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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
27,657 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.

2016 Ford Explorer engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Ford Explorer Owner Comments (Page 8 of 18)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #219

Dec 172019

Explorer

  • 67,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle, jerked, lost power, and came to a complete stop. The failures occurred without warning. The contact noticed an odor coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact attempted to depress the accelerator pedal, but it failed to engage. A bystander helped the contact push the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to byerly Ford (4041 dixie hwy, louisville, ky 40216, (502) 448-1661) where it was diagnosed that the turbo failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The contact was informed to call NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.

- Shepherdsville, KY, USA

problem #218

Aug 272019

Explorer

  • 52,000 miles
My 2016 Ford Explorer Sport during acceleration smells bad from exhaust fumes that entering the car. Took the car to the dealership and all the repairs that were done are not helpful contact Ford Motor Company which didn't help either. At this point dont know what to do.

- Bala Cynwyd, PA, USA

problem #217

Nov 012019

Explorer 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 75,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that relay numbers 14 and 11 in the fuse box were melted and a brown color. The vehicle was taken to village Ford (23535 Michigan ave, dearborn, mi 48124, (313) 565-3900) where it was currently awaiting diagnostic testing and repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

- Inkster, MI, USA

problem #216

Nov 112019

Explorer

  • 86,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that when the climate control system was activated, an abnormal fuel odor was detected without warning. The vehicle was taken to chris auffenberg Ford (5840 mo-100, Washington, mo 63090, (800) 264-5110) to be diagnosed, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The dealer, however, confirmed the presence of the odor. The failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The contact referenced technical service bulletin number: 70044 (exhaust odor in vehicle). The failure mileage was 86,000.

- Wright, MO, USA

problem #215

Jun 202019

Explorer

  • 35,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact took the vehicle to herring Ford (820 memorial blvd, picayune, ms 39466, (601) 798-8682) for an unknown recall repair regarding the rubber gasket on the rear of the vehicle. The contact also detected a carbon monoxide odor inside the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000.

- Picayune, MS, USA

problem #214

Oct 282019

Explorer

  • 82,000 miles
Purchased Explorer 2 old, used. Vehicle has ran great. Check engine light car on. Diagnosed of 3 cylinder misfire. Purchased new plugs and coils as car now has 80K on it. Car ran better for a week as it was starting really rough. Check engine light never went away. Took vehicle to the local garage and they diagnosed there is a blown head gasket. Garaged stated they do not do that kind of work, but garage told me this is the 3rd Explorer-ecoboost he has seen in the past 8 months with this issue. He said has to be a know issue to Ford. Called Ford dealership. They said there is no recall and the book price on this job is $4600. I lost a head gasket once, on a 15 year old car that overheated several times. This car is my wifes; and never overheated. Ford told me if I completed job now that I would not be reimbursed by a recall, which I highly doubt but that is what I was told. I just want to go on record that we baby our car, keep up with oil changes and want to make sure Ford is not getting away with passing engineering issues off to their customers. Adam

- East Granby, CT, USA

problem #213

Oct 062019

Explorer

  • 43,600 miles

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

The accelerator becomes unresponsive and my vehicle's RPM drops, regardless if I am pressing on the gas pedal. Most notably occurs when driving on the freeway, but has happened driving within city limits. I have to press down on the gas pedal and wait for the vehicle to eventually pick up speed or shift gear to neutral to drive to be able to accelerate when pressing on gas pedal. This is a safety concern due to the vehicle going limp mode, especially on a freeway. This happens approximately 2-3 times in a 1 hour driving period. The last time this happened the vehicle wrench light when on and my vehicle was jolting when I pressed on the gas pedal. When I took it to the dealership the wrench light went away. It is currently being seen by a technician; however, the technician is having a hard time duplicating this problem. This problem is intermittent. I tried to take it to another dealership previously for the same issue, however they turned me down due to it being an intermittent issue.

- Fort Bragg, NC, USA

problem #212

Oct 082019

Explorer

  • 47,000 miles
Was driving down 95 @ 65 mph when all of a sudden, the car jerked and lost all power. Wrench light, check engine, and airbag light all came on. No power. No gas, limp mode. Code reader determined throttle body issue. Looked online, appears to be known issue ignored by Ford. I could have been killed

- Levittown, PA, USA

problem #211

Oct 022019

Explorer

  • 385,387 miles
Ford exploer 2016 at low speed excelarator stick and engine reves up transmission in drive. Must put transmission in nutral to stop auto from moving fwd. Happened 3 times seperate days. Had to put transmission in nutural to get auto under control.

- Grain Valley, MO, USA

problem #210

Aug 272019

Explorer

  • 63,300 miles
About two months ago my car started shuttering and was very jumpy. I took it into the dealership and they had to rebuild the entire transmission. Two weeks after that, while driving on the highway, my A/C stoping blowing out cold air and was only blowing out hot air. Took it back to the dealership and the said the air compressor seized, and they hadd to replace that along with all the lines that goes to it. Two weeks after that, , I started to notice my car would shudder when in reverse. Took it into the dealership, and they told me 'internal engine failure'. when I read the diagnostic report (because the service rep wouldn't explain it to me)...it stated that there was coolant found in one of the cylinders in the engine....meaning my coolant was leaking into the engine. If I continue to drive it, my vehicle will overheat.

- North Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #209

Aug 152019

Explorer

  • 54,561 miles

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

The factory battery ruptured and spewed battery acid in engine compartment.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #208

Mar 152019

Explorer

  • 80,000 miles
Required a new transmission. Reported initial problem at 58,000 miles the dealer could not find a problem while car was still under warranty. Car was experiencing a hesitation during acceleration. At 80,000 miles the transmission had to be replace (out of warranty). Require new battery and cables after batter "exploded" corroding the battery cables. (68,000 miles). Required a new water pump at 86,000 miles.

