Doors Lock problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer

Two problems related to doors lock have been reported for the 2013 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2013 Ford Explorer based on all problems reported for the 2013 Explorer.

1 Doors Lock problem

Failure Date: 07/08/2021

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the passenger’s side door failed to latch properly. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated tied the door shut to continue to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact stated that in February 2021 the driver’s side door latch was replaced, not the passenger’s side door latch. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximate 102,000.

2 Doors Lock problem

Failure Date: 07/08/2020

All doors sporadically do not unlock. Sometimes it one sometimes it’s two sometimes it’s three. The back doors locked and will not unlock with the key fob, the indoor lock controls, or manually attempting to unlock the doors. The rear doors cannot be opened from the outside or inside when the locking mechanisms stop working. It poses a large risk when there are children in the car. And the front doors can be opened from the inside when the locking mechanisms stop working. It seems as though the locks start to act up when the weather is below 60°f. It is so sporadic that we can’t risk to take our family or children anywhere as we have to maneuver them out of car seats to get them out through front doors instead. I have taken our vehicle into our local Ford dealer for inspection upon which they stated that a specific component wasn’t working and it needed to be replaced, although that’s not the case considering how sporadic the locks are. They work when it’s warm and usually during the spring and summer, but all of a sudden when it’s below 60° they only want to work every so often. They should be a safety recall considering when people can’t get out of their car it poses a large risk. There are no warnings for this happening, and I don’t believe that the Ford dealership is even aware of what causes this as I’ve seen on many online forums that a lot of Ford owners have this problem. This has been going on since we purchased our car in June 2020.


Other Latches/locks/linkage related problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer



Safety Ratings of Explorer Cars
Fuel Economy of Explorer Vehicles
Explorer Service Bulletins
Explorer Safety Recalls
Explorer Defect Investigations