Exterior Lighting Problems of Ford Explorer - part 2

In early 2023, I discovered micro-fractures in the side of the left headlamp assembly on my 2020 Ford Explorer st. As the 3/36 warranty was still in effect, Ford replaced the defective headlamp. However, just a few months later, after the warranty had expired, I discovered much more severe micro-fractures in the right headlamp lens assembly. This time however, the micro-fractures are located in front of the light source, thus they are diffusing the light as it passes through the lens. There is also a fracture appearing at the lower inside corner of the assembly. The dealer attempted to get Ford to replace the second headlamp assembly, but Ford will not replace the $1800 part under warranty. The vehicle has never been in an accident and is garaged 90% of the time. Even now at over four years of ownership, the vehicle has just over 44,500 miles on the odometer. My personal belief is that there is a defect in the plastic that was used to manufacture the headlamp assembly, and as such, Ford needs to replace the defective part. I have included two pictures from the original discovery and then three pictures just taken today.

See all problems of the 2020 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Vehicle blinker works at fast rate at all times. In the event that one of the rear turn signals stops working, the vehicle will not adjust the turn signal flash rate frequency to warn the driver that a turn signal is not working correctly. Federal motor vehicle safety standard number 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment. " Ford says 'fast' blinker on all Explorer st's is by design and normal.

See all problems of the 2021 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Purge valve has now failed twice since owning the vehicle (1 year and 5 months old). First purge valve went out when the vehicle was only 4 months old (oct 2022). Second purge valve went out at 1 year old (June/July 2022). The main concern that I am reaching out for- drivers side headlight - a small bird flew into the headlight and cracked it. Placed a hole in the headlight, causing water to get in and stop working. There is no way that a headlight should crack from a bird flying into it.

See all problems of the 2022 Ford Explorer 🔎.

My passenger side low beam headlamp stopped working in Nov 2022. I had a "check headlamp" warning light. I took it to the dealer on 12/09/22. They stated that they found code b155a:96 requiring replacement of the led control module, requiring part #jx7z-13c788-l (total cost $1112. 25). Headlamp was operational approx 1 week. Returned to the dealership 12/16 with a non-functioning light. They installed rt headlamp asset, performed calibration, and adjusted horizontal position. Requiring part #mb5z-13008-ag (total cost $1750). The headlight remained operational for approx 6 months. The "check headlamp" warning light has come on again and I will need to have further repair. Having an intermittently functioning or non-functioning headlamp makes driving at night or in the rain both unsafe and illegal. The cost of this repair was not covered by warranty.

I had a piece of window trim fly off while I was driving on the highway at 70 mph. When it flew off, it may have hit another car. With the piece gone, I am not unable to open the hatch and the dome lights stays on for a considerable amount of time. There is no way to turn off the dome lights, you have to wait for them to go off, which is sometimes more than 10 minutes. When the piece was replaced, the hatch worked as normal. I had the window trim replaced and the same thing happened. I was traveling down the highway over 70 mph and the piece flew off in heavy traffic. I, again, have not been able to open the hatch nor turn off of the dome lights.

See all problems of the 2017 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Electric power steering locked up. Almost killed me my fiance. And my 2 kids.

See all problems of the 2014 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The power steering failed on my 2013 Ford Explorer while driving which made steering extremely difficult, especially at slower speeds. I was very startled by the immediate loss of steering while traveling at a high rate of speed. I also had to be extremely cautious turning to ensure there was ample time to turn and not cause an accident. My turn signals also quite functioning properly. When turning on my turn signals they would only blink once unless I held down the turn signal which would then allow it to work which is difficult to do as it takes the strength of both hands to steer the wheel with the power steering not functioning. The vehicle is available for inspection and I have an appointment to take it to a Ford dealership next week. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or anyone else. It will be taken to a Ford dealership next week as that is the soonest they were able to see it. The two warning messages that went off at the time of power steering failure were power steering failure and service advancetrac system.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The low beam led light has gone out which consists of replacing the whole headlight assembly. The dealership wants $2000 to replace this unit. Looking online at car forums this is a known issue on these Explorers. Our Explorer is from 2017 with only 31000 miles on it which means at most the headlight has been on for only 516 hours. Led lights should be lasting for 30000-40000 hours. This is a safety concern as driving without a low beam headlight is a concern to the person driving as well as any other person on the road. The vehicle issue has been confirmed and inspected by the dealer and there were no symptoms or messages of the problem prior to it occurring. Ford should be liable to repair the headlight in these instances as their product is a safety risk and malfunction on their end.

