Problems with 2015 Ford Explorer STEERING

Since around 40000 miles, power steering will have a loud click and pop with all turns. since 50000 miles, during the turn, the power steering will lock and the driver will have to pull hard to change turn radius. took it to ford - entire epas (electronic power assisted steering) needed to be replaced. this is unsafe and unacceptable at 50000 miles.

2015 explorer sport - have a binding, popping noise when turning the steering wheel to the right. pops before completing a full turn at full stop and will pop multiple times when doing a k-turn or right turn at slow speed. had thrust washer, nuts, and other items replaced nov 2017 at 34776 miles, now at 38000 and its back and of course techs can't duplicate. i also went to dealer and drove after they rotated tires and changed the oil and couldn't. next morning in driving its doing it again, but one pop at a time at full stop. this must be a defect becuase i had the same type of problem in my 2013 explorer. my warrenty is up and i need this fixed as i'm afraid to drive with confidence.

When my car is in any kind of turn you hear a popping noise . not very loud but noticeable. also when on a incline or decline a crunching noise can be heard. my son borrowed my car last weekend and noticed it. took it to dealership and they of course cannot replicate this noise. with all of the other complaints about this same issue i am appalled that ford has not looked into this. i guess not enough deaths or serious injuries have occurred yet for it to be on their radar.

With 51,000 miles and just over 3 years on the car, the steering gear box failed with popping noise occurring anytime the steering wheel was turned. got worse quickly and had to get it fixed. very expensive but also very scary for my safety. i always take care of my cars and keep them for 7-10 years.

I was driving and while turning i lost steering assist controls. no power steering at all. i all most crashed in mid turn.

Stopped in the street to do a u-turn, started my turn and lost steering. drove into a curb, got out of the car and discovered the lower control arm had snapped in half.

The power steering fails while driving. this has happened about 7-8 times in the past year. the worst time was when it failed in a slow, tight turn. when the power steering failed the steering self aligned back to straight. this happened in my kid's elementary school parking lot. it easily could have led to a bad accident or hitting a pedestrian because the vehicle went in an unintended direction. the attached picture is from one of the other 7-8 times this occurred, thus the mismatch in mileage from the picture and that listed in the complaint.

Vehicle only has 41000 miles and the rack and pinion is making a cracking noise when turning to the right. vehicle has not fail as getting the steering lock but needs to be replace to prevent an accident.

Steering rack assembly needed replacing for the second time within 14 months of each other (07/07/2016 and 09/19/2017). first time was at 37,100 miles, second time was at 59,853 miles. both times the vehicle was being driven at 70+mph and without warning, indicator lights came on and i lost power steering.

Driving on small highway 55-60 mph. dash warnings ding and flash power steering assist failure, terrain mangement system fault, service advance trac. vehicle suddenly loses power steering and found it very difficult to make turn into parking lot. restarted car hoping it was a glitch...i was low on wiper fluid and pressed ok. (seemed to happen immediately after pressing button on steering wheel). all was normal and drove home. this continued to happen after several days and would correct itself upon restarting car. i was lucky to be driving in light traffic. i have made arrangements to have vehicle diagnosed and repaired. after reading many complaints, i am suspecting the steering rack needs to be replaced.

I was driving my 2015 explorer about 55 mph, coming up to a driveway i needed to turn into a few hundred feet away. suddenly the car lurched and warning signals popped up on my dash. it alerted me my collision warning sensors failed and service advance trac. i attempted to brake and slow down for my trim and realized i had lost power brakes as well as power steering in my attempt to turn into the driveway. i narrowly missed hitting a tree while making the turn into the driveway. i coasted to a stop and immediately ran a vehicle diagnosis. it suggest i shut the vehicle off and turn it back on to see if the codes cleared. when i turned the vehicle on all warning were still displayed but brakes and steering returned. my local ford was fairly close so my father in law attempted to drive it there and suddenly all codes cleared out of the vehicle.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. when turning the steering wheel in either direction, a metal on metal grinding noise was present coming from the steering column. the vehicle was taken to ken garff ford (145 w. hilton dr, st. george, ut) where it was diagnosed that the steering rack was faulty and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. the failure mileage was 45,000.

