Problems with 2016 Ford Explorer ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Issues started with several electrical glitches that occurred and still occur consistently with no resolution. battery was "fried" and replaced, sync module was replaced, now the glitches include a frozen steering column while driving and a "charging system service now" light that comes on and off while stationary and driving. also passenger side view mirror gets stuck outwards, interior electrical malfunctions. truck is no longer under warranty and i am tired of paying $150 diagnostic fees with no resolution.

At approx 48,000 miles, airbag light came on. car was not moving, was parked for 9 hours after a day of work. nothing hit, no impact. ford dealer diagnosis: airbag harness/connector issue traced back to rear passenger seat behind driver. 1.5 days work and $478.93 charge, not a warranty or recall repair. airbag circuit inoperative. fix is per tsb16-0001. i am keeping the parts the dealer is replacing. requires removal of rear seats/replace/splice connector. dealer not forgiving.

2016 ford explorer - the backup camera will come on while traveling down the highway at 55-60 mph. will cause it to loose power, the rpm's drop right below 1000, the wrench symbol comes on, and it will barely move down the road. a screen will pop up on occasion saying hill assist is unavailable. you have to pullover, turn the car off, open the driver door to make sure the radio and all goes off, wait exactly one minute, and then you are able to crank the vehicle up to be able to move. i have taken to dealership, and all they say is it's a sensor inside the transmission, and all they can do is clear the code out. they say that it is saying my vehicle is trying to engage in reverse while going down the road. this sounds like a huge safety issue especially when i have had others say the same thing has happened to them as well. i have reached out to the dealership in regards to my warranty, but i have yet to hear back from them, and it has been over 2 weeks. i have also reached out to the sales representative several times, and i have yet to hear from him. i contacted them because while looking at the paperwork it said it had a limited power train warranty, but it was purchased as a pre-certified used vehicle with an unlimited power train warranty they were offering for vehicles with lest than 80,000 miles. i have not had it a year yet. i have an email from the sales rep himself stating that it is unlimited. it was purchase in september of 2018.

The steering failure light came on about 2 weeks ago and i brought to dealer. they said it was not the steering but the battery putting out the wrong voltage and caused the sensor to come on. today i actually lost steering on the vehicle while driving about 30 miles on a local street. the street curved and i could not turn the wheel. the steering fault light came on and car said that the terrain assist and hill assist was disabled (was not using). i was able to put my hazards on, and struggle with the steering to pull over. i only have 42000 miles on this vehicle and have had numerous electrical problems with this car, including replacing the apim. i have a 16 year old, that just started driving with me in this car, and i do not think it is safe. i truly believe there is some wiring problem or electrical problem that ford is ignoring. i see many people posting this same dangerous steering fault issue, and it not getting fixed.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving 20 mph, the instrument panel lights flashed on and off. the contact also stated that the rearview camera was not functioning properly. the vehicle was taken to dublin hyundai (located at 6015 scarlett ct, dublin, ca 94568, (925) 803-7700), but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified. the failure mileage was 53,000.

Wiring/battery problem. positive post on battery corroded along with wiring going to post. replaced positive wiring and accessories wiring along with a new battery. positive post started to corrode again now the battery dies randomly and needs jump start

2016 ford explorer. consumer writes in regards to inadvertent opening or closure of rear cargo door. *ld the consumer stated when the rear cargo door inadvertently closes it strikes the occupant on the head or back. *js

Loss off power steering and stability control

The airbag warning light has come on. in taking the car to the dealership, this was traced back to ford's error code dtc b141b and/or b141c. this error code has to do with ford installing a defective wiring harness for the rear seat inflatable airbags and could cause them to fail to operate during a collision. the dealership (sheehy ford, midlothian, va) refuses to repair the vehicle. i also contacted ford motor company twice (5/29/19 and in april 2019) and they also refuse to repair the vehicle despite it being an obvious safety defect that should be covered under their safety restraint warranty. the fact that ford is refusing to stand behind the safety of their vehicle has me concerned. *tr

Required a new transmission. reported initial problem at 58,000 miles the dealer could not find a problem while car was still under warranty. car was experiencing a hesitation during acceleration. at 80,000 miles the transmission had to be replace (out of warranty). require new battery and cables after batter "exploded" corroding the battery cables. (68,000 miles). required a new water pump at 86,000 miles.

