could have potentially been a dangerous and fatal accident....it was truly frightening!!! when i called ford road side assistance they took 15min just to get basic info down to send tow truck, woman was very short with me and seemed like i was bothering her. we hang up, its getting dark, my daughter is scared, then 5 min later she calls me back to tell me there is a problem. she said the local ford dealer is closed so they can tow to a secure facility overnight but there would be an additional cost. i said a few choice words and cancelled fra. thankfully i have aaa premium so i had them tow my car to my home overnight then called fra to bring to ford service dealer the following morning. ford service rep now tells me i need a new power steering rack which will cost $2,400 and is not covered. i did research online ford part only cost less than $600!!! many other complaints on here and nhtsa are investigating this continuing power steering fail issue in the 2011 explorers but until then my car which is less than 2 years old is going to cost me if i want it back. what is being done about this and future accidents that could occur with other innocent drivers?

Driving straight on an interstate i-82 at 70 mph.. bell chime sounded, looked at the instrument panel which displayed yellow "steer assist fault"!!! then i realized i had no power steering. off i-82 to find a ford dealer. dealer check it out and said it worked now. when it quits, pull over, stop, turn off the engine and start it again; the computer resets itself. the dealer, ford country in prosser, wa has a customer with the same problem, that is how he knew what to tell me. they have had this part on back order for 2 months. *tr

Our first indication of steering problems happened around september 2013. a dashboard error "service advancetrac" message kept illuminating. first the dealer replaced a "sensor" that didn't fix it. then a software update, that didn't work. they then replaced the "rack and pinion", in this car i am told it is an electronic steering motor. that did fix the problem with the error message, however at times the entire dashboard and "infotainment" screen would go blank and reboot. all seemed fine for a few month's until an unexpected event occurred in january 2014. i was driving my 2011 ford explorer on thursday, january 9, 2014 on andersen air force base in guam. it was a bright, sunny day, and weather conditions were ideal. i stopped at the post office and when i turned left to enter a parking space, i noticed the steering was a little jerky. i didn't think much of it until we were leaving, and the steering continued to be choppy. when i left the parking lot, the car did not respond cleanly when i turned the wheel. i mentioned the my daughter that something was wrong, but i wasn't sure what was happening. as i entered a roundabout turn before exiting the air force base, the steering went out completely momentarily. it felt like i was driving on ice! the brakes worked properly, and i was able to slow down and navigate safely out of the turn. i had no problems driving straight, but turning was jerky. i called my husband to let him know what was happening, and i drove slowly home approximately four miles from the base. the car was turned into the dealer who "could not replicate the error". the "service advancetrac" error happened again on 22 jan , went into the dealership and i was told again that they could not replicate the error. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated while driving 20 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated as the steering wheel seized. the contact applied the brakes and shut off, then restarted the vehicle as it operated as designed. the vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the electronic steering sensor would need to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 51,900....updated 10-24-13 *bf updated 11/1/2013 *js

I was with my family on trip driving 80 mph on the freeway when the power steering went out! there was no indication on the instrument cluster that the power steering failed so i was not prepared for this. we did run off the road and onto the shoulder and fished tail out of control. this was frightening for my family. i was ready to pass some slower vehicles when this happen and had to move quick but the power steering was out. we lost control and ended up on the shoulder. i managed to drive the car home not without sweating by struggling with the steering wheel from 3 hours away. once home, i looked this particular problem on the internet and found that there is a lot of complaints of this same problem. i also found that ford does not acknowledge this!!!! i called ford customer support the next day and i was informed that this was the first time they heard of this. hopefully no one gets hurt for ford to realize this is a defect in their vehicles! there needs to be a recall on this! *tr

