2012 Ford Explorer Steering Problems
- 168
- 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 168 stored complaint records:
- 6 indicate a crash
- 3 indicate injury
- 1 indicate fire
What owners report
- power steering · 132 records
- steering wheel · 35 records
- steering assist · 33 records
- assist fault · 22 records
- needed replaced · 14 records
- steering failed · 13 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 1–30k mi | 61 |
| 30–60k mi | 35 |
| 60–100k mi | 24 |
| 100–150k mi | 20 |
| 150–400k mi | 16 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Service Brakes · Steering
I started my vehicle as usual, had just turned left off my street onto a two lane road, and approximately 0.25miles later i lost power steering. As i was accelerating from my turn, going approximately 40mph i felt the brake pedal pulsate and the steering wheel jerk a little. Immediately i had an alert on my dash "power steering fault." i attempted to press the brake pedal with no success and there was no resistance.…
ODI 10486486
Steering
Ford motor company october 18, 2012 while driving my 2012 ford explorer, the power steering unit quit working as i was turning into the school parking lot. I almost hit a gate post and had to backup with a ten car line behind me. The steering continued powerless for the entire trip home, about ten miles or 15 minutes. After parking overnight in my drive, i started the suv to drive to the dealership and the power…
ODI 10481483
Electronic Stability Control · Steering
Driving on rt 495 when the warning lights activated and a warning came on in the message center saying "service advance track." i started to pull over to the side of the road and discovered my power steering wasn't working. After i pulled over i stopped the car i looked in the message center i saw that the advance track wasn't selected. I tried to select it but wasn't able to. I turned the car off and back on a…
ODI 10475882
Steering
While driving uphill on a narrow mountain road i lost all power steering assist with a simultaneous audible warning and a dash visual warning that my power steering assist had failed. With difficulty i was able to exit the road into a private driveway. I turned the vehicle off. In a few moments i started the vehicle again and everything functioned normally. I took the vehicle to my ford dealer on or about september…
ODI 10491602
Steering
Was driving on straight roadway when warning lights came on saying power steering assist failure and advance trac failure. Lost power steering, advance trac, blinkers, etc. Shutting vehicle down and restarting corrected the problem. Second time this happened. First time was approx. Two months prior while in reverse. Problem was corrected the same way and didn't think much of it until the second incident. Dealer said…
ODI 10476606
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford explorer. The contact stated that while driving 25 mph, the power steering failed and the power assist default warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact restarted the vehicle which functioned properly. The dealer was contacted who stated that the vehicle was not included on any recalls and advised the contact to bring in the vehicle in order to diagnose the…
ODI 10474066
Steering
While the vehicle is moving, the power steering assist failed and the steering wheel becomes extremely difficult to turn. It is virtually impossible to turn the steering wheel, only with extreme difficulty and approximately a tenth of a mile of straight roadway was i able to steer the car to the shoulder. Turning the car off will temporarily re-engage the power steering. However, the problem continually re-occurs…
ODI 10472753
Power Train · Steering
I was slowing down as i was approaching a traffic signal and heard a warning chime. Initially, vehicle did not show any signs of problem, but got a warning message of power steering failure (or something similar) and another one indicating to service the advance track system. The advance track indicator light went out on the dial, too. After a few hundred feet the power steering was completely gone and i had to use…
ODI 10471810
Steering
Power steering has failed on a number of occasions resulting in driver having to manually steer. Steering fails when auto in motion. Occurrence when speeds anywhere from 10-60mph. Very dangerous. One has to pull over (if possible) and turn off auto and then re-start. Issue has occurred four times in last month. Only 10,000 miles on auto now. *tr
ODI 10474415
Electrical System · Power Train · Steering
I was driving home from a movie on pacific coast hwy in huntington beach, ca and all of sudden the power steering assist fault warning came on, i hadn't lost complete function of the steering but it was about a half a mile down the road that it got almost impossible to steer. I called the dealership and they told me to tow it to the dealership as soon as possible. I didn't know that there was a short term fix by…
ODI 10471483
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford explorer. The contact stated that while traveling 45 mph, the power steering failed and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed that the power steering rack failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 10,317 and the current mileage was 10,322.
