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Looking at a 2016 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5L

jpoprock

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
134
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City, State
Kokomo, IN
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 Explorer Limited
Hey all,

i’m going to look at a 2016 Ford Explorer XLT in the next couple days. It has 85k to 90,000 miles on it and seems pretty clean. I’ve read some horror stories about the throttle body but I’m sure this vehicle as well beyond that problem. I’ve read other mixed reviews of the vehicle but it was back when the vehicles fairly new.

I would like to know what kind of things to expect from a four-year-old 2016 explorer? I used this Forum extensively for my 2001 Ford Explorer Limited and pretty much everything that the forum said would go wrong with it did! So I just kind of want to know what I’m getting myself into with this 2016.

They have another one that has a 2.3 eco-boost and the one I’m going to look at is a 3.5L DOHC. I do plan on towing a 600 pound aluminum fishing boat with this vehicle at some point. I’ve heard people say that it gets ”cheap feeling” and has electronics glitches after so many years. But I don’t know what else to expect.

I will have my mechanic check it out if we are interested but I just wanted your input here.

Thank you!

Jason
 



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Go 2.3 over 3.5!! And try for a 2017 with sync 3, not 2016 with mft.
 






Even my 78 year old mother feels her 2018 Explorer Limited 2.3 EB has more power than her 2014 Explorer Limited 3.5 had. I placed the order for her 6 months after our 2011 XLT 3.5 water pump **** the bed....
 






Go 2.3 over 3.5!! And try for a 2017 with sync 3, not 2016 with mft.

Might not be able to afford a 2017. Btw... what is MFT? They want $18,400 for both of the 2016's and they both are the same color (Ruby Red) and have about the same miles on them. That's about the top of our spending budget. One has slightly cleaner interior than the other (the 2.3L does). Surely the Throttle Body issue has been resolved on either of these by now. Seems to have occurred early in the mileage.

My 2001 ate hubs like crazy, and I had to have the transmission replaced at about $150k miles I think. It now has 300k miles on it and runs pretty good. It's rusting pretty badly INSIDE the door jams which is odd. I sure have soaked a lot of money into that thing. The AC and heated seats still work though! I use it to pull my 600lb aluminum fishing boat. But our new Explorer will do that for us, but only after my old one dies and needs scrapped. Might as well use it until it's dead because it's not worth anything. But worth keeping to pull the boat!

Thanks!
 












Might not be able to afford a 2017. Btw... what is MFT? They want $18,400 for both of the 2016's and they both are the same color (Ruby Red) and have about the same miles on them. That's about the top of our spending budget. One has slightly cleaner interior than the other (the 2.3L does). Surely the Throttle Body issue has been resolved on either of these by now. Seems to have occurred early in the mileage.

My 2001 ate hubs like crazy, and I had to have the transmission replaced at about $150k miles I think. It now has 300k miles on it and runs pretty good. It's rusting pretty badly INSIDE the door jams which is odd. I sure have soaked a lot of money into that thing. The AC and heated seats still work though! I use it to pull my 600lb aluminum fishing boat. But our new Explorer will do that for us, but only after my old one dies and needs scrapped. Might as well use it until it's dead because it's not worth anything. But worth keeping to pull the boat!

Thanks!
MFT= MyFordTouch, I believe aka Sync 2? Sync 3 is still what Ford uses in all of its vehicles in some version or another. There are plenty of people fine with Sync 2, but there is a strong consensus that 2 is bad and 3 is still among the most user-friendly in the industry. At some point Ford also ditched the touch-sensitive buttons on the center console and went back to hard buttons (when I look at 2016 listings they appear to have hard buttons). You can "upgrade" to Sync 3 but it's pricier than you'd want, and also a hardware change not a software only change. Getting Sync 3 was a good enough reason for me to avoid 2016s (which were very attractively priced). Avoiding the potential CO exhaust issue was enough for me to avoid '17 as well although that was maybe just a small concern I was seeing it on the Carfax reports of the very lowest mile examples I found.
 






Might not be able to afford a 2017. Btw... what is MFT? They want $18,400 for both of the 2016's and they both are the same color (Ruby Red) and have about the same miles on them. That's about the top of our spending budget. One has slightly cleaner interior than the other (the 2.3L does). Surely the Throttle Body issue has been resolved on either of these by now. Seems to have occurred early in the mileage.

My 2001 ate hubs like crazy, and I had to have the transmission replaced at about $150k miles I think. It now has 300k miles on it and runs pretty good. It's rusting pretty badly INSIDE the door jams which is odd. I sure have soaked a lot of money into that thing. The AC and heated seats still work though! I use it to pull my 600lb aluminum fishing boat. But our new Explorer will do that for us, but only after my old one dies and needs scrapped. Might as well use it until it's dead because it's not worth anything. But worth keeping to pull the boat!

Thanks!

Have PTU fluid checked, if burnt or looks like sludge, pass on it. Dont do the 3.5. If you are making out your budget, then a motor failure from a leaking water pump will leave you in a very bad spot. 2.3 is a very good motor.
 






Have PTU fluid checked, if burnt or looks like sludge, pass on it. Dont do the 3.5. If you are making out your budget, then a motor failure from a leaking water pump will leave you in a very bad spot. 2.3 is a very good motor.

