CarComplaints.com Notes: The NHTSA's complaint data shows potentially scary power steering problems with the 2011 Ford Explorer.
The steering complaints are pretty serious - owners report the power steering cuts out while driving. The NHTSA opened an investigation into the power steering problems in June 2012, which lead to a recall in 2014. However years later, many 2011 Explorer owners report this defect is still occurring.
It's too bad because the 2009 & 2010 Ford Explorer are solid, trouble-free model years.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
48,093 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On June 16th, 2014, I was traveling 40 mph with my 3 year old and 18 month old in the car and I lost all power steering and ended up in a ditch. There was no way to control it or even turn the wheel. It happened again on June 19th, 2014 however, my husband was driving and was able to get the car off the road.
Upon medium to heavy acceleration, such as accelerating onto a freeway, the vehicle cabin is filled with exhaust fumes from the engine. This injures the respiratory system of the passengers. They are working on a fix (after my family has been breathing polluted air for almost two and a half years). Ford has finally admitted that there is a problem, and send me a letter that said. [xxx] Ford customer service division March 7, 2014 [xxx] [xxx] subject: Customer concern - exhaust odor on 2011-2014 Explorer, edge or mkx we thank you for taking the time to discuss the concern of exhaust odor in your vehicle. To address your concern about exhaust odor, we have performed several inspections and sealing actions where applicable on your vehicle to help minimize the amount of odor coming into the passenger compartment. With these changes you may still experience odor under certain driving conditions such as, when performing wide open throttle (wot) accelerations with the climate control system in recirculation mode. Ford Motor Company engineers have evaluated the air entering the cabin during worst case driving conditions (several wot accelerations with the climate system in recirculation mode). Test results indicate cabin air quality levels are well within the ambient air quality standards established by various global environmental protection agencies such as the U.S. epa, osha, the kingdom of saudi arabia presidency of meteorology & environment and the government of dubai environment health and safety division. Again, thank you for your time. [xxx] customer relations analyst please help me, Ford don't want to help [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
At approx 1430 on June 2nd on highway on ramp accelerating had the service advancetrac warning light and chime come on and the traction control off light and chime come on and lost all power steering control of vehicle. I immediately put on my emergency flasher and let off the accelerator and forced my Explorer to the shoulder. Once on the shoulder of the highway I cleared the faults, I wish I would have taken cell photo of fault, and turned vehicle off and then restarted vehicle with no issues. I did not have any other issues for the rest of the drive approx 25 to 30 min.
While driving on the interstate at about 70 mph, an electrical light came up on the dash and I immediately lost power steering. My family was in the car and it was extremely frightening. I was able to muscle the car over to the right lane at which point, power steering was restored. The issue happened again around 20 minutes later and then rectified itself after a minute or so. I drove the car to the dealer and spoke with them about what happened. They kept the car for a week and could not "replicate the issue". this was the first week of April. I am now learning that Ford was aware of this problem back in January and has issued a recall.
The car basically shuts off and you lose power steering. No warn lights just cuts off immediately. We brought the car to the dealership and they ran a diagnostic and told us the issue was with the power steering sensor and that it would cost $2,000 to fix. I took to the internet and searched the issue to find out that there have been a number of owners that have had the same problem. I called Ford customer service and they opened a case for us. They came back with $1,000 in financial assistance but it will still cost us $1,000 for soemthing I feel is not a part that "wears out". it is a very dangerous issue and I think that Ford should take care of replacing the part before someone really gets hurt.
- Mantua, NJ, USA
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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.
I was driving to work going about 55mph give or take 5mph when the steering went stiff and made it hard to steer through the turns. It was worse when I had to make slow turns. If I had to avoid an accident quickly I don't think I would be able to avoid it. When I got to work shut the car off turned it back on and I guess it reset because the steering came back. When I T happened again I called the brewster Ford and said to turn the car off and on and that would fix the problem I rough the car to the dealer after if happened a few time but they said they wont be able to find anything since there are no errors when I brought it in it happened a few more times brought it back again the check it said they found nothing and then charged me almost $200 if finally completely went this all happened over a 1yr time period put a call into brewster Ford and corporate still waiting to here from either one that was almost 2weeks ago.
Traveling at freeway speed the warning message appeared on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. When I restarted the car it appeared to have corrected the problem. On September 10th, the same warning came on the instrument panel before the power steering quit. I was traveling at 35mph. I restarted the car and it appeared to correct the problem again. When I previously took it into the dealership they said there was nothing wrong and reset the system.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start with the illumination of the key not detected warning message. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home where she received directions from the dealer over the phone in how to restart the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. The consumer stated the vehicle was installed with a no mechanical key start system. The ia key failed, which left the consumer stranded. The no key detected alert appeared on the dashboard. The key was fixed. However, the error message remained on the dashboard. Also, the engine overheated.
I was traveling at 40 mph on a busy city street when all of the sudden I heard a warning bing sound and saw the power steering fault and all terrain management failure warnings on my instrument panel. Lost total ability to steer the vehicle and had to put on emergency lights, stop on side of the road, turn the vehicle off and on (hoping that it would reset and resolve the issue) and doing this cleared the warnings and I was able to steer again. However, two days later the problem happened again after starting the vehicle in a parking lot and before starting to back out of the parking space. Once again turning the vehicle off and on again reset the warning and regained steering ability again.
