Print this page

3.6

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
35,553 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2015 Ford Explorer electrical problems

electrical problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2015 Ford Explorer:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2015 Ford Explorer Owner Comments (Page 2 of 4)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #43

Mar 082021

Explorer

  • 99,720 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Our air bag deployment light stays on all the time. I took the vehicle to gordie boucher Ford in janesville wi for repairs. The entire air bag system will not work if this light is on. Ford knows about this problem, it is well documented if you search the internet. A common problem that requires a wiring harness to be replaced due to a frayed wire. The cost to repair this is $1200. I did have the repair done because without it I would have no working airbags on my vehicle. This is clearly a safety issue that Ford is aware of and should be immediately recalled. I did request the old wiring harness if that is something that you would need to help get this safety recall started. I would like to be reimbursed for my expenses.

- Janesville, WI, USA

problem #42

Jan 022021

Explorer

  • 85,000 miles
My steering failed as I was traveling with my grandkids on a local Suburban road. It took all my effort to steer the truck back to my home. This was very dangerous as the steering would also freeze and lock in one position. I had it repaired at my Ford dealer. Total cost: $2,107! this is a serious safety issue that the manufacturer should cover! I have 85,000 miles on my Explorer.

- Glenshaw, PA, USA

problem #41

Jan 012021

Explorer

  • 85,455 miles
While driving on a local Suburban street, my power steering went out. It felt like it was in a manual mode and it was extremely difficult to get back home.. my two grandchildren were in the car, and this situation put us all in a dangerous situation. I managed to get the car to my Ford dealership and after assessing the situation, they determined that the power steering rack failed. This resulted in, not only my losing the use of the vehicle over the weekend, but an extreme bill, of $2107!

- Glenshaw, PA, USA

problem #40

Oct 292020

Explorer

  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The air bag light came on. After doing extensive research I see that this is a common issue because of the wiring and faulty connectors. After wiggling wires the light goes off. It eventually comes back on, then repeat the process.. this is a safety issue because the airbags will not deploy with the light on.

- Hazel Green, AL, USA

problem #39

Sep 112020

Explorer

  • 55,510 miles
Apim failure in 2015 Ford Explorer Sport. Attempted to use update from Ford website which was unsuccessful. Contacted Ford for second attempt. Second attempt was unsuccessful. Took vehicle to ultimate Ford in mountainhome Arkansas. Was told that the update will cost $109. Ultimate Ford attempted to do update which was unsuccessful times two and was told that the a apim was bad by jay in the service department and would have to be replaced. And after contacting Ford multiple times I was unable to get any resolution in this situation. Took the vehicle into Ford and had the apim replaced at a cost of $915.46. I talk to chris in the service department and I was informed that they do 2 to 3 apim replacements a week. If this is the case in a town the size of mountain home Arkansas I believe that this should probably be a recall for this vehicle. Vehicle was stationary.

- Mountain Home, AR, USA

problem #38

Jul 202020

Explorer

  • 98,000 miles
When the 3rd row seats are moved by the power button, the air bag light on the dash comes on. There is an electrical short.

- Springfield, OH, USA

problem #37

Feb 192020

Explorer

  • 54,640 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving on a two lane highway and the power steering completely failed. We were told by the dealership where we purchased the car to bring it in but it sounded like "steering assist fault" since that was the error message, duh.it was cost $500 for an alignment? replaced faulty rack and pinion gear and checked alignment(should be ok since they aligned it the same day) total bill $2291 this is a 2015 Explorer limited that has been in the shop several times for car a carbon monoxide leak in the cabin of SUV for repairs, power seat repairs and interior door panel coming apart.

- Berwick, LA, USA

problem #36

Oct 222019

Explorer

  • 50,000 miles
The fuel gauge on the instrument panel is reading that the fuel tank is almost full, however while driving the low fuel warning sensor came on and we nearly ran out of fuel. The gauge was still reading almost full. We barely made it to a gas station. After putting in a full tank of gas, the fuel gauge was showing a completely full tank. Since then, the gauge is always showing almost completely full and will go down only to almost full, not quite as low as 3/4 full tank, even if you have driven over 300 miles. Now we have to re-set the trip odometer every time we get gas, so we can calculate approximately how many miles we have driven since the fuel gauge only goes down slightly below full. This occurred around 50,000 miles.