The airbag controller light is on on the dash. i had a diagnosed and my dealership and they come to say that the wiring harness control in the rear airbags is damaged and needs to be replaced. the dealership i said this is a significant issue that has been noticing in 2016 ford explore models more and more. i am curious if this is a safety recall that needs to be taken care of by ford.

Navigation and radio screen keeps going out or turning black rear passenger door lock won't lock or unlock.

1. right rear passenger heated seat suddenly stopped working. the light turns on briefly but shuts off. i have seen multiple complaints about this issue but not on this site. 2. front cameras became fogged this winter and are useless now showing a cloudy screen. 3. every time i put the vehicle in gear i get a message stating park aid fault check park aid #1 and #3 are known problems and have happened to multiple owners of 2016 ford explorers.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving 70 mph, the steering column seized and the steering column warning indicator illuminated. the contact pulled the vehicle to the side of the highway, pressed the "ok" option on the message board, and was able to resume normal driving. also, while driving 55 mph and hauling a trailer, the "hill start assist not available" warning indicator illuminated. the contact pressed the "ok" button and the warning light disappeared. in addition, the abs, steering fault service now, and service track warning indicators illuminated at various times while driving. during the failure, the contact pressed the "ok" button again and the warning indicators disappeared. the contact took the vehicle to sunnyvale ford (650 e el camino real, sunnyvale, ca 94087, 408-215-9949) and was informed that the repairs would cost $400. after a diagnostic was performed, the dealer determined that the warning indicator illumination was linked to a faulty battery. the dealer wanted to test the vehicle's trailer hitch cable to determine if that cable was linked to the failures. it was diagnosed that the steering rack was the cause for the system failure and the dealer provided an estimate for the repairs. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 32,000.

On a city street experience loss of accelerating power while coming to stop and crossing an intersection the vehicle will star at a snail pace bringing up the speed to 40 mph on limp mode since the vehicle service wrench tool and air bag light up on the dash board vehicle will not respond pushing down on the gas pedal.

I was driving on the nys thruway around 70-75mph and the car decelerated to 55mph then was like in a coast mode. the wrench light came on and it said see manual. i pushed the pedal all the way to the floor and it would not go any faster. i was able to coast to the side of the road. i turned car off and then turned it back on and pushed ok to the see manual. i was then able to drive it. we could of been killed if someone was behind me. i brought in to dealer and said they really didn't find anything wrong or see any info on the computer when car was hooked up. very scary as i have read online more people have had this happen to them.

The car was weak to start for 2days.. day 3@ 5am i pushed the key 2xs to start my 2016 for explorer from inside my house. it didn't start so i got inside the car & pushed the start button, it made clicking sound then said system shutting down! later that. afternoon i looked under hood & battery acid was everywhere. the motor craft battery exploded!

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and lost power. the contact was able to restart the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to steve rogers ford (located at 9760 oh-64, waterville, oh 43566, (419) 878-8151) to be diagnosed. the mechanic was unable to retrieve a fault code or duplicate the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact stated that the failure was intermittent and primarily occurred during hot, humid weather with the air conditioning activated. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 72,400.

While driving on the freeway (75 mph), several alerts popped up out of nowhere - hill assist error, steering control error, terrain assist error, stability error. it told me to pull over immediately. once i stopped my car and restarted it, my power steering was no longer working. this has happened twice now - both times on the freeway. it's extremely dangerous to have steering go out - i'm concerned for the safety of the vehicle. the ford dealership is telling me that i need to replace the electric steering component for $2,000. the car has less than 50,000 miles on it, so it doesn't make sense that the steering component would already need replacing.