Lost steering assist during turn into driveway. it was extremely difficult to manually steer the vehicle, which i was able to stop due to the low speed. the next morning it was again very difficult to steer the vehicle when i backed out of the garage, however, after stopping and starting the vehicle 2-3 times the power steering begin working again allowing me to drive the vehicle to the ford dealership. while driving the vehicle forward in their maintenance bay the steering assist failed again, at which time two computer failure codes where present, which i read and then showed to their maintenance representative. the code listed on the receipt was c200d. the second issue involves erratic shifts and loss of power when accelerating from a stop up to 35 mph. a ford dealership has completed two-three computer software upgrades. the most serious shifting problem occurs when pulling out or turning onto a roadway and there is minimal acceleration when the accelerator pedal is pressed down, and the vehicle is unable to adjust as expected to the traffic flow. this problem was first reported 02/2013 and most recently during 09/2013.

On three occasions the car loss power steering and warning light came on in the dash. the ignition was turned off and then the engine was restarted and the power steering seem to return to normal function. car has been taken to dealer. dealer is going to replace the rack and pinion steering assy. *tr

We purchased our 2011 explorer in july 20, 2013 with approx 43,000 miles. the first instance (8/30/13) we were leaving a friend's house, turned on the car and had no power steering for the entire ride home. this was a friday night so we were unable to take the car to the dealership. power steering came back the next morning when we restarted the vehicle. sunday (9/1/13) we were driving at approximately 40 mph when we lost power steering again. we pulled over and shut the car off. once restarted, the power steering worked again. our local dealership was contacted and could not fit us in for service until 9/9/13. the ford dealership kept our car for exactly 2 weeks trying to figure out the exact problem. inevitably, we were told that the steering gear assembly was replaced. all was fine until 10/14/13 when we once again lost power steering and "service power steering" and "terrain management system" warnings were displayed on the dash while driving at approximately 35 mph. the vehicle was taken immediately to the ford dealership yet again. we were contacted by the service department rep, who spoke with ford, to determine that the gear that was previously replaced was "defective." we are now awaiting yet again to have our car returned to us. each time this happens there is no warning and the car is extremely hard to steer. this is not only inconvenient but also a huge safety issue. we drive around two small children and my wife feels unsafe driving the vehicle because this can happen at anytime without warning. as time goes on, it has been brought to our attention that this is a fairly common problem among 2011 ford explorers through present models. unfortunately, it seems that many people have been going through this exact vicious cycle for years now. it seems that ford cannot seem to pin point the exact problem. *tr

When turning right into my work parking lot yesterday morning i received the power steering assist fault error and service advance trac error with loss of power steering. this is the second time this has happened with the first time in june driving on a highway. the warning message (audible and visual warning) come on at the same time the power steering is lost so there is no warning, it just happens and you have to hopefully be at a safe distance between another vehicle or object so you will not cause an accident. this is a known issue with ford and they do not consider it a safety problem, however, i do not feel safe driving this vehicle anymore not knowing when it could happen again and if i will be able to steer it safely with another sudden loss of power steering. this part should be recalled. *tt

While driving to work the following warnings came up. 1. power steering fault 2. service advancetrac system car became very difficult to steer, almost resulting in a major car accident as i was approaching a very tight turn on i75. upon doing some research it appears this issue is way to common, and extremely dangerous. *tr

Driving 65 mph on a highway when i suddenly lost the ability to steer my vehicle. i was fortunate enough to be able to maneuver the vehicle onto a shoulder, but this is certainly defect and must be recalled before someone is injured. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the steering wheel seized without warning and the steering wheel became hard to turn. the power steering assist light illuminated after the failure occurred. the contact shut off the vehicle for several moments before proceeded to the dealer. the dealer performed a diagnostic and advised that the steering wheel electrical box was defective. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure and current mileage was 38,000.

Was in park in a fast food drive through and had the vehicle in park and when i put it in drive and accelerated i immediately got an error power steering assist failure and the power steering was gone and very hard to turn the wheel. luckily it was a straight drive through. i turned off the engine and restarted and the error cleared and i was able to steer again. this is the second time this has occurred with a similar scenario where the steering failed after switching to drive from park. i am not positive of the date of the first time as i did not write it down and thought it was a one time fluke but it was approximately in feb, 2013. hearing about others where this has happened while driving at speed has given me great concerns now.

