2011 Ford Explorer Electrical Problems

The power steering has fully stopped working , the car cannot be steered, this started to happen on the road, I had to steer the entire weight of the car myself, at fast speed it was difficult but not impossible, at slow speed and zero speed or while the vehicle is stationary it was impossible or unmovable to steer. there were no warning lamps about this, the Ford dealer has not detect this in my vehicle's previous recall, further vehicle has two more recalls this year, that have been cited this year by the dealer. this needs to be addressed on their recalls because this can cause a very severe problem on the road

NHTSA ID

11753984

Incident

Jul 31, 2026

Vehicle is very hard to steer, will not reset when restarting the vehicle. two dash messages; advance track warning and power assist failure. I have not attempted to drive on road due to difficulty of steering the wheel. I am afraid the vehicle is uncontrollable at this point and needs to be towed to a repair facility. Not sure if this incident is linked to the recall under 14S06 for ford recalls.

NHTSA ID

11739398

Incident

May 18, 2026

The contact owned a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, turned off, and unoccupied, the vehicle caught fire. The contact was in her residence, and a neighbor knocked on her door, making her aware that the vehicle had caught fire. The fire has been extinguished by the local fire department. The fire department indicated that the failure may have occurred due to a wiring malfunction in the vehicle. A police report was not filed, but a fire report was filed and was unavailable. There were no injuries reported. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

NHTSA ID

11726405

Incident

Mar 23, 2026

Mileage

200,000 mi

Loss of power steering

NHTSA ID

11698909

Incident

Nov 12, 2025

Power windows and power mirror buttons stopped working and then “Service power steering now” message came on and the steering wheel is locked and very hard to turn. The electrical wiring for the windows run through the power steering gear. The vehicle has not been inspected or repaired

NHTSA ID

11632433

Incident

Dec 12, 2024

As I was driving, a “service Power steering” warning came on along with another warning about my power assist being lost. I have taken my car to see a mechanic a total of 4 times for this same issue and need answers or reimbursement.

NHTSA ID

11627816

Incident

Nov 27, 2024

While driving in the rain, I lost power steering and had several unrelated waring lights come on. Dash lights flickered. Engine continued to run normally but warning lights came on and off. I was able to drive to a safe location and turn the car off. When I restarted the car everything was normal including the power steering. This happened 2 more times on the 12 mile trip home. In the last 60 days this has happened 3 more times during a rain. On one of these occasions the steering came back on like normal with out me stopping.

NHTSA ID

11603564

Incident

Apr 2, 2024

Over the past couple of years the steering wheel has locked. But would reset if turned off and on. The traction light also engaged temporarily and later went off. When I took my vehicle in to the dealership at Blue Springs Mo Ford on [XXX] for service and diagnostic they indicated a sensor and/or steering mechanism needed repair or replaced and the part has been on back order. They would order the parts-and let me know when they came in. They have yet to contact me on the part. They said it could be some time. . About a month the tire pressure sensor fault warning came on so I was looking repairs. Early this week while driving the power steering quit working. A day or so later while troubleshooting the dash display reported faults with both power steering assist and advance tract. After turning it back on and off the warning lights engaged. I have a new battery, checked connections and fuses, then looked online and found ford has a known problem with power steering assist failing. Also comments report if an issue occurs with the electronic power assist at any time Ford is responsible to repair for free. Today I called the ford number 800-392-3673 to report this problem and was informed my vehicle does not qualify for free repairs due to the mileage 173,958. The fix expired at 150,000 miles or 10 year - which was an extension to warranty). I don’t agree with this approach as Ford has been aware of this issue with the power steering electronic system for years and provided no notice to consumers. I would have had it checked prior to hitting the 150,000 mile mark. Please advise on my rights or recourse. Thanks. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11569311

Incident

Jan 26, 2024

While driving the vehicle on a busy street, proceeded to steer car to turn at an intersection and the steering started failing and was extremely hard to steer. The message appeared electronically, saying service power steering now and car then shut down. We immediately got car to independent mechanic. Was not aware of any vehicle recall, but seems to be repaired. Happened very recently. Early Nov. 2023.

NHTSA ID

11555865

Incident

Nov 1, 2023

Going down road about 40 mph when power steering was lost with lots of warning.

