2011 Explorer Power Steering Issue

[joellavoie]

I know this is an explorer forum but I have to share my problem with you as well. We have a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL that has had this exact problems 5 times in the past 8 months. I have brought it to the the dealer and they do nothing.

My wife will be driving along and out of nowhere the car will start beeping and give her a message “Power Steering Assist Fault. Service AdvanceTrac” She will lose all ability to steer. She has to muscle the car to the road turn it off then back on and all is fine. No error codes are recorded. Just today it happened with her doing 60 on the highway in the middle lane.

I have filed a complaint with the NHTSA/ODI. ODI #10449562 . I have been in constant contact with a ford customer service rep who keeps telling me to bring it in to the dealer on the off chance they have a TSb for it. The dealer refuses to change out any parts or attempt to fix it without an logged error code.
Frustrating to say the least. We have 2 kids my wife routinely drives around. it looks liek we should have went with the accord after all.

[TIO M]

Hey man I hear your frustrations....give Cory a PM, I'm sure he can point you in the right direction and get you in contact with the right people. Also if you continue to go to the same dealer and you get the run around. I suggest you go somewhere else.

I am happy to report that once they replaced a box on the steering rack that controls all the electronics I have had no issues. No problems on my 1500 mile trip from Homestead FL to Killeen TX. I can't thank Cory and Ford for taking care of the issues, I am now up to almost 15k miles and no problems in that area. Knock on wood.

[FordCustSrvc]

Originally Posted by joellavoie

I know this is an explorer forum but I have to share my problem with you as well. We have a 2011 Ford Fusion SEL that has had this exact problems 5 times in the past 8 months...

I want to help you with your Fusion, joellavoie. I can lend a hand by arranging for the Customer Service Manager in your area to call. So I can do that, please send a PM with your contact info, mileage, dealer name/state, and mileage.

Originally Posted by TIO M

Hey man I hear your frustrations....give Cory a PM, I'm sure he can point you in the right direction and get you in contact with the right people...I am happy to report that once they replaced a box on the steering rack that controls all the electronics I have had no issues. No problems on my 1500 mile trip from Homestead FL to Killeen TX...

Thanks a lot for the shout-out, TIO M; that sounds like an awesome trip!

Cory

[joellavoie]

I am pleased to announce that my car's steering was replaced yesterday. Fingers-crossed that the issue is finally resolved. Big thanks to my ford rep Jean and Cory from this forum. Hopefully I will not experience this problem any more.

[FordCustSrvc]

Originally Posted by joellavoie

I am pleased to announce that my car's steering was replaced yesterday. Fingers-crossed that the issue is finally resolved. Big thanks to my ford rep Jean and Cory from this forum. Hopefully I will not experience this problem any more.

Thanks for posting that update, Joel!

I’ll be sure to let Jean know that you appreciated the help.

Cory

[dallasdog]

Last Friday afternoon we were coming to a stop sign in our 2011 EX Ltd when the steering wheel literally was jerked out of my husband's hands on a curve and (apparently) straightened the wheels of the car. The wheel would not turn at all. We turned off the engine and restarted the car and the steering returned.

It was really a frightening experience even though we were not in dangerous circumstances. We bought this car specifically for its safety after my husband was almost killed 17 months ago by a drunk driver who t-boned the driver's door and flipped our Prius, putting him into the hospital for weeks with months of rehab to follow. Needless to say, our sense of security is hugely damaged.

We called two dealers before they closed Friday who said "bring it in and they'd take a look". I found out more from this forum and the NHTSA complaints.

We carefully drove the car to Vista Ford in Woodland Hills, CA Monday morning. As has happened to others, the computer diagnostics didn't show any failure and there was nothing in the event log. They said that they had called the Ford repair/tech hotline who suggested doing a laptop analysis of the car, and one of their people drove the car home. Nothing showed up.

I told them that we were terrified to drive the car and that Ford obviously knew of this problem and that I did not want our lives (or other's lives) in danger while we waited for it to go out again. They made more calls to a Ford hotline and were told no repairs would be approved unless they had a failure code confirmed. We were told that the dealership had replaced the electrical steering component on another Ex, but only after it had failed a second time when the code did register. I am not blaming the dealership for this. It rests squarely on Ford.

