2015 Ford Explorer: jerking or lurching

Filed Jun 15, 2026 · Steering · MI

This 2015 Ford Explorer XLT - The power steering goes out. Multiple times. No recall with many many of these vehicles reporting to have the same problem. I was 200 miles away from home when this happened. The steering becomes extremely stiff and jerks. Making it very dangerous.

Filed May 27, 2025 · Acceleration · 89,000 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that occasionally while at a complete stop or while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle lurched forward or experienced unintended acceleration. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer and was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 89,000.

Filed Feb 14, 2024 · CA

Well my problem began AFTER I got my cat back from the dealer for taking it in to get the rear toe link recall taken care of. Now I don't know exactly what the problem even is but I will try to explain with as much detail as I can to help you understand what I am still currently having to deal with. After getting. Y car back everything was fine until I suddenly get this sudden jerking of my car after I had made a right hand turn and as I was trying to accelerate to the posted speed limit, I honestly believed that one of my tires was about to break off while driving on the freeway with my two daughters in the vehicle with me while traveling to my sister's house nearly 35 minutes away from my residence. When I felt it, it startled me to the point where I believed that I might have popped a tire. I pulled over to check and nothing visible was wrong. Being 5 minutes away from my sisters house I drove to her house with my hazard lights on and after every turn I would feel as if one of my tires was going to just fall right off. My brother in law is a mechanic and I asked him to take it for a careful drive in an empty parking lot so he can feel what I was trying to explain to him. So he did and he said that it might be either the transmission not shifting properly and could be slipping, or the second theory is that the rear toe link can be either broken or damaged. He didn't know that I had already taken it to the dealer to have it replaced. I told him that the dealer had already replaced the rear toe link and his facial expression was very clear to understand that he was not sure if they did actually fix it or possibly mess with something else, because they might have believed I would have taken my car to get fixed there. Since that is my only vehicle and have a teenager in junior high and a 9 yr old in elementary I have to take them to school on opposite sides of my house . I have noticed that now it's not just after turning, but actually more frequently and longer.

Filed May 18, 2023 · Steering · 81,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH and turning the vehicle to the left, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that the steering wheel was also jerking while attempting to steer through the turn. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but recurring. The contact stated that the failure occurred mostly at slower speeds while turning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the intermediate shaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.

Filed Jan 27, 2022 · Steering · VA

When making a right hand turn I noticed that the car began making knocking/thumping noises. Shortly after those noises began, when I attempted to turn left the steering wheel got stuck in the left turn position. I had to jerk the steering wheel hard to get it to straighten out. If I had not been able to get it straightened out I could have driven off the road or into oncoming traffic. Ford had to replace the entire steering rack and the dealership acknowledged that this is a known issue for 2015 Explorers.

Filed Nov 16, 2021 · Steering · AL

I was driving my Ford Explorer and pulling a trailer behind it. I was about half way through a left hand turn at a major intersection when the power steering stopped working and my vehicle jerked hard to the right. Myself and my family were put at risk due to me barely being able to control the vehicle enough to avoid a collision with another vehicle, a telephone pole, and a curb after the steering system failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the entire steering system was replaced at the cost of $2,500 to my family. There were no indications of any problem before this occurred.

Filed Mar 21, 2021 · Transmission · 155,000 miles · MO

Down the road from my house the power takeoff unit had a catastrophic failure while driving forward (on private drive) grinding sound could be heard coming from the unit in drive but not reverse or neutral. My complaint with this is that this is a known issue with ford and they have not issued a recall, the jerking that this failure caused had I been on a public road/highway going a higher speed could of caused a major accident therfore I believe this to be a major safety issue.

Filed May 14, 2018 · Steering · 52,000 miles · OK

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While driving low speeds, the steering wheel made a grinding noise and became difficult to maneuver. The contact also stated that the vehicle jerked when attempting to change lanes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (jack bowker ford lincoln, 2415 n 14th st, ponca city, ok 74601) where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 52,000.

Filed Feb 15, 2018 · Engine, Transmission · 56,000 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle lost acceleration while driving various speeds. The vehicle also jerked and the wrench warning icon illuminated. The failure was experienced several times. On one occasion, the vehicle lost acceleration while driving approximately 70 MPH. After the contact pulled the vehicle over, turned off and restarted the engine, the vehicle regained normal function. However, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to marshal mize ford (5348 highway 153, hixson, tennessee 37343, phone 888‑633‑5038). The dealer test drove the vehicle, but was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 56,000.

Filed Oct 4, 2017 · Transmission · 33,400 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While driving 70 MPH, the vehicle jerked. While the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle accelerated at a low speed. The engine stalled and the vehicle lost power suddenly. The power train fault indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to jordon ford, ltd (13010 I-35, san antonio, tx 78233 (210) 653-3673), but was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,400.

Filed Sep 28, 2017 · Transmission · 37,500 miles · TX

Ford explorer 2015 with 38,000 miles. Car violently jerked on highway and completely shut off engine with no throttle response. We were almost hit multiple times by other drivers because we had no control. Wrench symbol was on the dash and believe it is a throttle body issue. This is a known issue and cannot believe they are still selling this vehicle or vehicles with this problem.

Filed Sep 4, 2017 · Brakes, Steering · 63,000 miles · MI

I was driving my 2015 explorer about 55 MPH, coming up to a driveway I needed to turn into a few hundred feet away. Suddenly the car lurched and warning signals popped up on my dash. It alerted me my collision warning sensors failed and service advance trac. I attempted to brake and slow down for my trim and realized I had lost power brakes as well as power steering in my attempt to turn into the driveway. I narrowly missed hitting a tree while making the turn into the driveway. I coasted to a stop and immediately ran a vehicle diagnosis. It suggest I shut the vehicle off and turn it back on to see if the codes cleared. When I turned the vehicle on all warning were still displayed but brakes and steering returned. My local ford was fairly close so my father in law attempted to drive it there and suddenly all codes cleared out of the vehicle.