At startup a warning appeared on the dash reading "steering loss- stop safely" along with others concerning advance trac, terrain management, and hill assist. Upon trying to turn the steering wheel it was locked completely. Not just hard to steer like the power steering quit - it was locked tight. It was towed to a Ford dealer and the tech thought he would drive it into the shop, but could not because he agreed the steering was completely locked up. The tech tells me he was able to restore steering by clearing out some ABS codes that were stored. This is concerning because it seems there is a computer fault condition which locks up the steering completely. The tech now says the rack and pinion module is making a loud noise and they plan to replace it. Thankfully the vehicle had this problem at startup and not while in motion as there would have been no control over vehicle direction.

- Fountain City, WI, USA

Internal electronic failure in the steering rack. Explorer is two years old with only 44,173 miles. Steering failed while driving!!

- Falmouth, VA, USA

While turning the steering wheel wether stopped or moving, there was a popping/clunking noise. Sometimes the clunk noise was louder, sometimes it wasn't as loud. Noise could be felt and heard from steering column and floorboard. Steering wheel would also grab at times where you physically had to force the wheel to turn. This seemed to happen more at slow speeds. While doing a service on the vehicle, I inspected all steering components. While another person was turning the wheel, I could hear popping in the right side steering boot that covers the inner tie rod end. I grabbed the boot and shook it and could hear metal rattling inside of it. Left side did not make any noise. I removed the boot off of the rack and pinion and found 2 pieces of metal that were hanging on the gear of the rack and damaged. The prices of metal appeared to be a grease seal as there is rubber attached to the inside piece(see picture attached). From looking at this, it is obvious that the hanging metal piece could get hung up on the corkscrew gear causing clinch noise and also cause the steering to grab. I did cut both pieces off for safety and in the process of getting it into the Ford dealer of the certified warranty will cover it. This is a very dangerous issue and I have seen many complaints of this same issue with no fix noted by Ford.

- Indiantown, FL, USA

Bought the 2016 Explorer limited with roughly 28,000 miles on it. Ran great for about 2,000 miles and then started noticing a pop/clunk noise when turning the wheel to the right going 5mph or less. Mainly happened when pulling into and out of parking spaces. Would also randomly do this while parked. Took into 2 Ford dealerships and surprise, they couldn't replicate the problem. Was told to keep driving it and if it gets worse to bring it back in. Drove it for another few thousand miles with it happening intermittently. Finally after hearing the noise more consistently and even feeling the steering slightly jerk to the side on one occasion, I took it back into a Ford dealership. They were finally able to duplicate the sound this time and said it needed a new steering rack. This includes the whole rack and pinion. So far so good. My issue is I've been reading about all these Explorer with similar issues (most of them worse than my case) and can't figure out why they're hasn't been a recall" some Explorer steering literally locks up while driving based on all the complaints I've read. I feel I was one of the lucky ones catching the problem before it got worse. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the problem doesn't come up again like I've heard also happens. Obviously something is faulty with the steering assembly. How does this happen to a car this new"

- Louisville, KY, USA

While driving my 2016 Ford Explorer on a state hwy at 55 mph, suddenly bells and warning on dash indicating steering failure issue. Within 1 block, I was unable to steer at all. Had to be towed. Told by dealership that the power steering gear was bad. Told by the dealership the cost to repair would be $2200. Vehicle has 76,000 miles. Very unsafe condition had it happened in heavy traffic. Could have resulted in injury or death.

- Motley, MN, USA

While driving down the road my power steering went out. I have around 50,000 miles on my 2016 Ford Explorer. I have had it worked on 3 times and it continues to have the same issue. This is a serious safety issue for the people in the car and those on the road. Many people have complained about this issue, yet Ford has not issued a recall.