My wife was driving at high speed on interstate highway. noticed sudden loss of ability to steer. numerous warning and messages appeared on dash along with audible alarms. thankfully was able to pull over to side of road and stop. seemed to be complete loss of power steering.was able to get vehicle home but vehicle was very hard to steer. had vehicle towed to local ford dealership. code revealed failed steering rack. $1800 to replace steering rack. vehicle had 51449 miles. contacted ford consumer relations-asked her to trigger a recall. i told her, in my opinion, this is a dangerous flaw that could have caused a disasterous collision. she started a file and would be in touch with my local dealer, in hopes that there may be a possible "financial assistance" situation. service adviser at local dealership said there is no recall because the numbers aren't there on this model year to consider it dangerous enough to recall the vehicle for this problem. i believe, in this situation, ford motor company is putting profits ahead of safety. i had no choice but fix the vehicle and am quite confident that the steering rack installed is of the same crappy quality as the one that failed. as of 4 weeks later, i have yet to hear back from my dealer or ford motor company about any "financial assistance". what a joke. very dissatisfied with the resolution of this problem because these steering racks are failing all over the country.

On 08-12-17 i pulled into my driveway an turn my steering wheel locked up and i could not turn it.. i shut down the car and restartd it .it had reset if this had happened on the highway someone could have been killed. i will take the car to ford on 8-14-17 to see if they will help and fix it.

While driving at 65 miles an hour on a busy highway the steering wheel on my 2015 ford explorer experienced a complete failure. the power steering assist warning illuminated and my vehicle was unable to safely move from one lane to the next. i was approaching a curve in the road and i applied my brakes and turned on my hazards to avoid wrecking into the highway barrier. i was nearly struck by a large semi-tractor trailer and a few other vehicles as i attempted to get to safety. i thought for sure i was going to be struck by passing vehicles. once i was able to get to safety, the messages read "power steering assist fault" and then i saw another message that read a terrain management function fault as well. i immediately called my wife to tell her i was stuck on the side of rt 280 in west orange, nj. just in case something happened to me. i the called aaa to request a tow. i turned off the engine and the terrain management fault was still illuminated. i attempted to move my vehicle to a safer place and kept hearing a whining noise and the steering would go in and out of faults. once i was in a safe place i advised aaa of my location and awaited their service. i was surprised to hear that this is not an unknown issue to ford by the tow truck driver. we had the explorer towed to beyer ford in morristown, nj. i received a call today from the ford dealer that the power steering rack has to be replaced. i looked this issue up on-line and found many complaints regarding the same issue and not just on explorers, but other ford vehicles and different years. i am extremely concerned about this problem because it literally came out of nowhere while i was driving at 65 mph. that possibility that i could have had my family including my 6 year old daughter in the vehicle and giving different circumstances, it could have been a catastrophic event. we also own a 2011 ford explorer.

Driving 45mph down on a major road my steering went out. the dash read an error "steering fault" and i could barely control the car. i was luckily able to pull over and turn the car off and back on. steering was restored. it appears there was a recall for this exact issue for model years prior to mine (http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1092388_ford-recalls-914000-escape-explorer-suvs-for-power-steering-issue). i called the local dealership and they told me there were no active recalls and i was out of warranty so i would have to pay to get it looked at. i then called ford corporate and was told the same thing. i told them about the previous recall and that it was a major safety issue but they did not care. they actually told me that it was not a safety issue!

Power steering failed at a high rate of speed.

The power steering went out on the highway, twice, while i was driving. thank god i was able to gain control of the car before crashing. we had the problem fixed, under warranty, but now after 26,000 miles the problem is back. i am very concerned because my my wife now drives this car.

Console started flashing "service steering assist soon" and "traction assist failure". would clear up when car restarted. never lost steering during this 2 week time. july 9th, 2017, driving 70 mph on 405 freeway near long beach, ca, flashed "steering assist failure" and lost power steering. traction assist failure light as well. got though traffic, slowed down and exited without any power steering, stopped and restarted and issue went away. called dealer and took car in the next morning. they reset codes and said "if it happens again bring it back in." which scared me. 9 days later lost steering turning into work parking lot then lost steering 3 more times within 24 hours. took to dealer and they had to replace the entire epas rack and pinion system for $1916.79. the car had 46,7k miles and only highway driving. outside of warranty as they don't consider this powertrain. had i been in a turn or exit ramp off freeway would have been a crash for certain.

