Warnings problems of the 2020 Ford Explorer

Bought my car 2020 and every year I have been on and off the shop to fix it. Last year I just paid them to fox my transmission gearing, clutch and axle. The other dy I have them service it again due to power train malfunction. And sent me an invoice of $1700 not including the $195 to diagnostic test for my car.

While driving, vehicle gave powertrain malfunction, downhill assist unavailable and pre-collision warning system unavailable faults. The vehicle then came to a stop and would not move. Turning the ignition off and on allowed the vehicle to be safely parked in a nearby parking lot.

Issued started happening when I tried to get into my car and my keyfob was not working. Then notice the number pad was working and was able to get into the vehicle. Once inside, vehicle did not want to start. I turn on and off the headlights and thats when the vehicle started. Once started, vehicle started showing orange warning messages. The following messages were shown: pre-collision assist not available hill start assist not available 4wd fault service required service advancetrac see manual with a wrench on it. There is also a wrench light on with the advance trac light on. This issue was diagnosed by Ford scarsdale and they charge me $209 just for the diagnostic and stated that I need a new awd module plus performing TSB 23-2174. With a list of parts totaling $926. 42 plus labor of $1,463. The labor seems a bit over price as I don't believe it will take 7 hours to fix this if we take the labor at $200/hr. There were no prior messages prior to failure. Issue started happening around August 9th, 2025 where my car would start with no issues and after 10 minutes of driving, all the above messages would start showing. Now, messages show when car starts and dont go away. In addition, I have taken my vehicle to Ford scarsdale on July 2, 2025 from front/read differential and transfer case fluid change and pinion seal change. In addition, on 03/27/2024, I took my vehicle since there was oil leak in the front axle and was repaired under warranty. Dealership should have suggested to do this TSB 23-2174 knowing this was a common issue and I was still under warranty.

At this time, I am unsure if there is some kind of recall, but my alarm is going off alerting me that the lift gate opened but that isn't true once my vehicle is locked. Also, the headlights turn on by themselves as if I have pressed on the keyfob. I then get an alert stating that the remote features disabled to preserve battery. These are just a few of the issues that I am having with this vehicle at this moment. I am a mother to 3 kids and I need to have a reliable vehicle and I don't have time to stress about not locking my vehicle at night jus to avoid my alarm going off. This is insane.

The hill assist malfunction warning followed by multiple malfunction warning failures started about a two weeks ago since being inspected at the dealer. Other warnings include pre-collision malfunction warning and advance track malfunction warning occurs then a wrench appears on the top left of display screen.

Vehicle continuously shows a fault for hill start assist, awd mode disabled, advancetrac fault, park sensor, awd module failure, abs disabled. These faults started showing 13/04/25. While in traffic, driver was giving the throttle gas. While giving gas, driver lost power, and noticed a ticking noise as car was losing power in normal drive mode. Driver could have potentially been rear ended, pushed into traffic, and fear that the vehicle will eventually have a brake failure; or have the brakes lock up on the car while driving that could also lead to fatality, or bodily injuries of driver, or civilians. After making it to destination, driver parked for the night. The next day driver started car all faults were gone. Driver then trashed car to dealership to see what malfunction the car had and everything was fine. Fault later appeared, and driver lost power again. Driver then proceeds to a nearby auto store where driver had a diagnostic of the car. The store associate then tells driver that the car had a faulty pcm. Driver also notes that the car was purchased used with mileage reported at 29,000 miles. Driver now has 57k miles. Though car isn’t new. It isn’t old. Being that it is used, car is and was practically new. Driver feels a car with low mileage should not be malfunctioning given the status of its components.

The transfer case module failed after a software update. The response from the bcm is no forward collision warning , emergency braking. It turned it off?? aren't they required to have these features? I bought the vehicle for those features that are no longer available?.