Originally i had a light coming on when driving down the road saying "steering fault service now" it would come on and go off or occasionally i would have to pull over and restart my truck to reset. after about a week i started having multiple lines come on at one time flashing at me while driving saying "service advance trac, hill start assist not available, service advance trac and steering fault service now". when these lights come on i lose all power steering in my vehicle and i'm unable to steer at all. this has happened multiple times and it has become extremely unsafe to drive. it has always been while driving, but other than that i see no rhyme or reason or other factors that are the same when the lights have came on. i took my truck to my mechanic to look at and he found online that this is an issue many people are blogging about and complaining about. he hooked my truck up to the computer but could not get any type of error code to come back and suggested i follow up with ford to have them look at it but also suggested that i contact someone to see if this has some type of recall because in his words "this is going to kill someone". i have checked but no recalls have been made as of now but did see there was a very similar problem in the 2011-2013 explorers and a recall was made. i have an appointment this week for my truck to go to the ford dealership to be looked at but feel strongly that this is something that needs to be recalled now on the 2016 ford explorer. i have 2 young drivers that occasionally drive my vehicle, if one of them were to drive it when the steering went out, i don't want to think what could have happened. this is to serious to ignore and i see to many complaints from other people online so i know this is not something that only i am going through. please recall these vehicles and have this checked.

I bought my ford explorer 2 years ago brand new and everys since i bought it i have had headaches. dizziness while driving and electrical problems with it. my husband has also been treated for headaches and we believe it is from our ford, we don't have these issues until we are in the car for long periods of time. the dashboard goes blank a lot and it loses power.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving various speeds, all the warning indicators on the instrument panel intermittently illuminated. in addition, the instrument panel indicators intermittently dimmed. the vehicle was taken to chuck colvin ford nissan (1925 n hwy 99 w, mcminnville, or 97128, (503) 472-6124) where the technician test drove the vehicle, but could not duplicate the failures. the manufacturer was not notified of the failures. the approximate failure mileage was 38,000.

Dash/speedometer went black - heat and air system inoperable - no turn signals - power decreased and power steering not fully functioning. all of this happened when i placed the car in park and realized the radio and interior lights were not automatically shutting off so i restarted the car and still nothing. dealership recommended disconnecting the battery - this did fix part of the problems but the synch health report is still not showing completlely clear and the check engine light came on then went off after driving a few miles . concerned if it is safe to drive especially if this is a possible electrical problem - car is just at 23k miles and also had to have throttle body replaced at aroud only 3k miles. not feling safe in the car at this point.

There is a design defect in the front parking sensors where after freezing, water can enter the opening of parking sensor and short circuit the wiring harness causing the parking aid system to fault. this prevents the driver from utilizing this key safety feature when parking or being alerted on their close proximity of surrounding objects.

System off to save battery message on ford explorer 2016. i have read over 500 post to this problem which my wife's suv just started to show. most of them are saying in some cases the suv died while in traffic. the dealers are saying its the battery but in most cases the suv has only a couple of thousand miles on it or is only a year old. someone will be killed if this is not addressed soon. as of now, ours happens when either in park prior to running or shutting down the suv however in researching it, this is happening in the f150, explorer, and a number of other ford cars and trucks all over the country and canada. she drives approx 10 miles each way to work and on weekends maybe 20 or 30 miles. this is not counting numerous errands run so its not lack of driving.

Power train control module and engine control module failed under high speed on a 4 lane road. we were almost killed by being rear-ended traffic as vehicle came to a complete stop, engine off, and completely dead. not able to steer or brake. vehicle has only 12,854 actual miles. please fix this before others are killed and/or maimed.

The vehicle was parked, and when we attempted to start the vehicle by pushing the start button, the vehicle did not start but a large amount of smoke poured out of the dashboard. the repair facility performed a significant amount of work with the electrical system, but stated that they did not discover what the root cause of the issue was.

