Bought An Explorer, Already Having Issues

[xAnarChisTx]

Hi everyone. I am now the owner of a 2011 Ford Explorer Limited, and coming from a family that is only about GM this was no small feat for me! I went from a 2001 GMC Jimmy with over 200,000 miles on it, had it for 10 years, and had to give it up because it was either a rebuild of the engine, or swap it out. I figured since I had it for 10 years, it was time for me to look for something new.

I test drove quite a few SUV's, and TBH the Ford Explorer was the best one out of them all and felt right to buy. The one I purchased has a 12 month/12,000 bumper-to-bumper warranty, and the remainder of the 7 year/100,000 warranty, something I wanted to have for this purchase.

Anyway, I picked it up this past Friday, and drove it all over the place to get more familiar with it during the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, I was in the car with my wife and mother-in-law, and we were driving through a town over where the roads are a bit bumpy, and all off a sudden I started hearing a clanking sound from the driver-side front wheel. The wife said that when she was driving it the day before she heard the same sound as well, though not as bad.

We get over a bridge, then all of a sudden parts start flying out of the wheel well, and I lost my brakes, almost hitting the vehicle stopped at the light. Luckily nobody was parked to the right of the car, and was able to steer to the right and brake with the emergency brake. I get out to see what the hell happened, and looking underneath the car the caliper was dangling from the bottom. The damn thing jumped off the rotor, and was leaking brake fluid, plus the pieces that flew out damaged the rim. Needless to say I had AAA tow it back to the dealership, and the next day I went in and gave the dealership a piece of my mind, and told them to check EVERYTHING on that car before I drive it back off the lot because I do not want to run into this again.

It is still at the dealership, and all I can think about is "I hope someone is not telling me that I shouldn't have bought a Ford", and wondering what other issues I am going to be running into. Luckily I have the warranty and will be putting the vehicle through some tests to make sure the kinks are worked out and any issues will be taken care of.

Now when it comes to the caliper, I noticed that other people have had issues with bolts coming loose, mainly on F150's. Is this a common occurrence for Explorer's as well?

 

[Halwg]

This has all the appearances of a troll.

 

[tmg19103]

This is not a common problem with the Ex. Not aware of it being mentioned here.

Rare, catastrophic failure of parts can happen with any vehicle make.

I'd chalk this up as a one offer.

 

[boominXplorer]

The caliper bracket bolts need to have loctite on them and be torqued down well or they will come loose and cause an issue like that. This issue happens on all makes and models, its on the mechanic that did the last brake job.

Its a much bigger problem now with newer vehicles with bigger wheels. I personally had one back out on me and it popped up and started rubbing on the rim. Good thing was I was running 16" wheels so it was not able to pop all the way off. I slid it back down, put a new bolt in it and it was good to go.

 

[xAnarChisTx]

This is not a common problem with the Ex. Not aware of it being mentioned here.

Rare, catastrophic failure of parts can happen with any vehicle make.

I'd chalk this up as a one offer.

Good to know. Thanks for the info!

The caliper bracket bolts need to have loctite on them and be torqued down well or they will come loose and cause an issue like that. This issue happens on all makes and models, its on the mechanic that did the last brake job.

Its a much bigger problem now with newer vehicles with bigger wheels. I personally had one back out on me and it popped up and started rubbing on the rim. Good thing was I was running 16" wheels so it was not able to pop all the way off. I slid it back down, put a new bolt in it and it was good to go.

I was assuming that either the pads/rotos had to be replaced, or had to be inspected, and the technician did bolt the caliper back on properly. Thanks! Hopefully I don't run into any major issues anytime soon, but at least I can get them taken care of and out of the way before the warranty expires.

 

[BMan5150]

Good to know. Thanks for the info!



I was assuming that either the pads/rotos had to be replaced, or had to be inspected, and the technician did bolt the caliper back on properly.

This...

 

[FordService]

...It is still at the dealership, and all I can think about is "I hope someone is not telling me that I shouldn't have bought a Ford", and wondering what other issues I am going to be running into. Luckily I have the warranty and will be putting the vehicle through some tests to make sure the kinks are worked out and any issues will be taken care of...

Hi xAnarChisTx,

Welcome to the forum! I'm Crystal, the Ford Service rep around here. I, for one, am very glad you bought a Ford.

How are things going at the dealership? What's the current mileage on your Explorer? Let me know if you need my assistance; I'm here to help!

Crystal

 

[xAnarChisTx]

Hi xAnarChisTx,

Welcome to the forum! I'm Crystal, the Ford Service rep around here. I, for one, am very glad you bought a Ford.

How are things going at the dealership? What's the current mileage on your Explorer? Let me know if you need my assistance; I'm here to help!

Crystal

Hi Crystal,

So the dealership was very concerned that this incident happened, and that they never have experienced this issue before with their vehicles. They took it in Monday and said that they would fix the issue, replace the rim, and check everything else on the vehicle to make sure it is in working order. I called yesterday just looking for an update, and they had to ship out the rim to have refinished, so it will not be a replacement. The caliper has been fixed, and once they receive the rim it will be all set, and I should be able to pick it up this Friday. They will also let me into the shop to check the vehicle before I drive it off the lot.

