The steering power assist fault was lite up and then I lost all steering and all I could do was turn my flashers on to avoid being hit and drive off to the side of the road.

- Rapid City, SD, USA

This is the fourth time that it has happened to me. I have been driving down the street, when the car completely loses all power, cannot turn the wheel, cannot accelerate at all and you are completely unable to move the car. I have taken the car in every time to be serviced, they say that the computer shows that nothing is wrong, no codes show up. This past time I was 1 foot over train tracks when the car died. An oncoming train passed before I had time to restart my car. This could have been fatal and if my children where in the car I would never have been able to get them out of the car. It has happened at an intersection and driving 40 mph down a busy street, happened taking a left turn on a busy street. There are no warnings that it is about to happen. It literally just stops working. This is a serious and very dangerous defect on this car that needs to be addressed before a family is killed.

- Medford, MA, USA

Driving around a curve and the steering locked up. We swerved into the other lane and luckily didn't get hit. The power steering assist fault notification came on.

- Greenwell Springs, LA, USA

I was driving on a major street during heavy afternoon traffic. The steering became extremely difficult and I could barely turn the wheel. The warning lights for advanced traction failure and power steering assist fault came on. I also noticed the terrain management control was no longer illuminated. I tried to turn off the road into the driveway but it was extremely difficult. I am a reasonably strong adult woman and had to use all my strength to turn the wheel even slightly while slowly moving. When I managed to get the car into a safe place I put the car in park and turned it off. When the car was started again, it returned to normal and I was able to drive it. Three days later, the same thing happened with another driver while I was a passenger. The older male driver had similar difficulty steering and turning the vehicle. I took the vehicle to the Ford dealership for service. They repaired the rack and pinion steering for an estimated cost of over $2000. The mileage on the vehicle was approximately 36,400 miles so about 400 miles past the warranty. We were able to get Ford to reduce the cost to approximately $750, some of which was for the alignment that was necessary following the repair. This incident could have been far worse with devastating results. I am a mom and girl scout leader and Transport children frequently throughout the day. At the time of the incident I had 4 children in my vehicle.

- Frisco, TX, USA

I was driving in the highway approximately 65 mph, all of the sudden the "powersteering assist failure" message popped up. I exited the highway but had a very difficult time turning the steering wheel. I turned the vehicle off and then restarted it again; the steering wheel went back to normal. This is a very dangerous issue; I have children and depend on my vehicle daily.

- Dallas, TX, USA

While driving the power steering shut down along with the traction control.

- Spartanburg, SC, USA

Lost steering assist during turn into driveway. It was extremely difficult to manually steer the vehicle, which I was able to stop due to the low speed. The next morning it was again very difficult to steer the vehicle when I backed out of the garage, however, after stopping and starting the vehicle 2-3 times the power steering begin working again allowing me to drive the vehicle to the Ford dealership. While driving the vehicle forward in their maintenance bay the steering assist failed again, at which time two computer failure codes where present, which I read and then showed to their maintenance representative. The code listed on the receipt was C200D. The second issue involves erratic shifts and loss of power when accelerating from a stop up to 35 mph. A Ford dealership has completed two-three computer software upgrades. The most serious shifting problem occurs when pulling out or turning onto a roadway and there is minimal acceleration when the accelerator pedal is pressed down, and the vehicle is unable to adjust as expected to the traffic flow. This problem was first reported 02/2013 and most recently during 09/2013.

- Omaha, NE, USA

I was parked at a store parking lot. I got in the car to back up and this message "powersteering assist failure" popped up on the screen and I was not able to turn the steering wheel at all. I shut the car off and then restarted it...then the power steering went back to normal.

- Waldorf, MD, USA

Power steering fail light came on and I lost my power steering. After killing the car, letting it sit then restarting it I started back working.