Multiple times steering faults while driving. locked steering rendering car not able to steer, car in motion. most recent incident on 6/26 also happened prior. body damage to car due to lack of steering. no other cars involved. no physical injury. "crash" on next question is overstating although object was hit causing damage

While making a left turn on to a residential street the power steering failed. it became extremely difficult to keep from running up on the sidewalk. had my wife been driving she would not have been able to steer the vehicle, most likely resulting in a serious accident. steering system failure alert appeared on dash read out. was able to pull over safely to the side of the road. shut the engine off, re-started, no change. shut off a second time, restarted and alert disappeared and the steering was functioning. was able to drive home, called ford to make arrangements to have the vehicle inspected. while backing out of my driveway the next day in route to the dealership, a heavy clunk sound was heard. i went through the same motions again but could not repeat the clunk noise. drove the vehicle approximately 20 miles to the dealership for inspection. they removed and replaced the steering gear which is the entire rack. i asked an adviser if they knew the cause of the failure and or if the new part being installed is the same as what was removed or if there was an upgraded version. they were unable to verify any upgrades relating to the failure which has me worried since my wife also drives the vehicle and there is no assurance that the failure won't occur again. my extended warranty covered the majority of the costs.i paid a $100. deductible. i am reporting this because i'm convinced that is not an isolated incident due to other year and model fords displaying the same problems. i also want it documented in case it happens again. copy of repair order attached.

Clicking and popping noise when turning left. no lights or codes showing in the dash, but steering has a lot of play. dealership seems not to see a problem. just had an o2 sensor replaced and the accessory drive belt tensioner. this vehicle is more trouble than its worth....

I was driving steering wheel locked as i was making a right turn, locked it as i was half way on the turn. this happened on the 10th of march. today 3/17/17 as i was reversing it locked again good thing i wasn't on freeway or in high traffic area. i purchase vehicle from hyundai gilroy in gilroy ca which they werent help at all. i just bought this vehicle end of december 16'. they just blew me off and i was told i wasn't under warranty nor any recalls on this vehicle. i did some research looks like i am not the only one dealing with this issue.

A power steering warning came up, then later the power steering failed. it later returned. we took it to a dealer and they has to replace the power steering angle sensor assembly. about 6 weeks later 4-17-17 warning comes on again. take it back to dealer and they now say it is probably power steering motor with a cost of $2000+. when my wife originally felt the loss of steering she was on the highway going down the road, not turning. she felt it tighten up.

The electric power steering turns itself off without warning. in 30000 miles, this has happened three times. we get an error screen on the dash telling us to take the car to the dealer for service. two times i was driving slowly in a parking lot, and the third time my wife was driving over the skyline bridge in florida. each time we safely pulled over, shut the car off, and when restarted the power steering recycled on. i took the car to the dealer each time, and was told that no error codes were in the computer, so the car was fine. of course it is not fine, or it would not shut off the power steering. the car was under bumper to bumper factory warranty. being concerned with the safety of my family, i traded the car in for a 2017 explorer hoping the issue has been resolved.

This past winter my wife complained about a popping sound when backing our 2015 ford explorer sport into the garage. the problem has now become intermittent and occurs while driving on the roadway.

This car was bought new with less than a 100 miles on it, at about 7000 miles while entering i 495 from a ramp i stepped on the gas and the steering locked up i quickly took my foot off the gas and the steering unlocked,i visited the dealer and complained the car was checked no problem was found ,at 32000miles i started hearing noises from the front of the car sometimes while backing up this was intermittent and i was never able to duplicate the noise at the dealer until i had a complete failure at 42700+ miles the noise was occurring constantly,the dealer' s diagnosis was failure of the steering box,i am not an expert but this is a dangerous problem the failure occurred while i was driving at 20 miles per hour on city streets,if i had been on the freeway at 70 miles an hour it could have created an accident with injuries and who knows what else talking to the manufacturer is useless my complaint was and is been ignored i think this car has a defect in the steering system that is worth your investigating for the cause before someone is seriously hurt in an accident.as i write this the defective part is being replaced at a ford dealer. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. while turning the steering wheel in either direction, a clunking and grinding noise was heard coming from the steering column. on two separate occasions, the steering wheel became stuck momentarily while turning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. the manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 22,000. the vin was invalid.

