general problems of the 2012 Ford Explorer - part 1

Total loss of electric power steering assistance while driving on the interstate.

My vehicles power steering alert came on suddenly while driving home. My cars steering wheel completely locked up while I had my children in my vehicle. It was very scary knowing we could have been in a wreck due to this issue. It’s. Not under recall but under the customer satisfaction program but I do not have funds to cover this. No dealership near me is able to tow and a tow would be a lot for me. I had a family friend tow us when my steering went out in town but was still charged an arm. I need this looked at because there’s been recalls for this before. My families lives were put at risk and that’s completely unacceptable.

Back-up camera will display images backward and poses a collision hazard as driver won’t know which direction cars or pedestrians are coming from.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving 70 mph in the passing lane, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated while the driver was decelerating, the vehicle started shuddering significantly. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated, and a message advising of a power steering failure and to service the vehicle immediately was displayed. The tail lights and the hazard lights became inoperable. The driver was able to pull to the side of the road. The driver was able to continue driving at a lower speed. The contact stated that his daughter and his [xxx] grandchild were passengers in the vehicle during the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was uncontrollable while driving at higher speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the power steering gear motor and an unknown parts needed to be replaced. The contact related the failure to Ford campaign number: 15n01; however, the dealer informed the contact that the manufacturer declined to cover the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was unknown. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

There is a recall on the trim. There are no replacement parts and now there is a tiny leak, the leak is hitting the center console. I have to have a plastic bag over it at all times. It at one point leaked into the hazards lights and I woke up multiple days in a row to find my hazards on and then I had to manually dry it and eventually they'd go back on . Other buttons on the display have stopped working. The fan for the heater will not turn off at all ever.

Hello I’m a concerned citizen and I have a question about the Ford recall on the back up cameras, I have 2012 Explorer and my camera has been acting up for a while the same way that Ford has mentioned, so I was wondering why isn’t the Explorer not included in this recall.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after receiving a map update on the main control panel, the display screen immediately blacked out. The contact stated that when updating the ati system map, the main control panel screen completely blacked out. The contact was unable to use any of the electrical systems including the back over prevention camera. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and it was diagnosed that the ati system had failed due to the map update. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000.

Sometimes putting it in reverse the rear camera doesn’t come on. Have to wait sometimes a minute before camera will come on. It doesn’t happen all the time. I read that Ford is having problems and has a recall on some vehicles but my year doesn’t show up.

We were driving along when all of a sudden power steering completely went out and then warning lights came on for first time. There was no warning until already happened. We were in middle of traffic and almost impossible to get to side of road. Almost got slammed by other vehicle trying to get to side of road. Had to tow car to shop and found out electric power steering component failed and have to replace rack and pinion for thousands of dollars. There was a recall for this problem but we were never notified.

The part that is needed for the SUV to work called the body module chip is not made by Ford anymore and I am still paying on this vehicle.

While I was driving the service advance trac light came on as well I stopped the car turned the key off went to leave and another light popped up in red saying service power steering now. There was a csp called the epas efforts on my vehicle and Ford dealer said it had been fixed in 2014 but I didn’t own the car so I’m not sure if it was.

While driving down the middle of a busy interstate suddenly the power steering was lost and a power steering assist warning appeared. Vehicle was almost impossible to control with no steering. After making it off the roadway and into a local business and turning the car off, when I turned it back on the warning was gone and the steering worked normally. This is definitely a life threatening failure and it happens without warning.

The contact's wife owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his wife was driving, on at least three occasions, the steering wheel became very stiff. The contact's wife was not able to turn the steering wheel, so the vehicle was stopped and restarted each time. The contact stated that an unknown message was displayed, and the power steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where dtc: u3000 was retrieved, and the tech was asked to check for bad connections. The failure was not duplicated, and the vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to a second dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the ground wire had corrosion around the grounding bolts and that the bolts needed to be cleaned a reinstalled. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 111,000.

The truck has been in shop 5 times or actually 5 different dealerships. The recall has yet to be fixed but I continually pay to have the problem investigated. The dash flashes loss of fuel pressure, service advance track soon, battery level and mechanic wrench . I have this on video as it is constant occurrence. Each time Ford takes it in they can't make the issue happen or recreat it. As told several times happens sporadic and not under any certain conditions. Over and over paying diagnostic fee and what they say will repair the issue only it happens pulling off the lot at 5 star Ford dallas texas took it in under default to bob tomas mckinney where they scanned it and found 17 communication errors left it there nothing was done but more exploration of issues going down the list of com failures and paying for each 3 anyway and it did it again leaving me stranded 3 times to count eventually leaving at don davis Ford arlington texas where it was again said repaired and is currently at planet Ford dallas where historically I paid $2850 and nothing was done as it again left me stranded and towed there where it can sit until it's fixed meaning this loss of horsepower the electric flashes and the gears in transmission actually function as per requested each time in service.

Service advancetrac warning light illuminated, power steering fail. . . Second time this happened around the same time last year. Also, right and left turn signals do not stay on while turning.

Display failure due to acm and apim module failure. Vehicle left without backup camera, no phone connectivity, no heat/ac control, no navigation.