- Port Allen, LA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated the steering wheel locked while driving and it became hard to turn. The power steering light illuminated as the failure occurred. The failure was experienced several times. The dealer reset the power train computer; however, the failure was not corrected. The steering wheel continued to lock while driving. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 52,000.

- Waldorf, MD, USA

I was driving down the street at 55 mph when the 'power steering assist fault' displayed on the dashboard interior display. The steering wheel immediately locked up & I lost complete control of the vehicle & drifted to the right. I stepped on the brakes to avoid crashing & turned the car off. Once I turned the car back on the fault was no longer there & I drove home. I called the Ford dealership & made an appointment to get the vehicle checked the next day. Later on that same day, my wife & I had an appointment. However, when we started the vehicle up, the same fault was immediately displayed & the steering wheel locked up. I kept turning the car off & trying to restart, but the fault would not go away. I had to get my vehicle towed to the Ford dealership. I did some research online only to discover that I was not the only Ford owner that had this problem. Several others had the same issue. This finding prompted me to look on the Ford website to see if there was any recall but there is none. The Ford dealership quoted me for an 'air bag safety fault', electrical & valve malfunction, after running a diagnostic test on my vehicle. I was deeply concerned because the 'air bag fault' never displayed due to the other fault. The estimated cost was over $3,000. Also, I had to rent a vehicle in the interim. I asked about recalled parts & legal action when I was at the dealership but no one had any information. When I went to pick up my vehicle, the Ford dealership said they would pay for the rental & they made contact with Ford company. The Ford company allegedly emailed the Ford dealership & took $1,000 off the total cost. I have a wife & a baby. This is our only mode of transportation. I fear for the safety of my family in this make of vehicle & I would like for Ford to investigate this electrical issue further & recall its parts. Please help us & all others with this issue.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Our first indication of steering problems happened around September 2013. A dashboard error "service advancetrac" message kept illuminating. First the dealer replaced a "sensor" that didn't fix it. Then a software update, that didn't work. They then replaced the "rack and pinion", in this car I am told it is an electronic steering motor. That did fix the problem with the error message, however at times the entire dashboard and "infotainment" screen would go blank and reboot. All seemed fine for a few month's until an unexpected event occurred in January 2014. I was driving my 2011 Ford Explorer on Thursday, January 9, 2014 on andersen air force base in guam. It was a bright, sunny day, and weather conditions were ideal. I stopped at the post office and when I turned left to enter a parking space, I noticed the steering was a little jerky. I didn't think much of it until we were leaving, and the steering continued to be choppy. When I left the parking lot, the car did not respond cleanly when I turned the wheel. I mentioned the my daughter that something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what was happening. As I entered a roundabout turn before exiting the air force base, the steering went out completely momentarily. It felt like I was driving on ice! the brakes worked properly, and I was able to slow down and navigate safely out of the turn. I had no problems driving straight, but turning was jerky. I called my husband to let him know what was happening, and I drove slowly home approximately four miles from the base. The car was turned into the dealer who "could not replicate the error". the "service advancetrac" error happened again on 22 Jan, went into the dealership and I was told again that they could not replicate the error.

- Yigo, GU, USA

I was driving my Explorer when the power steering went out suddenly, making it almost impossible to steer to safety. A message appeared on the dash about the problem, but I was too busy trying to steer to safety to memorize what it said.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

This is the 2nd time this happened while raining. The first time, about a year ago and while driving 55 mph, the instrument cluster screen and myfordtouch screens both went black and lost power steering suddenly, but engine was still running. But, all of sudden, then power steering re-energized and made steering wheel jerk causing vehicle to skid momentarily, but I was able to maintain control of vehicle and pull over. The instrument cluster screen then had a message "check charging system." I turned vehicle off and restarted it and vehicle returned to normal. Few days later, took to dealership for routine maintenance and battery and alternator were checked out as being fine. Today, vehicle lost power steering while slowing to a stop to turn into driveway and felt like steering wheel locked up. Had to turn steering wheel with great force to turn into driveway home and the drove about 200ft to carport and power steering never returned and had same check charging system warning message displayed on instrument cluster. Turned vehicle off and power steering returned and no longer had check charging system warning message. Only happens when raining and unable to reproduce for service tech because dealership says they won't test vehicle when it is raining.

