2023 Ford Explorer Engine Problems

Vehicle: 2023 Ford Explorer ST VIN: [XXX] I am reporting ongoing safety-related powertrain and drivability defects that continue despite numerous repair attempts, including complete engine and transmission replacement. Since approximately June 2025, my vehicle has experienced delayed acceleration, hesitation, erratic RPM behavior, harsh shifting, loss of power, and intermittent warning lights. The vehicle has also stalled, jerked during acceleration, and exhibited transmission shuddering and lurching. The problems have been repeatedly reproduced, documented, inspected, and repaired by Kendall Ford of Anchorage, Alaska, the sole servicing Ford dealership involved. Repairs have included replacement of fuel injectors, cylinder heads, a complete engine assembly, and a complete transmission assembly. Despite these repairs, the safety concerns remain. Current symptoms include: • 1-4 second delay in throttle response. • Vehicle may fail to accelerate below approximately 30 mph. • Engine RPM rises significantly without proportional vehicle acceleration. • Erratic shifting, surging, and harsh jolts. • Intermittent check engine lights, FordPass alerts, and electrical warnings. These conditions create a significant safety risk because the vehicle may fail to accelerate when entering the highway, merging into traffic, crossing traffic, making left turns, or avoiding hazards. The delayed throttle response and sudden acceleration after the delay increase the risk of a crash. Attached service records document stalling, misfires, loss of propulsion concerns, and repeated powertrain failures requiring replacement of both the engine and transmission, yet the drivability concerns continue. I believe this may involve a defect in the powertrain, transmission controls, engine management system, electronic throttle control system, or related vehicle control modules. I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate these recurring safety-related defects. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C

NHTSA ID

11746273

Incident

Jun 16, 2025

Ecoboost. Coolant intrusion into cylinder head causing white smoke to come out of the exhaust. This is the second ford vehicle I have owned with the same issue.

NHTSA ID

11734156

Incident

Apr 27, 2026

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the engine was misfiring, and the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who replaced the spark plug,s but the failure persisted. Later, while driving, the vehicle went into LIMP Mode and was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the coolant hose had failed, and the hose was replaced. Shortly after retrieving the vehicle the misfire continued with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, and the head gaskets were replaced. The vehicle continued to experience failures, and the fuel injector and the crankshaft position sensor were replaced. The contact stated that later, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled in the middle of the road. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer, who diagnosed that the engine rod bearings had failed, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact also experienced electrical failures with the seat heaters and the mirrors. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,682.

NHTSA ID

11698876

Incident

Nov 11, 2024

Mileage

35,682 mi

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. While the contact’s son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle shuddered and shook violently. The driver noticed a strong fuel odor inside the vehicle. The hood was raised, and the fuel odor was much stronger. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact’s son, who is a certified mechanic, used a diagnostic machine to retrieve DTC: P0300, P0304, P0305, P0306, and P0352, indicating several cylinder misfires. The vehicle was towed to the dealer the following day and was diagnosed with three incorrectly misaligned cylinders. The contact was informed that the three cylinders had been realigned. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 10,628.

NHTSA ID

11681823

Incident

Aug 9, 2025

Mileage

10,628 mi

At a stop light and all of the power in the vehicle went out and Explorer would not start. Hazards would not turn on and doors (besides driver door) would not unlock. Got out of the vehicle to try the fob and white smoke came billowing out from engine. Fire department and police were called. No warning lights or messages were seen on vehicle. Vehicle only has 10K miles on it. Vehicle was taken to dealership for diagnostics.

NHTSA ID

11613871

Incident

Sep 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Ford Explorer. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the expressway in the center lane, the Forward Collision Avoidance system engaged, and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop and failed to restart. After several minutes the vehicle restarted, and the contact was able to continue driving. Additionally, while in a parking lot, the vehicle shut off and failed to restart. After several minutes, the vehicle restarted. The Forward Collision Avoidance warning light illuminated while driving with no other vehicle nearby. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the tailgate warning light illuminated. The contact checked the tailgate and attempted to close the tailgate. There contact was able to place her fingers between the tailgate. The contact depressed the release button, but the tailgate failed to respond. The contact climbed into the vehicle and pushed the tailgate closed, but the tailgate reopened. The tailgate came partially downward. After several attempts, the tailgate was closed. While her husband was driving, the cruise control was inoperable. The contact stated that all the buttons on the steering wheel were stuck. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, who opened a case and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 6,700.

NHTSA ID

11611836

Incident

Aug 16, 2024

Mileage

6,700 mi

On 11/27/2023, my family and I were in this vehicle as I was driving on a side street. Suddenly the engine shut down while I was driving. I was fortunate enough to pull the car into a parking lot to be towed to a nearby Ford dealer. After a week of research the problem, they could not find anything wrong and returned the car to me. A week later, as I was driving to a major intersection, it shut down again. I called for a tow truck and was able to bring it to a Ford dealer nearby in Greer, SC. Again, they could not find out what the problem was and returned the car to me. I am currently driving the car but I am fearful for my life because I dont know of when this engine shut down would happen again? What if it could happen while I am driving in the middle of a major national highway? If it shuts down on a highway while an 18-wheeler truck behind me, I do not think that I will be alive to write this report. I urge your office to review this matter with the Ford corporation for me to return the car to them. Thank you, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11561829

Incident

Nov 27, 2023

Every time i was traveling in sport mode, shifting was delayed & was very rough transition to next gear. Car was not accelerating or decelerating properly. Burning smell came from the engine. Car’s electrical momentarily went haywire. Wrench light came on. This happened within 18 hours of purchasing this NEW car. And several times over the subsequent week. Indicator light went on intermittently & so did same problems described above. My safety was put at risk because my car was not driving properly which caused distraction. I was confused about what to do. It also made it difficult to change lanes or speed up/slow down because it was jerky. The dealership i bought it from said a ford engineer came out to inspect the car & that several parts were ordered to fix it, including a battery for the electric motor & a wiring harness. They said it was a big issue and those parts were hard to come by, but i only learned this after 30+ days of the vehicle being under their control. I only dropped it off for a “test.” They did not make documentation of any of this work and would not release records to me. They also declined to release the car to me when i was tired of the lack of transparency. They said they couldnt give it back j til it was fixed but never provided work order with estimate or details of coverage. I never signed anything giving them permission to replace or repair the parts, especially because they would not disclose the ford engineer’s findings to me until a few weeks later after i threatened to invoke my rights under lemon law. They had already taken the car apart & ordered parts by then-without my informed consent.

NHTSA ID

11557544

Incident

Oct 25, 2023

Vehicle purchased in May 2023 (51323) at koons silver spring. Vehicle had computer and 'random stalling' issues where the car would not start/stay on in August 2023. Called dealership, vehicle towed to Koons for repair. Service team said they could not replicate issue. Vehicle continued having intermittent issues, vehicle dropped off for repair in sept 2023 - service team repaired main computer system. Oct 3 2023 check engine light came on and vehicle continued random stalling/jarring/jerking forward for amount of time that vehicle had to be driven back to residence (<1.0 miles from time/location when check engine light came on) tech came out to the residence to check the engine system, they identified a misfire but unable to determine why?. as of 11/3/23 vehicle remains at dealership, notified that Ford Safety Engineers (FSE) was notified of the issue, and no solution is available at this time. Can is unusable and is under 9,500 miles. I have not been able to have consistent use of my vehicle and have continued payments as expected. Dealership has no anticipated return date or repair date for my vehicle and this seems to fit the maryland lemon law criteria (car purchased in maryland, resides in maryland).

NHTSA ID

11553342

Incident

Oct 3, 2023

At 36-42 mph the vehicle vibrates underneath, not the stearing wheel, it is clear something is not right. The vibration goes away when you hit 43 mph it smooths out and you dont feel it. No lights come on, I have had it checked and because there is no recall or a faulty light coming on or a sensor in my computer module, there is nothing Ford can do they say. They did tell me that Ford is aware of this as there are about 8 other vehicles they have seen that have this same issue. I am thinking possiibly the drive shaft is not balanced properly, I have done some research online and otheres have complained about this too. Hopeing this will be looked into further, hate the spend all this money on a vehicle and find that by driving it we are ruining something else and then have to spend more money to fix it or it casues someone to get into an accident. Please look into this, my vehicle is not the only one out there and it is brand new.

NHTSA ID

11535307

Incident

Jun 15, 2023

The transmission was very difficult time trying to figure out how to start shifting gears, and when it did I felt very hard shifting. The engine revved up, struggled to rev up when accelerating, held gears, chugged, slipped, it felt extremely lazy, and hard shift. The RPMs were fluctuating like crazy. You slam on the accelerator the RPMs start going up then it starts fluctuating crazy.

NHTSA ID

11513768

Incident

Feb 15, 2023