2011 Ford Explorer Steering Problems
- 424
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 424 stored complaint records:
- 12 indicate a crash
- 2 indicate injury
- 0 indicate fire
What owners report
- Electric Power Assist System · 2 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 1–30k mi | 143 |
| 30–60k mi | 120 |
| 60–100k mi | 78 |
| 100–150k mi | 38 |
| 150–400k mi | 21 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Steering
While driving 50 mph, the power steering failed. The steering became extremely difficult. Warning lights appeared. After parking the vehicle, the engine was turned off. After waiting about 20 minutes, the vehicle was turned back on. The warning lights reappeared and the power steering still did not work. Once the car was put into drive, the warning lights turned off and the power steering was restored. *tr
ODI 10483315
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to make a left turn, the vehicle instead turned right, almost causing the driver to lose control. The contact mentioned that the terrain warning lamp illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the steering column was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did…
ODI 10465363
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who ran a diagnostic test and could not duplicate the failure. The dealer repaired the steering rack. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,000.
ODI 10462730
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. While driving approximately 5 mph, there was an unexpected loss in the power steering with an illumination of the all trac system warning indicator. The brake pedal was abruptly engaged to avoid hitting several pedestrians in the parking lot. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis and an unknown part related to the power steering was replaced. The…
ODI 10466371
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the power steering malfunctioned and the power steering warning lamp illuminated on the instrument panel. The steering wheel then became very difficult to maneuver and the driver experienced difficulty controlling the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not…
ODI 10462155
Electrical System · Steering
The car's power steering went out while driving around 10 mph pulling out of a gas station. The screen said it was a power steering failure. Turned car off and turned back on and it went away, however it happened once more later around 5 mph. *tr
ODI 10474011
Steering
The vehicle's computer system came up with a warning that said power steering assist fault. Then the traction control light came on. I lost full control of the steering at the time of driving. The steering completely locked up. I turned on my hazards to signal other cars to go around me. At that time, i had to completely shut down the vehicle and restart it twice before it reset the system and allowed me to control…
ODI 10465838
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Steering
While driving my vehicle it lost power steering assist system showed "power steering assist failure" as well as "service traction control". This was the scariest feeling i have ever had. This has happen to my husband several times.. I immediately called my local ford dealership spoke with service advisor. I was told to turn my vehicle off and restart it. I advised my service advisor that i had taken my vehicle in…
ODI 10461207
Steering
I was in the middle of a left hand turn when the power steering went out at approx 10-15 mph - the fault code appeared & alarm sounded-i had to "muscle" the steering wheel to complete my turn while nearly going over the curb into a business. My first reaction was that the engine had stalled but when the fault showed again & alarm sounded this time it was showing that the terrain management system had failed. As it…
1 injury
ODI 10462897
Steering
Warning light for terrain management come on. Then power steering fault light came on. In a split second i realized i had no control over the vehicle. I hit the brakes and came to a stop taking all my strength to turn the wheel as hard as i could to get safely off the highway. Very dangerous situation if i would have been on a curve or interstate. *tt
ODI 10462852
Service Brakes · Steering
Please be advised that the afore noted vehicle, on june 7th , 2012 on or about 5pm was involved in a single vehicle accident on route 63 at mt washington, st. Croix. She was travelling southward on route 63 crossing the small bridge entering a sharp right hand turn in the road. She experienced a sudden, instantaneous, loss of response in the steering and braking of the vehicle. As a consequence, in the few seconds…
Crash reported · 1 injury
ODI 10462707
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact was driving 35 mph when the power steering assist became inoperable. The power steering assist independently reset once the vehicle was turned off then restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose a failure. The contact was advised to bring the vehicle back to the dealer should the problem recur. The failure recurred twice but the…
ODI 10469290
Electronic Stability Control · Steering · Traction Control System
I own a 2011 ford explorer, i have had numerous failures to the electronic power steering assist. First time this happened i was along at about 65 mph and the steering wheel locked up and the warning lights started flashing "traction control" "power steering assist failures" . Steering wheel becomes very difficult to move and steer car. This has happened 1/2 dozen times, each time i slowly steer the car to a safe…
ODI 10489075
Steering
A warning light came on while i was making a right turn. The steering wheel became hard turn, the first time i was able to get the truck to the curb and restart the truck. That seemed to make the light go away and i was able to make turns with ease. The other time the i lost my power steering, i was traveling on the highway on my way home from work traffic was heavy, it was a struggle to get to the breakdown from…
ODI 10468346
Steering
Loss of power steering at slow speeds (multiple times). "power steering assist fault" light on dashboard. Power steering returns after turning off and restarting car. *js
ODI 10463950
Steering
I was driving down the interstate, getting ready to exit. I heard a beep, indicating a warning on the instrument panel. A warning appeared stating 'power steering assist disabled.'. The power steering no longer worked. I took my foot off the accelerator and made it over to the side of the road. I turned the car off, waited several minutes, and started car again. Problem resolved. *js
ODI 10463919
Electronic Stability Control · Steering
While coming back to work from lunch, my wife was turning left into parking lot when the power steering assist fault light came on and steering became very stiff and hard to turn. Local ford dealership picked up the car and kept for a week but could not duplicate the problem, so ford would not let them fix the problem. Got the car back on friday june 1, 2012 and drove the car as usual. Monday, june 4, [redacted]…
ODI 10460615
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the power steering failed and the steering wheel became extremely difficult to steer. The power steering warning light illuminated and a warning bell sounded during the failure. The contact shut the vehicle off and upon restart, the vehicle operated as normal. The failure had since recurred once. The vehicle was taken to an…
ODI 10467101
Steering
While traveling downtown columbia at approximately 15 mph, my service tracking default light comes on and then power steering default light comes on, my steering wheel completely locks up, luckily, i was not making a turn at the time i would have nailed another car or a person, i immediately turned off the car and restarted it, power steering began to work but the service tracking default light came back on. I am…
ODI 10459243
Steering
While turning on a curve in the road warning message on the instrument panel " steering power assist failure " appeared 3 to 5 seconds later car was extremely hard to turn vehicle crossed center line resulting in a near miss of a head on crash pulled to the side restarted vehicle and loss of power steering was corrected. Has happened numerous times. *tr
ODI 10593203
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that the power steering randomly failed. In addition, the power steering fault light illuminated on the instrument panel followed by the illumination of the service advance track warning light. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer could not determine what was causing the failure. The vin was not available. The failure mileage was unknown,…
ODI 10463443
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the steering became difficult to maneuver because the power steering assist had independently deactivated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was not aware of the diagnosis of the failure. The approximate…
ODI 10514432
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Steering
While in operation vehicle lost power steering assist. Steering became extremely difficult. Warning message "power steering assist failure" followed by "service traction control " light are displayed. Shutting off vehicle and restart temporarily cleared the failure. Failed more than once. *js
ODI 10460928
Steering
Power assisted steering goes off with no warning. First happened back in 2012, pulled off road, restarted car everything worked fine. Problem occurring more frequently over past 6-8 months. (3 or 4 times) dealer says unaware of any general problems with the steering am scheduled to take to dealer for further analysis. Not covered by any recall but problem widely reported on the web. *tr
ODI 10597912
Steering
Driving on a mountain road, warning messages appeared - power steering assist failure and advance trac control fault. The vehicle lost all power steering assist. With much effort (extremely hard to steer!), i pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and shut it off. When i restarted, the power steering returned and after a few seconds the advance trac warning message went off. Took vehicle to ford dealer (benson…
ODI 10482489