general problems of the 2015 Ford Explorer - part 1

While driving with the ac on you can smell exhaust fumes in the cabin and it's worse towards the rear carbin of the vehicle. I've gotten nauseated and sleepy from the fumes and have had several headaches in addition to the other symptoms. Ford needs to recall this issue. Also I have an active recall for the window pillars and the dealership says they still dont have the parts to fix it, and it's been over a year, what's the hold up Ford??!!.

When vehicle is on and either in park or at a stop, rpms will idle at about 800-1000 rpm then randomly shoot up between 2000-2500 rpms then drop to below 500 rpms before returning to idle. It’ll do this randomly.

On July 8th while driving to work my car just shut off and the brakes locked up. This scenario happened again several other times even after being worked on at a Ford dealership. Please see attachment for specific dates & details. Fuel pump driver module was replaced first time then the fuel pump the last time. Explorer was inspected by the sandy sansing Ford dealership in daphne, alabama. Only time warnings/codes appeared was when it shut off. I attached a screen shot of what the dash showed.

The car would not accelerate after leaving a light. I had just exited the freeway and the gas pedal would not respond and I was stuck in the middle of a 4 lane highway. A yellow warning wrench appeared on the dash and then a check engine light. The error code is p2111 stating the throttle body stuck open.

Throttle body --- I have ask the dealer to provide the defective part for my inspection. Driving on the 15 freeway in southern California. My wife was driving and had just picked up speed and merged into the fast land. There was a sudden pop or clunk and the SUV immediately lost power and would not accelerate. She had to exit to the right of the freeway while losing power and no acceleration. She was traveling at less than 5 miles an hour in 60 plus traffic. There was only a narrow strip of shoulder with a "k" rail that was on the shoulder above a deep drop off on the side of the freeway. She was able to avoid getting hit and make it to the exit with enough of a shoulder for her to pullover safely. The SUV was taken to the Ford dealer where the throttle body was diagnosed as being defective. There was no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms before the issue on the freeway.

Upon driving, my vehicle just started randomly cutting out. I was told that it had to do with the throttle body. I did further research, and I noticed that I haven't been the only Explorer owner that has had this issue, so I'm not sure why there isn't a recall already established. Not only does it put me and my kids at risk, but it also puts drivers around me at risk. My car shuts down, which could cause the drivers behind me to rear end my vehicle. There has been some sort of warning light that comes on, that looks like a wrench, but only after my car shuts off, which is followed by the check engine light coming on. There were no warning signs prior to this happening.

My 2015 Ford Explorer is having fumes in the car. The dealership has charged me for an oil leak, cracked exhaust and now wants me to pay for a muffler. There is still exhaust fumes coming into the car making it hard to drive in the cold.

Vehicle has apx 78000 miles with a broken water pump. They are supposed to be good for 100k miles. Many people have gotten them replaced to have them break again with in a year.

Exhaust fumes inside interior-this seems to only occur on road trips where fast and hard acceleration is needed for highway driving which is not something we normally due. Since we have owned the vehicle, on every occasion of strong hard acceleration there is a strong exhaust / spent fuel smell being brought into the cars interior. We have reached out to the local Ford dealer several times but without satisfactory results. The exhaust fumes continue to exist in the cars interior upon hard and fast acceleration. My wife just returned from a interstate road trip with signs of exhaust fume poisoning with an extreme headache and very lethargic. What is it going to take for Ford to fix this problem or for a recall to be issued. Will it take fatalities or long term respiratory issues before anything is done to solace this issue. Besides the huge concern about the car owners safety and health; what about the potential diminished resale value of the vehicle due to Ford’s negligence to truly fix this exhaust issue.

Merging northbound 280 on the freeway, lost all power to vehicle.

The highway while on the highway. I was driving. And the car suddenly had no was on everythi pull over but I had to pull over. Because. The car didn't shut off, but I stepped on the pedal and there was no power. So I pul the road to the side of the road. And turned the car off. I started it back up and did fine and went home. But this was dangerous. It happened again. When I was at a red light, it turned green. I stepped on the pedal and the car did not move. I think it's something in electrical or throttlel not sure.

Sudden failure of the power steering system requiring complete replacement of the power steering system. Also disables the Ford advance trac system. Occurred while in motion at slow speed w/ max speed of 20 mph. The dealer indicated that the computer module failed and required the whole system to be replaced. Occurred in the parking lot. Not the first instance of sudden failure, but usually stopping and restarting the car cleared similar error, no obvious signs of war or leaks/other damage. Previous correctable instances occurred in similar conditions.

