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.
Steering wheel becomes stiff, and at times locks up while vehicle is in motion no matter the speed. I almost lost complete control when the wheel locked briefly while exiting the highway on a curved off ramp. Thankfully my wife nor my teenage daughter where operating the vehicle, I was. Having had experience in vehicle operations while in combat, I was able to regain control without further incident. This unpredictable malfunction should truly be looked into and rectified by manufacturer.
Power Steering Assist Fault on 10/17/2022. Steering wheel would not move (or was very difficult to turn the wheels at all). Had this occurred while driving it would have been near impossible for my wife to steer the car and likely would have caused an accident. Fortunately it happened first thing in the morning when starting the car in our garage. Towed to repair shop and they confirmed the entire steering rack needs replacement (electric steering). Warning light for same problem occurred 11/23/2021, but after restarting vehicle the warning indicator went away and the steering unlocked. Took to service shop but they could not replicate the problem and cleared the codes, and the code did not come back. This time however there is no solution other than to replace the entire steering rack at great expense.
Driving down the road and making a right turn into a gas station, I heard a popping noise coming from the front, passenger, tire area. I let it go for a couple days but the noise didn't go away. A day earlier, I picked up the vehicle from Ford (had the recalls addressed). Never was informed of a problem with the front end what so ever...I decided to take the vehicle to Firestone. They checked and found the "rack and pinon" needed to be replaced because the popping noise was coming from inside the system. The repair was estimated to cost $2600. Firestone informed me that they called Ford for replacement cost and Ford said they didn't have any to sell. I've read various chat rooms for 2015 Ford Explorer issues and found NHTSA was aware of the problem but no recalls had been issued by Ford. NHTSA, I urge you to push the manufacturer, Ford, to issue a recall on 2015 Ford Explorers and have the rack and pinon issue fixed. This must happen before unsuspecting drivers and their passengers (let alone other drivers and maybe even pedestrians if the car's steering wheel was to lock up as has been reported by other drivers in chat rooms) are hurt or killed. I hope this complaint will be the one that compels NHTSA to act on a recall. After 20+ years working for DOT, I have hope that NHTSA will push Ford to act. Thank you.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the steering wheel seized in a certain position with the "Steering Assist Fault Service Required" warning message on the instrument panel. Upon restarting the vehicle, the power steering failed to operate as needed and excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle. The contact was able to reset the vehicle and drove to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed with a defective electric steering rack. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and was informed that there were no recalls on the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.
Vehicle lost power steering while driving on highway. My self along with 4 other passengers was in danger of running into other vehicles. I was able to get vehicle to repair and the dealership service department has t replace the Electronic Steering gear and program. There were no prior warning before we lost control.
- Wesson, MS, USA
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The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact turned off the vehicle and allowed the computer to reset itself. The failure persisted. The power steering assists warning light was illuminated. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000. The consumer stated that the vehicle was repaired but soon failed again. At the time of the second failure, the "Steering Assist Fault" was displayed on the dashboard, and it took multiple tries to get the vehicle moving again.
The power steering went out while I was driving. I had to hold the steering wheel all the way to the left just to go straight. Had the car towed to the dealership where I was informed the repair would cost $3000 and Ford will not cover any of it. Was told that Ford does not even make the part any more because they had so many problems so they would have to order a refurbished part in order to fix.
2015 Ford Explorer electronic power steering assist module rack and pinion my wife started the vehicle and a power steering light came up on the dash.we had no power steering, thank goodness it happened in our driveway and not on the road somewhere. We were able to get the vehicle to the nearest Ford dealer and they told us the electronic power steering assist module rack and pinion was bad. We had to pay $2500 up front to order the parts and were told the parts were on back order and may take 2 weeks to a month or more to come in.they told us it is a safety issue and not to drive the vehicle until fixed.I started looking up this problem on the internet and found out this was happening to many other vehicles, Ford Explorer thanks for looking into the problem and saving lives
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while pulling into the driveway at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized with the Service Advance Trac and Steering Loss Stop Safely messages displayed. The contact related the failure to a faulty rack and pinion and steering column; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became inoperable. The power steering assist and advance track warning indicator lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 69,053.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. The steering fault message was displayed while the advanced traction control warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
I was driving up north to spend the weekend camping with family and 2 hours into our trip two light went off one being the steering wheel check light a d the other being the advance trac light. I had to pull over completely because i was unable to drive the vehicle.