- Conroe, TX, USA

problem #35

Nov 142019

Explorer

  • 54,000 miles
While driving on street or hi way the dash light turn off and on. This is very dangerous at night.

- Las Cruces, NM, USA

problem #34

Oct 272019

Explorer

  • 70 miles
The first incident was about 9months ago I was driving with my 3 year old on highway at about 65mph the car locked up steering the wheel. The car was moving all directions on three lanes and it was very hard for me to atempt to steer as the wheel was very tight. It finally went down to 0 mph and I pulled over thanking god I did not crash. The lights were flickering all over. Attempted to trade at a dealership regor dykes in Texas bc I was scarred to drive it. They fixed it as a trade then got sued and returned it back to me and took my new car back. Then yesterday I left home to take all my kids to school 3. and got to 40 mph and it did it again luckily we were not on a highway. This time when it hit 0 mph it was still driveable but would not accelerate above 40. I'm scarred for my life in this car and there is nothing I can do about it. It is now parked and I dont know what to do.

- Lubbock, TX, USA

problem #33

Aug 212019

Explorer

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

There is a leak on the drivers side of the car in the front and now there is standing water on the floor that leaks through when there is a rainstorm. There is also a significant leak where the lights are by the moon roof. The water is saturating the ceiling and drips on the radio and other parts of the car. The sunroof no longer works. This happens every time it rains and when it is stationary. The ceiling lights will fill up with water and drip as well. Since there is no heat on the passenger side of the car I am unable to clear the windshield of any fog which is very dangerous.there are forums on this all over the internet and I know 2 other people who have the same problems with their Ford.

- Elburn, IL, USA

problem #32

Aug 092019

Explorer

  • 68,033 miles
In December 2018 I told my local Ford service manager of my vehicle giving me a warning that my transmission was not in park occasionally, this even when it was. At times I would have to re-start the vehicle, or play with the gear shift itself to get it to stop the warning and return my steering wheel and seat to original positions. Over the past several months this has become more of an issue as it was happening on a daily basis. When I took it in recently for a recall on another issue the service manager did inform me there is a tsb #17-2219 for this particular issue. After further review I found that the tsb covers five particular Ford models and three Lincoln models spanning the years 2011-2017. Because this was now a problem I was dealing with on a daily basis I had them replace the shifter as suggested at 68,033 miles. What is upsetting is that this is not being covered under any type of recall. This is not a part that should fail at 62,000 miles when I first reported the issue, and it is not something that should cover as many models as it does for a six year period of time. How could vehicles start to have these issues in 2011, but the manufacturer still continue to use these relays or shifters for an additional six years" if they are negligent in not correcting the problem, why should the consumer be on the hook for Ford using defective components"

- Chesaning, MI, USA

problem #31

Aug 052019

Explorer

  • 90,000 miles
While driving down the highway the Explorer has suddenly shut down on two occasions. The first time (July 2019) I was driving about 50 mph. I was able to cruise off into a median. The second time (Aug 5, 2019) I was coming off an on ramp onto a busy highway at about 60 mph. Once again the car suddenly powered off. I was lucky to be in the far right lane and was able to cruise off into a wide grassy area. The traffic I was merging into was at 70 mph. In both instances the wrench light came on. This is very dangerous as the car loses power and you have practically no control over the steering or brakes. If I had not been able to cruise off and/or had been in the center lane of a major highway I could have been rear ended by vehicles at high speeds. In both instances, once I was off the road I turned the car off, waited a few seconds, and restarted. The car started back up normally and then seemed to work ok. It's like the electrical or software system requires a 'reset'. this is a serious safety issue as it occurs with no warning and the driver cannot control the car and must come to a stop to turn off the engine and restart.

- Raleigh, NC, USA

problem #30

Mar 172019

Explorer

  • 82,600 miles
Car was in motion in New York city, van wyck expressway service road. The car just shut off on 3/17/2019, 4:30 pm the dash board signaled powertrain, dealer states timing chain issue. Vehicle purchase used with 59,000 miles on February 2018. Check engine light was on since March 2018. Currently 82,600 miles. Been to the dealer several times for additional problems. I had to replace the battery headlights, heartng motor, there are leaks into the car that have not been repairs. The car is low falling apart :(.and had to pay out of pocket since extended warranty did not cover everything.. not getting straight answers from Ford or the dealer. Thank god I was on the service road and going 25 mph stopped at a light. The car never started and had to be towed to the dealer.

