Power Steering Light On problems of the 2011 Ford Explorer - part 2

Tl-the contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while stopped, the traction control and power steering warning lights illuminated. The contact turned on vehicle and the power steering assist failed. The contact had to turn the vehicle off and restart in order to resolve failure momentarily however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection but the technicians were unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,000. The current mileage was 27,000. Kmj.

Started parked Explorer and went to back up. The power assist steering fault light came on at the same time as the service advance trac light. I was unable to turn the vehicle at all. Tried backing up and going forward but the steering wheel would not move. Next I shut the engine off and turned it back on. The failure lights would not clear and the steering was still locked. Called our local Ford dealer and they me try restarting several times. Eventually the process worked and the steering came back. Dealer advised to bring the vehicle in right away. Local dealer provided a rental car. Dealer called the next day and said our Explorer was not safe to drive. Dealer ordered replacement steering rack. Projected date for replacement part is November 9. Our dealer has been great. I am not sure even when the car is repaired will I trust it.

Power steering failure when driving at speeds of 10-15 miles per hour. The power steering locked up without warning and then the power steering fault light came on. I was able to pull over to the side of the road with but with great difficulty. I shut the vehicle off and immediately turned the vehicle back on and the power steering did not return. I shut the vehicle off a second time and let it sit for 60 seconds and the second time the power steering returned. Two days later when driving in a parking lot the power steering went out again, I shut the vehicle off and restarted it after 60 seconds and the power steering came back on.

Tl- the contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that when she started the vehicle, the power steering failed. The contact stated that the power steering fault light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact restarted the vehicle and the vehicle functioned properly. The contact also stated that while making an attempt to make a left turn, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and they stated that the rack assembly needed to be replaced. The the vehicle repaired and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified that she would have to wait for the part to come in. The failure mileage was 18,000. The VIN was unavailable. Ap.

While parked with the vehicle running, the steering assist fault light came on and the steering locked up. I was not able to turn the wheel. I restarted the engine and it worked fine. I am concerned that this will happen while I am driving.

On July 4, 2012, was driving on the highway getting ready to exit in about 100 yards, as I was decreasing speed I heard and felt a light bang, the car seemed to surge like it was the transmission and brakes were pulsating, and had no power steering. Car pulled severely to the right almost hitting the guard rail, could not steer. Jammed on breaks, fortunately in the slow lane, and pulled over. Power steering light and hill descent control fault came on, shut the car off and turned it back on power steering then worked but the traction control light on center console did not work until the next day when I took it to the dealer. Dealer kept car for 2 days, returned it to me with no found no fault. On Sunday, July 22, 2012, the same thing happened at 30 mph, felt the car jump forward then the power steering assist light and hill descent light came on as well as another light (I took pics of the error messages). This time when I pulled over and restarted it, it did not work, let the car sit for 15 minutes still did not work, called the towline and no answer, so drove the car 3 miles to home with no power steering or traction control. Next day called dealer called dealer, and they said they could not take me in for another week, also stated they never heard of these issues, so I googled and found this website where other people are having the same problems. The traction control has happened numerous times (at least 10) and the power steering twice within 18 days.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who ran a diagnostic test and could not duplicate the failure. The dealer repaired the steering rack. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,000.

Warning light for terrain management come on. Then power steering fault light came on. In a split second I realized I had no control over the vehicle. I hit the brakes and came to a stop taking all my strength to turn the wheel as hard as I could to get safely off the highway. Very dangerous situation if I would have been on a curve or interstate.

While coming back to work from lunch, my wife was turning left into parking lot when the power steering assist fault light came on and steering became very stiff and hard to turn. Local Ford dealership picked up the car and kept for a week but could not duplicate the problem, so Ford would not let them fix the problem. Got the car back on Friday June 1, 2012 and drove the car as usual. Monday, June 4, 2012 on the way back to work from lunch, driving 40 mph, the power steering assist fault light came on and steering again became very stiff and hard to turn. Is it going to take a tragic accident from this apparent problem before Ford does anything. I am asking the NHTSA to please begin an investigation into this problem before my family or another family is seriously injured from this problem.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the power steering failed and the steering wheel became extremely difficult to steer. The power steering warning light illuminated and a warning bell sounded during the failure. The contact shut the vehicle off and upon restart, the vehicle operated as normal. The failure had since recurred once. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they were in the process of repairing the steering system. The contact was informed that they were awaiting the availability of parts. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was 13,000.

While traveling downtown columbia at approximately 15 mph, my service tracking default light comes on and then power steering default light comes on, my steering wheel completely locks up, luckily, I was not making a turn at the time I would have nailed another car or a person, I immediately turned off the car and restarted it, power steering began to work but the service tracking default light came back on. I am very worried to put my two children in this car now, dealership is having me bring in the vehicle tomorrow and I am seriously considering buying an extended warranty on this car, I have had Explorers in the past and never had a problem, but I don't know that I will buy another one after the issues with this car. This is a very serious issue, Ford needs to get off their butts and get this fixed, someone could seriously get hurt. Serious law suit waiting to happen.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the power steering randomly failed. In addition, the power steering fault light illuminated on the instrument panel followed by the illumination of the service advance track warning light. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer could not determine what was causing the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was unknown, but the current mileage was 20,000.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the power steering warning light illuminated while driving and caused the steering to become hard to turn. The engine had to be shut off for a moment to reset the steering to normal function. The failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer a diagnostic was performed that located the failure at the steering column. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 6,000 and the current mileage was 7,000.

2011 Ford Explorer was parked. Started car and power steering failure light came on alarms sounding and steering wheel was locked, yet car would back up . . . Straight. Prior to this incident when car was stopped at a light it seemed to have a transmission slip or jump. After waiting for an hour for tow truck the Explorer started fine and steering seemed to work. Too nervous to drive. Car was towed to Ford dealer.

2nd time it happens first time while driving at 40 mph or above the steering light came on and the SUV was unable to steer , pull over and turn car and re started and gain steering took car to the dealer reset the light and was told it was ok . At 5000 miles it happen again but this time it happens while trying to get off the highway light came on and steering wheel got hard . This time unable to drive it tow home . Talk to Ford and was told to take it to the dealer and we look in to it but , I think is not normal for a car not to have a safety back up plan when this fail . And very unsafe know it could happen any time with no warning . Even if Ford claim it will fix it . What will prevent from this happening at a very odd time and it may cause lots of injury. They said it does not have enough complaint for them to look in to this . But I said 1 complaint with multiple occurrence should be enough for the to at least pay attention or look in to a safety plan in case it does fail.

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the power steering failed while driving approximately 5 mph. The power steering light illuminated while the failure occurred. The steering became hard to turn to the left or right and once the vehicle was shut off and restarted, the steering return to normal function. The failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed but the vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 14,000 and the current mileage was 14,100.