Every since I bought this vehicle I have intermittent power steering failure while driving. I was assured in the past that the toe link recall took care of this problem but I still continue to have this problem, although not as frequent as was before. While drive when it goes out I get the following errors flash: Service Advan Trac, Steering Assit Fault, and Hill start assist not available. These are the warnings that flashes. As of now, if I can get pulled over and turn off the vehicle and let it sit. Everything runs normal. But what is strange this last time I also got a Power Steering Low error flash up. This is dangerous and I can not believe FORD has not recalled my vehicle for the module when all the years and some of my years have been recalled for it. This is a $$$$ repair.
This has been an intermittent issue for approximately a year. The vehicle experiences binding popping when turning. The steering sticks and takes a second to return to function. I have almost missed curves because of the malfunction. It has not been examined by a dealership, but by a few independent mechanics. Sometimes it cannot be duplicated and in other instances it happens so quickly the tech cannot assess the issue properly. I have not had any warning lights or alerts other than the activity. I am scared to drive my vehicle especially with my kids inside. I have read several forums and this is clearly an issue that Ford is aware of, but has chosen to do nothing about. Please help.
I purchased this vehicle in May 2021. Within a week after purchasing, the power steering went out completely. When this happened, an indicator came on the dash that said "Steering Assist Fault-Service required". Another indicator came on as well that said "Service Advancetrac". Not only did the power steering go completely out, but the selector that allows me to change modes from grass, snow, sand, normal conditions was not working either. It was no longer lit up and would not respond when I tried to change it. This exact same scenario has actually HAPPENED 6 TIMES NOW in the past year, with the most recent happening on June 21, 2022. Each time, it happens when I am going to a relatively slow speed (under 25 mph) and it is VERY difficult to get it off the road due to the power steering being out. I am only reporting now because I didnt' know how to report it, or that it would do any good at all to do so. When this happened that very first time a week after I purchased it, the dealership said that I would need to have something with the steering replaced. I complained that I had only had the vehicle for 1 week, so they took it back to repair it. The repair apparently didn't fix it becuase it keeps happening. I transport my children in this vehicle daily. If the power steering fails again at a higher speed, a collision is very likely. I do not know why the Advancetrac selector goes out as well when this happens, but it happens every time. Each time this happens, I have to get it to the side of the road, turn off the vehicle, let it sit for a few minutes, and it is usually back to normal when I start it back up. When this happens, there are no indications prior to it that something might be wrong. It is completely random when it happens.
Driving 65-70 mph on highway headed home steering seemed a little stiff going into a curve then cleared up. 10 miles further down the road the steering seems a little hard to keep in my lane and then felt normal again. Coming into town slowing down to about 35-40 mph Service Advancetrac soon light came on. I slowed down as there was no where safe to pull over safely and turned on hazard lights until I could look for a spot to pull over and call my husband. Drove a couple more miles and pulled into a parking lot just as the steering loss light came on and all steering capability was lost. I-€™ve seen many complaints from owners of same make and model with this problem. Makes me curious why there is no recall on this year model when there are calls for this on previous year models
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. The contact manually steered the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with power steering module failure. The mechanic informed the contact that the power steering module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The Power Steering Assist Fault and Service Advance Tract messages were displayed. The contact veered to the side of the road and waited. The contact continued driving the vehicle using extra effort to steer the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.
The Ford electronic rack and pinion system just failed. No warning light, no advance notification. Driving vehicle down road and abs ability to steer vehicle becomes impossible. Stopped vehicle and brought to dealership. In any other circumstance this could have led to a crash with injuries or death. Googled problem, and innumerable instances of this happening with Ford vehicles. Surprised this isn-€™t a recall item already!!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hanscom Afb, MA, USA