While driving my Explorer at night on an unlit road in north western new jersey the instrument cluster in my car displayed a warning message stating, “check headlight system, see manual”. I pulled over and inspected my cars exterior lights for abnormalities, found none. With the headlamp warning light still on I proceeded on my way home when approximately 10 miles further down the road my driver side low beam turned off completely drastically reducing my visibility of the road ahead of me. Making it incredibly unsafe to me and the passengers in my car. On my way home I got pulled over by a local police officer for an out headlight. I explained the issue and they let me off with a warning. I immediately brought my car to my local Ford dealership to be further inspected. They proposed that the headlamp control module was causing the issue by diagnosing using their “pin test”. After replacing the module ($1,000) at the dealership I drove the car less than 10 miles away from the dealership and the headlamp warning light turned back on and the driver side low beam turned off once again leaving me stranded without light on the road. This cycle continued several times and Ford had no explanation as to why it’s happening. I was sent a quote to pay full price for the repair ($2,500) because I was out of Ford’s 36,000 mile limited warranty. A new car that leaves me without a driver side low beam on a dark road poses an incredible risk to me and my passengers as well other drivers and is unacceptable. Not only is an out headlight illegal and a ticket able offense what if there was an animals or debris on the road while I was driving with my 8 month old niece? my down the road site is exponentially reduced because the driver side low beam is out. The car had less than 36,500 miles when this issue first occurred and it’s been an ongoing problem ever since. An led headlamp is supposed to be a“lifelong” vehicle part and it’s failing before the car is fully broken in.

We reported the driver's side headlamp as going out intermittently on Jan 4, 2022 to the dealership (Ford of boerne, boerne, TX). When they could not resolve the issue, we reported the problem to Ford. The light is out mostly full time now. We first realized the problem when driving at night when it would go in and out.

Adaptive headlamp assembly on my 2020 Ford Explorer platinum awd has failed twice in 2-years. First, upon receiving the vehicle, the passenger side had to be replaced (dealer was unable to fix the problem, so had to replace the whole headlamp assembly which requires a complete removal of the front bumper). Now the driver side headlamp has failed - and I haven't even had the car 2-years yet (will be 2-years in a few weeks). The headlamp failure is complicated by the long lead time to get the replacement part for the whole headlamp assembly - so now I am weeks without being able to have a headlight and am forced to drive without it.

Halogen headlights (9005) are extremely dim which is a known safety issue. Customers are upgrading from halogen to led and xenon. I believe newer Explorers upgraded headlights to led. I want Ford to recommend led headlight alternative at my cost or fix this problem with recall. Drivers are flashing their headlights at nighttime because they think my lights are not on? many hits on the internet concerning Ford suva/truck halogen headlight issues.

See all problems of the 2015 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Hazard light switch is not functional. Hazard lights that are inoperable causes high risk for vehicle occupants and others on the road when traffic flow is altered. The issue has been reproduced by the dealer and another repair shop. The main symptom is the ability to not turn on the hazard lights. The issue first appeared Nov 2021.

See all problems of the 2012 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The headlights in my Ford Explorer 2014 are extremely dim. The road is poorly lit in front and cannot see anything on the sides. This has been a problem since I purchased the vehicle. I just missed hitting a pedestrian on the side of the road. I was in a residential area and only going 20 mph. It is extremely dangerous and a large safety concern.