ODI 10473771
Steering
I was driving down the freeway with my son in the car and preparing to exit when the steering failed. I was unable to move the steering wheel more than an inch in either direction. With my hazard lights on i was able to pull over. There were several failure messages, the two most prominent being power steering assist and advance trac error. This could have been very dangerous. The car has now been at the dealership…
ODI 10473181
Steering
Car's power steering went out making it very difficult to drive. My wife was able to pull over into a lot and called me. The car was a few miles from a ford dealership (northgate ford near cincinnati, ohio). After starting it back up, i was able to drive the car to the dealership. The dealer called me back that night (aug 6th) and stated they confirmed the problem and the car can't be driven until this is fixed. The…
ODI 10473903
Electrical System · Electronic Stability Control · Steering
Power steering fault while returning from short supermarket trip, lost all power steering, dash board lit up, then terrain sensor fault, causing a feeling of reduced gear, turn signals failed as well. Very difficult to drive, and unable to reset by shutting vehicle off. Dealership stated a fault in power steering rack, requiring replacement, they also stated it is a different part number then original part meaning…
ODI 10469261
Steering
As i was backing my vehicle up there was a chime and an error message displayed on my left screen instrument panel telling me that there was a power steering assist fault. I restarted the vehicle and the fault did not return. Two or three days later as i was driving, it happened again. I was going 15mph and out of nowhere, the error popped up on the instrument panel and i couldn't make a turn. I restarted the…
ODI 10469937
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford explorer. The contact stated that, the power steering seized and he was unable to turn the steering wheel in any direction. The contact was able to temporarily remedy the problem by shutting off and restarting the vehicle. The failure recurred without any warning. The vehicle was not taken to dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vin was not available. The…
ODI 10469725
Steering
Three times in the same day my power steering went out. Once when i started the car first thing in the morning and was backing our of my garage. Twice when i started driving forward after idling in a drive through line it went out. All three times i received warnings immediately after the power steering was lost that the power steering assist was out. Each time i had to turn the engine off and restart it to regain…
ODI 10468888
Steering
On july 27th, while driving on the highway, at approx. 60 mph, i received error messages regarding the trac assist and power steering assist. At that time, i noticed that the steering had completely locked up on me. Luckily i was on straight-a-way, and there was no one in the lane next to me, so i was able to ease on over to the shoulder. I called the closest dealership, who advised me to turn the car off and on,…
ODI 10471838
Steering
My 2012 ford explorer limited has lost power steering while in motion on four occasions, in less than one week time period. It loses all ability to steer and will only work again once it has been restarted. *tr
ODI 10468209
Steering
Driving down the massachusetts turnpike the power steering assist failed and i almost hit another car because the vehicle was extremely difficult to steer. *tr
ODI 10467913
Electronic Stability Control · Steering
From a stop-zero mph, conducted a right turn from surface street to freeway on-ramp. Mid-turn, power steering assist failed, resulting in near accident/running off-roadway surface. Additionally, elec stability control (ford 'advancetrac') warning light indicators illuminated indicating service required immediately. *tr
ODI 10467829
Electronic Stability Control · Steering
I live in ecuador (south america) and bought a 2012 explorer base model, on october 2011. A few days ago, after a long trip, i got the "advance trac" error message, and 3 days ago, i got the power steering failure, and the steering wheel got locked, traveling at around 20 mph, the two messages were on the screen, advance track and power steering. I turned the car off and then back on, and everything was normal.…
ODI 10467815
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford explored. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle then independently came to a complete stop. He was able to reset the vehicle and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. The dealer stated they needed to replace the power steering pump and the power steering rack. The vehicle was…
ODI 10467248
Steering
I bought a certified preowned ford explorer with 19,900 miles in last week of june 2012. Within one month, i had multiple incidence ( roughly ten times)of the vehicle power steering assist failing while driving. It would fail both at complete stops , slow speeds and once while exiting a highway offramp at approximately 25mph. Once the vehicle was restarted the system would reboot and the problem would be temporarily…
ODI 10474288
Steering
Greetings, i saw information on the web that stated the nhtsa is investigating issues with 2011 ford explorer power steering fault as to a possible safety recall. The information i saw was specific to the 2011 model year. However, i have a 2012 with the same issue. For no apparent reason, a "power steering assist fault" message is displayed followed by "service advance track". This can happen at anytime, without…
ODI 10466299