While driving on the highway and towing a trailer the vehicle suddenly lost power and dramatically slowed down. It was almost like slamming on the brakes. The information window showed "terrain management fault". The engine was barely running and was running erratically. I was able to get pulled over and stopped the engine. When I tried to restart it the "terrain management fault". Appeared again and the engine was again barely running. After a few stops and starts the message cleared and the engine began to run normally. The Ford dealer found a bad throttle body assembly was faulty. The repair was not covered under warranty.

Slowly pulling out of narrow parking lot exit lane, through opened gate. Rapid unexplained acceleration, seemed to launch car across one way city street into restaurant building. Passenger seat belt (fastened, left bruises) released upon impact; passenger dash board airbag did not deploy; drivers' airbag weak. Passenger hospitalized from lower airbag, broken leg, severe laceration.

While driving at any speed, the car will suddenly stop accelerating. Once you are able to get completely stopped and turn the car off and restart it, it will do ok until the same thing happens again with no warning. When in traffic or with no place to pull off or coast to, this is extremely dangerous. Has happened to me about 10-20 in the past 2 -3 years. After researching online, I read many of the same situations. Took to local dealer and they diagnosed it as the throttle body and said there were numerous Explorers with the same problem.

While driving my 2015 Ford Explorer (46k miles) at about 50mph, the Explorer unexpectedly became completely unresponsive. Luckily, I was able to get to the side of the road. Turned the engine off and then back on. The wrench light went off and it seemed to be fine. I drove another 2 or 3 miles and it did it again! I was extremely lucky to find a place to pull off thru the construction site I was in. Turned the engine off again and then back on which reset everything again. I finally got the Explorer home about 4 miles without any more issues. The next day took I took it to my auto repair shop. They said it was the throttle body which should be covered under the emissions warranty. (there were no problem codes saved by the car's computer but they were going by experience). I took it immediately to a Ford dealership which verified it was the throttle body. They said it was not covered under any warranty or recall. I reluctantly paid $85 parts, $379 labor and $38 "shop supplies" for a total of $535.

On 6/6/19 vehicle lost engine throttle power when "wrench" light indicator appeared on dashboard while driving on interstate (at least 65mph). Wrench noted terrain management system error. Engine did not shut off. Vibrated very badly when coming to stop. Happened again on 6/12 on city street driving approx 35mph. Both times stopped vehicle, turned off, and restarted and operated normally. Ford dealerships cannot determine problem because there computer systems cannot see error code(s) in diagnostics. . Additionally, Ford motor company will not respond until "error code" identified by Ford service dealership. Read online and youtube exact issues but not discussion on resolution(s). . Read more...

Having a feeling of nausea when driving exolorer. Yesterday and today we have been running the ac due to hotter temps. After letting car idle for 5-10 minutes while using remote start I start to feel light headed after about 20 minutes of driving. After feeling fine all day. Seems to be only when the car uses ac. Today I was in the drive thru for my son while idling when I started to feel light headed. Noticed the recirculation mode turns itself on after I turned it off. This issue is quite concerning. Was slated to have recall fix done at capitol Ford but advisor said it wasnt attached to the VIN so they didnt do it.

Had the recall done for (fsa 17n03) after the service was done, we have noticed when passing on the freeway or going up hill, hot air blows out the vents then a heavy odor of exhaust. My vehicle also uses e85, so we have ruled out maybe a car in front of us. When using e85 we get a strong smell of alcohol type. We have been to the dealership for the smell, each time they want the windows done or have the a/c on. I tell them we don't drive with it on all the time or have the windows down on the freeway. Every 4-6 months more stories in the news have been coming up with concerns about exhaust smells in the Explorer and now Ford is redesigned the vehicle. This should be looked at more and maybe with third party engineer.

There is a terrible exhaust smell that comes into the interior cabin. The smell is even worse upon extended hard acceleration. In addition, there is bubbling in my hood due to faulty hoods being produced on Ford Explorers. Ford has acknowledged both issues - as there is a TSB. Ford's "fix" TSB-16016 is not a fix at all. It merely is a bandage for the problem as my family still smells exhaust in the vehicle. My 3 year old son is inhaling this toxic smell.

Upon excellerated take off the exhaust fumes fill the cabin. There has been a prior recall for such issues. This has happened multiple times over the entire time that I have owned it. It is getting increasingly worse and I worry for myself, my family and others. My local Ford dealership dismissed me every time I brought it up.

