general problems of the 2016 Ford Explorer - part 2

There was no incident however I received a recall for a windshield piece that was back in 2024 and supposedly would be available for repair in the latter half of 2024. However nothing has been sent to me regarding this and when the piece came off it cracked my windshield so I have a crack across that as well.

My b-pillar trim flew off while I was driving down the road. We received a recall letter and got in contact with the Ford dealership where I live. They came out to asses the vehicle and said they would call me when they received the part to be replaced. I have been waiting at least a year for it to be fixed. I have called several times but they keep telling me the part is on back order and they will call me when it comes in.

Water pump is leaking and needs to replace.

I am writing to you as I just read an article about my Explorer being recalled for a different issue, pieces of trim flying off (which happened to us several years ago). I took to the dealership then, they replaced and it immediately cracked again. They were blaming my door as being off and causing the damage. I took to a repair shop (non-Ford) to look at and they told me that they had seen this alot and Ford knew there was a problem and it wasn't my door. It made me extremely upset as it almost caused an accident while we were on the freeway. This complaint is for a completely different safety issue and is recent. I am mentioning the above incident as my car this time was taken to a different repair shop. Their response was very similar to the above repair shop that Ford knows there is a problem as the part is on a national backorder. After a recent snowstorm, my husband went to drive his car to work. The storm had passed, but roads were still dangerous. As he was pulling out of the garage, multiple alarms showed up on the dashboard. "hill start assist not available", service advancetrac, "steering assist fault service required". He didn't fully know what any of these meant and had just driven the car the day before with no issues. As soon as he pulled out on the roads, he realized the power steering was out. He is lucky that he didn't crash as the roads were still icy and snow covered. Up until these alarms, there was no warning. What if it happened while in the middle of driving? I drive that car every day w my kids and my husband took it that Sunday as it is better in snow. I can't even imagine what would have happened if I was driving as there is no way I could have steered that car. Somehow we got the last replacement part (repair was over $3000!) and I only have 68,000 miles on my car. How can a part that is on an older Ford be on national backorder if there isn't a major problem! the rack and pinion w computer module was replaced.

Today while driving on the highway, the windshield trim flew off at a high rate of speed. I am unsure as to which direction it went. The components that were holding it together have also cracked which worries me that it too will fly off. This is the second time that this has happened. We are now without any windshield trim on both sides of the vehicle.

The heater on the car didn't work, it turns out the coolant was leaking that lead to the water pump issue. Things started to fail on the vehicle and lights came on. It left me stranded on the highway. The car shut down on the intestate. That was so dangerous and scary, too. Took the car to Ford for inspection and they confirmed the water pump issue. This is a very high costly repair. It turns out that Ford has been having issues with this design (and Ford is well aware of this issue) and many, many customers are having to spend thousands about thousands to fix this issue. It's a huge job. Aside from a very high costly matter, it's also a very dangerous matter because it makes the car unsafe to drive. There is a class action suit about this (if not mistaken) and a recall in canada but not the USA. My car is now just sitting there and inoperable. I don't have thousands to repair my vehicle (quoted $3,000-$3,700). In addition to high insurance premiums, car loan payment and high fuel costs. There are a lot of concerned and angry Ford customers. Ford needs to be responsible for their poor design that leads to the water pump failure. This is a big deal!! there needs to be accountability on the part of Ford for their poor design that leads to water pump failure. There needs to be a recall. Another apparent issue is a leaking sunroof. Both issues are happening to me. Please, help get my car safely back on the road.

While driving on the highway, windshield trim flew off (2 different times, passenger and driver side). It scared me at first when it started to come loose because it flapped around and I wasn’t really sure what was going on. And can’t pull over or slow down on highway. When it broke off, it flew up in the air and almost hit another car. I was distracted trying to see what it was and where it landed behind me. So definitely a safety concern. Total repair cost $650.

Ford has a recall for the a pillar but my b pillar trim flew off. The other side was loose.

My side pillar on the passenger side of my 2016 Ford Explorer door came off and I had to buy a new one. Now my a-pillar on the drivers windshield has come off as I was on the freeway. This is safety issue for me and other drivers who may be struck. I read that this is a known issue with the 5th generation Explorers. I wanted to see if Ford has acknowledged this and has a fix in place for this issue. Thanks.

I was driving on the highway and heard a loud noise didn’t know what it was until I got home and realized my windshield trim on passenger side was not on there anymore. It had flown off while driving down the highway.