Sport model front end has had a loud popping/ creak noise when going over bumps at a angle and also sharp low speed manuevers ( pulling into tight parking space) since it was basicly brand new. loud ticking noise from front hubs at low speeds first visit to ford was at 9,000 miles they could not duplicate it. vehicle now has 32,000 miles roughly, the popping and creaking has gotten worse my wife was leaving work and was backing out of her parking spot and the rack and pinion locked up on her. mulltiple wanring lights came on and she was unable to steer the vehicle. she called me and i told her to cycle the key multiple times and see if it will reset to be able to drive to my work so i could scan it and see what codes it has. she took surface streets to my work. it had codes p0022: cam timing over retarted p052d: cold start cam timing over retarted p193e: a/c clutch request signal u0121: lost communication with abs control module c1b00: steering angle sensor this is the second time cam phaser codes came up. they replaced cam phaser this last visit and vehicle still stumbles/misfire feel at idle. they were "unable to duplicate" rack and pinion/ suspension noise. my wife does not feel safe driving vehicle. it has been getting random hard spots while driving. i took it to another local ford dealer and they want to charge me for diagnostic if they cant "duplicate" i just got done paying for 3 weeks of rental and cant risk several hundred more dollars to have them, say they cant duplicate it. so i will be picking up the explorer and i am now stuck with a unsafe vehicle as the steering could "lock up" again at any point. there are multiple cases just like mine that i found and i am not willing to risk having my wife and child have the rack and pinion fail while she is going down the freeway we got lucky with it locking up while at low speed the first time.

My tie rod and rod and navigation system which are electric broke while i was driving my vehicle. there was no forwarning of the event. i was on the highway, driving at traffic speed, fast moving cars everywhere, left, right and centre, front and back all going above speed limits, no steering control, no safety ramp visible for a few kilometres. suddenly i found myself unable to steer my wheels, the instrument panel listed "loss of navigation systems" and in red 'loss steering control stop safely'. the car has had a single owner, never involved in any high impact collision, was driven mainly in urban areas, only 58,813 miles, purchased directly from the dealership. i had only 6 miles on the speedometer when i took ownership of the car.

Steering inoperable during driving. 41000 miles, vehicle had difficulty starting at 6pm est. 30 minutes prior to failure, vehicle was washed and taken to a gas station to fill up. upon leaving filling station car would not start until after 15 minutes. steering was very laborious to turn steering wheel to make a left or right (unable to move steering wheel more than 1/4 of inch in either direction). speed limit was 40 mph on local road and 15 minutes of drive time. tow truck was necessary to move vehicle as operator couldn't turn and stop operation to avoid fatality. no previous indication in vehicle symptom notice until failure occurred.

Total failure of steering no warning. driving i-26 turned off to get gas without warning total loss of steering.

While driving 30 mph coming up on a left hand turn my power steering went out, the advance trac light came on and the stability light also came on making it really hard to make the turn. luckily there was no cars turning on my right allowing me to use up both lanes. i was able to pull to the side of the road turning it off for a couple of minutes while i looked to see if i had turned something off. i started it and everything was fine as before.

1st. steering needs service warnings, took to dealer they could not replicate message and get a computer code, 3 days in the shop. 2nd power steering completely went out while driving on the highway, difficult to steer & make turns, got it to the dealer they saw the problem, however, after turning off car they could not replicate and get a computer code, could not get approval from ford to repair. 10 days in shop this time, picked up & not repaired. told to return when happens again, now driving an unsafe car. dealer helpful, furnished rental car, no approval from ford co. for warranty repairs with out computer codes, maybe something is wrong with the computer also!

At least on four occasions (first time in september 2015 in florida), while driving (on highway & city streets) , suddenly lost power steering. had warnings and icons displayed including "service advance trac" and "steering assist fault." vehicle was difficult to maneuver. upon turning vehicle off then on, messages were extinguished and power steering was restored. this presents a dangerous situation for the driver.

While driving at highway speeds, suddenly lost power steering. had warnings and icons displayed including "service advance trac" and "steering assist fault." vehicle was difficult to maneuver but was able to exit highway and pull into parking lot. upon turning vehicle off then on, messages were extinguished and power steering was restored. needless to say, this presented a dangerous situation especially being caught off guard.