Smoke started coming from the passenger side visor as I was driving. There was no indication of an issue with warning messages of any kind. Of course I panicked, ran from the car and called the fire department who stated it smelled electrical when they arrived. After a week of being at the dealership, they couldn't find anything; however, 30 seconds after I got into my vehicle, I noticed the cabin lights weren't working. After returning the vehicle within an hour they found that a wire had burned out and shorted out some fuses. 2 weeks later and I still don't have my vehicle. No injuries, just scared beyond belief to have a 2020 st start smoking!! even if they state it is fixed, I am still scared to death to drive it after that!! I have had issues with the brakes as well. Those stopped working but apparently that was a recall that was resolved. I have purchased Fords for the past 20 years. I will never buy a Ford again with all the issues I have on this vehicle!.

Passenger oem headlight module has failed multiple times. Continuously goes out and comes back on, causing a great safety concern. Driver oem was replaced under warranty (bad module) and has worked fine since. This appears to be a factory issue as I have been dealing with this since I bought the vehicle brand new.

The truck was driving smoothly and I turned it off, ten minutes later the truck power steering was ridiculously though I could barely drive back home,still can't used the truck,called the dealership and told me that this truck does has a electrical power steering recall but the mileage was over 1000 miles of the miles thats in the recall system, couldn't imagine if that situation happened while I was on the highway it would've occurred an accident I dont think its fair that this models have a recall and the dealership are not doing nothing about it, I really need some help I have kids and I cannot endanger them by this mistake the fabricators done.

See all problems of the 2011 Ford Explorer 🔎.

I need to know what causes the electric to go haywire. The overhead lamp clicks on and off the driver door lock doesn't work completely. The driver window does not work correctly. Some of my gauges will decide not to work sometimes and then other times we'll be fine. My radio clock does not work. All happens the same whether I'm driving or not whether I'm parked with the engine running or not. I can't figure out anything it's causing this.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Explorer 🔎.

My overhead light melted smoked and doesn't work anymore and now I'm having trouble w my dash lights flickering and my automatic lights don't ever shut off.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Water was leaking in somehow through the drivers side. I had windshield replaced as well as moonroof motor (because the moonroof stopped working after leak also) . The water does not seem to get in anymore but now my headlights randomly work. I have had the headlights replaced but it did not fix the problem. The mechanic has seen the problem but is stumped so now its a process of elimination I guess. When the headlights go out if I completly turn them off and back on again it will ussually fix it temporarily. Ive got a police warning because I got pulled over for no headlights but as the police were writing the ticket, the headlights randomly came back . There has been a lot of sensors going on the dash and Ford has had to reset them.

On may 20th 2020, I drove the car from my house to the grocery store, an approximate 7 miles drive. I parked the car on the parking lot, a few seconds after leaving the car white smoke started to come from under the hood, as the seconds passed the white smoke converted into a fire in the engine, 5 minutes later the car was lost due to fire.

Makes a rattling noise when a bump is hit driver side seat stop working.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Explorer 🔎.

The car always feels like is about to jump off the road or the lane im in whenever I drive over any rough road or pot holes. %ģ.

Complained of faulty power steering error message coming on when starting vehicle for 1. 5 years to Ford dealership with no exact response regarding the issue. They said they reset the system and it should work fine afterwards. The next day I still had the issue. I then complained again about it but it was in the shop for numerous issues and that was overlooked/ignored. My power steering has now gone out completely and the recalls for the power steering ended for Explorers manufactured after Feb. 2012 and mine was manufactured in Dec. 2012. I asked if the dealership was required to report issues when customers bring their vehicle in to the shop and they said no. They are only reqiured to report them when they repair it or do work to it, not just assess that there is an issue. Lesson learned, always report your issues here. My power steering could have gone out while driving but thank god it didn't. It went out as I was paying a bill and had turned my car off for less than 2 minutes. Therefore, the vehicle was stationary. It is incredibly frustrating that they want me to pay for something that is a known Ford issue and that my car is currently not able to be driven. Much less, I have complained about the issue and they could have prevented it by letting me know the power steering fault is common and to get it repaired sooner rather than later to prevent a wreck.

