NHTSA Complaint #10472703 — 2011 FORD EXPLORER

I WAS TRAVELING APPROX 60MPH WHEN AN ALERT FROM THE DASH SOUNDED, THE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATED AND 2 MESSAGES APPEARED ON THE ONBOARD MESSAGING SYSTEM: 1) "POWER STEERING ASSIST FAULT" AND 2) "SERVICE ADVANCE TRAC". AT THAT TIME I LOST ALL POWER STEERING ABILITY. I AM VERY FORTUNATE THAT I WAS DRIVING ON A STRAIGHT STRETCH OF ROAD AT THE TIME AS I AM UNSURE IF I COULD HAVE KEPT THE VEHICLE FROM GOING OFF OF THE ROAD. I PULLED OVER AT A GAS STATION AND TURNED THE CAR OFF. I RESTARTED THE CAR APPROX 5 MIN LATER AND IT HAD NO WARNINGS AND THE POWER STEERING HAD BEEN RESTORED. THE NEXT DAY, THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED, EXCEPT I WAS GOING APPROX 10MPH TURNING LEFT INTO THE FORD DEALERSHIP TO LET THEM LOOK AT THIS PROBLEM. THEY INFORMED ME TODAY THAT THEY NEEDED TO ORDER A NEW "RACK" AND THAT THE PART WAS "BACKORDERED" AND HAD A DELIVERY DATE OF NOVEMBER (TODAY'S DATE IS 8/27/12). *TR