2011 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #927585
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STEERING:RACK AND PINION filed July 12, 2012
NHTSA complaint #927585 (ODI reference 10465371) concerns a 2011 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on July 12, 2012. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 29, 2012. The vehicle had 17,500 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Virginia based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as steering:rack and pinion, 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:rack and pinion 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 2011 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THERE WAS A LOSS OF POWER STEERING WITH THE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS MANEUVERED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE ENGINE WAS TURNED OFF AND UPON RESTARTING, THE VEHICLE RESUMED NORMALLY. THE FAILURE OCCURRED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER, WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM. THERE WAS CURRENTLY AN OPEN INVESTIGATION UNDER NHTSA ACTION NUMBER PE12017 (STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM). THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 17,500. UPDATED 7/31/12 *CN ON JULY 12, 2012, THE CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, DUE TO THE FACT THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES BEFORE THE VEHICLE COULD BE TURNED OFF AND RE-STARTED. A CODE WAS DETECTED IN THE PCM. FROM THAT CODE, IT WAS DETERMINED THE VEHICLE NEEDED A RACK AND PINION. THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THER
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 927585 |
| ODI Number | 10465371 |
| Date Filed | July 12, 2012 |
| Failure Date | June 29, 2012 |
| VIN | 1FMHK8D87BG |
Similar STEERING:RACK AND PINION Complaints for 2011 FORD EXPLORER
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the steering wheel became very firm. The power steering assist fault warning light
The contact owns a 2011 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the power steering fault message displayed on the instrumen
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 FORD EXPLORER. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE WOULD VEER TO THE RIGHT WITHOUT THE CONTACT MOVING THE STEERING WHEEL. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE RACK AND PINION
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.