Lights and passenger door ajar stay on. Lights don't turn off when backing up or until driving forward at a certain speed. Locks unlock by themselves. Lights will randomly turn on when no one is by the car. Have 3 little kids need a car that should be reliable to lock the door to s and stay locked or to safely back up with visibility but can't bc the lights stay on.

Both driver and passenger door lock/latch mechanisms failed showing car door is ajar when door is actually shut. Driver door lock actuator failed around 30,000 miles and passenger lock actuator failed around 135000 miles. When driving at night, the interior lights of car cannot be turned off until speed reaches approximately 10 mph. This leads to unsafe driving conditions and limits driver visibility outside of car due to glare.

While driving on street or hi way the dash light turn off and on. This is very dangerous at night.

It's popping up low engine power and it will shut down everything from lights to blind spot detection. It just started doing this after running through a small water puddle.

Interior dome lights turn on while driving. This has happened intermittently for about a year and has happened at various speeds and even when the vehicle is not moving. This is a safety issue when it happens while driving at night as it makes it much harder to view the road and external surroundings.

See all problems of the 2008 Ford Explorer 🔎.

There's moisture buildup in the rear taillight asembly that burned out the led lights. The whole taillight asembly needs to be replaced. The cost at the local Ford dealership is $525. 00. I have since been picked up by law enforcement that's driving a Ford Explorer. I told him I was aware of the taillight. I proceeded to tell him that it was going to cost $525. 00 to fix it. I feel that this problem should be a recall. Nothing on the asembly is broken.

When it rains, the rain comes in the truck and seeps through the seatbelts, the front passenger interior handle, the two lights in the top of the truck (above the console), the sterio in the back, the passenger side under the dashboard, through the trim of the windows on driver and front passenger side, and inside the sunroof (yes, the windows and sunroof is closed). This happens if the truck is sitting in driveway, and when driving. My guess is that something was not properly sealed when the truck was being made.

I am having electronica issues with my 2004 Ford Explorer, that control lighting and speed of my vehicle. Also the left signal arm that controls high beams, and lighting snapped off while I was on the freeway on August 5th, 2018. The electrical problem started in June 2018.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Explorer 🔎.

Tl- the contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, all the warning lights of the instrument panel intermittently illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the instrument panel would lights intermittently dim. The vehicle was taken to chuck colvin service center dealer, located at 1925 n hwy 99w, mcminnville, or 97128, (503) 472-6124, where the technician test drive the vehicle but could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 38,000. Aw.

See all problems of the 2016 Ford Explorer 🔎.

I started with headaches ,and always nassau, always. Tired ,when I push on the accelerator I smelled fumes coming out of my a/c . . I was driving wide awake on 95 north ,processing to go home . I was in orangeburg s. C. I had been talking through my radio connected bluetooth, I had a little over a hour to go . A deer . My airbags on the driver side deployed but not the passengers . And they did not stay up to long ,a godly smell was coming from my car,. Everything looked hazy ,I got out of my car ,called 911 ,I did not go to hospitol til next day ,all I did was sleep waiting in the waiting room to be seen. I had x rays all kinds of tests done . I was hurting pretty bad . I still get headaches til this day . My lungs hurt too . I'm sure I have been positioned by carbon monoxide. . Everytime I drive my car ,I would get a headache nassau and very very sleepy tired . My memory was not good then eiether ,I still forget things til this day . .

The "door ajar" light will stay on whether I am stationary or driving. I have had to open and shut the door 5 to 7 times sometimes to get it to shut off. No matter how soft or hard I shut the door it won't shut off. If I don't shut it off the interior light will stay on.