I own a 2011 ford explorer with approximately 20k miles. "power assist fault warning" code has come on a handful of times for about a year. i never thought to look into it because it happened when i first started the truck and was not driving. after restarting the truck it would go away and wouldn't come back for a couple of months. unfortunately its happening more and more often. earlier this week i was making a left hand turn when it happened again, this time right as i was making a turn. i nearly went into a ditch. i immediately took it to the dealership who did not know the cause and can only replace the powersteering rack. i hope this fixes the problem but i just cannot trust that my wife and 6 month old son will be safe in this car anymore. will be trading in this truck soon. its a shame because i really like it. *tr

I started my car and as i was backing out of my driveway 2 warnings came up: power steering assist failure and service advance trac. at which point i lost my power steering. i turned the car off and on again and the warnings went away. i drive to work fine but i leave for my lunch break and get the same warnings and no power steering. i turn off and on several times even going back in to work to let it sit a while. try again later...same thing...no power steering. i'm stuck at work till my husband can come and get me. i've noticed that there have been numerous complaints on this same thing happening to other people and i wonder why ford has not recalled it yet. it really makes me mad that i may have to pay $1200-$1500 to get this fixed (will it even really be fixed?) for a car that is still so new. *tr

While driving down the highway, there was a notification on the info center that there was an issue with the power steering. at that point i lost power steering in the vehicle and then traction control. this issue has occurred 4 times in the last month and we have already taken it to the dealership and they were unable to find out what the issue was since it is not keeping records in the computer of these issues. *tr

Has happened multiple times, steering stops working and car has to be turned off and back on to correct problem. on a trip with family on curvy road to lake tahoe it happened and we almost collided with traffic. the other cars manuvered away from us we hit the embankment no damage or injuries but my wife will not drive the car now. *tr

Why have there been no recalls on the loss of power steering??? i'm reading all of the same complaints from other 2011 ford explorer owners and am shocked!!!!! *tr

While driving home from work in pittsburgh, pa i experienced a failure in my 2011 ford explorer's power steering. apparently, the newly designed power system shut down causing a manual override for manual steering 'only'. again, very difficult to steer at a high rate of speed. i am a pa state trooper and drive as a profession. i personally struggled to keep my vehicle on the roadway and was very fortunate to safely bringmy vehicle to a stop. i cannot stress how unsafe and dangerous this defect and/or problem is. i am calling. my ford dealership tomorrow for suggestions. again, i have investigated numerous crashes and fatalities in my career and expect this problem to be reviewed at the highest level for safety. *tr

I got a power steering assist failure light, and a terrain management fault light. i had extremely limited steering ability. i drove straight to the dealership and left the car running so they could not say they were unable to duplicate the problem. i was very close to a crash and had difficulty getting out of the high speed lane to pull over. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the power steering and traction control warning lamps illuminated as both components failed. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 58,000.

While driving in town, traction control lights came on and vehicle lost all power steering. the steering rack assembly had to be replaced. *jb

This happened to us 2 times in 2 weeks. power steering failure light came on along with the auto trac light. at this point we lost power steering. we were on the highway and we were close to a walmart so we stopped and let the car sit and we went into walmart .when we came out the light was off and the power steering was fine. monday i was backing out of my garage and the lights went on again and no power steering. i was able to pull the car back into the garage and there it sits. i cant drive it as it is to hard for me to turn the wheel. we are taking it into the dealer friday and i called them and they have no recalls for the car and said they cant find the information i found about the power steering that was reported in 2012. i am just glad my husband was driving the first time. we have tried the car since monday and still no power steering. *tr