I have a 2016 ford explorer limited edition under my dads name and my wife is the primary driver on it. after getting our car i drove it daily as commuter for 2 months and sometimes i smell something bad inside like burned tires but i just ignored it because i said my car is bnew and maybe its from outside and after that my wife start driving it but last december 2016 we went to vegas and i janssen (husband) is the one driving on the car and smelled something burned tires inside the car while cruising on it, i checked the tires/break outside but i dont smell it from outside, so after that we went to our dealer and checked it found out theres a carbon monoxide present inside and they fixed it by covering the holes of the car that may be the entry of smoke from outside and updating the system as per service guy told me "rene" and said everything works well now. after few months it was june 2017 i smelled it again and concerned me more because my wife is pregnant and i know co2 is really bad on our health and i know that because we are both nurses and we sent it back to the dealer and my service guy "luis " told me they put some rubber in the rear door for the purpose of sealing the door that maybe the smoke from the exhaust is the one causing it and take note " the car stays 1 week in the service department". and now sept 2017 the same thing is happening and i called my dealership, i spoke to luis and casey and they told me there's still waiting for the service manager because they are bussy, i told them my concern that my wife is pregnant she's on 8 months now and it makes me really concerned of what is going on with the car but they just told me to wait, and my wife daily car is it. so incase something happen with my family this is not really safe for us, so i really need a big help from you nhtsa that we can solve this problem, i heard others too esp police. ty

I am an owner of a 2016 ford explorer that was purchased brand new at a dealership here in az last year in january. immediately after purchase, i started noticing fuel leakage from the vehicle and vehicle using a lot of gas everyday. i took my truck back to the dealership and was told everything is ok. as time went on, i noticed that every time i accelerated on the gas, the truck slowed down. took truck to dealership and was told once again nothing is wrong. a couple of months ago, the battery died. i have the truck toowed to the dealership and they replaced the battery. two weeks later, the battery dies again. i had it towed to the dealership again. they replaced the battery again and noticed a recall on the truck. a week later i'm driving my kids to school when the dashboard goes black and then lights up again. all of a sudden it happens again, the dashboard goes black and the speed starts decelerating. i hurry up and get to the safety side of the highway. i cut the truck completely off, waited a few minutes and it started right back up. i took the truck to the dealership. once again, i'm told that nothing is wrong with the vehicle. yesterday the truck dashboard starts going on and off. then the truck completely dies. i called roadside assistance and had the truck towed to the dealership. i waited for over 5 hours at the dealership before they told me what "might" be the problem. i was told there might be an electrical shortage between the monitor, radio, odometer, and climate controls that is causing the vehicle to shut down. the dealership doesn't have parts to fix it but can order them and it might take a few weeks to get them. as of now i have no air conditioner and my radio isn't working. i have spoken with several customer service managers about the vehicle and was told there isn't anything that can be done except wait for ford to fix it.

I was backing out of a parking space. the rearview camera on the ford sync system wound up showing a frozen image. it took me several seconds to realize that the image i was looking at was actually an old image! i was lucky i did not run into someone since i was essentially backing up without the ability to see anything.

Auto hatch closes without warning when load the rear of car trapping person between door and car. door does not reverse to open.

All front parking assist red lights and alarm came on while stopped three feet behind another vehicle at a traffic light. when i took my foot off the brake and accelerated the lights and alarm stopped. it has never happened, again.

When stationary the auto hatch feature opens by itself when walking by adjacent to the vehicle or pulling on the driver's door handle to unlock the car.

When cold starting car in garage, panoramic moon roof opened by itself.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. the contact stated that the vehicle independently started itself without warning. woody sanders ford (235 w mitchell ave, cincinnati, oh) was contacted and stated that this particular failure only applied to the police cruisers. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 13,000. the vin was not provided.