When I accelerate my vehicle you can smell tge exhaust fumes and I instantly can't breathe, get a headache, nauseated, and after a few minutes I get very sleepy. I have to roll my window down and stick my head out to be able to breathe. It doesn't do it every time but in a 3 hour trip, it happens at least 4 times depending on how much accelerating is happening. If my ac unit is on high then it will automatically go to barely blowing and as I let off the acclerator then it will eventually cycle back to high even though it is on high. It is making me very sick because I'm in my car so much. I have taken to Ford repeatedly, two different dealerships, and they can't get it fixed. Sometimes to get the ac to go back to normal, I have to stop somewhere and turn the car off and back on. This has been happening to me since a few months after I bought the car in Feb 2017. My doctor says the only way to correct problem is to get rid of the car but I don't think it needs to be on the road at all. It'll just make someone else sick too. I started noticing the smell in late April 2017 and it just got stronger and I started taking in to Ford when it started getting really bad. The vehicle had 30000 + miles when I bought it.

�takata recal� when my car has been sitting in the driveway for a full day without being driven or started. The following day you go to start the car. It starts no problem, once your in reverse the battery light will come on and as soon as you put it in drive I lose all power and function to steer. If I hit the gas petal it will regain power. The light will disappear only if I hit ok. This happens every time without fail. I also smell carbon dioxide or gas fumes from time to time.

Loss of power: while driving my 2015 Ford Explorer XLT with 3. 5l v-6 engine on the highway (10/04/18), the wrench light came on and the car started to shudder and lose speed. Pushing down on the accelerator had no affect and the car rapidly decelerated. The engine was running very rough with heavy vibration. This was a terrifying and nearly fatal experience as faster moving traffic started passing me on both sides as I tried to move off the highway. I was able to move the car to the side of the highway and limped off the nearest exit. Once off the exit I shut the car off and sat for 20 minutes while I re-gained my composure and called my husband. When he arrived he started the Explorer and the wrench light was cleared. My husband drive the car home using only back roads while I followed in his car. We called our local Ford dealer and scheduled an appointment. We started researching this issue and found this to be a well known problem with the throttle body on Ford's v6 engines which are used on multiple SUV�s, crossovers and sedans. The research I've seen shows this issue has affected more than 10,000 owners. However, it's not clear if the throttle body is faulty due to a manufacturing or design defect. It's also not clear if replacing the throttle body is a permanent fix. I'm terrified to drive the car on the highway and since this happened we've only used it for shorter trips around town. The Ford dealer checked the car today (10/08/18) but since the wrench light was cleared they found nothing wrong. I pleaded with the service advisor to no avail. We've been a Ford family for more than 15 years but this fault and even worse the Ford service advisor's response is completely unacceptable. This is a serious and dangerous problem and only a matter of time before someone and their family are killed. Please investigate and force Ford to issue a recall.

Exhaust fumes in car while driving.

When at idle, either in park or drive, the engine rpms will fluctuate and go down to a point where the engineer stalls or almost stalls.

During acceleration into interstate there is a "burnt match" type smell in the interior of the vehicle. Once speed levels out the smell disappears. I first noticed this about a month ago but I purchased the vehicle used and this was only the second or third time to have it on the interstate since I purchased it.

We began to smell exhaust fumes in the cabin of our vehicle. It got stronger the longer the vehicle was running, and especially when idling at a stop light or similar. It began to cause headaches while driving and we had to drive with windows down no matter the temperature or speed. Because of the known recall, we took it to the dealer where we bought the vehicle (malloy Ford in winchester, va) to repair. They claimed to have fixed the issue but it still persists so now we will have to take it back. I am not sure an actual fix exists.

This particular car was in recall for carbon monoxide, about two months after possibly fixed from a dealer, strong smell coming from cabin left me with a head ache, stiff noise, I'm really worried this might cost me a fortune, I called dealer they asked to bring it they informed me they will charge me $138 for diagnosing and who knows how much from there.

When driving the vehicle, I can smell gas fumes which caused nausea. I didn’t know it was worse in the back of the cabin where my children sit until I sat back there for a 3 hour trip. The smell was stronger there which led to headache, nausea and fatigue. It doesn’t seem to come from the vent, it seems from the entire body of the vehicle. This puts my children’s health at risk. And all of our lives because if we travel far enough breathing this in, it can lead to exhaustion which can cause a crash and put others’ safety at risk. I’m surprised to see there is no recall, yet, it’s been reported that there have been 1. 5 million complaints. We are having the issue fixed next Wednesday, but we will be without a car (Ford is not providing a loan vehicle) and the bill is extremely expensive. This is clearly something wrong with the way the vehicle was made and is not fair as consumers that we not only have to breathe this in, but pay for the repair that has clearly been an issue for a majority of police vehicles out of 1. 5 million complaints. Please help us.

