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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
28,710 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2015 Ford Explorer engine problems

engine problem

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2015 Ford Explorer Owner Comments (Page 3 of 11)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #164

Mar 122022

Explorer

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Water pump started leaking at 50k miles

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #163

Dec 152021

Explorer

  • miles
Water pump was leaking. Got warning indicating the coolant levels were low. Filled up coolant and was empty a couple weeks later. Was 14 hours of labor to fix. Mechanic said they get ford explorers with the same issue about 2 times per week. Should be a recall.

- Irvine, CA, USA

problem #162

Dec 152021

Explorer

  • 88,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving his vehicle at approximately 50 MPH, the check engine light illuminated, and he smelled as if something was burning. The contact stated that he then pulled over and waited until the smoke cleared before driving the vehicle again. The contact stated that he then took his vehicle to get serviced for an oil change as he thought that may be the cause of the failure he was experiencing. The contact stated that while getting his vehicle serviced he was advised that it was liquid of some sort leaking into the engine. The contact stated he then contacted his independent mechanic to get his vehicle diagnosed. The contact stated it was confirmed by his mechanic there was fluid leaking into the engine and that the failure he was experiencing was identical to vehicles of the same year, make, and model vehicle upon doing research. The contact stated he contacted the manufacturer and was advised to contact NHTSA. The failure mileage was 88,000.

- Bronx, NY, USA

problem #161

May 052021

Explorer

  • 92,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while his son was driving 40 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed and an abnormal sulfur odor was detected in the cabin of the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's son drove the vehicle to his residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and an unknown manufacturer-€™s recall repair was performed. The contact stated that the sulfur odor was still present while driving the vehicle. The contact reference NHTSA Action Number: EA17002 (Structure, Engine and Engine Cooling) and NHTSA Action Number: PE16008 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Structure). The vehicle was not taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 92,000.

- Malden, MA, USA

problem #160

Jun 072021

Explorer

  • miles
EXHAUST FUMES INSIDE INTERIOR-This seems to only occur on road trips where fast and hard acceleration is needed for highway driving which is not something we normally due. Since we have owned the vehicle, on every occasion of strong hard acceleration there is a strong exhaust / spent fuel smell being brought into the cars interior. We have reached out to the local Ford Dealer several times but without satisfactory results. The exhaust fumes continue to exist in the cars interior upon hard and fast acceleration. My wife just returned from a interstate road trip with signs of exhaust fume poisoning with an extreme headache and very lethargic.What is it going to take for Ford to fix this problem or for a recall to be issued. Will it take fatalities or long term respiratory issues before anything is done to solace this issue. Besides the huge concern about the car owners safety and health; what about the potential diminished resale value of the vehicle due to Ford-€™s negligence to truly fix this exhaust issue.

- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

problem #159

Feb 172021

Explorer

  • 96,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to damerow Ford (12325 sw canyon rd, beaverton, or 97005, (800) 732-8633) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the timing chain needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 96,000.

- Beaverton, OR, USA

problem #158

Jan 132021

Explorer

  • 86,700 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Ford Explorer continues to shut off engine while driving on the highway or fwy. This is a safety hazard for me and my family. The truck suddenly looses power and turns off. I have to wait a minute then start engine again

- South Gate, CA, USA

problem #157

Jan 012018

Explorer

  • 20,000 miles
Exhaust odor smell inside the cabinet

- Saudi Arabia, NY, USA

problem #156

Nov 102020

Explorer

  • 48,000 miles
While driving on the highway and towing a trailer the vehicle suddenly lost power and dramatically slowed down. It was almost like slamming on the brakes. The information window showed "terrain management fault". the engine was barely running and was running erratically. I was able to get pulled over and stopped the engine. When I tried to restart it the "terrain management fault". appeared again and the engine was again barely running. After a few stops and starts the message cleared and the engine began to run normally. The Ford dealer found a bad throttle body assembly was faulty. The repair was not covered under warranty.

- Blaine, MN, USA

problem #155

Aug 202015

Explorer

  • 35 miles
Rich Ford service manager crystal switzer, confirmed they have done this and all notices from Ford, tbs16-0165 became Ford recall program 17N03 and supplement #1 dated October 26/2017 I filed complaints 08/20/2015 up until today with, rich Ford, Ford Motor Co, Ford Motor Co.com, about the carbon monoxide complaint, I have become; sleepy, sick, nauseous, vomiting,

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

problem #154

Oct 062020

Explorer

  • 60,600 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Check engine light came on at 60,600 miles. Mechanic says it is a crankshaft/cam shaft correlation code. Timing chain needs to be replaced. Ford acknowledges it is an issue and they've made a ltr specific to the repair. However, there are no parts available to fix it and may not be available for one month or longer. Can't drive the car and can't GE5 it fixed. Vehicle is 5 months outside of warranty. Ford won't budge.

