2021 Ford Explorer Electrical System

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact's wife stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with a system shut-down message displayed. The contact also stated that the vehicle inadvertently shifted into park. The vehicle was able to restart after 30 minutes. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the tires had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,469.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that occasionally the front driver’s and front passenger’s side windows failed to respond while depressing the switch. The contact stated that the failure was recurring and was previously repaired by the dealer. The vehicle was taken back to the same local dealer and remained at the dealer for the repair. Additionally, the contact stated that the local dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,600.

Been dealing with this backup camera blue screen for the last year. I pay too much money for this not to be working. Someone came out yesterday to fix it but it’s still doing the same thing.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while his wife was driving and was at a traffic light, the light turned green and the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the instrument cluster was dark, and the vehicle failed to restart. The contact stated that his wife waited for approximately 15 minutes in the middle of the road. The contact’s wife was able to restart the vehicle and drove a local dealer. The vehicle had experienced the failure in November 2024 and the same dealer replaced the battery and replaced all four tires. The contact stated that the vehicle was diagnosed, and the dealer determined that the 12-Volt battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the audio connection failed to function as intended. The contact stated that there was no audio power. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the radio audio connection was in the rear hatch of the vehicle and that water had been leaking into the rear hatch of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and agreed to assist with sixty-five percent of the repair cost. Additionally, the contact was advised to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 33,000.

My digital dash would get wavy and flickery with lines through it almost like the LEDs in the screen we're going bad. They made lines going across which made it hard to read the speedometer. Since I brought this up it's been two or three times that I've tried to have them look at it and they finally saw what was going on and they decided that they were going to replace the instrument cluster in the dash and since they replaced it it has been fine. Also I am on battery number for due to the vehicle going in battery saver mode every time the battery starts to go bad and Ford has yet to figure out what is going on with my vehicle that is causing me to have bad batteries and causing it to go in the battery saver mode to preserve power within hours of the vehicle having been driven.

11/9/23 our still under warranty, 2021 Ford Explorer Platinum with 20,152 miles on it died at stop sign and would not start. Locked in park and had to be towed to dealer who worked on it for one week and claimed it was fixed. Same problem second time a few days later and dealer claimed it was lose wires and returned to us on 11/28. This last time (happened at a very dangerous onramp location and I thought I was going to get hit by another car while waiting for the police to arrive) they have had it since 12/4 and can not diagnose or fix the problem despite claiming to have done numerous things. Ford (Detroit) CS has been of zero help and will not loan us a car or rent one for us to use. We are supposed to be leaving in a few days for our Florida residence for 4 months without our car being fixed. We have had the car a total of 10 days out of the last 51 and with the holiday weekend being tomorrow and Monday it will be 53 days. I have read about numerous Ford Explorers having this same problem and never getting fixed correctly, only to have repeated software issues. How much is enough for a consumer to finally have protection. Lemon Law has expired and I can not find any information for consumers in our current situation. Please advise. We are [XXX] and this is very stressful to say the least. Thank you! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I am very disappointed in Ford. I cannot believe that I have a 2021 Ford Explorer and the back up camera will go out for no reason. Also, the GPS is not working. What is the company thinking, when I am told when I call the dealer to have this issue corrected that, "Ford had put a hold on the recall due to they have not made a decision on how to handle it." Let me make a suggestion that WILL WORK. Put NEW CAMERAS in all the vehicles that has the issue that I described above. If this issue is not corrected soon, I will be trading for another model vehicle. The back up camera could cause a very serious incident. People have grown used to the back up camera since they have been installed in vehicles for so many years. This could cause a pedestrian to be backed over and seriously injured or killed. Does your company want that on your conscious!!??? Also, I have an issue when I turn my vehicle in to the dealer, I am always told they do not have a loaner vehicle. What the heck!! It is your issue and you should provide a loaner for everyone that schedules a service on the recall.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V626000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The fuse box got wet after a routine car wash. The hood was not opened at any point prior to the car wash, nor directly afterwards until the incident occurred. A few hours after the car wash, the horn went off on its own continuously for 5-10 minutes and had to be shut off manually via disconnecting the battery. The car was not running or turned on in any way at this point. Prior to disconnecting the battery, the car was turned on to try and deactivate the horn. The horn was still blaring and the car would not shut off. Upon inspection, there was smoke coming from the fuse box. Multiple vehicle alerts went off on the dash including Hill start assist warning, Powertrain malfunction/reduced power and pre-collision assist warning lights. The car was taken to the dealership for repairs. The following "story" was conducted at the dealership: Unhooked battery. Removed front cowl battery junction box. Removed battery junction box. Battery junction box is burnt up and engine bay harness is melted. Engine bay harness needs replaced. Have to remove engine assembly to gain access to harness. Removed engine transmission and subframe assembly. Removed inner plastic firewall. Removed harness and replaced. Reinstalled drive train assembly replaced all one time use fasteners. Reassembled car. Found horn is INOP. Diagnosed and found horn is burned up from being stuck on from melted harness. Removed front bumper cover. Replaced Horn and reassembled. Horn works now. Cleared all DTCs. No DTCs returned. Test drove car. Everything is working properly now and no codes returned. Total repairs are $3,300. I did not feel safe in any regards while driving it to the dealership. Through casual conversation with a friend who works at the dealership, they witnessed something similar happen with a Ford F-150. I don't believe that this has been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance representatives. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the incident.

When starting the car, the digital screen either turns to blue or black as non-functional. The radio is not able to operate during this time. While in park, the screen is black. While in drive, the screen is either black or as shown I photo, the camera shows the parameters

This vehicle has had multiple recalls for the same issue. Current recall is 23V022. This is a recurring issue with the sync screens. Now the entire screen is failing at all times rendering it impossible to drive hands free. Meaning navigation does not work, operating a phone through the car does not work, at times the reverse emergency brake does not work. All of these features are there to improve not only the safety of the vehicle occupants, but the safety of other motorists. It is unfortunate that the government has allowed a vehicle manufacturer to make its own rules when it comes to the safety of this nations motorists. All of the photos attached were taken on different days over the last couple of months and I would be happy to verify this upon request.

The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that after she had parked her vehicle and retrieved items out of the liftgate compartment; the vehicle began to roll back independently towards her. A witness alerted her that the vehicle was rolling towards her; the contact moved out of the way. She then opened her driver-side door as the vehicle proceeded to roll back; the contact was pinned in between the concrete post and the driver-side door as the vehicle eventually stopped. Witnesses assisted her and aided her away from the vehicle which bruised her left arm. The contact did not seek medical attention for the injury. The contact called the dealer and they offered no assistance. The contact then had the vehicle towed to a different dealer Lithia Ford Idaho Falls(980 W Broadway St, Idaho Falls, ID 83402) where the driver-side door was replaced. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and she was given a case number. The cement post was damaged as a result of the failure. The police were called after the failure and a report was filed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the cause of the failure had yet to be determined. The failure mileage was approximately 4,500.

The contact owned a 2021 Ford Explorer which was used to haul a 2002 Opus OP. The contact stated that while the vehicle was at the RV dealer for installations to be performed the vehicle caught on fire and was destroyed. The contact was informed after the installation of an electronic brake controller was completed the vehicle was parked and approximately 20 minutes later flames were present coming from the engine compartment. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was destroyed. Prior to the incident an electric brake controller was installed in the vehicle and wired DC to DC in order to send a charge to the tow vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The fire department indicated that the fire originated in the engine compartment. A fire report was taken at the scene. The failure mileage was 3,807.