I just got back my vehicle from the dealerships service center and according to their finding their was an issue with the vehicles starter. i drove home parked the car in the garage then turned off the ignition. the vehicle would turn off, so i pushed the start button again but still did not turn off then seconds later i smell smoke. i immediately backed up to have the car outside the garage . i hit the start button again to turn off and this time the engine shut down. heavy smoke was coming out of the engine compartment so i just stood at a distance . 10-30 minutes later as the smoke subsided i decided to pop the hood open and still there's smoke from the engine compartment. i have a video but cannot attach.

2016 ford explorer [xxx] lost power and would not move in middle of busy highway. vehicle was noted to have a sputtering sound and appeared to be firing on only a few cylinders. turned vehicle engine off and restarted no help vehicle would not move with accelerator pedal in full open (floored) position. after opening hood and disconnecting neg terminal of battery vehicle operated fine for approx 10 miles and then same occurence. again fault cleared and ran fine to nearest ford dealer. initial diagnosis by dealer was codes p2111 and p2112. dealer stated found recall 16b32 followed instructions and reprogrammed pcm and clear codes. customer departed dealership service bay and repeat above mentioned malfunction before off the dealer lot. returned to service bay and dealer stated that throttle body was changed. vehicle appears to be operating normal at this time. this is a safety issue that should be investigated. my wife was driving the vehicle when this first occurred in busy mountain highway here in southern wv and was nearly hit by numerous vehicles before vehicle could be drifted backwards down the mountain where in order to get vehicle off of highway. service adviser indicated that he had seen several similar problems with the 3.5 liter engine in ford explorers. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The vehicle keeps losing fuel and fuel has to be replaced every other day. took vehicle into ford dealership to be checked out and was told vehicle is safe to drive. gas can be smelt and visibly gushes after fueling in stationary position. when vehicle is in drive motion, gas leaks slowly. also, while driving the vehicle jerks and will slow down acceleration.

This is the second time this happened to me while driving my 2016 explorer limited. my car has every option available. a few months ago as i was turning onto the highway a "lane keeping sys malfunction" alert came across my display and my steering locked in place. i could not turn my steering wheel at all. i had a sketchy vehicle for my first vehicle and knew that i needed to put the car in park and turn it off for a few seconds and restart the car. doing this freed my steering wheel and i was able to drive to the dealership. the dealership ran diagnostics and came to the conclusion that the sensitivity was set too high. ffw months later. 9/13/16 i am driving back at about 65 mph, from a dr. apt on a busy road and the car tells me my steering is malfunctioning to service my vehicle. my game plan was to pull over safely and run a vehicle health report and call the dealer. seconds later i get the same message along with lane keeping malfunction & my steering locked. i had to come to a complete stop on the middle of a busy hwy with a car coming at my rear and throw it in park and kill my engine and restart my car for the steering to unlock. i spoke with the service dept. after they ran diagnostics and my vehicle is "spitting out codes like crazy" and was told it may be a module in my computer that controls steering & lane keeping systems or my key fob is not being detected by my computer and is not sending an alert and my car thinks it is being stolen. crazy. definitely not safe. this is my daily driver. i have 4 small children. i live in my car. please research this and issue a recall. this is not safe at all. thankfully i was not on an interstate going 70+ mph. also my car was purchased dec 2015 and was a dealer trade from a tx dealer.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated to a complete stop independently and the wrench warning indicator illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 11,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. while driving approximately 65 mph, the vehicle lost power and the service "wrench" warning indicator illuminated. the vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and was towed to the dealer (northtown ford in menomonie, wi) where the throttle body was replaced. the failure recurred and the same dealer replaced the retaining clip, but the failure recurred. the contact made the manufacturer aware of the failures and requested a buy-back. the contact was informed that the issues did not warrant a buy-back. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 9,000.

The rear hatch opens and then while someone is loading the back of the car (with groceries, etc.), the hatch starts to close. the hatch hits the person and does not reverse. instead, the hatch tries to close even tighter on the person who is trapped underneath. the vehicle was parked. this happened on several occasions and closed on me, my son and my dog. this is the 4th major problem with this brand new car!