10aug2017 - when getting in my car after work it was extremely hot. My car had been parked in the parking lot all day without any shade - so the temperature inside the car was soaring. I turned the air conditioning on to full blast to keep from sweating and left the parking lot. While driving the 7 miles from my office to the palm bay Ford dealership I opened the sunroof in hopes that the car would cool down quicker. Immediately I began feeling light headed. My head began spinning and I started feeling sick to my stomach. In only a few short minutes I started losing vision in my right eye. I never smelled anything through the ventilation system so I opened the window to try and get more air thinking it would help calm me. It made it even worse. I was terrified - I couldn't see to pull over but wasn't sure if I should keep driving. I could only make out the car in front of me - it was rush hour traffic with bumper to bumper cars. I thought if I pulled over it would take longer for someone to get to me in a parking lot than if I continued driving - I was about 3 miles from the dealership. By the time I pulled in to the dealership it was all I could not to throw up. After being at the dealership for 30 minutes I started feeling better. We spoke to the service rep, rose, and she documented the incident in the service record. We talked about the news reports regarding the issues plaguing the Explorers. She checked the online service reports for my car and she said it showed green (no recalls or tsbs). I was shocked and couldn't believe my car had not been noted as needing the exhaust replaced after all the reported issues with the 2015 Explorer. She said it would be a week before the car was fixed so we left in my husband's truck. This would be the second time I've had the car into the shop for exhaust leaks/issues.

I have been experiencing problems with the exhaust on my 2015 Ford Explorer. Ever since I bought the car there's a strong exhaust smell in the cab of the car when you accelerate enough to make the car downshift to pick up speed. We took the car into the dealership shortly after buying the car and it seemed to be ok. When taking the car on vacation in Aug 2017 to the mountains we once again began smelling the exhaust fumes again. As the main driver, I have been experiencing terrible headaches when driving the car - fine before I get in, headache within minutes, and then fine after being out of the vehicle for about 30 minutes or more. We took the car to a different dealership who kept it for a week stating they installed a completely new exhaust system from the catalytic converter to the back of the vehicle (as described in the TSB). On the way to the dealership in Aug 2017 I experienced a partial blackout on the way to the dealership. It was a very hot day, I was driving in heavy city traffic going from light to light, I had the air blasting in my face, I opened the sun roof and immediately started to feel as I was being drugged. Extremely dizzy, sick to my stomach, and began losing vision in my right eye. Thank goodness the dealership was within 7 miles - but I barely made it without passing out. I ended up in the emergency the following day for extreme headaches and grogginess. Now we are again experiencing very strong exhaust fumes when the car downshifts. This is the same issue reported by the sheriff deputies as my incident is very similar to when the deputy blacked out at the wheel and crashed this summer. It doesn't seem Ford knows how to fix the problem and they are not acknowledging this is a 'consumer' problem. Not just a problem with deputy vehicles.

Exhaust fumes fill cabin under hard acceleration. It has happened many times over the past few years, we purchased car new in ~ may 2015. Typically we can limit by accelerating slower than desired, which can be unsafe when entering the highway. After hard acceleration has ended and you maintain steady speed the fumes no longer seem to enter the cabin. Fumes can be very strong and rolling down windows is the only way to clear. It seems to mostly happen with rear air conditioning in turned on, but not sure. I put todays date below, but this happens often. I have read online and spoken to dealers in the past and no fix seems to be available so we have done are best to avoid with slow acceleration, but we can not be certain that no fumes are entering car. Both my wife and I seem to get more head aches than in the past and this could be the cause.

When the throttle is depressed fully during passing or increasing speed there is a odor inside the cabin of vehicle. It happens every time the throttle is fully depressed.

7/25/2017 driving on highway at 55 mph, passed a vehicle accelerating to approximately 70 mph. Within seconds of slowing back to 55 mph passenger cabin filled with fumes (smells like burning hair) opened all windows but breathing very difficult, had to pull off road and exit vehicle until clear. Air conditioner was not set on recirculate at the time. This has been a recurring problem and dealer supposedly "fixed" in June 2016. However, this incident was the first time I had to get out of the vehicle. Problem seems to occur more often when air conditioner on or set to recirculate, but does occur when a/c not in use. Developed a headache shortly after incident.