- Springfield Gardens, NY, USA

problem #29

Jan 062019

Explorer

  • miles
There are often issues with the radio and heating system. Radio turns on and off by itself and so does the heat and air conditioning. In addition, I have complained about something making me dizzy and nauseous in the vehicle. In informed the finance company regarding my inability to breath, for which I was hospitalized. I have been hospitalized on numerous occasions since the purchase of the vehicle and have informed the finance. Furthermore, they have been additional hospitalizations in 2018, for which I will have to upload the documents at a later time.

- Evanston, IL, USA

problem #28

Feb 132019

Explorer

  • 54,600 miles
Water pump started leaking at 54000 miles right out of warranty. Was told needed replacement or else engine would seize. Paid over $2,100 to get it replaced. Stupid design and hard labor to get to it. Car has vibration now ever since we had it repaired but thought it was normal leaving dealer. I don't know why this hasn't been recalled. Now, the parking aid went out. These cars are horrendous

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #27

Jul 112018

Explorer

  • 45,000 miles
The electric system went on the fritz when it was significantly hot outside. This caused the power steering to falter and the car to be essentially inoperable. This happened 4 times throughout the summer, and it seemed to happen on extremely hot days. It would always occur while driving and caused significant danger to not only myself, but other motorists as well. At high speeds when the steering went out the car was hard to control, and got even worse as momentum was lost.

- Madison, WI, USA

problem #26

Mar 092019

Explorer

  • 52,000 miles
Driving 55mph on I-94 last night in a steady rain and check battery message came up in the left ip display. Within a few seconds I lost the power steering, then the center console entertainment/info screen, then the instrument cluster went black with the headlights and windshield wipers which were on highest setting slowed but continued to operate only while in the highest setting. This scenario continued off and on for the next 30 miles with intermittent electronic steering failure, internal ip and console screen failure and exterior lighting failures. We pulled over each time and within a varied amount of time from a few seconds to a few minutes, a sound similar to a squealing belt would be heard and the system would "reboot" and all functioning would be restored for a limited time. We limped the vehicle home over the course of the next hour and a half for 35 miles as I was not leaving the car on the side of the freeway or in detroit if I could safely avoid it. This morning (Sunday) I tested the battery and had the battery and alternator tested under load at an auto parts store and both were within normal parameters. Belt looked good with visual inspection and 1 hour of idle and drive time close to home in damp puddling roads could not get any adverse symptoms to reappear. It will go to the Ford service department at our local dealer tomorrow for a thorough inspection. This is my wife's daily driver and if no issue can be found we will be replacing the car as she would have been in extreme danger without steering, lights and ip, especially on a Saturday night driving through the city of detroit's I-94 expressway.

- Casco, MI, USA

problem #25

Dec 102018

Explorer

  • miles
I've recently noticed my airbag light on in my vehicle dashboard. I ran a scan tool but nothing is being picked up by the scanner. Not sure what I need to do next. I've only owned the vehicle for a few months now. Its used but doesnt look like its been in any accidents. I did just have my car cleaned at a car wash and they cleaned out the car. I wonder if they hit the wiring under the seats trying to clean the 3rd row seating area?

- Leesburg, VA, USA

problem #24

Oct 012018

Explorer

  • 42,500 miles
My vehicle is only three years old and the driver door power window does not operate correctly, only when it is cold outside. It should go up and down with the soft touch of the button however, it appears that the motor is going out because when I push for the button to roll the window up, the window will go down. I will hold the button in the up position and about half way up the window will automatically go down. On the same door panel I already had a recall that was repaired and now this started. I am now wondering if the two are linked somehow. I called Ford customer service and they could not tell me if this repair would be under warranty, even though mileage is within warranty. I asked and explained that my car is only 3 years old, has 42,500 miles (at the time) and she couldn't tell me anything regarding the warranty. I don't quite understand that. Said I would have to actually go to the dealership of my choice, again, and leave my car, again, and let them diagnose the problem and see if it would be covered. I told her I didn't want to go through all of those steps because it wasn't convenient. I wanted to know if it would be covered or not and I could make a decision to fix. Ford customer service was not helpful at all. I was very disappointed in there lack of service.

- Braselton, GA, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »

Not what you are looking for?