While in motion a 4wd fault is detected that also makes forward pre crash unavailable. The fault resets when the engine is cycled and remains out for sporadic amounts of time I. E one week, one month, three months. . . Due to the fault resetting the dealer is unable to confirm cause and the sporadic nature make it difficult to replicate. The dealer was given a dtc 0f c0631-7f but was not able to verify it do to the code not being present at time of service. There is an internal tech. Service bulletin for said code but is only before if code is present at time of service.

I have had the blue screen sensors replaced 3 times. This has been a recall. Now my front camera is having an error code. Yeh blue screen came on while backing up and I hit a rock. They say it has been fixed but now it is still occurring with the radio freezing and the front camera producing an error. The dealer says there’s no current fix and they have an unable to reproduce it when it is at the dealership because it happens intermittently. I have had the driveshaft replaced and the transmission I am unable to trade this car and due to the multiple safety issues and transmission issues, this car has such a long repair history that it is priced up below market value. I am afraid that I am going to have another accident or something is going to freeze up at an in opportune moment and causes collision as it did before.

Ford Explorer 2020 limited ecoboost 4wd. Purchased this vehicle used in November 2023. Intermittently, the frontal crash warning goes off when there is no vehicle in front me. The front warning sensor did not beep as I tried to parallel park along a sidewalk. I gently hit a curb and had to have my tire replaced, seems like I hit it just right for a chunk to be taken out and threads were exposed. The rear back up camera and 360 view screen turns blue intermittently. I have the shut the vehicle off and turn it back on for it to properly function again.

The pre collision assist came on 10/09/2022 then on 10/02/2023 the pre collision assist warning light flashed 3 times on dash then went out drove to work when I started the car again the hill assist light came on abs light came on collision warning light came on4wheel drive light came on and little wrench light came on I could not change drive modes while driving the vehicle home the reduced power light came on and the vehicle ran slower got the vehicle home did feel safe driving it with system telling me failures and everything not working and called Ford dealership asked if it was ok to drive with everything going on was told it was ok to drive was told I had to wait 3 weeks I called another Ford dealership was told not to drive it and it had to be towed because it was unsafe and undriveable to dealership where it is being repaired for safety issues.

Summer 2023 ota update to Ford sync caused sync system to malfunction. As a result touch screen controls are a black screen. No radio , no rear climate control, no backup camera , no 911 crash assist, no voice activated features, no forward collision warning system. Waiting for service appointment at local Ford dealer.

17 recalls, multiple recalls for the same thing with the rear view camera currently have another recall on the rear view camera with no exact date on when remedy will be available. Sounds like a qualifying lemon to me.

The vehicles rear view camera randomly displays a blue screen on reverse backup. All sensors go failing at times. Attached are some screens over the month. I have taken this to a dealership for a most recent recall fix (02/01/23) and it seems this issue never gets fixed. I keep getting notices of recalls and they claim they will patch it with software fixes but there seems to be more serious sensor issues . When this happens in a school zone it feels dangerous. This is a leased vehicle and I haven't received much help even from the manufacturers dealerships. Didn't find anyone to even listen to these issues. If we try to manually reverse the emergency braking comes into play from nowhere and applies itself due to these malfunctioning of sensors.

The issue was initiated when you turn the vehicle on. The vehicle would process through normal startup modes, and then produce several error codes and light illuminations, all within several seconds. The illuminations would consist of; traction control error, auto hold error, descent control error, lane assistance error, and collusion avoidance error. This would then maintain the error during the trip or until the vehicle was powered off for several minutes. After the power cycle, the vehicle would start and show no symptoms of any error codes, at all. This would happen in several different instances a day, lasting several months. In several of my cases, this would disable traction control for longer periods of time throughout the day or week as well. This places extreme risk to drivers who may not know that there are so little standard safety features active while behind the wheel. Additionally, it affects drivers ability to stop, which traction control and auto hold disabled, and reduces the safety of everyone else on the road. I took the vehicle twice to a Ford certified dealer and repair shop to investigate the issue. The technician was able to verify the codes that arose from the incidents. However, the first instance when I took the vehicle in, they were unable to locate a solution to the problem. After the second visit, they recommended a complete reprogram of 5 major computer modules that have created the system error. I inquired since this seems to be an issue widespread that they could not identify as a user error, but rather an equipment defect. They indeed charged me for the service when this should be something that should be issued a recall and fixed at a wide spread level. The safety of others while on the road are effected and may lead to serious vehicle accidents as a result of the failure of the vehicle component.

