What 2,429 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Ford Explorer

As I was driving over a bridge at approximately 45 mph, the A-pillar trim on the driver's side of the windshield broke and flew off of my car and hit the car behind me. Then, a few days later, as I was getting my car washed, the luggage rack cover blew off while going through the dryer at the end. Coincidentally, I received notice of a recall on the luggage rack system in the mail about 2 months after it happened and that has been replaced but my A-pillars have not.....seems to me they are related issues. Luckily, no one was hurt and no accident was caused.

NHTSA ODI 11543601

While driving on the highway the drivers side windshield trim flew off the vehicle, narrowly missing the car behind me. Soon after, the rubber weatherstripping came loose and I had to open my window and pull it inside the vehicle before it, too, flew off and had the potential to hit another vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11543345

The rear suspension toe link fractured while driving. The vehicle became uncontrollable and we nearly had a crash. When I ordered a new suspension toe link, it was different from the original one. I became suspicious and went to investigate, because the local dealer had no information and kept saying that I have ordered a wrong part. I saw this recall from Ford: [XXX] When I search on your website based on my VIN number [XXX] I don't find recalls related to the rear suspension toe link for my vehicle. That's strange because it's a Ford Explorer 2016 and based on the recall info "Affected vehicles were built at Chicago Assembly Plant from Sept. 4, 2012, to Jan. 25, 2017" the car falls complies. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11542835

The steering began making a rubbing noise for a day and the next day the rack and pinion steering completely froze up, not able to turn steering wheel at all. The vehicle was in my driveway when the steering froze so there was no accident however this could have been fatal had this happened on a street or highway, there would have been no way to avoid another vehicle or object. My vehicle was towed to C&C Auto who replaced the steering unit with an original Ford part.

NHTSA ODI 11543047

Passenger side windshield trim broke and flew off of vehicle as it was being driven.

NHTSA ODI 11542614

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 2 MPH, the vehicle hesitated while accelerating and the engine was misfiring. The wrench warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had been diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

NHTSA ODI 11542698

The roof rail on my explorer came off while driving down the road. I did not realize until I got home. It could’ve hit the car behind me, cause them to wreck, etc. I see that Ford has a recall for this issue but my model (platinum) is not part of that recall.

NHTSA ODI 11542549

Water pump is leaking. Since it’s in the engine I can’t find any mechanic to work on it. The dealership will be Atleast 3k to replace a water pump.

NHTSA ODI 11542288

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.

NHTSA ODI 11542015

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that on multiple occasions, the door locks failed to open. The contact stated that the rear driver’s and passenger’s side doors failed to unlock as needed. The contact used the key fob remote to attempt to unlock the doors, but the doors failed to unlock. Additionally, the contact stated that she attempted to manually unlock the doors, but the doors failed to unlock from the inside or the outside. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the door lock mechanism had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the front driver’s side door failed to unlock, and the lock was stuck in the locked position. The contact attempted to manually unlock the front driver’s side door, but the door failed to unlock. The contact stated that she was concerned that during an emergency, she would be stuck inside or outside of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it remained. The vehicle had not yet been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 141,000.

NHTSA ODI 11541836

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the driver's side windshield trim panel detached and was hitting against the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the road and cut the trim panel. The contact stated that the failure recurred with the passenger's side windshield trim panel. Additionally, the contact stated that the trim panel at the base of the windshield was fractured. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer, where it was determined that the entire windshield trim panel needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that he would be charged a fee for the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11541624

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, she noticed that the driver's side windshield trim panel had detached. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number PE23001 (Structure). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 48,700.

NHTSA ODI 11541731

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.

NHTSA ODI 11541072

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the high engine temperature warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the A/C unit started to blow out hot air only. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the water pump and timing kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.

NHTSA ODI 11541090

3.5 Duratec 3.5 Water Pump has failed by leaking fluid. Fluid may have entered oil system. If this is not a design flaw, I don’t know what is. Just stupid!