April 23 - backing out of a parking space a power steering fault message flashed on the screen, there was no change in the steering of the vehicle at the time. april 26 - same message appears while driving down the interstate, when backing into a parking spot the steering completely locked up, two other messages appeared on the screen at this time. pictures are included. vehicle was taken to the dealership the following morning. they concluded that the steering control module needed to be replaced, and that the issue was resolved. picked the vehicle up on may 2. june 2 - the same power steering fault message showed up again while driving on a neighborhood street. the same messages as before plus one more (terrain management failure) appeared on the screen when turning left on a rural road and the steering locked completely again. vehicle was returned to the dealership the following morning. the vehicle has been at the dealership for 9 business days at this time. no progress has been made. they say the problem can not be duplicated, even though the vehicle diagnostic and photos of the messages were provided. the diagnostic stated, "urgent service required." the ford hotline is unwilling to make any repairs unless the problem can be duplicated while in the dealerships possession. meanwhile i am currently making payments on this vehicle. the vehicle has been in my possession for 9 months and has 10,300 miles on it. i was told i have a rental for 1 week, regardless of whether the problem is resolved or not.

There is a popping noise when turning the vehicle's steering wheel from left to right while parked or maneuvering to make adjustments. also, while driving and turning left, the vehicle's steering locks and i have to snatch the steering wheel to the right in order to get the vehicle to go straight. this has happened on several occasions and i took it to the dealer on may 17th and they're in the process of replacing the steering gear or what the service advisor told me was known as the rack and pinion. my vehicle has less than 30,000 miles and i haven't run into anything or over anything to cause this problem. according to the service advisor the manufacturer's warranty covers the replacement, however, i'm stuck with having to drive a rental at my expense because of a defect from the manufacturer. i noticed there were other owners who had problems with the steering and they experienced failure that led to their wheel assembly coming off while driving. this is concerning because according to ford, i have no recalls specific to my vin number, but this problem seems to be more widespread and ford motor co. should be proactive in addressing this issue before someone gets killed.

While driving 35 mph on straight on major arterial street lost power steering control. steering wheel immediately became extremely stiff and i struggled to pull to right hand lane and was barely able to pull over onto side road. three warning messages showed up on dash board, "service advance trac", "steering assist fault service required" & car icon with trac swirls trailing car and "off". photos attached. turned car off, restarted and same dash board images appeared. took to dealership for repair. dealership tested and said could not duplicate response. documentation attached. dealership gave rvc # and dealership contacted ford hotline assist. no repair made. advised to return if problem occurs again.

On two separate occasions, one on surface street 35mph - 3/2/16 and one on freeway 65mph - 4/6/16 my power steering has stopped working completely.

Very loud popping sound occurs when turning vehicle to the right and loose steering control felt momentarily while car is in motion. most noticeable at slower speeds. diagnosed as steering gear assembly has to be replaced. this was within 42,000 miles (just after expiration of warranty). vehicle has electronic driver assist and has a 3.2 liter engine. .

Exhaust fumes in cabin as well as a popping noise when i turn left and felt like power steering was going out. popping can happen while stationary or moving. exhaust fumes in cabin when you accelerate. has been happening since i've owned the car. dealership (ford) can not duplicate either. purchased new tires last year and since that day, the suv has a consistent vibration. they (dealership) ford can not duplicate the issue. i was told today, the exhaust fumes only relate to the police suv's. i've reported this since i've had the car....

I was driving the vehicle when i experienced a sudden loss of power steering. the power steering loss was permanent and did not recover. drove vehicle to dealership for repair.

Lost all power steering and vehicle was almost impossible to steer. ford dealer replaced electronic power steering rack.

Upon starting vehicle steering system was unresponsive and a warning notice "service advance track" appeared on dash. dealer had vehicle for several days and could not duplicate malfunction. returned without repair. fault recurred after approximately one week and dealer again could not duplicate fault. replaced one element of electronic steering system and returned vehicle as repaired. fault recurred a third time and a different dealer service department replaced a second element of the electronic steering system and claimed issue was resolved. fault continues to recur without notice and vehicle is unreliable. problem has been reported to ford customer relationship center on several occasions but response has been very limited.

Ford motor co. and worthington ford of long beach, ca are selling vehicles with damaged/defective steering and refusing to fix the defect(s). 1/25/2015 purchased ford explorer (8 miles on vehicle); day after purchase, 1/26/2015, noticed problem with steering, parked vehicle, would not drive or let wife drive. returned vehicle immediately to dealer via armstrong towing (flatbed) for repairs/evaluation. worthington ford of long beach: [xxx] all accused me of causing the damage; said it isn't under warranty service and wanted to charge me $600.00 to fix the damaged steering. they all refused, including [xxx], service mgr., to give me a written work order/invoice when vehicle was picked up 1/30/2015. vehicle is remains in an unsafe condition. do not know full extent of damage caused by ford motor co. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr