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Problems with 2015 Ford Explorer POWER TRAIN

On average, the 2015 Ford Explorer starts to “feel” problems with the POWER TRAIN and its various aspects after 39 688 miles.

Recently reported POWER TRAIN problems on 2015 Ford Explorer

While driving at 65 mph on berkshire spur of the nys thruway where the roadway was straight with a slight incline, the bracket that holds the front axle carrier bearing broke. this allowed the axle to pull from the transmission causing the vehicle to lose all drive power. luckily it was early and there was limited traffic, we were able to move over to the slow lane and then coast to a stop on the shoulder of the road

Warning 'transmission not in park' has been popping up for approximately 6 months. noticed a leak on garage floor that dealership stated is a leak from the ptu. dealership stated the rear drive train needs replaced due to this leak. vehicle has 67,xxx miles and is 7,xxx miles out of power train warranty.

In december 2018 i told my local ford service manager of my vehicle giving me a warning that my transmission was not in park occasionally, this even when it was. at times i would have to re-start the vehicle, or play with the gear shift itself to get it to stop the warning and return my steering wheel and seat to original positions. over the past several months this has become more of an issue as it was happening on a daily basis. when i took it in recently for a recall on another issue the service manager did inform me there is a tsb #17-2219 for this particular issue. after further review i found that the tsb covers five particular ford models and three lincoln models spanning the years 2011-2017. because this was now a problem i was dealing with on a daily basis i had them replace the shifter as suggested at 68,033 miles. what is upsetting is that this is not being covered under any type of recall. this is not a part that should fail at 62,000 miles when i first reported the issue, and it is not something that should cover as many models as it does for a six year period of time. how could vehicles start to have these issues in 2011, but the manufacturer still continue to use these relays or shifters for an additional six years? if they are negligent in not correcting the problem, why should the consumer be on the hook for ford using defective components?

Noise when turning or backing up on drivers side. new shocks/struts have recently been put on the front.

Two months ago i had this weird smell in the cabin of my explorer when accelerating , , take it to the shop, two days after the dealer told me it was carbon monoxide it started making a weird noise , take it in again and the ptu is completely shredded. was told all the fluid leaked out and caused this damage. complete replacement of the ptu over $2500 on a vehicle 2015 ford explorer with only 64,000 miles on it.

Our 2015 explorer sport with 60550 miles had the check engine light come on for one day, then turned off. we had it diagnosed immediately and were told the car needed a timing chain ($3200). the light came on during normal driving conditions and the next day was not lit. the light came on right after the warranty period expired, and ford would not help with repairs. for such an issue to occur so early and right after the warranty is extremely disappointing.

Car was in motion in new york city, van wyck expressway service road. the car just shut off on 3/17/2019, 4:30 pm the dash board signaled powertrain, dealer states timing chain issue. vehicle purchase used with 59,000 miles on february 2018. check engine light was on since march 2018. currently 82,600 miles. been to the dealer several times for additional problems. i had to replace the battery headlights , heartng motor, there are leaks into the car that have not been repairs. the car is low falling apart :( .and had to pay out of pocket since extended warranty did not cover everything.. not getting straight answers from ford or the dealer. thank god i was on the service road and going 25 mph stopped at a light. the car never started and had to be towed to the dealer.

For the past several weeks when i put the vehicle in park and turn off the engine i get an error message "transmission not in park" with audible warning. i've had start the vehicle up again and sometimes move it and try again to clear the warning. has been happening more consistently. happened to my husband as well. i am primary driver and have owned the vehicle from new. i'm worried to park on an incline/decline. planning to make service appointment today, but doubt they'll be able to reproduce since it is intermittent. this is a clear safety defect that needs to be addressed.

While driving on the interstate at approximately 75 mph the wrench light came on while simultaneously the engine stopped. just quiet, no acceleration. was able to coast onto the left shoulder as there was too much traffic to cross 3 lanes to the right. turned off car, while waiting for assistance (about 30-45 minutes), tried to start car and it started fine, no wrench light. ford dealership could find nothing wrong when connected to the computer. advanced auto could find nothing wrong when they ran their diagnostics test to it. drove fine. happened again 5 days later, i turned off car, waited 5 minutes and was able to start car again and no wrench light. i have read that this is very common in the 2016 models.

I am just over the power train warranty on my ford explorer and $2000 transfer case ptu or pto repair. crazy. i am reading up on it and found many complaints online. http://www.carproblemzoo.com/ford/explorer/transfer-case-problems.php

Exhaust smell coming through cabin when idling and in motion. with ac/heat on and off. most significantly when accelerating. it has caused me to have major headaches and nausea. it has went to the dealership to be 'fixed' but problem is still occurring.

Transmission not in park warning illuminates/sounds occasionally, even though the transmission indicator indicates it is in the park position. vehicle is stationary when this occurs. similar to problem with our 2015 ford fusion which is under safety recall.

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.

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.

Traveling on highway at 60 mph vehicle suddenly decelerated to 5 mph within 3 seconds. engine began running rough and stopped. pulled to shoulder of road. months before this incident warning light on instrument cluster would intermittently state transmission not in park when parking vehicle. service technicians could not reproduce error. vehicle taken in for service on 9/21/2018. report on vehicle on 9/28/2018 stated that power transfer unit damaged beyond repair, steering column switch needed repair which meant steering unit needed replacing and interlock switch on shifter needed replacing. total cost $5150.00. traded vehicle in and purchased different vehicle. vehicle not purchased from dealership which analyzed repair work.

This vehicle is all wheel drive and comes equipped with a terrain management system to monitor and adjust to road conditions. i have owned the vehicle 6 months and have experienced a terrain management fault (failure) in the system which will disengage the power train and lose forward motion, i have had this happen twice in the roadway in forward motion while in traffic on a four lane roadway on the first failure and a two lane roadway in forward motion on second failure. both failures required me to place the vehicle in park, turn off the engine and wait a few seconds for the system to reset. not a safe option when sitting in traffic or on a major roadway.. ford dealers lack the knowledge to address or correct the issue and ford customer service has no knowledge of the stated failure and offers no solution to address or correct. the system failure will create a safety issue for the occupants of the vehicle which could result in injury or death.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. while the vehicle was parked in the driveway, the gear inadvertently shifted and caused the vehicle to roll down the driveway. the contact attempted to hold on to the vehicle until it stopped at the bottom of the driveway. the contact sustained minor injures to the head, knees, and back that did not require medical attention. there were no warning indicators illuminated. the dealer was not notified of the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vin was not included in any recalls. the failure mileage was approximately 29,000.

Car loses power. this happened on my 2011 ford mustang v6 that had the throttle body replaced. car loses power several times a day now.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. while driving at low speeds, the steering wheel lost power and the power steering gear assembly indicator illuminated. in addition, the power train warning indicators illuminated. the vehicle was taken to longmont ford (235 alpine st, longmont, co 80501, (720) 771-6003) where a diagnostic test located a failure code. the contact was unable to provide the diagnosis and failure code specifics at the time of the complaint. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failures. the failure mileage was 35,116. *tt

80,000 mileage starting with steering noisy and click noisy sometime . powertrain looses when parking and hard to shut off the engine.

When vehicle place in park position it intermittently indicates that it is not in park in the vehicle control system and while the engine turns off, the rest of the vehicle electronics stays on and will not turn off. dealer indicates this is a problem they do know about and it happens often but there is no recall or tsb. replaced shift lever to repair

