Started car and put in reverse and noticed that the steering was not working normally and then noticed the power steering fault assist and service advance trac notification. Also at the same time, the turn signal would not stay engaged. I managed to drive 100 miles home with "manual steering" on the highway and needed to use one hand to change lanes. If this problem happened going 60 miles per hour, an accident or worse, lose of life, as what happened was unexpected and steering was very difficult. This vehicle was bought 1/2/15 and this problem happened at 26,100 miles and the repair cost $2,147.25 at the ford dealer by my house. Since ford was able to replace the assembly the same day leads me to believe this is a very common problem and stock the parts and looking at other complaints online, an ongoing issue with ford vehicles in general. Ford had a 1.1 million recall for this on the 2011-2013 vehicles and they never fixed the issue going forward. A recall needs to be done.
2015 Ford Explorer steering complaints
Page 9 of 13: complaints 221 to 250 of 348, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While the contact's girlfriend was driving 50 MPH, the steering wheel seized and could not be turned. The driver stopped in the middle of the highway, turned off the engine, and restarted the vehicle. The steering returned to normal and the driver drove home safely. In addition, the traction control indicator illuminated and "service advancetrac" and "steering assist failed" appeared on the instrument panel. The contact called miller brothers ford (9035 baltimore national pike, ellicott city, md 21042, (410) 505-8633) where the mechanic stated that the failure would have to occur in their presence in order to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 77,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While attempting to make a turn, the steering lost power and "steering fault assist needs service" appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to vaughn ford lincoln (318‑335‑0710, located at 835 highway 165 s, oakdale, la 71463) where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.
-failure of electronic steering gear- I have a 2015 ford explorer sport with 50,000 miles on it. 2 weeks ago I had a "steering fault assist" light come on while driving the vehicle on the interstate. I did not experience an issue steering at the time. Once I pulled off the interstate I restarted the vehicle and the alert went away. 5 days later I was diving in the city and the "steering fault assist" light came on again followed by "advance trak warning." I lost power steering immediately. I got to an area to pull off and restarted the vehicle. Both warnings immediately came back on. I was over 4 hours from home, so I had to drive over 250 miles without power steering. I called multiple ford service locations in my area, only one would take it and look at it within the week. I found out today that following a diagnostic test, I am needing to replace the electronic steering gear as it failed internally. Ford quoted me $2000 + tax to fix it. After going online, I have found numerous complaints of the exact same thing happening with other ford explorer owners. I am completely disappointed in ford!
A little over a month ago the left rear toe link broke while driving. This caused the car to lose control and go into a sideways slide, breaking the wheel hub in the process. Smooth road going about 50 MPH in good conditions. We got the car fixed and had to pay for the repairs since the car is no longer under factory warranty. After the ford dealer in mchenry il had it for over a week, we got the car back, drove it for a few days and suddenly we had a cracked exhaust flex pipe. We had to pay several hundred more to get that repaired. Again, driven on smooth roads in the summer, nothing that would have caused this so suddenly. Got the car back again after several more days in the shop.. Drove it for a couple more days and the left rear toe link broke.. Again... Dealer this time installed the "recall kit" on both sides. Luckily, this time it was at slow speeds coming into a parking lot . Had the car towed back to the dealer. Again.. We have had the car back for about 3 days now, and the left toe link has come loose.. Again.. The car will be towed back to the dealer tomorrow because it is unsafe to drive. It was driven 3 times at low speeds around town since we got it back. My wife is now afraid to drive the car out of fear of it breaking again. This is a serious issue if the recall part doesn't work. When this part fails, this car has a severe loss of control and can very easily result in an accident. Ford needs to get to the bottom of this before someone gets killed.
As we were turning into a parking space there was a popping sound so I immediately took the car to the dealer. We were told that the rack and pinion was defective which is the second time this has happened in a ford around the 40,000 mile mark. If the rack had failed at high speed it could well have been fatal.
2015 ford explorer. Consumer writes in regards to power steering failure. *ld the consumer stated while driving the steering service light illuminated and the power steering immediately went out. The vehicle was not included in the power steering recall.
I bought the car used in april 2019, it only has 25,000 miles. I was driving with my toddler when all of the sudden I could not steer the vehicle easily and warning lights started going off after I lost power steering. The lights were power assist fault and something about advancetrack system in which I noticed that my four wheel drive capability was not working. I was on a city street so I was able to pull into a parking lot. Once I let it sit for a few minutes and started up, everything was alright. This was the 2nd time this has happened the first time, I was just exiting off the highway when I lost power steering and warning came on but it only occurred for a minute and everything was back to normal. This is a safety risk and I am afraid to drive it long distance. Other than this I love this vehicle!
50k only and the rack and pinion steering column is failing.
Noise when turning or backing up on drivers side. New shocks/struts have recently been put on the front.
I thought the vehicle was having struts issues in the front as well as a sway bar. However I finally got an appointment at the ford dealership and they stated that the issue was caused by a failing electronic steering rack. This vehicle only have 42,524 miles on it and this should not be happening already. This could potentially fail causing you to lose power steering and cause an accident. The vehicle makes the noise when turning slowly to the right or when backing up. It will also make the noise when you are stationary and turn the wheel back and forth. The quote I received for the repair was $1,770. This is not something that should have to be repaired on a 2015 vehicle with low mileage.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While driving and attempting to turn, the steering wheel seized and then returned to its normal position. The vehicle was taken to crouse ford (11 antrim blvd, taneytown, md 21787, (877) 782-7280) where it was diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000.