I also am waiting to hear back about installing a factory hitch on the Explorer since mine does not come with one and looking for a quote. I've asked a couple times and directed to a couple people from sales to service to the body shop, and haven't received a clear answer to my question.

Also, the Explorer has 50,000 miles on it.

Thanks!

 

[dentalpain]

This is not a problem with your new explorer (although you bought the first year of the model change over). This is a problem with the tech who did the brake job at 50k. Maybe they need to follow the paperwork and hold them accountable.

 

[FordService]

Hi Crystal,

So the dealership was very concerned that this incident happened, and that they never have experienced this issue before with their vehicles. They took it in Monday and said that they would fix the issue, replace the rim, and check everything else on the vehicle to make sure it is in working order. I called yesterday just looking for an update, and they had to ship out the rim to have refinished, so it will not be a replacement. The caliper has been fixed, and once they receive the rim it will be all set, and I should be able to pick it up this Friday. They will also let me into the shop to check the vehicle before I drive it off the lot.

I also am waiting to hear back about installing a factory hitch on the Explorer since mine does not come with one and looking for a quote. I've asked a couple times and directed to a couple people from sales to service to the body shop, and haven't received a clear answer to my question.

Also, the Explorer has 50,000 miles on it.

Thanks!

Thanks for following up, xAnarChisTx! It sounds like things are headed in the right direction, but feel free to contact me if you'd like me to step in and assist.

Crystal

 

[1995E]

Anything can happen. I had a dealership decide to just add a zip tie to hold my oil cooler cover that covers the oil pant on tow package models because they lost the bolts on it. Then it started to make noises in the highway when the zip tie came loose. Sometimes idiots happen. Just make sure everything is done properly before you leave the dealership.

 

[dco43054]

So, you bought a 2011? What work was done on it before you bought it, and by whom? Maybe the prior owner did brake work, and not correctly?

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum xAnarChisTx.:wavey:
I also believe the issue was likely caused by a tech at the dealership not doing a proper job on the brake. Also, they can not do a complete 'factory' install of the class III towing hitch since there are certain things that are added at the factory that the dealer may not have. A factory installed tow package comes with an oil cooler, a tow/haul, button on the dash and I believe a slightly different transmission according to some posts here.

Peter

 

[xAnarChisTx]

So good news! I got my Explorer back, and everything seems to be okay! The resurfaced rim arrived, but the technicians and the salesman noticed that there was a gash underneath the clear coat of the rim, so they are going to send it back to have it taken care of but for this weekend put it back on the Explorer so that the wife and I can go on our trip.

Also, I checked out the one area where the caliper fell off, and they replaced the caliper, pads, rotor, and the arm(?) that holds the caliper in place.

Plus the manager apologized to me and would like to take the wife and I out to dinner on top of that, haha. I'm not gonna turn down a free meal!

So, you bought a 2011? What work was done on it before you bought it, and by whom? Maybe the prior owner did brake work, and not correctly?

So I spoke with the manager and gave him my theory that either the pads/rotor was replaced, or an inspection was done and the technician didn't put the caliper back on properly, so he looked up the records and sure enough one of the technicians replaced the pads/rotor when they first received the vehicle. So maybe the bolt just wasn't secured enough.

 

[adamjeeps]

So I spoke with the manager and gave him my theory that either the pads/rotor was replaced, or an inspection was done and the technician didn't put the caliper back on properly, so he looked up the records and sure enough one of the technicians replaced the pads/rotor when they first received the vehicle. So maybe the bolt just wasn't secured enough.

Are you referring to the service manager? If so, I can't believe that was not checked as soon as you brought the car in to get fixed. On second thought, I can believe it.

 

[dco43054]

So I spoke with the manager and gave him my theory that either the pads/rotor was replaced, or an inspection was done and the technician didn't put the caliper back on properly, so he looked up the records and sure enough one of the technicians replaced the pads/rotor when they first received the vehicle. So maybe the bolt just wasn't secured enough.

Great that they owned up to the issue and dealt with it.

 

[xAnarChisTx]

Are you referring to the service manager? If so, I can't believe that was not checked as soon as you brought the car in to get fixed. On second thought, I can believe it.

No, I believe he was the General Sales Manager of the dealership.

 

[adamjeeps]

No, I believe he was the General Sales Manager of the dealership.

Ah, that makes sense.

I just had an oil change on my MKT at the Lincoln dealer. Got the invoice and it said 5w20 was used. I said the manual and even the oil cap clearly states 5w30. Service adviser said "we put 5w20 in everything". I said then you are putting the wrong oil in all the EcoBoosts. After a minute of fumbling around, they said they'd put it 5w30.

Not only did the tech get it wrong, the service adviser did too. Beat it all, the aero shield came loose and was dragging the road on the way home. Had to crawl on the ground in my suit to position and fasten the two rear bolts. Needless to say I won't be going back there.