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. when the contact attempted to engage the vehicle in park, it did not register on the instrument panel that it was in park gear. the contact stated that the failure occurred for the past four months. an appointment was scheduled with cuirk ford in quincy, massachusetts for march 6, 2018 for diagnostic testing. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 47,105.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. the contact stated that when the gear shift level was placed in the park position, there was a warning message on the console that indicated, "transmission not in park". the contact was unable to start the vehicle or lock the doors with the warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to crown ford inc. (420 merrick rd, lynbrook, ny 11563, (516) 599-0600) to be diagnosed but the failure was unable to be duplicated. the contact stated that the failure was intermittent. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 58,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. the contact stated that the vehicle lost acceleration while driving various speeds. the vehicle also jerked and the wrench warning icon illuminated. the failure was experienced several times. on one occasion, the vehicle lost acceleration while driving approximately 70 mph. after the contact pulled the vehicle over, turned off and restarted the engine, the vehicle regained normal function. however, the failure recurred. the vehicle was towed to marshal mize ford (5348 highway 153, hixson, tennessee 37343, phone 888-633-5038). the dealer test drove the vehicle, but was unable to duplicate the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the failure mileage was 56,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. while driving 70 mph, the vehicle jerked. while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle accelerated at a low speed. the engine stalled and the vehicle lost power suddenly. the power train fault indicator illuminated. the vehicle was taken to jordon ford, ltd (13010 i-35, san antonio, tx 78233 (210) 653-3673), but was not diagnosed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 33,400.

Ford explorer 2015 with 38,000 miles. car violently jerked on highway and completely shut off engine with no throttle response. we were almost hit multiple times by other drivers because we had no control. wrench symbol was on the dash and believe it is a throttle body issue. this is a known issue and cannot believe they are still selling this vehicle or vehicles with this problem.

Vehicle will intermittently not register being in park even when the shift control in the park position. requires multiple shifts out of park and back to register correct setting. vehicle power stays on until the issue is resolved which can drain the battery. if the sensor completely fails vehicle can be left inoperable. ford is aware of the issue and has incremented the shift assembly part but has not notified customers nor taken any action for recall or tsb.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. while the driver pulling into the driveway, the gear was shifted into park. the driver was in the process of exiting the vehicle when it suddenly reversed down the driveway, dragging the driver by the door. the driver was able to quickly get back into the vehicle to shift the gear back into park. the drivers side door however, was unable to be closed after the failure. the driver sustained injuries to the right knee and abrasions. medical treatment was required. the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v464000 (parking brake). the vehicle was not diagnosed by a dealer or independent mechanic. the manufacturer was notified of the failure to determine if they could investigate and provide a solution. the contact and the driver were uncertain if the manufacturer would be able to provide a solution. the failure mileage was not available.

After completing a left turn on a warm sunny dry clear day on a flat road surface i had accelerated normally up to about 30 miles an hour (speed limit 45) and all of the sudden completely lost power. for a second i thought the car had stalled so i put it in neutral and tried to restart but it was in fact still running. it would not rev at all. i put the truck back into gear and turned on my four-way flashers. pressing the gas did absolutely nothing, the engine was running rough and i was able to go about 5 miles an hour for about 500 feet at which point i pulled into a parking lot and started swearing at my 2015 explorer with under 23k miles which could have killed me if it had lost power 30 seconds sooner while i was turning left. this is very clearly a health and safety defect and this vehicle should be recalled asap. obviously i cannot allow my wife and child to drive in this vehicle. i've been driving for over 25 years and have never had anything like this happen.

Exhaust smell enters cabin of vehicle after hard acceleration.

I purchased my 2015 explorer and after a few months, i started smelling strong gas odor when accelerating. i took it in, the dealer completed a total exhaust repair and now the smell is worse than it was before. the dealership continues to tell me they dont know how to fix the problem. i was getting sick for two months, headaches,nausea etc. after going to the doctor, they told me it was probably from my vehicle. i cannot turn the fan/air or heat on due to the smell so it is kept off for mine and my child's sake.

I've been dealing with exhaust fumes entering my vehicle upon a hard acceleration. i'v taken my 2015 explorer to the dealership 5 times to get this correct, with no positive resolution. i'm also experiencing a knocking noise when making a hard left hand turn. i've brought to the dealership twice to fix it, with no resolution.