- Elko, SC, USA

When driving my Ford Explorer 2016 the steering wheel started making a sound when the wheel was turned, both when turning from a stop or going around a curve. It would also catch and sort of stick when the wheel was turned and wouldn't easily turn back to normal after the turn or curve had been made. We took it to the dealer and the rack and pinion has to be replaced, costing $1885. It was not safe to drive bc of the steering well sticking.

- Danville, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. While driving approximately 70 mph, the power steering failed. The vehicle was driven to flagship Ford (850 fern drive, baldwin, Wisconsin 54002, (715) 684-4520) where it was diagnosed that the power steering unit was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to be repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.

- Hammond, WI, USA

Ok let's start with the fact that we've had steering issues from the start with this vehicle. We paid $700 to fix or band aid the problem last month. So, when it came time for our summer vacation we actually considered renting a car because we still didn't think it was right. Rent a vehicle when we have an almost brand new vehicle in the garage with a $500 a month car payment"!?! against our better judgment, we took it from pa to fl, well almost. Along I-95 in South Carolina at about 11pm the steering seized with our family in the car. We had to get a hotel room, rent a car and leave the pos in SC to continue our vacation. It's now almost 3 weeks in and it's still in SC. We've always been foreign car people. We had a Honda Pilot for 12 years, never a problem with it. If there was a problem, it was covered by the awesome warranty or it was a recall. Lots of recalls, manufacturer and Honda. Which, up till now I thought was a pain in the ass! now, I get that at least they have enough integrity to have recalls! Ford Motor Company has the worst warranty and 0 integrity! we loved the look and feel of this vehicle. Looks definitely aren't everything...lesson learned. We will take the loss on trading it in and going back to Honda, Toyota or Nissan to keep our family safe. I guess Ford is waiting for a fatality?!"!

- Auburn, PA, USA

Power steering failed while driving the car on a busy public street. Extremely difficult to maneuver the vehicle safely off the road.

- Newark, DE, USA

The problem started while driving at highway speed. I can best describe it as a "stickiness" at about 5 degrees off center. There was a noticeable "catch" where it would become difficult to turn and I would have to force the wheel to keep turning. This very distracting at highway speeds, and potentially dangerous. In the following weeks, the problem has gotten worse, to include intermittent shuddering, that feels like driving over rumble strips, squeeking and clicking at low speeds, and if locking the steering out in one direction or another the wheel will "jump" back. Upon further investigation, this seems linked to the electronic power steering assist, which though it hasn't failed completely, is definitely failing. After reading other similar complaints, I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle with my three kids, and am not willing to pay the $2,600 repair price for a vehicle that is only 2 and a half years old. I am now back to driving my 12 year old truck, which while it has it's own problems, at least it is safe.

- Centreville, VA, USA

A week ago while backing out of my garage the "steering fault" alarm came on my dash, so I stopped pushed the ok button and it went away. Continued to back out and steering the was fine. This week it has happened twice again already. One time was when I just started the car. I wondered what could be gong so I tried to turn steering wheel while still parked and it was a little more difficult and I could hear a grinding type noise. So I then pushed the ok button like before and the steering started to work properly again. The last time it happened I was actually driving. I just turned onto a road and was accelerating then the "steering fault" alarm went off again. As I slowed back down and turned towards the shoulder I could feel that grinding in the steeling wheel. While still rolling to a stop I pushed the ok button and the alarm went off and the power steering started to work again. This car only has 42,000 miles on it. I find it a bit ridiculous that nothing is being done about this issue. I can only assume that each time it happens it will get worse until eventually I have no steering and potentially cause an accident. I assume that most people, like me, bought the Explorer because it would make a great family car that is safe. Now I feel that I have bought a death trap.

- Hamilton, MO, USA

Steer fault assist light cake on going down the highway at 70mph while on vacation. This is the second time we will be repairing the steering. Our vehicle is a 2016with under 40K miles on it. Ridiculous and very dangerous!! we only owned foreign vehicles ie. Honda, Toyota and never had any issues. This vehicle has been a headache from the start...we loved the look and features. Honestly, you can't judge a vehicle but it's look we should've known better. Also, we've owned Honda's and there were recalls all the time usually something simple and easy to repair but Ford Motor Co obviously has an issue with steering on these vehicles and the only recall we have is something with the seat"!"! the steering malfunctioning on the highway is a little bit bigger than that. So, we will just iignore and lose customers to foreign vehicles. Smart Ford!!

