2016 Ford Explorer Power Train
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The transmission shifts with a harsh jerk for no apparent reason and is an intermittent not constant problem. Also when stopped at an intersection refuses to engage to power the vehicle forward for a short time 5+ second time period.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced rough idles while his wife was driving the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the torque converter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was then taken to an independent mechanic, where it was confirmed that the torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle shuddered abnormally with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transfer case had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,401.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle hesitated while responding. The contact stated that after several attempts to depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle responded as intended. The contact stated that a dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V692000 (POWER TRAIN); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The approximate failure mileage was 168,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle vibrated, and there was an abnormal knocking sound coming from the transmission. In addition, the vehicle drove roughly while the transmission was downshifting, and the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with torque converter failure. The contact was informed that the torque converter needed to be replaced, or the transmission could be replaced. The vehicle remained at the dealer unrepaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to the Technical Service Bulletin: 20B27. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Transfer case replacement. Open recall on 2016 4x2 ford explorera for faulty transfer case but not recalled on 4x4 models. This is BS as the transfer case used for both models are the exact same. Should be covered under already open recall for transfer case.
Transmission slips in and out of gear while driving causing loss of power. Many complaints online about this same issue from others.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard a loud sound coming from the engine compartment. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the lower transmission and bolts had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for further assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 57,770.
I have already filed a complaint about the transmission issues of my vehicle a few months ago. Ford will not take credit and help me so we had to keep driving it. Hard shifting, slipping, losing reverse, losing power and jerking into gear. Now not only has it nearly killed us twice when we went to pull into traffic, it has jerked into gear and locked up throwing the car into a guardrail and causing an accident while my fiancée was driving it. I reported it was unsafe and no one did anything, now I have a wreck vehicle, fighting with insurance about the safety of it and it’s sitting at a body shop. We are all afraid to drive it. It nearly killed my family and no one cared to help us. Plus we have no vehicle to drive now. Thank you FORD for nearly killing my family and making us feel unimportant in every way possible. Plus NHTSA did nothing when I filed my first complaint!
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the message to service the vehicle was displayed. The contact pulled over and turned off the vehicle, and waited for several minutes before restarting the vehicle and the message was no longer displayed. The contact stated that while depressing accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was inspected to see if there were any leaks coming from the transmission. The contact called the Bob Johnson Auto Group to schedule an appointment for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 108,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact’s spouse stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not able to be restarted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the link shaft bracket had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V692000 (Power Train). The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 157,627.
There has been an ongoing issue with my vehicle since it was last taken to service for a recall. The transmission has premature failure. I have had the entire vehicle powertrain fluids changed and nothing has helped. My boyfriend has been driving the vehicle and will not let me drive it anymore because it is unsafe. The transmission has torque converter issues. It has got stuck in second gear and when we went to pull out into traffic it would not move and we nearly got T-Boned. That happened while I was with him and I'm afraid to use it. He has to drive it to work because I have his vehicle and he wants me and my daughter to be safe. He says its downshifting hard when slowing down. It will downshift hard and loose power when trying to speed up on the interstate or while trying to get on the interstate. It shifts hard into reverse and is delayed shifting. Its lost power due to the transmission slipping. There has never been any check engine lights come on. Ford will do absolutely nothing about it. The vehicle has around 62,000 miles on it now and its gotten worse and is going to cause an accident or kill someone. I have called ford several times and they don't seem to care. They want me to go have it fixed and pay for it. I don't have that kind of money and I should not have to pay for there problem. Its a known issue I found out by searching online, even lawsuits. They need to recall these transmissions and fix the issue with them before someone is killed. If there hasn't already been deaths. Its unsafe. It has put me and my daughter at risk. Other drivers at risk and now with him having to drive it, his life is at risk everyday! Ford does not care about people or their family. They know they put a bad transmission in these vehicles and it cause premature wear. The transmission fluid is black, smells burnt and even metal shavings in it. Its a ticking bomb and its unfair they want me to pay for their mistakes!
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle failed to exceed 25 MPH or shift out of 1st gear. Additionally, the contact stated that while shifting to reverse(R), the vehicle failed to respond as needed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.
The torque converter failed in my explorer while driving, making it act like it was in neutral. Luckily I was on a small road with little traffic, and able to pull over to a side street before my car was complete undrivable. If this happened on the highway or while turning, it probably would have cause a major issue or accident. NO warning lights on my dash and NO problem codes reported on OBD scanner tool. Ford has put out their own CSP for this issue a while ago and when I asked about it they told me it was expired. How can something they know is an issue expire? Dealership repair confirmed it was the torque converter and has to rebuild the transmission. I even found a service bulletin ford release about this problem, so they know about it.
I was driving and everything felt and looked normal. Out of the blue a pop noise, car was smoking. Had to have it towed. Mechanic said the transfer case blew like a grenade. It nicked my transmission as well. I was broke down in an intersection. No warning signs.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to shift into reverse properly, the vehicle would reverse a few feet and suddenly stall or stop from reversing when reversing out of a parking lot while a crunching sound could be heard from underneath the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed that the PTU needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
While traveling at highway speed (55mph), the transfer case "exploded" resulting in catastrophic failure and fluctuating power and impaired driveability. Defect has been confrimed by independent local repair center.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormally loud grinding sound. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle seized, and the vehicle started rolling. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road and noticed that the gear box had blown out. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the gear box had fractured and damaged the transmission front assembly. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 156,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing significantly rough idling while in drive(D) or while in reverse(R). Additionally, the contact stated that while accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle jolted and hesitated to respond. The contact also stated that the vehicle shuddered while driving at various speeds. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the failure was related to TSB Number: 20-2271. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the TSB was superseded and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.
My car started shaking while i stopped (like at a red light, stop or traffic) I had it diagnosed ($175) and was told it needed to have the transmission changed, my explorer was 6 yrs old with less than 50k miles. I have never hear of that happening as the car well kept. New transmission cost me $5585.40, it seems that every year this car has a new problem. I feel so ripped off this shouldn't happen on a $50k car.
The transmission suddenly downshifts causing rapid deceleration, if on the freeway could have caused an accident, the Ford garage could not duplicate the problem, there were no warning lights and no computer codes
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while at a red light, the vehicle was shaking abnormally. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was drivable and was driven to a dealer. The dealer replaced the motor mounts and informed the contact that the torque converter and transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall for the failure. No further assistance was provided. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,393.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. The contact stated that when the accelerator pedal was depressed, the transmission started slipping. In addition, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times and the contact was informed that the failure was due to transmission failure and the contact was informed that the repair had been completed; however, the contact was unaware of the diagnostic results. The vehicle was repaired. The failure reoccurred and became persistent. The contact stated that the failure had been ongoing since the purchase of the vehicle in 2017. The contact was informed after each failure that the vehicle had been repaired. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 MPH and attempting to stop or decelerate, the rear tires were slippery and failed to stop as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an unknown local dealer however, no failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, he was alerted to smoke emanating from underneath the vehicle by another driver. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the power transfer unit, after observing that the unit was leaking fluid onto the exhaust, resulting in a brief fire. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 98,000. The VIN was not available.
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Quick Summary
The 2016 Ford Explorer has 126 Power Train complaints on file. 2 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.