NHTSA ID

11553504

Incident

Oct 31, 2023

When I turned my Ford Explorer on yesterday, the Power Steering Fault light came one. This has happened in the past, but when I shut off and restart my car, it has always reset and worked. But yesterday, it didn't reset. Besides the power steering, the Advance Trac light is also on. My blinkers will not stay engaged unless I hold the lever. I can't get in to the Ford Dealer for a month. It is very difficult to drive without the power steering working. The warning lamps came on when I started the car. Thankfully this didn't go out when I was driving.

NHTSA ID

11541461

Incident

Aug 28, 2023

The Electronic power steering went out for the third time while trying to park at grocery store parking lot. We have paid for 3 replacements and reprogramming now for the 3rd time it’s out again.

NHTSA ID

11534581

Incident

Jul 25, 2023

My rear view camera was replaced in August 2019 as it stopped working. It was an expensive costing $1000 to repair. It just stopped working again. Car has 100500 miles and this is excessive for what I consider a safety feature in a car this large. I was just told by Ford the backlog for a new camera nationwide is greater than 240 units and some customers have waited over 6 months. I searched online and found many complains on model years 2011 forward due to a bad design flaw that allows moisture in a wiring harness causing corrosion / failure. In my opinion, Ford needs to step up to root cause and provide options other than a complete replacement that only temporarily solves the issue

NHTSA ID

11523715

Incident

Aug 30, 2019

The dash lights go off then it's says starting rebot. Air bag lights stay on. Check engine light on says miss firng. All Carfax report was forged. Dealer said needs new engine but was not told by seller. No one will fix it they say not worth the price for car. I over paid big time. Got lied too.

NHTSA ID

11523289

Incident

May 22, 2023

on december of 2022 the power steering go out during I was driving with my family and the steering it was very hard to keep control of the steering I almost lost control of the vehicle the good news is no car it was around me I try to do my best to get home safety .after the mechanic diagnostic he mention it this ..ON MAY 2014 FORD COMPANY ISSUE A RECALLFOR THE 2011 -2013 FOR EXPLORER FOR A DEFECT ON THE POWER STEERING SYSTEM ..so I contact ford and they tell me I have to repair the total out of my packet becouse they cant see any recall but my car it was made during the time frame the recall it was made I really not understand why they can even look this problem I cant imaging if I was on the higway on high speed I really scared after I deal with this problem

NHTSA ID

11502700

Incident

Dec 15, 2022

My 2011 ford explorer steering randomly went out . As I researched I realized that there was a safety recall 14s06 for that particular car. Apparently that recall was announced in 2014( before I purchased the vehicle) the previous owner took the truck to the dealership the have the pscm checked and no codes came back so it was only reprogrammed which is suppose to prevent steering loss which is what I am currently dealing with. The dealership is not trying to replace the part free of charge as stated in warranty although they know this is serious safety issue on this vehicle . They are trying to charge me 2800.00 to have the part replaced.

NHTSA ID

11500281

Incident

Oct 24, 2022

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the "Service Power Steering" warning light illuminated along with several unknown warning lights. The contact stated that she was able to drive to her residence with the warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that while driving up her driveway, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The contact stated that she turned the vehicle off and shifted to park(P), turned the vehicle off and on and the failure persisted. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to a manufacturer Customer Satisfaction Program Number: 15N01 (EPAS Steering Efforts). The failure mileage was approximately 220,000.

NHTSA ID

11497815

Incident

Dec 15, 2022

Mileage

220,000 mi

I was driving on the highway and the steering wheel locked on me. He was hard to turn and I also hit another car in the back.

NHTSA ID

11480059

Incident

Aug 17, 2022

I keep losing my power steering. i called ford and they told me the recall to fix it was out dated . this could cause an accident . and shouldnt have a time line to have it fixed . It has happened several times the last year

NHTSA ID

11478315

Incident

Aug 9, 2022

The steering wheel gets hard to turn it acts like it has glitches in it. It goes from easy to hard and doesn’t come out of it’s turns on it’s own I have to pull it back. Almost acts like I’ve lost the power steering.

