2016 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #1965718
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:STEERING WHEEL /HANDLE BAR:YAW/ANGLE SENSOR filed February 8, 2024
NHTSA complaint #1965718 (ODI reference 11570731) concerns a 2016 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on February 8, 2024. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 8, 2024. The vehicle had 69,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Illinois based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:steering wheel /handle bar:yaw/angle sensor, 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:steering wheel /handle bar:yaw/angle sensor 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 while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The service stability track, traction control, and the loss of power steering warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he used physical strength to steer the vehicle after the power steering assist failure to the residence. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed that the angle sensor was defective and there was a loss of communication. The contact was informed that due to the failure and the loss of communication, the power steering assist, hill assist, and traction control features were disabled. The vehicle was not repaired due to a needed part being on backorder since November 2023. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1965718 |
| ODI Number | 11570731 |
| Date Filed | February 8, 2024 |
| Failure Date | February 8, 2024 |
| VIN | 1FM5K8AR4GG |
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.