The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle without warning. The contact then took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where they informed her that the electrical rack and pinion needed to be replaced, followed by an alignment. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed her that the vehicle was not under recall or warranty. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.

- Battle Creek, MI, USA

At approximately 102,000 miles, vehicle started making loud grinding noise when turning the steering wheel in either direction, very noticeable both inside and outside the vehicle, both when stopped and when driving. The steering wheel sticks in certain positions while driving, requiring extra force to maintain the vehicle's direction. Issue is worse at highway speeds, creating a dangerous condition that was getting progressively worse. Made it to a Ford dealership who indicated that a new rack and pinion assembly is required at $2,900. They also recommended not driving the vehicle in that the condition was unsafe.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Ecoboost Base 76k miles had a steering rack failure. Over looking all other complaints, looks like I-??m not the only one with the 2500$ bill. Ford dealership acknowledged that it was a very common issue and was easy to diagnosed. I was met with light flashing on dash then would disappear after I restarted the SUV. Until I turned it on one day at a sonic drive in and would not steer. I-??ve read reports where people are driving on the freeway when it happens and I could only imagine how that would-??ve been like especially since I drive with my child onboard. Dash says -?? Advance Track Failure; Hill Assist Needs Maintence -??. It was quickly diagnosed over the phone but still took it to get looked at, at Ford. 100% should be a recall at such a low mileage, just thought since police use them in their fleet they had to be reliable. For it to be a 300$ core as well, sounds like it-??s still a valuable part broken

- Dallas, TX, USA

Lost steering all at once could not turn wheel luckily i was in my drive way when it happened i paid yes ford $1600 dollars for a new rack and pinion on 8-13-21 was given a release date on part for 8-24-21 then 8-25-21 and now 9-3-21 this is an emergency order thru ford they was quick to take my money but cant deliver part.I have turned in a complaint to ford and it has not helped no calls back from ford. Looks like this is a huge problem ford has with its explorer rack and pinion failure I guess there waiting on somebody to get killed with faulty racks before they do anything. My explorer has 65000 miles on it and it looks like this is a common failure for this vehicle.

- Willow Wood, OH, USA

Power Steering Assist Failure indicator appeared on dashboard resulting in inability to steer car. Vehicle was towed to dealership and reprogramming was attempted with no success. Requires replacement of EPS steering.

- Miami, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH, the power steering and power steering assist failed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle home, however, the steering was manual making it more difficult to maneuver the vehicle. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

- Rustburg, VA, USA

First instance was in mid December 2020. While driving down the highway the power steering suddenly went out, showing errors "Steering Assist Fault, Service Required", "Hill Start Assist Not Available", and "Service AdvanceTrac". Pulled over and turned off the car for a few minutes, when restarted it appeared to work fine. Second instance was in mid May 2021. Similar circumstances to the first instance: happened while driving, same errors, started working after restarting the car. After this second instance we took the car to the dealership for servicing. They replaced the Hub Bearings, but said there were no additional errors for the vehicle. The third instance was June 24th 2021. This time the errors showed up upon startup, and did not resolve upon restarting the vehicle. Took the vehicle to the dealer, and they determined that we would need to replace the entire steering gear assembly, at a significant cost.

- Hot Springs, AR, USA

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle steering wheel failed when reversing out of the garage, the contact was unable to turn the steering wheel. The contact stated that the electrical service light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to have a diagnostic performed. The failure code for the steering power assist module was detected. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage 70,000.

- Torrington, CT, USA