NHTSA ODI 11541109

I own a 2016 Ford Explorer Sport and I issued Power steering failure. I live in West Virginia with many hills and turns, I get an error on the dashboard that says Steering Fault and immediately lose my Power Steering, if my wife would’ve been driving we would have certainly wrecked cause she would not had been able to steer the Explorer, without the power steering working correctly it took alot of strength to Steer the vehicle. This is a very dangerous issue and i have seen many complaints and concerns with the power steering issue. I hope you all can help and get Ford to recall this and get this problem fixed before people get killed, thanks.

NHTSA ODI 11541036

Passenger side A Pillar Trim (OEM Part # BB5Z-7803144-AA) detached while driving at Highway speed.

NHTSA ODI 11540289

The water pump failed. The engine overheated and the coolant leaked, causing the engine to overheat. This resulted in the vehicle stalling out in traffic which could have led to an accident. Also, the AC was not working properly which might have caused overheating of passengers. The problem has been diagnosed by an independent service mechanic, they are replacing the water pump, which is an extensive and expensive repair. They informed me that Ford Explorers in this year are known to have this common defect. The engine overheating alert came on while driving. But at this point, this damage was already done.

NHTSA ODI 11539772

While driving the system made a minimal rubbing/grinding noise when turning. But when you made a turn, either to the right or the left and finished the turn, the steering wheel and wheels do not return to straight as they normally do, and continue in the direction you started without change. The only way to make the vehicle stop turning is to manually return the steering wheel to straight ahead. This could be a problem as you would quickly either move into oncoming traffic or off of the roadway depending on the road. The problem is currently at my independent mechanic and they can reproduce the problem there. There were zero warning lights/lamps/messages or anything else prior to this issue. This all began about one week ago, but was not able to get a mechanic to look at it until today, 8/21/2023. I already checked ahead of making this report and Ford has zero outstanding recalls on this, but if you look at online forums, including Reddit, there are a noticeable number of identical incidences of this happening. Link to one I found [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11539778

#1-My rear passenger seatbelt is being cut by some thing down inside of the back seat where the belt is retrieved. This belt is getting more cuts as it is being used since that is where my Grandson now sits. It was not used prior to me having to pickup my Grandson. This is very concerning !!! #2 My drivers side front windshield weather stripping keep popping out and is now blown off, very scary. #3 Just last week I started to hear some popping noise in the front suspension, but could not tell what it was coming from. Just yesterday while making a right hand turn the front suspension and the steering locked up. I was able to turn it back straight after a few seconds as the steering wheel had locked to the right. Praise God there were 3 lanes and I was able to make the correction with out incident.

NHTSA ODI 11539866

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the hood. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the motor mounts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the motor mounts had been replaced three times by the dealer since December 2022. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,300.

NHTSA ODI 11539361

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.

NHTSA ODI 11539440

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a grinding sound coming from the steering wheel while turning in either direction. The steering wheel became difficult to turn and excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle. The contact stated that the Steering Assist Fault Service Required message displayed. As the failure worsened, the contact lost steering capability of the vehicle and the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was diagnosed with a defective power steering rack. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

NHTSA ODI 11539443

The Electronic Power Assist (EPAS) appears to be sporadically not working. It has not functioned while in the middle of a. turn both while my wife has been driving and also occured with me twice today. When the power assist suddenly cuts out it has the feeling of the steering locking up and can be quite dangerous as it is typically in a turning situation.

NHTSA ODI 11539466

May 13 2023 Bought my car at Criswell Auto in Thurmont, MD July 15 2023 Lost steering coming around a turn and was able to pull into a driveway. Thankfully it was clear. Jul 21 2023 I took it to Ford for the recall which I was hoping would fix it Aug 8 2023 Steering assist failed again and I had my 3 year old with me in the car. It was really scary because we were on our towns main road and I had to just go into a restaurant parking lot. Thank goodness no one was there or I would have hit them. I couldn't move my steering wheel at all. When it fails these warning and lights show up and make a lot of noise and steering is totally gone Service AdvanceTrac Hill Start Assist Not Available Stability Control Stability Control off Aug 15 I took my car to Ford dealership in Hagerstown MD They called and advised it was the Steering Gear Assembly and would cost 2100.00 Aug 15 Spoke with Ford to see if they could possibly help me with some of the costs with it being a safety issue. They told me there was absolutely nothing they could do. Case Number: [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

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