Tl* the contact owns a 2016 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the vehicle lost power. in addition, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 8,000. ...updated 12/14/16 *bf

Vehicle was proceeding and all power to throttle stopped. power steering went out. vehicle coasted to stop in traffic turn lane. ford stated this is a problem with vehicles throttle body

While driving on a busy highway with my three children i lost all power to my vehicle just barely making it out the way of a seni truck. the explorer was purchased in march of this year brand new to avoid problems like this. does someone have to be killed before a recall is issued?!?!?!?!!!

2016 ford explorer shuts off while driving. it's a known issue, but the vehicles are still being sold and no recall or systematic way of replacing it. i was on the highway and the vehicle just slowed down to a crawl twice. ford offer no solution. i checked online and this seems to be a problem many people are experiencing. i almost got hit twice trying to get to the shoulder lane.

I rented a 2016 ford explorer from avis at the portland (me) airport (avis vehicle #40933351). on friday, july 15th, the unit stalled as i pulled into an intersection. the accelerator was non-responsive and the car moved at a very reduced rate of speed. several lights on the dashboard lit up - check engine, airbag, and a note came up to check the owner's manual. i was able to finish crossing the intersection at the slower speed and pull to the side of the road. i shut the car off and restarted it and it operated properly for a while. later that night, i stopped at a stop light. when the light turned green, i made a left hand turn. once again, the accelerator stopped working and the dashboard lit up with multiple warning lights. i pulled to the side of the road and called avis roadside assistance. the person on the line told me this was a common issue with ford explorers and that i had to turn the car off, step on the accelerator, then put my foot on the brake and restart the car to clear the fault but the check engine light would stay on. the check engine light stayed on but i was able to pull back onto the road at full speed. approximately 1/4 mile down the road i stopped at a traffic light. once again, i began to cross the intersection when the accelerator stopped working and the dashboard lit up. i pulled over and reset the car as i had done before and proceeded to drive away. a few hundred feet away, the accelerator stopped working again and the dashboard lit up. i was able to pull over, reset the car and drive away. this is an extremely dangerous condition that needs to be fixed immediately. the accelerator stops working without warning and the car only travels at a very slow speed that is not controlled by the accelerator. 3 out of 4 times it happened in the middle of an intersection. if there was oncoming traffic, i would have been hit.

With only 3.9 k miles the vehicle stopped acceleration and turned off. i was able to turn the car on, however, the vehicle would only move at idle speed while in drive. fortunately i had enough to idle my way to the side of the road. the part that went out was the throttle body. although the manufacturer replaced the part on the vehicle, i feel that they have been very irresponsible in not recalling this part and advising buyers that the car has a "faulty" throttle body. everyone at ford that i have spoke to almost immediately knew what the issue leading me to believe that i am not the only person that has had this issue. this issue could have caused a severe accident if the car would have shut off or de-ccelerated while driving at a high rate of speed.

2016 ford explorer. consumer writes in regards to vehicle complete loss of power, airbag, check engine and powertrain warning lights illuminated at various times and accelerator malfunction. *smd the consumer stated while driving on a main road, he heard a loud thud accompanied by an immediate and complete loss of power. the engine was still running, but the vehicle quickly lost speed and the accelerator was not functioning. it seemed as though the engine was idling. the consumer was able to maneuver the vehicle safely out of traffic and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. the dealer informed the consumer, the throttle body needed to be replaced. also, there was a recurring electrical issue that he experienced in january 2016 with the first month of delivery. the vehicle was towed to the dealer for service on two separate occasions due to dead batteries. *jb

Was driving along busy road making a left turn at rush hour across two lanes of traffic. car simply died. no response to accelerator. wrench light on. i could have been hurt badly. was able to get car out of traffic. was told this is a severe problem with throttle body and ford is aware of this. car has less than 5100 miles on it. this needs to be a recall situation.