- Keithville, LA, USA

After starting the car, a warning occurred for the first time saying power steering needed service "soon". we turned the car off and restarted. The notice did not appear and my entire family continued to our destination. During the course of our ride, we did not receive another warning. Then while attempting to make a turn we veered into the other lane nearly crashing into another car.due to power steering loss. The situation was extremely dangerous.

- New Fairfield, CT, USA

Driving in the mountains at night, proceeding up a steep and icy grade, the vehicle gave a warning signal about a power steering problem and immediately the power steering unit failed. The extremely difficult steering capability of this vehicle during this failure, forced us to creep along a major highway to finish the eight miles to the nearest town. After researching this problem, I stumbled onto the NHTSA website and discovered the 2011 Explorer obviously has a safety flaw and a dangerous one at that! my vehicle is in a Ford service department now and the initial diagnosis is " the car received a false electrical signal and shut down the power steering". seriously, a false signal shut off the power steering capabilities"?"!!! they are in the middle of a "10 page checklist/re-booting of the electrical control system of my vehicle and I have absolutely no confidence this will solve a future problem of power steering capability loss, especially since I am on my fourth major computer failure in this vehicle. Fyi Ford engineers; the steering function of a vehicle should not be subject to an electronic signal that can deactivate the ability to control the steering of the vehicle!!

- Anderson, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the power steering failed without warning. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnosis or repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 37,000.

- Provo, UT, USA

Driving and all of a sudden the power steering warning light comes on and the vehicle locks up. Very scary situation because I couldn't control the vehicle. I purchased this vehicle brand new"?"

- Waldorf, MD, USA

The first time this happen my wife was driving down the road at approximately 35 to 40 mph. I was riding passenger seat. All of the sudden just going down the road. She said she couldn't steer and at that time I heard a beep. This was a message on the dash saying steering assist fault. She had a very hard time steering it around a corner we had come to. She asked if we should pull over but since we were less than a mile from the house. And how I figured we could make it has I have drove a car home when a power steering belt broke before. I told her to continue home. Once home we turned car off. And then restart it. The car was back to normal and warning message went away. At the time we just considered it a fluke. Then it done it again a week later going down the road again. We pulled over and again shut car off and restarted it. It was fine again. Then a few day later it did in a parking lot parking. A month later it finally happened while driving on me. I was driving 45 mph going straight all the sudden the steering wheel got tight and the power steering fault came on like usual. We were on our way to the store and less than a 1/4 mile away. It was very hard to turn the car into the store parking lot. This is harder to steer than a manual steering car. Do to trying to steer a power steering rack and gears on top of big 20" wheels with wide tires. For inexperienced, not a very strong person, or an elderly driver. This could be a dangerous situation on the highway on a corner. And I could see how it could cause an accident. This problem as happen also immediately when care is started. It happens at anytime it seems. You never know when it will happen again.

- Belton, MO, USA

We purchased our 2011 Ford Explorer in January of 2011 and have been the exclusive users of the car ever since. Our vehicle has experienced three total losses of power steering ability since July 8, 2013. When an event occurs, the "power steering failure" light comes on and the vehicle immediately becomes difficult to steer. Two of the occurrences have taken place while traveling at high speed on the highway. In one instance, my wife was driving the car with our young son and struggled to control the vehicle after the failure. Ford attempted to address the problem by installing two separate new steering columns into the vehicle, yet the problem persists and seems to have had collateral effects on other electrical and mechanical components of the car. I have advised Ford customer service of the problem but as of 11/20/2013 I have not had any kind of affirmative response.

- Dallas, TX, USA