What if it is in need of changing? It shouldn't be an expensive thing to do, or is it? If I'm willing to pay for a PTU fluid change, is the fact that it was burnt or sludgy indicative of problems looming? Thanks for the advise all of you on the 2.3L. I would have never guessed it to be such a better option over the 3.5L.
 






What if it is in need of changing? It shouldn't be an expensive thing to do, or is it? If I'm willing to pay for a PTU fluid change, is the fact that it was burnt or sludgy indicative of problems looming? Thanks for the advise all of you on the 2.3L. I would have never guessed it to be such a better option over the 3.5L.

If you get the 2.3L Ecoboost then install an oil catch can. Especially if the one you are looking at doesn't have the twin fuel injector setup. These motors have a problem with carbon buildup on the intake valves from oil being sucked into the intake tract from the crank case through the EGR system. This causes running issues that are hard to fix. Installing the catch can filters the oil from the crank case gasses and keeps the carbon buildup from occurring. This happens on most GDI engines these days that don't have the dual fuel injector setup. The second injector periodically coats the intake valve with fuel and this keeps the carbon from building up on it. On single injector GDI engines the fuel is dumped straight into the combustion chamber the the fuel never has a chance to clean the intake valves.
 






If you get the 2.3L Ecoboost then install an oil catch can. Especially if the one you are looking at doesn't have the twin fuel injector setup. These motors have a problem with carbon buildup on the intake valves from oil being sucked into the intake tract from the crank case through the EGR system. This causes running issues that are hard to fix. Installing the catch can filters the oil from the crank case gasses and keeps the carbon buildup from occurring. This happens on most GDI engines these days that don't have the dual fuel injector setup. The second injector periodically coats the intake valve with fuel and this keeps the carbon from building up on it. On single injector GDI engines the fuel is dumped straight into the combustion chamber the the fuel never has a chance to clean the intake valves.
2.3L ecoboost explorer with twin fuel injector set up - do you mean GDI + port FI? I was under the impression there weren't any 5g explorer ecoboost engines with GDI + port FI.

On a side note, I currently have a ecoboost fusion with over 100K on it. There are several methods to clean the valves that vary in cost from as little as a few dollars to a few hundred.
 






If you get the 2.3L Ecoboost then install an oil catch can. Especially if the one you are looking at doesn't have the twin fuel injector setup. These motors have a problem with carbon buildup on the intake valves from oil being sucked into the intake tract from the crank case through the EGR system. This causes running issues that are hard to fix. Installing the catch can filters the oil from the crank case gasses and keeps the carbon buildup from occurring. This happens on most GDI engines these days that don't have the dual fuel injector setup. The second injector periodically coats the intake valve with fuel and this keeps the carbon from building up on it. On single injector GDI engines the fuel is dumped straight into the combustion chamber the the fuel never has a chance to clean the intake valves.


Do they make these Catch Can filters for the Explorer 2.3L Ecoboost? Or do you just buy a Catch Can for any 2.3L Ecoboost and it will work?
 






Do they make these Catch Can filters for the Explorer 2.3L Ecoboost? Or do you just buy a Catch Can for any 2.3L Ecoboost and it will work?

Installing them on a turbo charged engine is a little more involved than a naturally aspirated one. Watch the video below to get an idea about why to install one and the procedure to do it right. Even though the video is in regard to V6 engine in a truck the same applies to the 2.3L ecoboost engines.

Start the video from the beginning.
 






2.3L ecoboost explorer with twin fuel injector set up - do you mean GDI + port FI? I was under the impression there weren't any 5g explorer ecoboost engines with GDI + port FI.

On a side note, I currently have a ecoboost fusion with over 100K on it. There are several methods to clean the valves that vary in cost from as little as a few dollars to a few hundred.

I remember reading where Ford went with dual port injection on ecoboost engines in 2017. I don't know if this was across the board or only for certain engines and vehicles.
 












Geez this seems like a nightmare to me. I'm pretty sure the 2.3L is GDI and turbocharged but I can't say for sure it's "twin" turbocharged.. A used car dealer sure isn't going to know. So it looks like you need to have your valves cleaned first and then a catch can filter installed? What about a product like this? https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05319-In...65e3e34fce3ec2003fbb7775eeb0ea&language=en_US

It doesn't matter if it is twin or single turbo. The EGR system on a forced induction engine uses check valves to operate properly under boost. There are a lot of catch can options to use on Ecoboost engines. You don't need to clean anything first. Just get it installed so it starts preventing carbon buildup. Then do the other stuff if you want. I don't know much about the best intake cleaner to use. Sea Foam is a good brand.

I would rather deal with installing a catch can than dealing with a roasted 3.5L NA engine from a simple water pump failure. You will be looking at a $6k-$8k repair bill for this.
 






$150 catch can for the 2.3, 15 min install, done.
 






You would be better off putting the $150 towards an extended powertrain warranty or just putting it in an envelope for future repairs/expenses.

As far as pulling a 600 pound boat, you shouldn't need an explorer for that. I regularly pulled a single jet ski and trailer which was around 1K pounds for years with various cars - 4 cyl acura, 4 cyl malibu, 4 cyl fusion, and so on. Some cars are actually rated for up to 1,500-2K pounds trailer weight.
 






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