COMPLETE LOSS of STEERING. Loss of steering, stop safely light came on. As I tried to get off the road SAFELY, car almost sent me into the guard rail. A lot of fluid (I'm assuming power steering fluid) came out under car.
I did not just lose power steering; I lost total steering capability. Car has not been worked on yet. Had my 90 year old Mother been driving this at the time; she would NOT have had the arm strength needed to stop car safely & there would have been an accident! Didn't have to look far to see this is a big issue with this year & model.
Driving down the highway at 70 mph, steering became difficult, went to pull off the highway, once on the exit ramp, the steering warning service steering, steering system failure, stop immediately, and two other warning came on.
I had 2 of my kids and 2 grandchildren with me, this could have been tragic! This is a solid, expensive vehicle, it should be reliable, no one should have to worry about their steering suddenly going out. I am thankful there were no deaths involved!
Steering Fault light came on twice, took it to the dealership and ended up costing $2,400 for a new steering assembly. The vehicle only has 57K miles, this death trap has been a nightmare since I bought it new. Will never own a Ford again, although the vehicle will probably end up killing me before I decide trade in.
I am not happy that this has happened at 46K miles and especially during this bumpy economy!! Ford knows about this and it is prevalent across at least 8 types of vehicles and still no recall!!!
2016 Explorer purchased new in 2016. Began having odd issues just out of warranty. Navigation system would fail, steering wheel controls for sound system would quit working, AdvanceTrac warning lights on startup, seat heater on driver side came on and wouldn't turn off (90 degree day). Most of these would clear immediately when car was shut off and restarted. AdvanceTrac is the only consistently repeating problem, but always clears and may not reappear for weeks/months. This morning the AdvanceTrac fault came on at startup, followed by a new one...Steering Fault. Vehicle would not steer without extreme effort. Managed to re-park it and used my other vehicle to get kid to the bus stop. All warnings are still active after checking battery cables, tightening one that was a bit loose (the one that goes to the bundle of wires as a secondary from the + terminal), and completely disconnecting battery and reconnecting.
- dmj71,
Hernando, US
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I started having problems with the steering wheel controls. Example- hit volume up, it turned the station, volume down would change to CD. Then out of the blue I was driving approx 30 mph and the steering wheel locks up & I get a steering fault message. I used every bit of strength I had to steer the car to the roadside. I turned off the ignition the started back & just like that...problem gone. I took the vehicle to my local Ford dealership & was told if they don't see it happen then they can't fix it. So far I've had the following replaced, steering wheel buttons, clock spring, software updates, then entire steering wheel. It's still not fixed!
2016 Ford Explorer XLT with 52K No previous issues until Feb 2019
Auto started vehicle to warm up 10 min, drove 5 min and power steering went out, dash warnings popped up.
- Power Steering Assist Fault.
- Terrain Management Systems Fault.
- Service Advance Trac Fault.
Dealer says steering rack assembly needs replacement, electronic sensors embedded in rack went bad, cost over $2,000.00 to replace.
Ford Motor Company is going to seriously injure or kill someone with this design issue, losing your steering is dangerous and could happen at any speed, I would not buy any ford vehicles with electronic assisted steering until Ford corrects these design defects, further, I've reported this serious design defect to NHTSA,
While driving down the road today, the "steering fault" and "service advance trac" messages displayed AND I LOST MY POWER STEERING. Managed to get the car off the road into a parking lot and called the dealer NATURALLY, MY FACTORY WARRANTY EXPIRED LITERALLY 3 WEEKS AGO TODAY. When I turned off the car and re-started, the issue went away, but this is the 3rd time I have had an issue with steering, and the car only has 22,700 miles on it. Since it has already been to the dealer WITHIN the warranty timeframe for this issue, Ford had better cover the repair cost.
I didn't bother to take the car to the dealer since they did not find anything wrong last time I took it in for the same issue.
Update from Aug 30, 2018: To all others who are experiencing the issue of losing power steering, PLEASE PLEASE enter a complaint with the NHTSA as well. They also have to power to issue safety recall.
The Ford dealer took the car for a road test and looked for codes but they said there weren't any. So there was no fix. The code cleared itself once I pressed OK. They told me if it happens again to drive it right there for them to look at. As if . . . .
We just purchased this 2016 Ford Explorer 2 months ago and shortly after we bought it, the steering fault access light came on and we set up an appointment to get it checked. We were told that the warranty had expired on that part but we have some warranty left on engine type repairs. The amount to repair the steering rack is $2010.00. We called the dealership in Bolivar, Tennessee where we purchased the car and were told they could give us a discount of $1700.00 and we told them we should not have to take care of this problem which was obviously a problem when we purchased the car. So, today I get into my car to leave and it has caused other lights to come on and the steering wheel is very very stiff to the point I could not drive it. So, I called again to speak with General Manager to try and get a resolution but nothing has been offered. I have purchased used vehicles before and have never encountered such a problem and the few problems I did encounter, it was taken care of. I do not feel we should have to pay for this repair seeing we have just purchased this car. It was obviously a pre-existing problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
COMPLETE LOSS of STEERING. Loss of steering, stop safely light came on. As I tried to get off the road SAFELY, car almost sent me into the guard rail. A lot of fluid (I'm assuming power steering fluid) came out under car.
I did not just lose power steering; I lost total steering capability. Car has not been worked on yet. Had my 90 year old Mother been driving this at the time; she would NOT have had the arm strength needed to stop car safely & there would have been an accident! Didn't have to look far to see this is a big issue with this year & model.
- Candace D., Fleetwood, US