Steering rack failed and I was unable to steer the vehicle. The safety of me and my family could have been put at risk if the steering failed on the highway. Upon research, I found this issue with Ford Explorers is a very common one. My mechanic was required to have the vehicle towed to him. I was unable to move the steering wheel at all! There was a light which stated the advance steering or something failed. There was no advanced warning. We are lucky the family was not traveling fast on a highway.

- Southbury, CT, USA

Went out to leave in Explorer. Placed Explorer in reverse and steering wheel wouldn-??t turn. Several messages appeared on the display such as driver assist failed, traction control on light enabled, traction control off light enabled, uphill assist message, and several others. Basically the car had no power steering.

- Connersville, IN, USA

2016 ford explorer, our family vehicle, my spouse was driving back home with kids in the back, approximately 20/25 miles per hrs, the steering all the sudden seized up, and no power steering assistant, since the steering system all electric rack and pinion, the dash board gave a message, no traction control, all terrain system not available, service steering assist. Luckily it happened in residential area, no body got hurt, as well as my familly, I was Able to tow it to the ford dealer in Illinois, diagnosed it a week after as electric power steering failure, cost is around $3000 to repair, and part is on national.back order, This has been a common safety issue for part failure for the 2016 Ford explorer and up, but ford refuses to open an recall, its all over the internet same part issue and same model cars people have been suing and reporting it to Ford, dealer quote to repair is $3000 plus tax to repair, on today's date 01/01/2023 and no transportation since 12/26/2022, its more of safety concern than just a part failure if it happens on a highway speed/road and steering seizes than just a part failure without a warning.

- Rockford, IL, USA

My power steering, traction control, and terrain management all stopped working in my 2016 Ford Explorer due to a faulty steering gear. This is a known design flaw, which has impacted several hundreds 2016 - 2018 Ford Explorer owner/operators. Losing power steering capability while the vehicle is being operated is a major safety concern, which could lead to a motor vehicle collision, especially if being driven at highway speeds. Ford is aware of this issue but still fails to recall this problem. NTSB can rectify this problem by forcing Ford to do the right thing and permanently repair this issue. I am being forced to pay $2,381.50 for something that they know is a safety problem but they refuse to acknowledge. Gibbs Law Group is opening a class action lawsuit in this matter so clearly there are red flags that are being ignored. Please force Ford to do the right thing. 920-918-6266.

- Sheboygan Falls, WI, USA

Rack and pinion power steering rack stopped working while my wife was driving back home with our two kids that are 4 years old and 9 months old. Thankful she didn't crash because she was unable to steer the vehicle. No warnings or signs of the part going bad. Ford should be held responsible for issues like this. Numerous people are having the same issue.

- Harriman, TN, USA

steering on my car failed turning onto off ramp and could not steer the car with out a lot of effort missed the car in front of me and came to a stop on side of over pass missed the bridge called my dealer to have it looked at steering rack motor seized apparently it is a problem with 2015 2016 explorers cant find steering racks any where in north America I have been waiting for parts still no eta can you help with this problem thanks [XXX] email is [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Simcoe , MI, USA

First problem I had was with the Actuator. I lost the ability of defrost and have the heat/AC go to anything other than direct face mode. Now, the power steering to my 2016 Ford Explorer is gone. It felt like I was grinding concrete when I would make any turn or slight shift. It-??s been at the shop for weeks due to a backorder. I-??m a single mom of 2 and it-??s my only transportation. I-??m really struggling without my vehicle. This should be part of a recall ASAP cause from my research this is too common almost this vehicle and good people are really going through it.

- Brentwood, NY, USA

Grinding noise when turning wheel noticed Mid-August 2022. No warning lights prior to failure. Aug 22, 2022, took to local mechanic. Diagnosed as faulty steering gear. Told 3500 on backorder. Part failure prevented vehicle from safely steering. August 28, 2022, took to Team Ford Dealer in Navasota, TX. Diagnosed as faulty steering gear. Order replacement, installed. Replacement part malfunctioned when installed at dealer. Warning lights went off, according to service manager. Dealer attempted to reorder. Part backordered. Parts ordering suspended while part redesigned, according to service manager at dealer. Nov. 2, 2022. Part still on backorder. Unable to drive vehicle. Steering gear necessary for vehicle to function safely. Part needing redesigning indicates original part faulty. Part malfunction confirmed by independent mechanic and Ford dealership.

- Millican, TX, USA

While driving on a state highway and exiting the roadway the steering wheel locked in the turning direction long enough to drive over the small curb on the opposite side of the roadway. If this was a higher exiting speed a larger incident or crash would have been worse.

- Franklin Twp (Somerset County), NJ, USA

Clunking and popping noise from steering while steering left or right while slowly traveling forward or reverse. Noise can be heard from steering while front end jacked up off ground. Afraid steering may lock up or fail while driving causing injury or death or stranding. Noise has become more frequent lately, started around 65k miles.