My steering when driving at low speeds is really tight as if my power steering is not working. There is no warning for it and it does not happen non stop it will go away but when it does happen it's random and that can cause a lot of issues if I'm during a sharp corner. I have 2 kids I transport and working 5 days a week to meet clients. This is my only vehicle and have nothing else I can drive.

Abs trac light came on while driving car was taken to the dealership twice to fix the problem but Ford wasn't able to find the problem. I know there is a problem with the Ford focus abs module due to recalls and I think on the Ford explore but Ford isn't saying anything about this problem with the abs module.

Tl- the contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was driving and making a left turn, when the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated service traction control and power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to his residence. The vehicle was taken to local dealer hertrich Ford of easton located at 9617 ocean gateway, easton, MD 21601, (410) 822-2900, where it was diagnosed with needing rack and pinion to be replaced. The vehicle had been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of failure. The failure mileage was 151,977. Dp.

My truck burst into flames 🔥 and burn to the ground while parked in the drive way.

The power electric power steering assist, the power steering, my blinkers, all went out when my gear box did. For the second time. Ford has recalls on these parts but not for my VIN number.

When engine is started, the airbag lights go off but come back on and stays on. This started a month ago and the warning light still switches on when the car is started.

Power steering default activates which cause you to use extreme force to navigate the wheel and there is a popping noise in front of vehicle. All while driving and sitting still.

Water is leaking from the roof that causes electrical issues. Bad design by Ford in which seal seams not properly installed, which cause leaks inside vehicle.

Lost communication with the climate control system. The windows lock up, and the car blows constant heat through defrost. No hazards can be used as the entire control panel is out. Very unsafe without hazards, let alone full blown heat when its already . 105 outside with the heat index.

Power steering fault. The power steering just stopped work while I was driving with now warming until it was completely inoperable. I nearly crashed it to an on coming car in the parking lot of my gym. I notice there was a recall for this make and model but when I did a VIN search my truck was not registering a recall.

2012 Ford Explorer XLT 4w. The terrain management system fault light came on and car went immediately into limp mode on a major road. There was no warning and was almost rear ended. Took to dealer oct. 1 and they kept it two days. The dealer said they could not find a code. Dealer said it is fixed by updating and calibrating the abs system. It was not fixed. . Oct 13 same light went on and car immediately into limp mode on expressway. Nearly caused accident because car immediately slowed down and would not go more than 5mph in limp mode. You loose complete control of the transmission and throttle. There are 53+ cases with this problem on the internet just this year. . Read more...

Front passenger seat pretensioner has failed causing the airbag light to come on. A technical service bulletin has been created on Ford's end blaming the connect. See TSB 12-5-11. It tells the mechanic to inject dielectric grease as a fix.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. While driving 7 mph, a grinding metal sound was heard and the vehicle stopped. The contact shut off the vehicle and restarted it, but it would not engage into gear. The contact had the vehicle towed to his personal auto mechanic and was informed that the passenger side axle mount fractured. The technician replaced the passenger side axle mount. While test driving the vehicle after the repair, the contact noticed that the instrument panel lighting, including the wrench icon, the service advance track indicator, and the cross traffic system fault indicator illuminated. The mechanic stated that the vehicle would have to be taken to the dealer to be reprogrammed so the instrument panel lighting would dim. The contact took the vehicle to helfman Ford (12220 southwest fwy, stafford, TX 77477) to be reprogrammed. There were no recall for the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 74,000.

The control panel that shows the rear backing and then switches to controlling temperature, radio, seats, etc has failed. There is no backing assist or any controls for interior functions. The feature stopped when in motion and hasn't come back on since.

After starting the car while parked the 'service advance trac" warning came on. After driving approx. 100 feet the warning went away. There was a slight hardness in the steering at this time. That went away when the warning went away. This occurred on Nov. 10, 2017. The second problem occurred on Nov. 23, 2017. While parked overnight and all day in our garage I started the car and the "power steering assist fault'' warning came on. I could not turn the steering wheel at all. I turned off the engine and within 10 to 15 seconds I started the car again. No warning came on and the power steering worked o. K. I started the car again this morning and no warning or problem.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. While driving various speeds with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle stalled and the oil pressure and power train wrench warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was unable to start on the first attempt. The failure recurred over three times. The contact noticed the failure after she depressed the accelerator pedal after a complete stop. The local dealer (gulf coast Ford, n, 3000 state hwy 288, angleton,TX, 77515) was contacted scheduled an appointment for two days later. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 155,000.

The car has water leaks, I started having problems with electrical function and fear of fire or contact in my car .

I was driving on an intersection that dashboard lights started flickering and the car indicated check manual and orange wrench came out. . . And all of the sudden car stop & I tried starting it but it would it was in the middle of nowhere. . . I was on 342 n. San fernando rd. , los angeles, CA 90031 around 2:00 pm.

Drove about 2 miles in the morning while turning onto the interstate ramp the steering locked up would not go over 30mph, SUV started to smoke while the temperature gauge never changed inside of the vehicle. Lucky to not have caused a major accident. After having vehicle towed, per the mechanic the computer system is fried, motor valves melted, and all spark plugs need to be replaced. This SUV is only a 2012 and should not have this major of problems when it has been well taken care of. Ford really needs to look further into this so this does not happen to someone else.