NHTSA ID

11455627

Incident

Feb 28, 2022

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the APIM (Accessory Protocol Interface Module) had become defective which caused the front and rear defrosters to not operate as needed. The contact also stated that the APIM failure had caused the rear backup camera to not function. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer and was provided an estimate for the repair. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

NHTSA ID

11450010

Incident

Jan 1, 2020

Mileage

60,000 mi

HAZARD LIGHTS DO NOT WORK AND I AM HAVING TROUBLE GETTING THIS PROMBLEM SOLOVED.I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS AND I HAVED LOOKED AT VIDEO AND I AM STILL HAVING ISSUES WITH IT THEY WORK SOMETIMES AND SOMETIMES THEY DON'T.. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

NHTSA ID

11417647

Incident

May 3, 2021

REAR BACK UP CAMERA STOPPED WORKING ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME SO I CANNOT SEE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE VEHICLE WHILE BACKING UP

NHTSA ID

11413043

Incident

Jan 10, 2021

DRIVING AT 35+ ENTERING ON RAMP MPH THE CAR LOST ALL POWER AND JUST STOPPED. THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. NO WARNING LIGHTS OR ALARMS WENT OFF BEFOREHAND. ONCE THE CAR STOPPED, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, THE LOW PRESSURE LAMP TOO AND AN ALARM SOUNDED. I CALLED A TOW TRUCK AND HAD IT TOWED TO (TOLD ME MY ENGINE WAS MILKY DESTOYED)TWO DEALEARS THEN TO FORD. THEY CALLED THIS MORNING AND SAID THE WATER PUMP WENT OUT CAUSING CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE. THE ENGINE HAS TO BE REPLACED. THEY QUOTED $8,000.00. HAD TO GET A $10,000 LOAN. [TO REPLACE STEERING AND ENGINE] THIS IS THE FIRST ONE (IT SEEMS TO BE HEADED IN THE SAME DIRECTION BUT ONLY SOONER) *PLEASE HELP ME I CAN'T AFFORD THIS AGAIN**WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY, MY POWER STEERING WENT OUT WITHOUT WARNING. I LOST ALL POWER STEERING AND THEN THE POWER STEERING ALARM CAME ON. TOOK IT TO FORD AND HAD THE POWER STEERING REPLACED AT A COST OF $1800.00. THEN, LESS THEN 2 WEEKS LATER WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH, THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT AGAIN. AND AGAIN, NO WARNING LIGHTS UNTIL THE POWER STEERING WEN OUT. FORD SAID IT WAS BECAUSE MY TIRES HAD LOW TREAD AND I NEEDED TO REPLACE MY FRONT TIRES, WHICH WE HAD THEM DO. 8 MONTHS AGO, THE TRANSFER CASE WENT OUT AND HAD TO BE REPLACED ALSO WHEN PLACED IN PARK VEHICLE SHUT OFF COMPLETELY SHOWING A LOW PRESSURE OIL LAMP. HAPPENED IN MY FIRST ENGINE NOW IT'S HAPPENING IN THIS NEW ONE AND ITS NOT 2YRS OLD YET JUST GOT THE NEW ENGINE MAY/ JUNE OF 2019. THE FIRST ENGINE WASN'T 10 YEARS OLD . THE FIRST ENGINE ALL THIS HAPPENED APPROXIMATELY BETWEEN 2016 AND 2019 ONGOING UNTIL 2019 I GUESS THE WATER PUMP GAVE UP.O1 O1 2020 FOR THE SECOND ENGINE ON THE SAME COURSE AS THE FIRST

NHTSA ID

11405841

Incident

Jan 1, 2020

Mileage

90,000 mi

THE TRUCK WAS DRIVING SMOOTHLY AND I TURNED IT OFF, TEN MINUTES LATER THE TRUCK POWER STEERING WAS RIDICULOUSLY THOUGH I COULD BARELY DRIVE BACK HOME,STILL CAN'T USED THE TRUCK,CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND TOLD ME THAT THIS TRUCK DOES HAS A ELECTRICAL POWER STEERING RECALL BUT THE MILEAGE WAS OVER 1000 MILES OF THE MILES THATS IN THE RECALL SYSTEM, COULDN'T IMAGINE IF THAT SITUATION HAPPENED WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY IT WOULD'VE OCCURRED AN ACCIDENT I DONT THINK ITS FAIR THAT THIS MODELS HAVE A RECALL AND THE DEALERSHIP ARE NOT DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT, I REALLY NEED SOME HELP I HAVE KIDS AND I CANNOT ENDANGER THEM BY THIS MISTAKE THE FABRICATORS DONE.

NHTSA ID

11399882

Incident

Feb 21, 2021

Mileage

151,147 mi