general problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer - part 2

Purchased a used 2013 Ford Explorer XLT with 127,158 miles on it. Drove it for 5 days without problems. On day 6, I drove the car on the freeway for 73-miles. At 127,400 miles I stopped at a burger joint for 35-minutes before resuming my drive to my destination, several warning messages appeared on the information screen when I started the car again. 1)service power steering now. 2) terrain management system failure. 3)service advancetrac. The power steering was dead from that point on. The car was drivable but it took great effort to turn the steering wheel when the car wasn't moving or when making anything more than gradual turns. A search for this problem says that the electric power assisted steering (epas) has died. There was a huge recall to address this problem, but my VIN# is, sadly, not included in that recall. This means that all epas units can be faulty, not just the ones built at the chicago assembly plant from may 17, 2010 to February 28, 2012. (the identified units of the recall).

The "door ajar" sensor on many Ford products is defective and causes the door ajar light to come on even when the doors are closed. This also causes the interior dome lights to remain on at night and will not allow the doors to be locked while operating the vehicle. It is dangerous not being able to lock the doors as children could open the doors accidentally and fall out. It is also dangerous having the interior dome lights remain on while driving at night. Ford knows about this problem as when I took the vehicle in for repairs, they acknowledged a service bulletin is available about the problem. Because of the safety issues involved, there should be a recall on the door ajar. Battery drains quickly after getting new on within a year. Brakes also continues squeaks after getting them fixed.

Began experiencing some light binding in steering while driving highway speed. Exercised the steering back a forth a little. Advancetrac stability control was turned off by the vehicle control system and steering service warning appeared on the dash. Vehicle became difficult to steer. Vehicles from my model year were recalled for steering gear failure (14s06), but my vehicle was manufactured after the relevant date. Ford is making me pay for the repair (new steering rack) for $1520 (parts and labor).

While driving down a city street my vehicle lurched and the terrain management system fault light and orange wrench light came on. It wouldn't accelerate and I lost my power steering. I was able to coast to side of the road. I shut it off and waiter for about a minute then restarted it. It idled rough for a few seconds then smoothed out and I was able to make it home.

I was backing up from parking spot in a city garage and when I place the car in drive my power assisted steering (epas) failed. I got the power steering fault error, advancetrac error and terrain management error. The car was too difficult to manually steer actually nearly impossible. It took almost 1 hour and 2 grown big men to manually steer it out of the garage so that it could be put onto a flat bed tow truck. Ford claims that my VIN# number is not part of the recall (14s06) for this issue. The dealership that I had it towed to has quoted me around $2,000 to replace the steering rack. This is definitely a safety hazard and Ford need to takes responsibility and correct this issue.

While driving on a highway, my steering began to feel tighter and tighter, with the wheel harder to turn. Soon it began to require a "push" to make the movement of the wheel begin. I pulled off the highway and the dash alerts came on. One said, "service power steering now" and one indicated that the traction control function was off. The manual said I should shut off the engine and it would reset these. Instead, the steering locked entirely. No dealers were still open the night before thanksgiving, so I took the vehicle to a shop I've used. They didn't have the computer hookups necessary so I towed it again to another shop. They "cleared" the codes, and found the vehicle did not misfunction again. They alerted me to the recall, Ford's #14s06 this recall included explores made between may of 2010 and februaryl28, 2013. My Explorer was made very soon thereafter, within days, in fact. Given that timing and the facts that indicate that my vehicle suffered the same defects the recall addresses, I feel my vehicle repair should be covered by Ford motor company. Ford motor company and the local dealer advise me that since my vehicle is not within the parameters of the recall, there is nothing they can do for me. I hereby submit my petition for an NHTSA investigation into whether Ford has met it's obligations in this matter. I hereby request the recall management division of the NHTSA to ensure that the scope of the recall [Ford #14s06] is adequate. I feel the scope fell short, in my case, by a few days, leaving my vehicle dangerously unprotected. I cannot repair this defect myself. There is no diagnosis available for me. The defect may be in the sensor, or in the power steering control module, or in the steering "rack". The local Ford dealer advises me that there are no "racks" available at this time anywhere. The NHTSA is my only hope.

I have a 2013 Explorer sport which I purchased new from the dealer 2 months ago. On the morning of 8/15/2013 I was turning left into a parking lot after coming to a complete stop on a road, going less than 10mph. As I accelerated and turned my wheel left the power steering failed completely making it almost impossible to turn the wheel and the warning lights on the dash came on for the advancetrac and the stability control. I was able to steer the vehicle into a parking spot and put it in park. I turned the vehicle off, waited a minute or two and turned it back on without resolution of the symptoms. I looked up the warning lights in the owners manual and it said to have it serviced immediately. I had my Explorer towed to the closest Ford dealer. The dealership states that they have driven the vehicle over 100 miles in the past week and a half without those problems occurring again. I've read several articles about faulty epas systems, none from 2013 Explorers yet. The Ford engineers have told the dealership to return the vehicle to me and 'see if it happens again'. I asked the dealership to put another 200 miles or so on the vehicle to see if the problem occurs again while I seek information from Ford.

Driving vehicle and cross traffic system failure turns on, advancetrac system failure, stability control failure and traction control failure occur. Vehicle begins to decelerate and transmission goes from an illuminated "d" to blank. Very hard to maneuver vehicle. Vehicle struggles to gain speed afterwards. The only resolution I have found is to pull over if possible and turn on vehicle and restart. This has happened 4 times in the past two weeks.

I have been complaining of a suspension issue since I had purchased this vehicle in 2013. I am being told there want be a recall until someone dies. I even tried to have it fixed under warranty but suspension are not covered according to Ford dealers.

I experienced a loss of power steering while driving, as well as stability control, traction control, and terrain management systems errors. I was stopped at an intersection waiting to make a left turn. Once I started moving to make the turn (@ 5 mph), a number of beeps went off, warnings were displayed on the vehicle information screen, and I lost power steering. After pulling over to the side of the road with no power steering, I turned off the car and then restarted. At this point the power steering was working, but the traction control and terrain management errors were still happening. After a minute, the traction control light went off. There was still an error with the terrain management. After getting home safely 90 minutes later, I restarted it again, and all systems seemed to be working, with no errors reported.