- Auburn, PA, USA

After reaching 43,000 miles. The epas light came on and was unable to steer safely. 6 hrs from home. Currently getting repaired total bill is $2000. I was driving, pulled over to get gas, killed the engine, got the fuel, started it back up and thats when the light came on for the steering assist fault. This is a safety hazard. There is multiple issues online about this happened. A recall was created on earlier year models but not this one. Why"?"

- Arp, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. While driving approximately 70 mph, the power steering suddenly failed and made the steering wheel very difficult to turn. During the failure, the "steering fault" and "service advance trac" messages displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer (toms Ford, 200 hwy 35, key port, NJ) where it was diagnosed that the power steering assembly was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 71,000.

- Salsbury Mills, NY, USA

Complete loss of power steering while driving my Explorer. Was doing 70 on the highway. 65,000 miles on vehicle only have had the SUV for 2 years. 2300 to fix the problem. We were driving when we lost power steering control of the car with my entire family in the vehicle (wife and 3 kids under 12)

- Salisbury Mills, NY, USA

At highway speeds (70mph) power steering and traction control systems went out. Diagnostics flashed onto the dashboard - "steering loss stop safely terrain management system fault service advancetrac hill start assist not available" power steering and traction control systems were offline. I was able to drive the vehicle back to my house five miles away, but am unable to move the vehicle out of it's parking spot.

- Essex, MD, USA

While driving on the freeway (75 mph), several alerts popped up out of nowhere - hill assist error, steering control error, terrain assist error, stability error. It told me to pull over immediately. Once I stopped my car and restarted it, my power steering was no longer working. This has happened twice now - both times on the freeway. It's extremely dangerous to have steering go out - I'm concerned for the safety of the vehicle. The Ford dealership is telling me that I need to replace the electric steering component for $2,000. The car has less than 50,000 miles on it, so it doesn't make sense that the steering component would already need replacing.

- Farmington, UT, USA

Noticed a grinding noise in the steering column about 30 days ago. Just ignored it until the steering started to stick. Getting ready for a road trip and decided it was too much of a safety issue to ignore. Ford dealer said the problem was with the power steering rack an pinion with a repair cost of $2100. It has to be fixed so the vehicle is safe to drive once again.

- Tulsa, OK, USA

My wife was backing her 2016 Ford Explorer limited out of the garage when warnings regarding power steering assist failure, terrain management system fault, service advance trac appeared on the instrument cluster and she lost the ability to steer the vehicle. Luckily she was basically stationary at the time. This was the first incident of this type, and unlike other reports I have read, restarting the vehicle did nothing to restore the power steering. The vehicle was towed to the dealership where we were told that the epas electronic steering system had failed and the entire rack and pinion assembly would need to be replaced because this is an integrated system. When I told them that I thought a catastrophic failure of this type on a major system was unusual in a 21/2 year old vehicle I was told that this was something they had seen before and not that unusual. This is a major and very costly repair, and even more important than the repair cost is the safety concern. Reading other reports of people loosing control on the highway when this system fails makes me wonder if I should let my wife continue driving the vehicle after the repair. The service persons at the dealership echoed my concerns and gave me a number to contact Ford. It appears there is no update to the epas system and the replacement is the same as the old faulty assembly. We have owned 3 Ford/Mercury vehicles of this type and in the past have been very pleased. It appears from reports that Ford is well aware of this problem because other vehicles from other model years have been recalled for epas issues and failure. Unless there is a recall and an update to the steering system I must consider replacing this vehicle because of the safety concern.

- Fort Wayne, IN, USA