- Rocky River, OH, USA

problem #207

May 122019

Explorer

  • 51,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact took the vehicle to star Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram (5101 S 1st St, abilene, tx 79605, (325) 698-2222) to have the vla emission computer update completed. After a few days, the vehicle began to exhibit a delayed response when the accelerator pedal was depressed. In addition, the vehicle downshifted on its own suddenly, especially while driving uphill. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle was affected by the vla emission update. After the update, the vehicle tended to overheat and the fuel gauge did not accurately display the correct reading. The vehicle was taken to star Dodge a third time where it was diagnosed that the egr was throwing coolant into the turbo. The contact reached out to the manufacturer and was proivdecase number: 407224. The dealer stated that the case would be closed because they could not remedy the failure. Prior to updating the vla, the contact was informed by the eco system hotline that the vehicle would not be affected. The failure mileage was 51,000.

- Ludder, TX, USA

problem #206

Aug 012019

Explorer

  • 49,000 miles
As I was driving my 2016 Ford Explorer on the highway on 08/01/2019 I experienced the vehicle start to stutter just before I was going on to the on ramp merging on the highway and after I was on the high way the vehicle started smoking from under the hood and would no longer accelerate and I could smell oil burning and pulled over and shut the car off looked under the car and saw the pile of oil underneath but the vehicle did not have the any check engine light or warnings once we towed the vehicle home I looked under the car and saw that the transmission casing was cracked pretty much in half I could actually see the gears inside the casing of the transmission I also rememberd in the past year or so the vehicle would shift very hard after braking and then getting back on the gas it happened every once in a while.

- Bakersfiel, CA, USA

problem #205

Jul 272019

Explorer

  • 40,000 miles
With no warning - experienced sudden loss of power while driving. Engine light came on. Also the wrench light came on with a message that said "see manual." I was able to get out of traffice and pull over. After ten minutes, I restarted the car. The car started back up with no problem and the engine light was back off. From there it drove beautifully like it never happened - except that it did ! four days later, I take it to the dealorship. They determined that this happened due to a defective throttle body. I have to have it replaced and it's going to cost me $380. I find it hard to believe that with the significant number of complaints on this issue all over the internet that they didn't know about this at the dealorship when they sold me the car. And also that Ford has not recalled this yet considering the number of complaints. I have to have this fixed, I have no choice. I would definitly like to reumbersed for this repair. But in addition to the out of pocket cost, the power going out on the car while driving is a major safety issue. With the significant number of complaints on this issue with this specific vehicle model / year, I hope that somebody doesn't have to die before they place a recall on this issue.

- Lansing, MI, USA

problem #204

Jul 102019

Explorer

  • 92,000 miles
2016 Ford Explorer - the backup camera will come on while traveling down the highway at 55-60 mph. Will cause it to loose power, the RPM's drop right below 1000, the wrench symbol comes on, and it will barely move down the road. A screen will pop up on occasion saying hill assist is unavailable. You have to pullover, turn the car off, open the driver door to make sure the radio and all goes off, wait exactly one minute, and then you are able to crank the vehicle up to be able to move. I have taken to dealership, and all they say is it's a sensor inside the transmission, and all they can do is clear the code out. They say that it is saying my vehicle is trying to engage in reverse while going down the road. This sounds like a huge safety issue especially when I have had others say the same thing has happened to them as well. I have reached out to the dealership in regards to my warranty, but I have yet to hear back from them, and it has been over 2 weeks. I have also reached out to the sales representative several times, and I have yet to hear from him. I contacted them because while looking at the paperwork it said it had a limited power train warranty, but it was purchased as a pre-certified used vehicle with an unlimited power train warranty they were offering for vehicles with lest than 80,000 miles. I have not had it a year yet. I have an email from the sales rep himself stating that it is unlimited. It was purchase in September of 2018.

- Danielsville, GA, USA

problem #203

Jun 122019

Explorer

  • 30,250 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact smelled exhaust fumes inside the vehicle. The odor was a distraction and hazard to the contact and his children. The contact called rusty wallace Ford (134 sharon dr, dandridge, tn 37725, (423) 623-6138) and was informed that the manufacturer would not allow them to service this kind of failure any more. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to speak with the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 30,250.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

problem #202

Apr 232019

Explorer

  • 56,800 miles
April 23, 2019 Ford Explorer Sport ecoboost engine timing cover oil leak at 56823 miles. Ford service advisor stated this is a common issue with the ecoboost engine.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #201

Jun 042019

Explorer

  • 59,200 miles
June 4th 2019 throttle body failed on 2016 Ford Explorer Sport with V6 ecoboost engine at 59K mile. Vehicle has bucking and had no acceleration when attempting to merge into traffic. Vehicle had to be towed to dealer. Spoke to Ford corporate they would not cover repair even though this is a common issue that service advisors at Ford have told me.

- Kansas City, MO, USA

problem #200

May 272019

Explorer

  • 40,000 miles
I was driving along at about 55 mph with the cruise control activated. The pedals were not in the right locations so I decided to adjust them to a higher position with the button on the side of the steering column. When I did the adjustment, the engine went into a full throttle mode and would not let up. I pushed down on the brakes hard and vehicle slowed down and the engine returned to normal. When I took my foot off the brake the engine immediately went full throttle again and then back down again when I pushed the brake pedal down hard. This cycle continued even though I shut off the cruise control and tried putting the shifter in neutral. I was final able to pull over to the side of the road and shut the engine off. I restarted the engine after a few minutes and everything seemed to work normally. This was a very dangerous and scary event. I am afraid to drive this vehicle or have my wife drive it. I reported it to Ford but have not heard back from them at this time.

- Sparks, NV, USA

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