Vehicle has had problems from month 3 of purchase. Cooling fans blew, sunroof rattles, but the worst was a few months ago when backing out of parking space and heard a pop. The steering wheel bolt had broke. Took to dealership and they had it for 2 days to fix it. Contacted Ford Motor Corporate and never received call or email back from them. Then I noticed the steering wheel never seemed straight. It always turned to the left. It went back in the shop on 06/12/2013 to be fixed. They stated it needed a front end alignment but fact is it was never fixed correctly as they never saw this problem before. Then on 06/15/2013 drivng vehicle and all of a sudden steering wheel locked up and all the lights started flashing. Could not steer the vehicle. I managed to get it pulled over after being in a total panic as I was 1/2 mile from a major highway and would have been driving at a faster speed. My daughter was with me and she was completely in panic as she drives the vehicle and says what if it happened when she is driving it. She will not drive it anymore as she is scared to death. Car is at dealership at the present time. We will see what the "reasoning" is this time.
While driving my 2011 Ford Explorer the power steering suddenly went out. The vehicle gave me a warning, but only after the steering failed. The vehicle became almost impossible to steer. My only option was to try and get out of the flow of traffic in order to stop the car. Turning the car off, then back on appears to reset the issue. The first time it happened I was pulling out onto a road. Because the change was so unexpected the car couldn't be turned in time to merge into traffic. I had to turn off my car, then turn it back on while blocking two lanes of frontage road because it became next to impossible to control the car without power steering. Two incidents. The first occurred as I was pulling out of a driveway onto a frontage road (05/03/13). The second was driving down a residential neighborhood going about ~25mph (05/27/13). I can't imagine what would happen if I were going 50, 60, 65 on an interstate when this happened. I can't reasonably expect my family to travel in a car this unpredictable and unsafe. I'm not sure what the best remedy might be, but others need to be warned before purchasing this car.
2011 Ford Explorer. Consumer writes in regards to sync malfunction in vehicle. The consumer stated when the system failed, the screen went black and the radio and temperature control stopped working, as well as other components. The sync has been worked on by the dealership 13 times.
(my wife as on her way to our daughter's one month doctor's appointment. She had just began moving from a traffic light when a bunch of lights on the dash came on and the vehicle became very hard to steer (found to be stabili-trac errors and faulty electric power steering). She managed to get the vehicle onto the shoulder without harm. After reading in the owners manual, she found that with this issue, turning the vehicle off and then back on may "clear" the issue. It did take care of the steering issue and she was able to drive again. It happened again on the way home from the doctors. Ford looked at the vehicle and has ordered another steering assembly. The same fault has happened an additional four times since the first day. That is a total of six times. The local dealership has only been able to tell us that the part is on back-order because Ford engineers are working on a revised part to correct the issue. The last time this happened to my wife she had both children in the car and was attempting to merge onto the highway. Thankfully she was able to stay in an extended shoulder after the merge lane ended. Turning the vehicle has corrected the issue every time so far.
Intermittently, while driving, the advanctrak and terrain management system warning light illuminated, and the "service advanctrak" warning appeared. At the same time, the power steering failed to work, and the "power steering fault" warning appeared. The turn signals also stopped working during these episodes. This has happened 5 times since September 9, 2012, all while driving the vehicle, including yesterday. In all cases, I had to take the truck off the road and completely shut down the vehicle - upon restarting, the warnings disappeared and the power steering was restored. I have had the vehicle to the dealer twice now, with no issues found. I have a 3rd appointment with the dealer today.
I was driving my parents and my toddler daughter back from visting a sibling (approx. 5 hour drive) when we stopped briefly to take a break about 2 1/2 hours away from home. When I started the car up again, I received warnings related to a power steering failure and advance trac failure. The car had no power steering and there appeared to be something wrong with the blinkers as well. On Tuesday, following labor day) I took the vehicle to the dealership where I had purchased it for repair. More than a week later, I was informed that the part was on backorder with Ford until October 1st and that there was a waiting list to get the part and there were almost 1000 people on the wait list ahead of me. I'm greatful that I had an extended warranty, however, even under the warranty they only have to provide a rental car for 10 days. I'm hopeful that the dealership will do the right thing and keep me in a car until sometime in hopefully October or November when they can repair the vehicle. I believe this to be a manufacturing defect which should be covered under the original warranty regardless of mileage. This appears to be happening to a number of people and is both a safety hazard as well as possibly a deceptive trade practice.
The car's power steering went out while driving around 10 mph pulling out of a gas station. The screen said it was a power steering failure. Turned car off and turned back on and it went away, however it happened once more later around 5 mph.
The management terrain and power assist warning lights came on. Then I had no power steering. It became very difficult to steer and control car. This has happened at low speed 3 times and at a dead stop 3 times. I have been able to reset by turning the car off and re-starting.
Ford "myfordtouch" system has failed on numerous occasions. It has frozen, locked up, and continuously rebooted. When this occurs, you lose all functionality and ability to change radio stations, adjust climate control, use navigation, hands free functions, etc. While there is some manual controls for basic operations, it does not allow full control of tall systems. For instance, when the mft system fails, you have no ability to turn on or adjust the rear climate controls for rear passengers. Dealer has tried upgrading software, resetting software, reinstalling software, and replacing hardware. While the problem is not as bad as it has been, it continues with no resolve.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Holly Springs, NC, USA