My car warnings were malfunctioning as they were all flashing on briefly. The car has done this before and has other issues with the panel such as now it has the icon for camera visibility is not working. I cleaned each camera and the light is still on. I backed out of the driveway put the car in drive and started to accelerate. I stepped on the brakes and they were not working, I repeatedly tried to stop but they were gone. My car finally stopped (I was not far enough to have started to build any speed. I turned the car off and back on and the brakes were back on. This happened March 31st, 2022.

When you put car in reverse the camera screen may go blue or black. Sometimes it is all in cone in rear, other times it’s on the right side and at other times it is the entire screen. Turning blue or black. This started in the first several months of ownership in 2020. The dealership tried several things including replacing the camera in 2020-2021-2022. Problem continued. Was told it was all fixed and the same day it happened again. I live in metro DC and have to park in small spaces often between cement pillars. I bought the car specifically for the camera system. I have hit things while attempting to get the camera back to useable again while in heavier car use areas buy not being able to see or have a sensor go off. Since 2020 Ford has had no viable remedy available. No option for new owners other than taking the loss on the car which as a widow I cannot afford to do.

I received my 2020 Ford Explorer back from the dealership on 01/23/2021, after it had been at the dealership since 12/22/2020 for an "overheating" issue, which turned out to be a module and sensor issue. While driving last night I received a warning for a "powertrain malfunction". I was able to get home with no issue by driving slowly. I parked the car overnight and checked the status this morning, 01/24/2021, in order to call roadside assistance and let them know what the current issue is. When I started the car I received warnings for "pre-collision assist" not available, "hill descent control" fault, "hill start assist" warning, and "anti-lock brake" fault. I attempted to move the vehicle in my driveway to make it easier to load on a tow truck, and I had almost no braking power. I had to put the vehicle in park to stop it from rolling down my driveway. This will be the third time in a month that the vehicle has to be towed to the dealership for a major issue that has left me stranded. This vehicle has 7,393 miles and was purchased 04/2020.

Driving normally and warnings illluminates collition steering and 4wd fault. All of the sudent sterring becomes hard to turn I had to stop at the hightway restart the car the sterring was the same faulty. Drive home at night slowly. Contact dealer after that.

All warning lights came on kept flashing that everything was wrong. Then the whole dash blacked out. I had no lights. No turn signals. Then they would come back on and off again. Had the car into the dealer on 7/20/20 when it keep saying head on collision and they told me nothing was wrong. On Nov. 20 had wench light come on and said the car could not hold on hill. On Nov. 24 they said they could not find any fault and problems. When I left I was at the light and the car accelerated trying to go forward. But I had my foot on the brake. So Dec 5, is when all the lights and electrical issues are going on. I was driving with all this going on I have a video but don't know how to add to the file. Also I could not check all the warning light above.

The vehicle has a �wake up� noise unlike any other that Ford can show me. Once you open the drivers door, it make an extremely loud metal grinding noise under the hood in the abs area. After you drive the vehicle and park it, it does it by itself 30 mins later then again once you open up the door again. Also, the break pedal and breaks lock in place at times when going from park to drive or reverse. Not immediately, but once you start to move causing the vehicle to violently jerk. The �crash warning� for a vehicle stopping short in front of you also goes off by itself without anything at all in front of you causing the alarm to sound and the vehicle to break on its on. This happens a various speeds but especially on the highway. All of these issues have been happening since I purchased the vehicle brand new in may of 2020.