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

Travelling on the freeway at 78 mph, an alarm sounded, followed by a message that said "power steering assist fault (or failure, i don't remember exactly which term was used)", at the same time, i suddenly had no power steering. the warning also stated "service advance trac" and an icon showing a car with skid marks behind it, displayed on the dash. had my wife, or one of my children been driving when this occured, i'm certain there would have been a serious accident. i was able to manuever off the freeway and turn into a parking lot. i had a car without power steering when i was very young, and i don't recall it being this difficult to use. i turned the car off, and googled the issue, to find i'm not the first to have this happen. after reading that it resets, i re-started my car and the power steering was back. it took a few seconds for the "service advance trac" message to clear, but it did as well. i was able to drive the car afterward, for approximately 40 miles, without further incident. this was on a friday afternoon, too late to get to a dealer. i will take it in on monday morning, first thing. *tr

After filling up with gas, i started and went about 6 feet and the codes of power steering assist along with a couple others came up. i tried restarted the explorer and it did the same thing. i then let it sit for 5 minutes and restarted it again. the same thing occurred. i have now brought it in and after looking into it. many people have had the same issue. i had my 1 year old son in the car and to be honest. this is a safety issue that should be taken care of by the manufacturer. if i were in the middle of an on or off ramp in a turn. what would happen? *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated while driving 65 mph, the power steering failed on the vehicle. the contact stated he had to manually steer the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for repair and the component was reset. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vin was unavailable. the failure mileage was about 38,000.

My wife and i had just traded our car in for a 2011 ford explorer. she was on her way home and the power steering locked up on her with a warning message on the dash. she was barely able to control the vehicle from crashing into the other cars around her. she turned off the vehicle and restarted it and everything returned to normal. we called the dealer who promptly had the vehicle towed to the nearest dealership. they replaced the steering column and everything seems fine now. when looking up this problem online we found that this was not the first time this happened as ford had said over the phone to me. i pointed out that the nhtsa had an action # pe12017 filed and this was obviously not the first time this had happened. they basically called me a liar. ford needs to do a recall on this issue before someone or god forbid a family gets killed due to this issue. my wife and stepdaughter are ok only due to the quick thinking of my wife. ford needs to step up and correct this issue asap and stand behind their product, not cover up this huge problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that while making a right turn at 15 mph, the power steering system malfunctioned and the traction control light illuminated. the contact also stated that the power steering system malfunctioned while in reverse. the contact mentioned that both failures occurred while the air conditioner was in use. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer who did not give details of the failure. the failure mileage was 41,000.

This is the second time this issue has occurred. the first time i was able to restart the vehicle and it corrected itself. currently i cannot physically steer the vehicle and will have to have it towed. we were in the mountains last weekend so this is a very serious issue. i happen to be a male with the capability and capacity to handle extreme situations and i doubt that i could avoid an accident if this were to happen while driving. i was searching for fixes and saw that a few cases had been reported. make this a priority as the electronics in this vehicle are severely flawed and someone will get killed soon. *tr

Coming to a stop at a stop sign, warning messages appeared - power steering assist failure and advance trac control fault. the vehicle lost all power steering assist. with much effort (extremely hard to steer!), i pulled the vehicle to a parking space to diagnose the problem. the advance trac warning message stayed on. the traction control light and the traction control 'off" light also stayed illuminated. i turned the explorer off. when i restarted, the power steering returned and after a few seconds the advance trac warning message went off. took vehicle to ford dealer (alan vigil ford) the next morning. they told me i needed a new steering rack. parts will not be in for several days. they told me i could drive the vehicle until the parts arrive. i'll bring it back to them then. *tr

I was making a left turn at approximately 20mph when my power steering went out. luckily there was no car to my right and i was able to muscle the car to the right side of the road and onto a side street. the dash board was flashing power steering assist fault, then service advance trac. i turned off the car and restarted it and the message cleared. i went straight to the dealership and showed them the pictures, the dealer did a epas diagnosis, it said code c200d:49, and an interactive diagnosis pinpoint test, it said internal electrical failure, they replaced the epas rack and pinion. i received my car back today and it appears and feels like it's turning fine. *tr

