My steering felt very out of control had to have car towed to dealer and they replaced rack and pinion there was internal damage to steering rack they had to replace

- Alpha, NJ, USA

On October 17, 2021 the steering system on my 2016 explorer completely shutdown. The ABS, Hill Assist and Service Advance Trac lights all went on. The steering wheel would not turn either way. Luckily, this incident occurred in a parking lot and no injury or damage happened. I had AAA tow the car to Porter Ford, Newark DE.

- Landenberg, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact-??s wife stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact stated that the steering assist and traction control warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing rack and pinion to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

- Syracuse, IN, USA

Driving at 20mph, going through a moderate turn and lost Power Steering. No warning lights, no noise, just total loss of Steering and I felt as if I couldn't overpower the steering until 2 seconds later I regained power steering. The same problem occurred at 10mph while coming to a stop. Once again I did not have the ability to overpower the wheel and straighten it when I tried. Luckily once again power came back and I was able to control without issue. Several complaints on the same issue and NO RECALL has been issued by Ford. If the same issue occurs at highway speed I don't know what I'll do. Ford had a Service Bulletin out for 2013-2016 Explorers that stated they would simply reprogram the module. They did not extend the coverage beyond 2018 nor did they actually replace a faulty steering rack with the coverage. This is a severe safety concern and one that should have a recall out as it puts the driver and all other motorists at risk. If you can't steer your car, then everyone is at risk.

- New Richmond, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 5 MPH and making a turn, he heard an abnormal banging sound coming from the steering wheel and the steering wheel locked up. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated as he veered to the side of the road, he was able to steer the steering wheel with no issues. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the power steering rack needed to be replaced; however, the part for the repair was not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they would follow up with the dealer. A case was opened. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.

- Sayville, NY, USA

Complete loss of basic steering of the car while under operation.

- Lake Villa, IL, USA

Beginning of day; felt like I was in a major windstorm & in a constant battle with the car steering. Middle of day: Power Steering Fault light came on and feeling like I was in a major windstorm & in a constant battle with the car steering GETTING WORSE. End of the day: Then Power Steering Failure "Pull over Safely" came on.. I didn't just lose power steering. I lost TOTAL STEERING capability at 57,400 miles... Car is at dealership now. Had my 90yr old mother been driving there would have been an accident. This is gonna get someone killed. I had just dropped off my Grandson before I lost total control.

- Fleetwood, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his son was driving 40 MPH, the power steering failed, and the steering wheel was stiff and difficult to steer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed with steering rack failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 123,000.

- Greensburg, PA, USA

Over the last year or so, my 2016 Ford Explorer would suddenly out of nowhere say on the dashboard that there is a steering fault that needed to be serviced. The steering would be a little off but after turning the car on and off, it would reset and wouldn-??t happen again for a week or two. I took it in to the dealership to get a recall fixed and had them take a look at my actual steering issue (with videos and pictures of the problem) but they could not replicate the problem as the dashboard would reset. Fast forward to last Thursday when the problem was more persistent than normal. A few times in the last couple months or so, my steering wheel would LOCK UP completely because the power steering would give out and a few times I was ON A FREEWAY. I had to manually hand crank a very very stiff steering wheel and pull over which was extremely dangerous. Once I would, I would turn the car on and off again which then it would reset. The dashboard warning about the steering fault would come on more often than the steering wheel locking up but the several times it did lock it, proved a very dangerous situation. It happened again this past week which I had to drive slowly to my local mechanic. Due to it being a power steering/programming issue, the recommended me going back to the dealership. At that point, my car would no longer reset the issue and I was unable to drive home that day because the power steering permanently gave out. Thank god I was at the mechanic already. Currently, I have the car towed to the dealership and they are working on the problem. Because my extended warranty ended 2k miles ago, I am supposed to pay $3800 out of pocket for this?? It should be a RECALL situation. Extremely dangerous. Forum related issue that I did research on and it seems to be a common problem!!! : https://Please help make Ford do a recall for this dangerous issue!!