- Duluth, MN, USA

problem #153

May 012020

Explorer 6-cyl

  • 97,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the occupants became nauseous and ill and experienced headaches. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer who performed service to repair a possible carbon monoxide leak under the manufacturer's service campaign number: 19N05. No further information was available. The contact indicated that the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,000. Consumer took the vehicle to 2 different dealership and nothing was done about it. Consumer no longer has the vehicle.

- Columbia, SC, USA

problem #152

Sep 052020

Explorer

  • 46,000 miles
The Explorer only has 46000 miles on it and the water pump failed causing coolant to leak. We park it in our garage and I'm very observant so I noticed almost immediately my wife drives this with our children in it and we bought it because it was supposed to be built Ford tough and I was expecting at least 100,000 miles before things like this would start happening. If I didn't notice right away the car may have overheated and could have left my family on the side of the freeway or in the middle of a lane. I took it the local dealer for diagnosis and repair. This is where I found out it was actually the water pump. The total cost to replace the water pump just under $2800 because it is actually in the engine. Fords recommendation is the water pump should be replaced at 100,000 miles and should actually last 150'000 miles. There must be some admission of responsibility on their part because the service writer at the dealer assured me that the part has been upgraded since original design based on a 'B' at the end of the part number. A company like Ford should stand behind their product and if they know there is a issue they should fix it.

- Santee, CA, USA

problem #151

Sep 012020

Explorer

  • 70,000 miles
While driving the 2015 Ford Explorer I can smell exhaust entering the cabin of the vehicle, especially under acceleration. I found this to be an issue in the 2016-2017 models, via a tsb 17-0044, but not the 2015. I am experiencing the same issue. I have contacted Ford and they seem unaware of the issue and requested that I take it in at my expense to diagnose and "possibly" find the issue on a per hour rate. I believe that this is causing my 6 year to get car sick, only in this vehicle, and my wife to feel tired and have body pains as she is the one who drives it the most.

- Naples, FL, USA

problem #150

Jul 042020

Explorer 6-cyl

  • 1 miles
While driving, Ford Explorer dash wrench light indicator turns on then suddenly you loose power and control and braking, technical disabled. You have to come to a rolling stop. Then turn on car again to remove wrench light.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #149

May 022020

Explorer 6-cyl

  • 108,708 miles
It is the same problem back as before. When you accelerate or go up a hill you have an horrible emission odor. I have had this fixed, but it is back.

- Crane, TX, USA

problem #148

Mar 182020

Explorer

  • 76,502 miles
Purchased the vehicle 4 March, was gone for 10 days. In the days since then, I have experienced exhaust smells in the vehicle multiple times, to the point that I have become light-headed. Usually, the smells only happen when the vehicle is relatively stationary (I.e. stop sign, parked but engine still running immediately fter getting home, during acceleration from a stop, regardless of the setting on the HVAC system. I'm attempting to return the vehicle at this time after researching multiple lawsuits against for for the faulty design. Due to the elusive nature of the problem, I can't provide photographic evidence. Also, on-going shipping problems in America (due to covid 19 problems) have led me to not being able to sources parts to prove there is also carbon monoxide in addition to the normal aroma of car exhaust.

- Vacaville, CA, USA

problem #147

Dec 262019

Explorer

  • 73,500 miles
In December 2019 while driving at about 70 mph uphill on interstate highway at nightime, the engine suddenly lost power. Depressing the accelerator pedel had no effect and the transmission acted as if it was shifted to neutral even though it was still in drive. The engine RPM seemed to dropp to idle speed. I lost forward motion rapidly. I had to cross two lanes of high speed traffic to pull onto shoulder. It was a very dangerous manuever as there was considerable traffic and I had to react quickly. I had to cut in front of cars moving much faster than I was, causing them to have to brake heavily. The engine continued to run for a while at about idle speed once I reached the shoulder, but would the vehicle would not move forward. All lights on vehicle, including emergency flashers, worked fine. Within about a minute of getting to the shoulder, the engine started running rough and then shut down entirely and would not restart. I lifted the hood and saw nothing obviously wrong. After several minutes, I attemptedd to restart the engine. The engine restarted immediately and ran with no problems and I was able to continue with my trip.

- Mechanicsville, VA, USA

problem #146

Sep 192019

Explorer

  • 92,000 miles
On my 2015 Ford Explorer XLT, the water pump which is encased inside the cyclone/duratec engine, broke and leaked coolant which was mixed with the oil, tge oil pan and the oil pump causing complete engine failure. There was no advance warning and Ford has not issued a recall although a number of models have been affected. This caused me to have to replace my engine at my expense. Ford Motor Company has not taken any steps to resolve my or this issue with the vehicle owner having to resolve the issue at their own expense.

- South Plainfield, NJ, USA

problem #145

May 012018

Explorer

  • 30,000 miles
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Explorer. While the vehicle was parked outside of the garage, the contact smelled exhaust fumes inside and outside the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to dch Ford of thousand oaks (located at 3810 thousand oaks blvd, westlake village, ca 91362, (805) 409-3895) where it was diagnosed that the air filter was faulty. The contact was unaware of the repairs, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 30,000.

- Moorpark, CA, USA

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