Lose Power Steering problems of the 2011 Ford Explorer - part 2

Power steering failure on 2011 Ford Explorer while traveling in neighborhood. Started the vehicle with remote start to cool vehicle in hot, humid houston, texas about 3 to 4 minutes before entering it. We drove 1. 2 miles to an acquaintance's residence to CO-sign a check for non-profit payment. Left vehicle running for +/- 3 minutes in his driveway. Backed out of his driveway and drove 1/2 mile when lost power steering and noticed two messages on the dash. One showed "power steering assist fault" and other "service auto tracking". Stopped on the street, shut off engine, and restarted the car. No message. Drove 1/4 and the event recurred as described. Returned home and parked car at our personal residence. Called russell & smith Ford service department at 5:03pm and left message. Suspect it is after hours and will not hear from them until morning of July 26, 2012. The message is not in owner's manual. Searched the internet and noticed NHTSA investigation and chose to contribute and provide contact information.

I was making a right turn onto a service drive to go on the expressway. As I was completing the turn I lost the power steering & the car started to decelerate. I got 2 messages on the dashboard, the only one I paid attention to was "service advance track", I think the 2nd message was about a loss of power steering. If it was, it was because of the advance track breaking. I was able to pull over to the side of the road & stop the car. Shutting the car off & restarting did nothing to clear the problem. When I looked up advance track in the owner's manual it explicitly said if the advance track broke the car would decelerate & power steering would be lost & the car would need to be towed, it should not be driven if this happened. I then called the dealer & was told I would need to have the car towed in. When I called the next day I was told the part had been ordered & should be in on wed & then it would be installed. When I called on wed I was told the part was on a 2 week national backorder; which meant the part would not be in until Aug 9. It is now Aug 20 & the part has still not been received, I have no idea when the dealer expects delivery. The dealer has been very good about it & I am driving a rental car, paid for by Ford, until the repair is complete. Earlier in the year I had another problem with the throttle boot needing to be replaced & I wonder now if the 2 problems are related.

Driving at 35mph when a beep and notification popped up in the instrument panel. I received a warning for "power steering assist fault" and had a "service advance trac" warning. I lost power steering to the vehicle, which was very difficult to pull off of the road in traffic. I also lost the terrain management system function. After turning off the ignition and re-starting the engine, the warning went away and I regained power steering. This problem has happened 3 more times before taking it in. The dealership reprogrammed the computer. This sequence happened again after the reprogram, and the replaced my steering angle sensor and reprogrammed again. I had two more failures after this was done and the vehicle is back at the dealership today.

While driving my vehicle it lost power steering assist system showed "power steering assist failure" as well as "service traction control". This was the scariest feeling I have ever had. This has happen to my husband several times. . I immediately called my local Ford dealership spoke with service advisor. I was told to turn my vehicle off and restart it. I advised my service advisor that I had taken my vehicle in for service on April 30, 2012 (40197 miles) and I mention this same problem for repair. What is it going to take for Ford to realize that this is a serious, serious problem. I am afraid for my family to be in this car, we travel alot and I am refusing to drive it. I was afraid of purchasing an american car but loved the new Ford Explorer look and body. However, I don't think I'll ever purchase another Ford vehicle and I will trade this car ASAP. . . . . . . .

A warning light came on while I was making a right turn. The steering wheel became hard turn, the first time I was able to get the truck to the curb and restart the truck. That seemed to make the light go away and I was able to make turns with ease. The other time the I lost my power steering, I was traveling on the highway on my way home from work traffic was heavy, it was a struggle to get to the breakdown from the left lane. I was able to avoid some close calls that day. I have lost the power steering several other times before, but that incident made me set up the truck for service. I made my call on 7/20/12 for a 7/28/12 service, the Ford service center customer rep. Told me the part is back order and they don't know they will have the part in stock, also they kept the truck and gave a Ford focus to drive. Not good considering I use my truck for work.

While in operation vehicle lost power steering assist. Steering became extremely difficult. Warning message "power steering assist failure" followed by "service traction control " light are displayed. Shutting off vehicle and restart temporarily cleared the failure. Failed more than once.

Driving on a mountain road, 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 the side of the road and shut it 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 (benson Ford easley SC). They found problem codes and performed a software update that Ford told them would correct the problem. One month later, on 6/18/2012, the power steering assist again failed. This time in my driveway. Again the steering assist returned after restarting the car. Took the vehicle again to benson Ford. Trouble codes were found and this time the fix was a new steering gear and rack assembly. Availability of the part was initially a problem but the dealer was able to locate a part two days later. The car has not had a recurrence to date ( 20125 miles) I consider this a serious safety issue as the effort required to steer the car without the assist is extreme and likely beyond the ability of some drivers.

While slowing for a stop light, I felt a clunk in the steering column and then my 2011 Explorer lost power steering. I slowed and turned (with all my strength) to stop on a side street. The "power assist failure" light was on as well as the little traction control cars on the lower right of the display screen. The lights on the 4-wheel drive center-console did not work either. A message also appeared to service advancetrac immediately. I turned the car off and called for assistance. Then started it up to drive to the local Ford dealer. Of course, then the vehicle reset everything and the power steering was restored. The Ford dealer could not detect any error messages during their computer check-up. They said if it happens again, don't turn the car off so they can run a check-up on it while the power steering is not working. So now I am praying every time I drive it.

Ford Explorer 2011 has lost power steering and stability control at various speeds under various conditions 3 or 4 times over the past several months, including on the highway at 65 miles per hour. Steering is restored after shutting the car off and restarting. Stability controls may take several minutes to restore themselves or may need to have the car turned on and off several times to restore.