Sport model front end has had a loud popping/ creak noise when going over bumps at a angle and also sharp low speed manuevers ( pulling into tight parking space) since it was basicly brand new. loud ticking noise from front hubs at low speeds first visit to ford was at 9,000 miles they could not duplicate it. vehicle now has 32,000 miles roughly, the popping and creaking has gotten worse my wife was leaving work and was backing out of her parking spot and the rack and pinion locked up on her. mulltiple wanring lights came on and she was unable to steer the vehicle. she called me and i told her to cycle the key multiple times and see if it will reset to be able to drive to my work so i could scan it and see what codes it has. she took surface streets to my work. it had codes p0022: cam timing over retarted p052d: cold start cam timing over retarted p193e: a/c clutch request signal u0121: lost communication with abs control module c1b00: steering angle sensor this is the second time cam phaser codes came up. they replaced cam phaser this last visit and vehicle still stumbles/misfire feel at idle. they were "unable to duplicate" rack and pinion/ suspension noise. my wife does not feel safe driving vehicle. it has been getting random hard spots while driving. i took it to another local ford dealer and they want to charge me for diagnostic if they cant "duplicate" i just got done paying for 3 weeks of rental and cant risk several hundred more dollars to have them, say they cant duplicate it. so i will be picking up the explorer and i am now stuck with a unsafe vehicle as the steering could "lock up" again at any point. there are multiple cases just like mine that i found and i am not willing to risk having my wife and child have the rack and pinion fail while she is going down the freeway we got lucky with it locking up while at low speed the first time.

Our explorer limited unit has less than 21,000 miles on it. while accelerating to pass another vehicle, climbing a hill / mountain or similar situation exhaust fumes enter the cabin. the a/c unit is on and in the recirculation mode with the rear a/c unit operating. the noxious fumes smell like rotten eggs / sulfuric acid. the only way to clear the dangerous exhaust gases is to open windows allowing for a change in the cabin's atmosphere. this is a recurring issue that can be replicated. working with the dealership we purchased from as well as ford corporate to resolve this dangerous situation. many units are experiencing this same issue. no proven repair / fix to date. how long will it take ford's engineering team to isolate the reason this occurs and provide a proven repair / recall? could it be the units experiencing this recurring problem could be coming out of the same manufacturing facility?

My wife and i park our 2015 ford explorer xlt in the parking area in front of our house. in order to go anywhere, we need to back it out of its parking spot, reverse-turn to the right, apply the brakes, put the vehicle in drive, and finally drive forward on the driveway until reaching the street. this morning, my wife planned to go to the store. she entered the vehicle, started it, put it in reverse, and proceeded to back out of the parking spot. as usual, she applied the brakes to stop the car and put it in drive, but unfortunately, this morning the brakes did not respond. she applied the brakes a few more times to no avail. after that did not work, she applied the emergency brake, which did not do anything either. finally, she turned off the engine and put the car in park, which didn't do anything either. she ended up doing a u-turn in reverse. my other truck was parked to the right of where the ford explorer was parked, so once the ford explorer reached my parked truck and collided with it, the ford explorer finally stopped. in addition to my wife, our two sons aged 6 and 8, were inside the vehicle with her when this happened. we have attached a photo of the ford explorer collided onto my parked truck (a ford f150), which it had to do in order to stop and not collide into anything or anyone else. the main reason we got a ford explorer is because we believed it would be a sturdy suv that would keep my wife and kids safe, so this incident is extremely concerning. the car is almost new with approximately 12,000 miles and we have had already had to take it into the repair shop approximately eight times. we have asked ford to replace it, but they have not been willing to do so, which is why we are escalating this matter to regulating agencies for resolution as well as out of concern for other families who may have had a similar experience.