Driving down the road and a warning flashed about power steering. i had about 3 seconds to get the car to the side of the road to avoid getting killed. ford knows about this already and is doing nothing? are you kidding me??? *tr

While driving east on route 422 from royersford to king of prussia at 55 mph audible warning alarm went off with two lights on dash. lost power steering control. too unsafe to pull off on shoulder in dark, struggled with steering for about 2 miles to next off ramp. restarted vehicle on off ramp and power steering returned. i will call dealer tomorrow as warranty is nearly up. car manual explains this exact situation as if its a common occurrence. just reboot your car (if you survived the crash!) i have never had a power steering failure in 25 years. if this happens to frail person in a turn, they will not pull out of turn and will hit the closest object in the path of their turn. *tr

Power steering failure while going down sam rayburn tollway in mckinney tx. steering assist cut out and warning lights appeared on dash. wife had to try and pull to side of road. there was a slight bend and she was able to drive fairly straight onto the shoulder. fortunately there weren't any other cars around her. similar incident happened the day before going under 10 mph on a side street/driveway. shutting car down and restarting it fixed the issue but it has happened twice now. trying to contact dealer about the problem (left message). *tr

While driving the vehicle the power steering quite, was able to get vehicle off the road but was very hard to steer. now ford want $2119.00, to repair a manufactured part that is not covered under the vehicles warranty. the vehicle is owned by the disabled veterans of america and used to transport veterans in operated by the randolph county veteran's office winchester, in. i have taken care that this vehicle is serviced on time and this is a blow to the transportation needs of the veterans of randolph county. *tr

Loss of power steering while driving. total loss of control would have happened if i would have been in a turn or corner. *tr

My power steering failed. the dashboard lite up and said something about power steering trac in red. couldn't read it as i was to busy trying to control car in a busy intersection. i turned car off and when i restarted it, all was fine. i called my ford dealer and was told they had never heard of such a thing. i have an appointment to bring car to,service on wednesday to repair navigation system for the third time and now they will have to check this problem as well. *tr

While entering a roadway our explorer suddenly lost power steering at this time the vehicle showed a power steering assist fault also a service advance trac code followed by a loss of terrain management notice also at this time the turn signals would not operate. had vehicle towed to our dealership . they returned the vehicle to me after reprogramming abs module per tsb12-08-09. the same thing happened again sunday july14 called dealership they will call me back with their findings. *tr

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

Upon backing down driveway, vehicle steering locked up and would not turn. i stopped and turned off the ignition. then restarted the vehicle. power steering returned. left driveway and proceeded to next intersection where steering failed again and locked up. this repeated once again before my husband had to drive vehicle without power steering to the dealership. *tr

Please reference previous complaint confirmation number 10475098, september 11, 2012. the problem is a complete loss of power steering assist that occurs instantaneously, without warning. this problem was supposedly repaired by my ford dealer last fall (september, 2012) by reprogramming a control unit. the problem has now been recurring again, almost weekly (three times in four weeks). i feel this is a very serious safety issue. during the most recent incident, my wife was driving by herself. she does not have the strength to drive this car without power steering assist. luckily she was traveling in a straight line and could bring the car to a stop. if she had been turning a corner or rounding a curve, she would have gone off the road. i have seen on the internet that other drivers have had the same problem. i will take the car back to the dealer, but ford needs to own up to this problem and figure out a permanent fix. *tr

Steering wheel locked up while taking a curb at a slow rate of speed. could not control vehicle, and had to come to a complete stop, put vehicle in park and turn it off.a warning came on the screen about steering failure, and after turning car back on, it worked fine. dealership service tech was rude and uncooperative on the phone, told me to bring it in a couple of days. my car i still under warranty, and the service tech told me i would be charged for a rental. ridiculous. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. the contact stated that the power steering intermittently failed. the contact also mentioned that the service advance track and power steering assist fault lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that there was a gear in steering column needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted about the failure. the failure mileage was 44,000.

Power steering assist fault has happened 5 times in the last month and this is the second time i have had it at the dealer. *tr