2016 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #1815664
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:HYDRAULIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM filed May 31, 2022
NHTSA complaint #1815664 (ODI reference 11466809) concerns a 2016 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on May 31, 2022. The owner reports the failure occurred on May 29, 2022. The vehicle had 120,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Oklahoma based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:hydraulic power assist system, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD EXPLORER cohort independently describe similar steering:hydraulic power assist system failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2016 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and attempting to drive the contact became aware that the vehicle had lost power steering functionality. While driving the vehicle with manual steering, the steering wheel started jerking to the left or right without warning. Occasionally, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle would be restarted and the steering would function however, the power steering functionality had not returned. The stability control warning light and stability control off warning light was illuminated. An independent mechanic was contacted and informed the contact that the rear suspension and toe link might be fractured. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1815664 |
| ODI Number | 11466809 |
| Date Filed | May 31, 2022 |
| Failure Date | May 29, 2022 |
| VIN | 1FM5K7B84GG |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.