I sent pm's to Cory Sunday evening and this morning about this issue, but I have not heard back from him as yet. I just called the regular Ford Customer Care Line after the dealership told me there was nothing further they could do to help. Brittany, the very nice rep I talked with, said she was forwarding my information to a customer care unit who would contact me within 48 hours.

Anyone reading this thread knows that Ford is aware of this problem. There is no way this can be perceived as anything less than a safety issue. There are no Ford owners who are going to take their car in to have this problem addressed if it has not actually occured. The new Explorer was supposed to erase the image problems that the old Explorer rollovers caused for the company. I cannot imagine that Ford sees any value in making its customers fight for their safety by denying repairs. I know how frequently we are asked how we like our car. Our answers will certainly change.

[dallasdog]

Per the Regional Customer Service Manager AND his supervisor, under no circumstances whatsoever will Ford repair ANY defect with any of their cars if they cannot replicate the problem at the dealership and confirm a code. Even under those circumstances, they may require a separate confirmation by a second Ford rep. sent to the dealership. I asked for written confirmation that I have reported an incident of total steering failure and that they will not authorize repair because they cannot duplicate it. He said "Let's get this straight, you are not getting anything from me in writing."

Customer service?

[Gdwheel]

My wife had this happen twice recently while driving. We are taking it in next week. It is definitely a major problem.

[mbowsher]

I had this same power steering fault happen twice this past week in our 2011 Explorer XLT FWD. The first time I was decelerating as I approached the off-ramp getting off of the interstate and the Power Steering Assist Failed message came on followed by Service AdvanceTrac. The steering is very heavy and I am glad I was driving and not my wife! Also interesting to note is the turn signals no longer work with the failure mode. I took the vehicle in to the local dealer. They contacted Ford tech support and cleared the associated codes. I picked the vehicle up on Saturday morning, and the next day while driving on the interstate (around 70-75 mph) the same thing happened. I was able to man handle the vehicle over and once shutting the engine off and turning it back on, it clears the power steering error and the Service AdvanceTrac message disappears within about 30 seconds. I am returning the vehicle to the dealer and will send Cory a PM to include the VIN and local dealer information. Hopefully they take care of this problem. It definitely freaks the wife out since she drives the 4 month old baby around normally!

[MrsPeeps]

Originally Posted by 2011 Explorer

Well, well... my wife had the power steering go out on her on our 2011. One difference, she WAS DRIVING IT WHEN IT DID IT!!! 2 weeks ago she heard a "BING" and a warning in the left dash screen showed a "POWER STEERING FAILURE" as she was driving. It also gave her a icon or symbol similar to a roll-over warning (an SUV on 2 wheels???). She tried to move the steering and it was locked as she was going 40+ MPH on a interstate road. Lucky thing, there was traffic and she had to drive slow, so she was only doing 40 and not 60 or more. She had a curve coming up and rode it to the emergency lane where she stopped. With common sense, she turned the truck off and then back on and it was all back to normal. She drove the rest of the 5 miles home with no problems.

We took the truck to the Ford dealer where we bought it a few months back and as you might know by now, NOTHING. Tests and checks and so called e-mails and calls to Detriot, but no answer to what it might be. All we got was a "If it happens again, leave the truck on and call us". All they did is reset the warnings and the keys since I kept getting a warning when I drove it and not when my wife had her key in it.

Now we are waiting for either a Ford recall or for it to happen to us again. Love the truck, but we are a little worried when we need to drive it. I don't feel too safe to think anytime soon the steering wheel will lock as we are driving and won't be able to turn left or right. I hope it happens in a straight road so we wont run off the road.

[MrsPeeps]

I'm glad to know there are others who have experienced the same problem I've had with my 2011 Explorer. Similiar story, I backed out of the garage, put car in drive and there was absolutely no power steering. "Power steering Assist Failure" message and another message about the power tracking system appeared. After turning motor off and restarting engine, it was fine. However, fear of this happening while driving was enough to take it to local Ford dealer to be checked out. Two days later, I was told they couldn't find anything in the computer. Acted like they had never heard of such a problem. I was assured it must have been a fluke thing and would probably NEVER happen again. Not sure they even believed me. Three day later the same exact thing did happen. Took it in to dealer where it was purchased. Picked it up today, with the same response and results. Now what??

