NHTSA Complaint #10593541 — 2011 FORD EXPLORER

WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH ON LOCAL ROAD, POWER STEERING GAVE OUT AND VEHICLE BECAME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO EFFECTIVELY STEER AND PULL OFF ACROSS 2 LANES OF TRAFFIC ONTO SHOULDER. AFTER PULLING OFF TO SIDE OF ROAD, TURNED OF ENGINE AND RE-STARTED. STEERING CAME BACK AND WAS ABLE TO RETURN HOME. NEXT DAY, SUV DID SAME THING 2X AND ADDED A NEW ERROR MESSAGE REGARDING TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM FAULT ALONG WITH POWER STEERING SYSTEM FAULT. FORD HAS A SECTION IN THEIR OWNERS MANUAL WARNING THAT FAILURE OF THIS SYSTEM WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL EFFORT TO STEER THE VEHICLE, BUT THE DRAMATIC CHANGE FROM POWER STEERING TO THIS SCENARIO IS STARTLING. MY HUSBAND REVIEWED ON LINE AND DISCOVERED A RE-CALL FOR THE POWER STEERING PROBLEM HAD BEEN ISSUED IN JANUARY. WHEN CONTACTING FORD DEALER THEY STATED THIS RECALL DID NOT INCLUDE OUR CAR SINCE THE RECALL WAS ONLY FOR VEHICLES THAT HAD REPAIRS FOR THIS SAME ISSUE (DONE IN A CERTAIN TIME PERIOD). IF THIS ISSUE HAD HAPPENED WITH A LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVER (IE OUR 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WHO DRIVES THIS CAR FREQUENTLY) THE ISSUE WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE CAUSED HER TO PANIC AND DUE TO DIMINISHED MANEUVERABILITY MAY LEAD TO AN ACCIDENT. I AM SURPRISED THE RE-CALL IS ONLY FOR A PART THAT HAS BEEN INSTALLED TO MAKE A REPAIR WHEN THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM THIS REPAIR WAS BEING MADE FOR HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. IT APPEARS THERE ARE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS SAME ISSUE. *TR