I was out of town for training at a new job, I went to lunch and on my way back the power steering went out. When I stopped at a stop light I turned the vehicle off and the restarted it and it worked fine. Later that day it happened again and also the smart trac system went out. I found a Ford dealer and took it there, they said it was the steering gear and the smart trac system needed to be replaced but that it is so rare for the steering gear to go out that they can not find the part. The next day they said they had to order the part from Ford but were unsure when it would get there and would let me know. Well when I got home I called Ford and complained, they called me back 3 days later and said all they can do is speed up getting the part delivered. So they got the part to the dealer a week earlier that it was scheduled. It was covered under an extended warranty but I had to pay $100 deductable and I had to pay for a front end alignment, $90, which I did not understand because if changing that part required it to have an alignment it should be covered by the insurance. Well they called 2 days before the date the part was to be delivered and said it was ready. I have been driving my spare car to work, it is an escort and I drive 45 minutes so it saves me some money in gas. So the weekend comes and I am excited to do some errands in my Explorer, I need to go somewhere that is 45 minutes away, on my way home the same thing happens again, no power steering and no smart trac. So it is now at the Ford dealer near my home and I am waiting to hear what is going on with it.

This is the second time in three weeks that the steering assist just stopped while driving. I am good sized and fairly strong and it was an effort to make a controlled exit from the highway. The first time it happened I looked under the hood; don't ask why. Found nothing and restarted the car and the problem was gone. Today I got off the road and shut the engine down, waited a few minutes and restarted the car and it worked fine. I called the dealer and he was "unaware" of the problem. They would like to keep us isolated and tell us we are the only ones with the problem. Thanks to you we can see a lot of others have the problem too.

They need to determine the cause of the problem and the fix and have a recall.

Driving down the rd . steering would freeze and would actually fight the driver .. ford dealership said they have heard of this and that ford was looking into it.. repair was to be 2100 dollars... however after 3 weeks of non returned phone calls to Ford Motor co. they agreed to pay half of the repair and will pay balance should this become a recall...

my question is .. was this an engineering fix or just a replacement with the same like kind and quality... if so this vehicle is unsafe at any speed... i was teed off that dealer knew of this and so did ford ... they could of at least sent a note. it was not until their territory mgr. screwed up by not returning phone calls that they agreed to pay anything... this is a life safety issue that needs to be addressed... i suggest that other put in a clip on youtube and maybe ford would think twice about doing a recall... this is scary ... driving at 60 and then the steering actually fights you ... when the vehicle was stopped it actually would make the steering wheel turn on its own...

love the vehicle otherwise .. but how can i let my daughter drive the car not knowing if it was a fix or just replacement... gordon robertson 914-332-5500 ford do the right thing and issue a recall

Driving on the interstate and lost Power Steering, (Traction Control LED came on) and Right turn signal quit working all together - had to hold it to pull off the side of the road.

Took it to dealer and said we are out of the 36,000 mile warranty and all they can do is replace the Steering Gear at my expense. Funny how every website has this issue mentioned but Ford does not want to do anything - funny it is not a problem and they are recalling 2013 vehicles for the same type of problem.

Tried to do the right thing and by American Made and staying away from Government Moter's (GM) as they haven't made anything reliable in years - guess it is back to the imports. Sucks USA doesn't stand for quality any longer!

Contacted Ford about the issue - not holding my breath they will do anything about it.

The third and last time my power steering went out I had a car full of little boys and was on my way to a baseball game. I lost steering capability on a winding country road (County Road MM in River Falls) that has no real shoulder. I hit my emergency flashers and was able to pull to the side quickly stop and start the car before the car behind me got close to me. I didn't drive it again until we took it to the dealer. Ford has not recognized it as a defect, charged me $1,800 to replace the power steering gear, and align it, and put my family and our friends kids at risk. By ignoring this defect they are they are criminals in my mind!

I was driving my car in a parking lot and making a turn when my power steering went off, and a message came on indicating I'd lost power steering. With great labor I was able to complete the turn without hitting the parked cars, and pulled into a multi space parking space. I turned the car off and on. The problem seemed to correct itself. However, it happened again two more times before it was able to be seen by the Ford dealer. (I'll list the next two incidents separately, per the instructions.)

On 09/01/12 at around 2130 hours, my Ford Explorer Limited power steering stopped working on a busy four lane street. I was making a left hand turn, when my suv shut off. My sister was very upset, because we was facing traffic head on. I did not know what to do. Ford Explorer rolled to a stop and some how we did not get hit. I returned my suv to the dealer for repairs { steering gear shift}. A few days later my suv had two warning for collition and traction control. I returned my suv three times to the dealer for service until the problem was looked into.

In doing my homework, I have discovered that the NHTSA is open an investigation in June 2012, due to the 'large' number of complaints regarding the loss of 'power' steering on the 2011 Ford Explorer. No recall yet, but if you go the the NHTSA website, there are already over 100 complaints regarding steering alone. This problem occurs with very little warning, and in my opinion, can be extremely dangerous if you are not strong enough to drive a 6000 lb+ vehicle without power steering--or if you are towing something, which I happen to do at least once or twice a year. Currently, there are major delays in getting the parts to 'repair'.