When traveling at highway speed the side fins fly off. I have had them replaced 3 times now at dealership. Thank god there was not someone behind me - especially on a motor cycle it could of killed them.

I was driving my 2016 Ford Explorer on I-65 October 19, 2023, in the afternoon. I thought something flew off of one of the two semis in front of me and hit my windshield on two separate times, within a few seconds of each other. When I arrived home, I checked to see if I had any damages, and I was surprised to see pieces missing from the passenger side of my windshield. This morning, October 20, 2023, I went to a local Ford dealership and was informed there is no recall regarding the upper and lower pillars (windshield trim pieces). I called Ford headquarters and was told they hadn't heard of this issue before, and I filed a claim. I researched and found two articles: January 31, 2023, USA today and carscoops, February 03, 2023, regarding NHTSA investing these same pieces flying off of Ford Explorers, and I found pictures on the internet that look exactly like my vehicle when these pieces flew off.

The roof rail cover blew off going down the highway on Saturday 9/23/23. I'm not sure if it hit any cars. I saw it fly off in my rearview mirror but there was nothing I could do.

The automatic tailgate in my Explorer sport accelerates when closing creating a serious amount of force that could kill a small child or even an adult if striking them in the head or neck. I'm shocked that this hasn't been a recall issue for Ford vehicles because of the amount of speed and force this tailgate is generating. It hit my wife (69 years old) in the head unexpectedly a couple of monrhs ago when she was unloading groceries from the back of the car. Until then the tailgate functioned normally. I took the car to the dealer in santa monica and they said they did not see any safety issues but unstead said I'd have to pay a couple of thousand dollars to replace the motor. This makes no sense since the motor is hyper functioning and it's more likely a failed safety sensor or accuator that's causing the motor to acceleare the tailgate closure. The internet has a method to reset the sensor by removing and then replacing the fuse, but I do not believe the dealer attempted that process. This is a severe safety issue that Ford should immediately address and fix.

Windshield trim on right side of windshield detached while driving and flew off behind the vehicle.

I was driving down the interstate when the passenger side windshield moulding flew off of my vehicle. Parts flying off of a vehicle at 70+ mph could cause accidents and injur other drivers.

While driving on the freeway at about 65mph, the driver side windshield trim and rubber seal detached. The trim moulding flew off completely and the rubber trim began flapping against my driver window. Now I need to look into getting this replaced/repaired. Apparently this is a common issue with these model and year Ford Explorers. This is a serious issue that should be recalled and repaired by Ford immediately.

The mouldings on the side of the windshield have detached multiple times. There is no warning lights, and I have been told by the dealership and outside repair shops that it is a common problem. Detachment of these parts puts other motorists at risk of injury. July 2021 driver side flew off on the highway - parts on backorder from dealership so they never repaired it. May 2022 had both sides replaced for $160 since they were done at time of windshield replacement. June 2022 passenger side flew off on the highway (no cost replacement since so soon after last replacement). August 2023 passenger side flew off on the highway and hit a semi, $100 repair quote.

While driving down the highway the passenger side a pillar windshield trim broke in half and flew backwards impacting passenger window. The broken piece of trim remain attached by a rubber seal. At highway speeds this caused the piece to impact the side window many times. Had to pull off the road and cut the seal to remove the broken trim.

On 07/30/2023 the right passenger front windshield trim plus rubber stripping flew off our 2016 Ford Explorer xl. We were travelling 60 mph down a mountain area from san diego, CA heading into yuma, az. The noise of the trim was so loud hitting the windshield then the windshield panel blew off and the windshield stripping blew off. We made sure no one was behind us as it could have caused damage if the cover would have hit car behind us. Vehicle inspection yearly and no signs of any areas of concern. No warning or signs of this part coming off.

While driving on the highway, the passenger side windshield trim flew off hitting my windshield. I've been told by the police that it happens frequently on their vehicles, but never thought it would happen to me. It did. Now. I have to pay for the repair and it could have easily caused an accident, because it scared me so much that I swerved thinking something hit me. Which it did. My own car!.

The power liftgate stop working. The liftgate light on dashboard shows liftgate open and the power liftgate does not work open nor closes.