[RonJrSVCMGR]

My suggestion, and I am not kidding, is the next time it happens leave the car running and have it towed to the nearest dealer. If you shut it off it seems to cure itself so do not shut it off. Being a dealership service manager, nothing is more frustrating for us than when we cannot duplicate something. We will even send a tech out to you (within reasonable distance from our store) to,witness something happening. We always believe you when you tell us something has happened, but absolutely helpless when you vehicle will not replicate the concern. We really do care (most of us out there do).

[Gator65]

I have my 2011 EX beep me with the "Power Steering assist failure" message yesterday and again today. I took it to my dealer and he said he has had a few Ex's and. Has replaced the Rack

[jrmexplorer]

All,
I would suggest that the next time this event happens, if it is safe to do so, to run a vehicle health report (if you have My Ford Touch) prior to restarting the car. This will generate a report with ANY error codes and send it to syncmyride.com From there, both you and your dealer can access the report including any and all error codes.

This may get you more traction with your dealership on these hard to reproduce issues.

good luck!

[mbowsher]

jrmexplorer,

That's a pretty good idea! If I am unfortunate enough to get the vehicle back and it has the same issue, I will run the vehicle health report to see if it detects anything before cycling the ignition. Thanks!

[JFE]

I've now had the power steering fail twice, both times when driving at low speeds. The dealership has been unable to identify a problem and claims Ford has no knowledge of this. I now know this is untrue. If there is a solution to this, please post so I can go back and get it fixed. Very unsettling to drive knowing this could happen at any time.

[jrmexplorer]

Originally Posted by JFE

I've now had the power steering fail twice, both times when driving at low speeds. The dealership has been unable to identify a problem and claims Ford has no knowledge of this. I now know this is untrue. If there is a solution to this, please post so I can go back and get it fixed. Very unsettling to drive knowing this could happen at any time.

have you tried a vehicle health report (if you have MFT)? It will send a report of any error codes to the syncmyride server where it can be printed by you and will be accessible by the dealer. Sometimes the system will have error codes but an error light/warning will not display. Perhaps the VHR will catch those.

I had an issue where the trouble codes were intermittent, and I had no problems with my dealer accepting the VHR as evidence that there was a problem. Then again, my dealership is stellar.

If that does not help, I would suggest doing as another user had suggested. DO NOT turn off the car, CALL THE DEALERSHIP IMMEDIATELY, and have them send someone over to witness the problem.

[broncoford]

hi all, i am fed up with Ford. My 2011 Ex is surely a beautiful truck and I was thrilled with it until last month when my wife calls me and tells me she lost steering while driving with my mil and several kids in car., Power steering assist fault, Service Advance track, same exact as others here. 3 dealer attempts to fix and I almost hit a tractor trailer on the highway at over 70+MPH last week when I lost steering. Now I am in the hot potato game with ford dealer/customer service with no end in sight driving a crappy rental. Got a call from customer service saying another customer service rep that handles my area will get in touch with me later in the week. No one from my dealer calling me back.

[peterk9]

Originally Posted by broncoford

hi all, i am fed up with Ford. My 2011 Ex is surely a beautiful truck and I was thrilled with it until last month when my wife calls me and tells me she lost steering while driving with my mil and several kids in car., Power steering assist fault, Service Advance track, same exact as others here. 3 dealer attempts to fix and I almost hit a tractor trailer on the highway at over 70+MPH last week when I lost steering. Now I am in the hot potato game with ford dealer/customer service with no end in sight driving a crappy rental. Got a call from customer service saying another customer service rep that handles my area will get in touch with me later in the week. No one from my dealer calling me back.

Are you saying that you were travelling over 70 MPH with a vehicle that you knew had a steering defect?

Peter

[VinceL]

Hey Peter, when you gotta go, you GOTTA go!!