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:
15 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
69,570 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.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his wife was reversing out of a parking lot, the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that the power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact also stated he was unable to move the steering wheel. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact called an independent mechanic who serviced the vehicle at the parking lot. The mechanic was able to use the meteor sensor and stated the motor position sensor signal had to be reset. The motor position sensor signal was reset. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering). The contact was able to drive to the residence. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering rack to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000.
Upon starting the SUV an alert appeared stating -??power steering assist failure-?? appeared. Attempted to reset the sensor multiple times with no success. It was impossible to move the steering wheel. Thankfully I wasn-??t driving given I drive the highway everyday too and from work or I could have had serious harm to myself or others. There is no way I would have been able to control any sort of manual steering as I have a back injury. Now I will have to have it towed to get it repaired just so I can get too and from work.
- Riverview, FL, USA
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The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his niece was driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the electric power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over, turned off, and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle operated as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was nothing that could be done because the vehicle was not under recall and the warranty had expired. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was 44,000.
I started the car and started to go then the car could not be steered and a warning came on that said "power steering assist fault". The steering wheel was impossible to turn and if this had happened in traffic or the freeway at a higher speed I could have been easily killed. Now every time the car is turned on the steering wheel will not turn.
while driving on the interstate my power steering went completely out and on the dash board the power steering assist light came on...scared me to death as coudnt steer. took off work next day and took to dealer said not under warranty bc i have 144k miles and is 11 years old and warranty was under 150k or 10 years...however i did find out this was a big safety issue and was a recall in 2014 on these with a recall...,,,the dealer said i was gonna have to pay 3100 and i had to get and pay for a rental car to drive home and leave at dealer to repair....i had no choice but to leave bc had to be fixed.they were nice at dealership in telling me out of warranty but i dont understand why this huge safety issue wouldnt be fixed and paid for by ford"I do not want to get nooone in trouble and not one to complain much but the money is hard to just come up with to repair a vehicle, rent a rental car and a day off work...im asingle father and have worked 2 jobs for many years to put my son thru college.i had to put all this unexpected money on my emergency credit card and will take a long time for me to pay off.and the issue scared me to death! i feel should have been fixed by the company bc of the issue.I never received nothing by mail of a safety issue recall or warranty expiring about this issue and i have owned since early 2021.I do not understand why and how a recall to repair this huge safety issue can expire"it could have been catastrophic on the interstate and piles of cars..... i thank god i was able to stay straight and wasnt turning when the power steering went out and was ok..but have no choice to repair as cant drive with no power steering.i feel this should be taken care of by ford no matter the year or mileage on explorer as it is a huge safety issue with going out while driving. nervous wreck over it and the money issue to repair.please help me get money back and before this happens again on the explorers(no matter the year or mileage) and serious injuriesoccur
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality with the power steering assist warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was diagnosed with steering gear malfunction. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
Power steering & terrain assist fault would occasionally pop up and lock my steering wheel up. which I would just turn my car on & off to make go away.Only one day in mid turn it came on locked my steering wheel up was side swiped right into a pole. Not only was my car physically damaged but my 4 yr old daughter refuses to get in the car now which makes it extremely frustrating when we have to go places
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
While driving, my steering column locked and an error message saying power steering assist failure alerted. I immediately stopped, attempted to start the car 4 times and the steering column would not move. There is a recall for this same problem from March 2014. Ford is saying that the recall for the same issue not applicable to my vehicle.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The vehicle was difficult to turn to the left or the right. The contact stopped the vehicle safely in the middle of the road. The contact stated that the power steering assist failure message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to a dealer the following day. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the power steering assist had failed. The dealer related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 156,000.
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the steering wheel seized with the power steering assist warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, turned off and then restarted the vehicle and drove to her residence. The vehicle was later taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with a faulty steering control module. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V286000 (Steering) as a possible solution to the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 157,000.
Power steering and terrain management system failure. Power steering assist failure has happened upon starting vehicle a few times but has reset after restarting. There is a recall for this but apparently not for my VIN
Loss of electric power assist, Backed out of drive and could not steer, was locked up. Pulled back in drive. Called wrecker and had taken to Ford. Ford states this is not covered due to it being a warranty out of date issue so repair will be at our cost.
No incidents yet. I have had a power steering fault warning came on. It is off now I have contacted Ford in detroit, recall expired eventhough my car has only 124,100 miles on it.it will cost me $2300. To fix it which I do not have. I was never told about a recall on this. I purchased this used car in Dec,2021 at kearney motorsports in louisville ky. Now I have received a recall notice on the suspension. I find this car very unsafe and really do not know what to do about this, especially the power steering. Please advise, oh I did report this to kydot.
my 2011 Ford Explorer has had issues with the steering locking up. A number of times I've been able to "reset" it by turning the car off and on. Over time this has happened more often and requiring a number of cycling of the car on and off. These are have an associated alert Power Assist System Fault. Driving the this week the alert came on while driving, steering locked which was extremally frighting but then unlocked. The alert remained and all power steering was lost. I had to use all my strength to turn the wheel and get out of the road. Loss of all power assist in the steering.
Current owner purchased this vehicle used. Power steering has failed and after researching recall history it was discovered that this is a long known problem under Fords recall 14S06 and supplement 15N01. Ford will not honor the recall because the vehicle is now at 165,000 miles. Why should the current owner suffer the out of pocket expense for a recall repair that should have been properly repaired the 1st time while still within the recall limits? I have zero confidence that Ford or NHTSA will act in good faith on behalf of owners.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Stonecrest, GA, USA