I was driving down highway 90 in houston TX, doing roughly 60 mph when all of a sudden the drivers side window trim, I believe it's called a pillar, just detached and flew behind the car causing the cars behind me to swerve almost crashing into each other. When it detached, the car besides me abruptly swerved to the right almost hitting a car which caused them to swerve back towards me, almost hitting me which caused me to swerve towards the right almost hitting a concrete barrier. I drove maybe a block up, pulled over and had a panic attack. This could have been a horrific outcome and would have had to carry the responsibility, that's if I didn't get injured by the wall, things could have been very bad maybe deadly if everyone wasn't paying attention. I'm actually mentally disturbed by this. There was no reason for the part to fly off, it just popped off on its own. This needs to be fixed immediately before someone dies.

The passenger a-pillar applique trim detached from my vehicle while driving down the freeway. The piece that broke off is not available for inspection. The piece flew off while traveling at a higher rate of speed at night. It hit the front passenger window. I had no idea what it was until we stopped at a safe place and inspected it. The dealer told me they could fix it for $820 as this was before the recall was issued. I declined the repair as I didn’t want to pay that much to fix it. There were no warnings before the piece snapped off. Since the recall has been issued, the Ford dealership is not returning my calls to have my vehicle repaired and I did inform them that the piece has already detached.

While driving on freeway 10 on June 23, 2023 around the palm springs area the passenger windshield side panel flew off. There were considerable wind gusts while driving at average traffic speed around 70 mph. The driver windshield side panel flew off on June 2020 on the same freeway also during wind gusts. I fixed the driver side panel by ordering a replacement part and used additional epoxy reinforcement which proved more effective than just original affixing as the part still remains affixed in place.

The windshield trim panel on passenger side suddenly flew off while I was driving on the highway. Apparently this is a focus of investigation already (investigation: pe 23-001).

In the past week or two I have noticed the steering in my 2016 Ford Explorer starting to feel "heavy" and that progressed to being really stiff and kind of hard to turn. Called Ford and they advised to have the vehicle examined. Took the car to my preferred repair facility and there were no codes for an issue; they found my battery was bad and suggested changing it to see if that would help the steering. Battery was replaced and still issues with the steering, the mechanic at my facility said "the rack is still bad". I will make contact with Ford again however based on the number of complaints I see from others I am sure that will get me no where. It appears there are hundreds of complaints about this issue I see for the 2016 Explorers, and many others from prior years too. And these are just the people who have taken the time to complain. This clearly can turn into a large safety issue if people aren't able to control their vehicles while operating. I have no issue with making repairs to my cars, things break. I do have an issue with having to go into my own pocket to fix issues that are a known problem. While not safety issues I also have two other seemingly "known" issues with my car. The rear air conditioning line is leaking so my air is out; and the paint on my hood is bubbling and chipping away, apparently an issue with manufacture of the hood.

While driving at highway speed, about 70 mph, passenger side window pillar trim separated and flew off of a 2016 Ford Explorer limited. Do not know if part hit other vehicles. Vehicle has approx 78,000 miles.

The gear will not go into park. I put the gear in park and the car started to roll. I looked at the dashboard and it said it was in reverse. With the car in the reverse position, it will not start.

The window trim/window pillars keep flying off on the interstate/highway!!! I’ve replaced them multiple times and yet continue to fly off !!!! please recall and replace these on the Explorers its sad !!!!.

We were driving on the freeway and out of nowhere, the trim next to the windshield completely flew off on the passenger side of the car and then the driver side trim broke in half.

All of the moulding, seals & rubber windshield trim/gasket around the windshield has failed. It has cracked, broken off and much is now missing off the vehicle. Now when I drive the vehicle it makes scary noises due to the cracked/missing moulding/seals. This has created some scary driving situations that almost caused accidents while on highways. Now I worry my windshield will leak and damage the interior. This does not seem to be something that should be happening to my Ford Explorer and why isn't this a recall issue.

My Ford Explorer 2016 windshield outer trim fell off while driving causing major danger on the highway.

A piece of the windsheild pillar trim flew off at highway speed on the passenger side.

I was traveling on I 95 at around 55 to 60 mph when all of a sudden, the plastic trim on the side of the windshield the passenger side flew off cracked and started dangling over my passenger side window and mirror. The piece blocked my view of my mirror while I was traveling in the left lane approaching a left exit. I had to pull to the left shoulder because I was blinded by the piece on my right and could not see if the lanes were clear for me to go right. I put my hazards on and had to get out on I-95 and remove the hanging trim so I could see through my passenger mirror again. The piece probably would have become a flying object at highway speed endangering any motorist behind or beside me.