I bought the car in september of 2015 and noticed upon hard acceleration such as entering the interstate or passing a car there is a smell of exhaust that comes into the cabin area and in order to relieve the smell the windows need to be cracked a little bit and this only happens upon hard acceleration.i have not had this experience with any other vehicle. i have also had problems with the transmission but they cannot seem to figure out when accelerating between 20 and 40 miles per hour you feel a shift in the transmission which for a new vehicle is a bit odd. at 10,000 miles i had to have a stabilizer bar in the front and replaced i notice a lot of heavy clunking as i drove my car around and this seems to be the problem. i i have also had issues with the headliner coming out on the driver side front door this is been pushed in and replaced 3 times and it's working on its fourth time. the issues with the transmission and the exhaust fumes in the cab and have yet to be resolved. bought the vehicle brand new and have had it in for repairs more than 15 times, the dealership says the exhaust is fixed but fumes still emit into cabin.

When my 2015 ford explorer is under heavy acceleration such as towing or passsing, i can smell a very strong odor of sulpher or convertor fumes in the cabin. it is worse with the fresh air vent and is less with the recirculation. the rear a/c is off and i have 4400 miles on the vehicle. i called my local ford dealer and they have no past complaints of this nature and do not know what it may be. i also had a problem when i was making the high acceleration to duplicate the problem and noticed the steering wheel jerking under torque. i drive front wheel drive police vehicles for a living and never had this happen where you better be hanging on with both hands.

3.5l ecoboost, 24k miles. upon attempted acceleration, engine does not produce full power. engine lags significantly then surges in both rpm and acceleration. issues has persisted for approximately 3k miles. issue occurs during all environmental conditions. check engine light has not come on. no codes have been found. vehicle has been examined by hudson ford in wisconsin. no resolution provided, issue continues to exhibit itself.

2015 explorer sport 3.5l v6 ecoboost, car shudders while trying to maintain highway speeds while barely touch the gas. engine misfires, hesitates when trying to accelerate quickly. ford nor dealer will do anything about it saying its "normal". purchased the extended warranty but still no resolution. has been on going for about a year. at one point the car went into "limp mode" and would only allow me to drive 20 mph on the highway while the rpms' where maxed out. thankfully i was close to a dealership to have it looked at. said "pipe hose clamp came lose". something is wrong with this ecoboost engine. there have been lawsuites over it. i have taken it to the dealer several times, had several techs, supervisors drive it and nothing.

I bought the car in september of 2015 and noticed upon hard acceleration such as entering the interstate or passing a car there is a smell of exhaust that comes into the cabin area and in order to relieve the smell the windows need to be cracked a little bit and this only happens upon hard acceleration.i have not had this experience with any other vehicle. i have also had problems with the transmission but they cannot seem to figure out when accelerating between 20 and 40 miles per hour you feel a shift in the transmission which for a new vehicle is a bit odd. at 10,000 miles i had to have a stabilizer bar in the front and replaced i notice a lot of heavy clunking as i drove my car around and this seems to be the problem. i i have also had issues with the headliner coming out on the driver side front door this is been pushed in and replaced 3 times and it's working on its fourth time. the issues with the transmission and the exhaust fumes in the cab and have yet to be resolved.

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. when the vehicle's gear shifter was placed in the park position, it failed to display 'park' on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to leif johnson ford (501 e koenig lane, austin, tx 78751), but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vin was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v464000 (parking brake). no further assistance was offered. the approximate failure mileage was 5,000.

During and after acceleration at any speed there is a very strong sulphur smell in the cabin of the vehicle. it appears to enter from the rear of the vehicle and it must be exhausted by opening the windows every single time. the fumes contain co2 and are very dangerous to all within the vehicle. all passengers complain of a light headache and nausea.

Exhaust smell in car every time you enter a freeway or pass another vehicle. in other words; acceleration. also, has a "drone" type sound at speeds over 71 mph. the vehicle has been to the dealership three times with the latest time being two weeks so far (it's still there on 9-30-15) for the two issues noted above..

Exhaust smell in vehicle for past three (3) years after having ford complete technical changes from ford motor company.

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