- Headland, AL, USA

While braking off a highway the steering light appeared and the vehicle began to shake uncontrollably. The ford motor co. stated there was no issue and did not address.

- Amesbury , MA, USA

Steering rack failure causing loud popping inside of the rack and pinion causing trouble steering, also abruptly pulling the vehicle or hard steering several reports of people almost wrecking.

- Lawton , OK, USA

With no warning, the steering began to grind with turns and was harder to steer. No warning lights ever appeared. The car was no longer safe to drive. The vehicle is 2016 with low milage, approximately 57,000 miles. The mechanic assessed the vehicle and said the rack and pinion needed replaced. He stated he has begun to see multiple 2016 Ford Explorers coming in with with issues of low milage yet needing the rack and pinion replaced. The car was then taken to a local Ford Dealership. They agreed with the mechanics assessment. The car has now been in the shop for 43 days with no available parts to repair.

- Fort Worth, TX, USA

On February 03, 2022 I took my to the Ford dealership in my area, I was told that rear toe link was replaced. After 8 months while I was driving the Explorer 2016, the car starts swerving from side to side, and lost the control. For few seconds I was struggling to stop the car, after I stopped the car I checked the tires, I saw the rear left passenger tire was loosen, and steering wheel wasn-??t straight. Me and my friend were terrified and still not feeling alright. I lost the confidence in Ford Explorer.

- Moorhead, MN, USA

Steering started making grinding noise and when parked steering froze. Restarted and steering unfroze and made grinding noise and slowly drove to repair shop. Checked for recalls and none on this vehicle. Repair shop said no parts are available form Ford for a repair. This has to be a factory defect and could lead to serious injury or death.

- Katy, TX, USA

My wife was driving our kids home from school when she experienced a sudden loss of steering followed by inaccurate control with no type of indication for an issue on the dashboard. Once she was able to (thankfully) make it home, I drove the vehicle around and noticed that there was a considerable lack of power steering when turning and the steering wheel would not return to the center position as typical. We brought it to an auto shop that diagnosed the issue as being the electric power steering rack which appears to be a fairly common issue with these Ford Explorers regardless of mileage. Tried to address the issue but the part if back-ordered for weeks and we are unable to fix our vehicle. Looking online, it appears that this is a common issue with Ford Explorers that could potentially lead to serious complications if experienced driving at higher speeds. Additionally, there are already a couple of recalls related to the steering of this vehicle.

- Georgetown, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Power Steering Assist Failed" was displayed. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and became extremely difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering motor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.

- Lubbock, TX, USA

I felt a thumping when turning the steering wheel and took it to the dealership who kept it for two days to attempt to replicate the same noise but they were unable to reproduce or replicate. Two or maybe three months later, the thumping noise turned into a clicking noise. Again, I immediately took it to the Ford dealership and fortunately a mechanic was still on duty. They test drove the vehicle and heard the same noise. They ask if I could leave the vehicle for more testing with their suspension specialist and they will contact me the next day. The next day they contacted me and I was told 'this is a common problem and Ford is aware of issue but has not issued a recall'. Concerned about the comment I took it to a second Ford dealership. The second dealership kept it for a day and of course they could not replicate the thumping or clicking sound. They even inspected the steering/wheel components but found nothing. Worried, I did some additional research and found this website with other people complaining about the same issue https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/2016/steering/steering-rack_and_pinion.shtml I even found a few YouTube videos addressing the same problem. October is here and winter is about to set in and my vehicle is still thumping and clicking. I am driving the vehicle but concerned I am putting my safety and the safety of others at risk. Based on the information I found, it is clear that I am not the only one with this issue.

- Columbus, OH, USA

Initially the steering on the vehicle appeared to be "notchy". It was holding the last steering wheel correction rather than returning to centered position. It appeared as if something lost lubrication. While driving the traction control and advance trac lights lit. Messages "Steering fault service now", "Service advance trac", "Hillstart assist not available", "Steering loss stop safely" appeared. After shutsown and restart "No steering" message appeared. There was no steering at this point. Code P07AE "Friction element" showed on code reader. If the vehicle was not stopped safely there could have been a serious accident of any variety. The vehicle is currently waiting for repair. This has been the case for over one month. The steering gear is on backorder. There has been no further inspection at this time.

- Muskego, WI, USA

A ticking/grinding noise coming from the steering column while turning at low speeds. When turning the steering wheel to the right or left, the steering wheel will not center and must be forced back to center/straight. If not manually forced back to center/straight the car would continue in the direction of the turn being performed. The force needed to center the steering wheel is unpredictable and varied. The vehicle was taken to two local mechanics who diagnosed that the rack and pinion is faulty and needed to be replaced.

- Forest Lake , MN, USA