Noisy popping noise when steering left and right at a stand still or low speeds. This turns into a locked steering wheel in one position.
Lane keeping steering assist is electric motor assist. The rack & pinion steering gear motor malfunctioned, leaving the steering without any assist, resulting in manual (extremely difficult to steer) steering. In this case, no crash resulted, but required rack & pinion required replacement. Replacement cost ~$2200.00 at a ford dealership.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the 'lane detection failure' message suddenly appeared and the power steering failed. The steering wheel became very difficult to turn in either direction. After stopping the vehicle and restarting the engine, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who found diagnostic code: c200d and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was taken to jones ford of north charleston (5757 rivers ave, north charleston, south carolina), but the code was no longer present after restarting the vehicle several times. The cause of the failure could not be determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000.
Making slow right handed turns, clunking sound was detected in the front of the vehicle. The ford dealer investigation revealed that the power steering rack needs replacement. The vehicle has only 61000 miles on it and the cost will be $1950.
Driving to work and received a "steering assist fault/service required" warning message. Took car to dealer, where they repaired a faulty steering gear assembly.
When I drive at slow speeds to pull into a parking spot, garage, turn into a drive way and reversing out of these spots, there is a loud clunk noise. When turning the steering wheel to the right.
80,000 mileage starting with steering noisy and click noisy sometime . Powertrain looses when parking and hard to shut off the engine.
While driving recently my car would 'sputter' while at a light etc. Well today it completely dies while driving (about 20mpg). It eventually restarted and I was able to drive to my mechanic. The vehicle completely died while pulling into the drive of the mechanic who will take a look on monday. Also, had problems with steering unit that ford said needed to be replaced. Said that would cost us about $1100 for a new module. At that time the car had 40,000 miles on it. Currently has 72,000. My husband was going to by a f150 now seriously considering going with toyota. He's heartbroken as we both thought the explorer would be a reliable car.
On 4/14/19 we left for vacation and drove1,100 miles from arlington, va to key largo, fl and when we got to fl, the steering started making a clunking noise and got stuck when we were making a u-turn. After some research, I could tell it was the steering, could give out when driving and was a serious repair that could not wait until returning home in a week to get it repaired. We drove to lorenzo ford in homestead, fl. On 4/16/19. Lorenzo ford knew right away that the problem was the steering. Our explorer had 41,339 miles on it and the mechanic said it was not unusual for the steering to give out. He actually said it was a problem but not a recall. The repair totaled $2,335.91. I thought we were driving a dependable and safe car on our vacation, but we got to spend a lot of time getting our car repaired on our vacation. I've had numerous fords, and have always called myself a ford person. Sadly, I don't like the direction ford is going and this may be my last one. Thanks ford for not making quality job #1 and wrecking my vacation. You need to recall this before someone gets hurt.
My wife was driving down the road when the power steering suddenly went out almost causing her to wreck. Shortly after a "steering assist fault service required" message popped up. After searching through forums and goggle it seems this is a common issue that ford refuses to recognize.
The power steering froze while driving on three separate occasions over the last two days. The first was while pulling into a parking space, the second time was while turning to merge onto a busy two lane highway and the third time was while driving 55 MPH merging onto the freeway. The car was in motion in all three cases and had to be put in park and turned off before steering came back. My wife was unable to turn the car when it happened to her because she wasn't strong enough to overcome the force.
Power steering stops working suddenly; due to factory mistake or faulty parts or manufacturing. Possibly causing loss control and crash occurrences. Unless you have upper body extreme strength you can't control the steering wheel due to this defect. There have been previous recalls but not for this year or my VIN number despite the issue being the same. Ford refuses to pay to repair it. Also, this once repaired can happen again.
The vehicle has approx 42,000 miles and has started exhibiting the clunking noise and difficult turning at low speed, specifically in turning right, as reported in many other complaints. Looking at a $2k fix at such a low mileage with with so many other similar complaints is disturbing and amazing why ford is not fixing this.
Slow speed grinding noise when turning. In motion and stationary on all services
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. The contact stated that the service steering warning indicator flashed intermittently and then the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an authorized dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,100.
Power steering failed as I was pulling away from a gas pump after refueling. Power assist warning light came on and I was not able to turn the steering wheel unless I used a great amount of force. Luckily I was still in the gas station parking lot when the failure occurred. The car had to be towed to a dealer.
I was driving my vehicle down the road I went to make a turn and my vehicle made a terrible noise on the right side. The steering wheel acted like it did not want to turn. I was informed that my rack and pinnion was bad. I only have 57,000 miles on the vehicle. I researched this problem and I am clearly not the only one with this complaint. It's very strange that all models are covered except mine.if my child would have been hurt because of a faulty vehicle where numerous people have this problem I would have been devastated.
2015 ford explorer xlt, electronic power steering failed during driving. A "steering assist fault service required" message illuminates on the dash instrument panel. This has occurred 4 times in the last week. Each time the failure has occurred after starting the engine and beginning to drive the vehicle. The mileage on the vehicle at first occurrence was 98,734. Appointment made at local ford dealer for service.
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