- San Mateo , CA, USA

On approximately July 5th, I was driving on freeway at approximately 70mph. I approached a work zone and had to move to shoulder when I lost power steering. It continued to give me issues at higher speeds for the next 40 miles and it seemed to disappear for the next two weeks of city driving. I thought it was an isolated incident and on July 16th we took the vehicle on a family vacation and when traveling on the freeway it again lost ( and never regained) power steering but we were more than 200 miles from home and the closest Ford dealer couldn't see us until early August. At lower speeds the steering was sticking but it seemed to free up some the more cornering or movement you made with the steering wheel. We were able to carefully drive the vehicle home and took it to Taylor Ford on Monday July 26th. On Tuesday July 27th I received a call from our service rep telling me nothing was wrong with the power steering but that the steering column failed and it would need to be replaced. I said that I had never heard of such a thing and he said he hadn't either. I searched on line and discovered hundreds of complaints referencing similar issues. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the problem and they never appeared during problems.

- Flat Rock, MI, USA

It appears Ford had a prior recall for certain model year 2011-2013 Ford Explorer vehicles manufactured May 17, 2010, through February 28, 2012 for a power steering failure. The recall was due to vehicles experiencing a loss of power steering assist and required extra steering effort at lower speeds, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash. I have a 2016 Ford Explorer and the issue appears to be occurring in later models like mine. I experienced it on July 21, 2021. I was driving on the freeway at 70mph and with no prior warning I my power steering goes out and I see the message "power steering module failure". Luckily I was able to fight the car to the shoulder, but I can only imagine what would have happened if my wife or daughter had been driving at the time. Ford needs to have a system failure alert added or better yet fix the issue from occurring, especially in a fairly new vehicle.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality and became difficult to steer. The contact also stated that the vehicle would start shaking abnormally whenever the brake pedal was depressed. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with the electronic steering gear needing to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred a year later. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 144,000.

- Temecula, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the electric power steering failed, and the steering wheel ceased. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the power steering rack and pinion was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

- Cowansville, PA, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the steering wheel was difficult to turn and would cease when turning in either direction. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the steering rack and pinion were faulty and needed to be replaced. The failure was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.

- Cowansville, PA, USA

Electronic steering assist seems to fail on rainy days. Starts like a sound grinding on the bottom like it needs lubrication. Afraid to drive this thing because of other owners comments regarding the steering assist causing accidents.

- Columbus , NE, USA

The Contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to turn the steering wheel, the steering wheel was firm. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was not provided a cause for the failure but was informed that the steering wheel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 62,000.

- Turpin, OK, USA

While driving around a corner at a speed of 45 miles an hour the power steering quit working. The message on the instrument panel stated steering fault. I no longer had power steering and it was very hard to pull the vehicle over. I shut off the motor and then restarted the vehicle and i now had power steering. It is currently at Varney Ford in Newport Maine having the whole steering assembly replaced at a cost of $2300. From my research I have found that the steering assembly is located near the catalytic converter which gets every every hot, and can damage the internal circuit board. This is a very scary safety concern! I do not have the invoice for the repair, as it is being worked on July 19th or July 20th

- Harmony, ME, USA

I was driving down the highway into a turn and my power steering failed causing the SUV to want to recall into a straight pattern almost causing me to crash my truck into a barrier wall with my child inside. With the sudden ability to fight the wheel back into a turning position I was able to narrowly avoid crashing with my child. Numerous indicators displayed (Steering Assist Fault, Service Advance Track, Hill Start Assist not available). I immediately took it to a Ford dealer, where they advised me that the power steering rack has electronically failed.

- Walnutport, PA, USA

Driving on express way going 70 mph and vehicle dash started lighting up and beeping with a bunch of different things and lost power steering. It said -??power steering fault-?? was in construction and it was extremely scary. Thankfully there was a dealership on the exit and they said it was the power steering rack.

- La Salle, MI, USA

With less than 75k miles, the steering began to grind when turning. We had to get an entirely new rack and pinion unit replaced for over $2400. Thousands of 2016 Explorers have reported this problem but it is still not been deemed a recall. Recently, at 84K miles, the clutch on the AC compressor went out causing a $720 bill for a new compressor. We have also just found out the water pump is now bad and appears to be defective. In fact there was a class action lawsuit in 2020 regarding these defective pumps but this wonderful government we pay exorbitant taxes to, threw the case out on technicalities. Absolutely shameful.

- Acworth, GA, USA