Steering Failed problems of the 2017 Ford Explorer

The vehicle has 34,450 miles on it and was purchased oct 1 2016 but is a 2017 model. The steering failed on October 13th while I was in estes park colorado. The vehicle had several issues just prior to the failure with a warning the traction control had stopped working followed by a hill start assist failure and the steering loss stop safely. I've attached pictures of the warnings. This failure occurred 14 days after the 36 month warranty ended. Thankfully I had parked the vehicle just prior to the steering failing as I would have been driving down a potentially dangerous mountain canyon within the next 10 minutes. The Ford dealer thus far has refused to cover the repair to this known issue which is a serious safety issue.

While driving 60 mph my steering wheel seized completely, a bell started ringing, and an indicator light on my dashboard started flashing that steering failed. Please park safely. There was no warning and my car had been working perfectly before this happened. This caused serious threat of collision and grave bodily damage/death.

Intermittent steering binding condition at slow turns mainly during hot weather. This binding issue was difficult to recreate and eventually the dealer was able to create this after a lengthy (30 minute) road test in 80+ degree weather. The binding issue was a result of an internal steering gear failure. The part # hb5z-3504-z was finally replaced this year after we had the vehicle in to the dealer multiple times since late 2017 when the vehicle had approximately 25,000 miles on it. Vehicle now has 67,000 miles. The binding issue occurred at speeds ranging mainly between 40 mph to 75 mph with and without driving assistance features enabled. Binding issue occurred both to the left and right directions on gradual turns or when changing lanes on the highway at higher speeds. The steering wheel would stick in the turned position and not return to the center on its own unless tugged out of what felt like a detent (notch). This took a long time to get it fixed because the dealership would not work on the car since they could not re-create the problem on short test drives. The intermittent nature of the steering issue and need for longer drives and hot weather conditions made it difficult to recreate.

2017 Ford Explorer. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle alert gauge message center displays failure of collision warning system, tracking control system and steering system. Attempts to replace/repair sensor and steering column fails. The dealer informed the consumer a sensor was replaced. Two days later, the dealer called the consumer and informed him the vehicle needed to be reprogrammed and steering column needed to be replaced.