Need new engine | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Need new engine

Welcome to the Forum bluedaw.:wavey:
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. This is a very rare occurrence with the 5th generation Explorer. I don't know about the Lemon Law in your state but I'm guessing that since Ford is replacing the engine under warranty that you likely don't have an option to go that route. Personally, I also would be somewhat concerned about having it replaced but everything is still under factory warranty. Good luck.
I merged your thread with this existing one on the same topic.

Peter
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





The dealer said they sold these explorers to Enterprise in April, May 2011. My in service date was May 2, 2011. These twelve were summer rentals on Martha's Vineyard. When the season was over they sold them back to the dealer.

My office was out of fleet vehicles for my regular travel to a job site, and for insurance reasons we can't use out personal cars. My company rented a month-to-month Enterprise car, and I kept getting a ****ty Altima or Spark. I asked to get something better and they gave me a new Escape Titanium. I had it for nearly a year and offered several times to return it for service, but the enterprise office said "just keep it." I asked one of their guys about it when I finally returned it with nearly 25k miles on it, and not one single service interval having been done. I drove it hard (the fastest car you will ever drive is a rental someone else is paying for), and only felt bad about that when I realized enterprise had absolutely no intention of servicing that vehicle. Considering the dealer it probably went to in my city, some poor ******* probably bought that thinking they were getting a great deal. Never buy a rental.
 






My office was out of fleet vehicles for my regular travel to a job site, and for insurance reasons we can't use out personal cars. My company rented a month-to-month Enterprise car, and I kept getting a ****ty Altima or Spark. I asked to get something better and they gave me a new Escape Titanium. I had it for nearly a year and offered several times to return it for service, but the enterprise office said "just keep it." I asked one of their guys about it when I finally returned it with nearly 25k miles on it, and not one single service interval having been done. I drove it hard (the fastest car you will ever drive is a rental someone else is paying for), and only felt bad about that when I realized enterprise had absolutely no intention of servicing that vehicle. Considering the dealer it probably went to in my city, some poor ******* probably bought that thinking they were getting a great deal. Never buy a rental.

LOL hear hear! if anyone in Orlando and is considering buying a red Buick Enclave from Hertz rental fleet, dont!...I never repeatedly floored it until this Enclave...
...and you should have seen us trying to catch our departure flight...whaaaahoooooooo!
 






Welcome to the Forum bluedaw.:wavey:
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. This is a very rare occurrence with the 5th generation Explorer. I don't know about the Lemon Law in your state but I'm guessing that since Ford is replacing the engine under warranty that you likely don't have an option to go that route. Personally, I also would be somewhat concerned about having it replaced but everything is still under factory warranty. Good luck.
I merged your thread with this existing one on the same topic.

Peter

Peter is it possible to unmerge my thread? I was hoping to get advice from the forum users but now my questions are lost in this chain. I'm pretty annoyed that my brand new 50k truck needs a new engine.
 






I own a black 2015 Explorer Sport but after 4 weeks and 2500 miles it started making a tapping sound while driving but most noticeable at idle. I've taken it back to the dealer and they say the rear lifters are damaged and that they are going to replace the whole engine!

I have multiple questions that I’d like feedback on:

1) Do i have grounds to claim it's a lemon (I’m in Illinois)?
2) Should i seek legal advice and demand a replacement vehicle?
3) If they do replace the engine how challenging is that, should i care?
4) Is there any recourse for me to escalate this to corporate?

Im really worried that a dealer service guy is going to swap out the engine, it's a massive task and i don’t trust that they will do it correctly.

As far as lemon laws are concerned every state has its own laws and regulations. It isn't that difficult to look up. I am in WI and had Jeep replace a 2003 Grand Cherokee under the lemon law. I just did a little research and of course I got some resistance but simply pulling out the statutes that applied got me a new vehicle. One issue isn't going to invoke a lemon law. For instance in WI (going from memory) you have to have it serviced 4 times for the same problem and/or have it unavailable to you for a total of 30 or more days out of the first year of ownership. You don't need an attorney....

Just do the research.

Jason
 






I'd hope they put a brand new engine in and not a used 3.5L engine.
 






I own a black 2015 Explorer Sport but after 4 weeks and 2500 miles it started making a tapping sound while driving but most noticeable at idle. I've taken it back to the dealer and they say the rear lifters are damaged and that they are going to replace the whole engine!

I have multiple questions that I’d like feedback on:

1) Do i have grounds to claim it's a lemon (I’m in Illinois)?
2) Should i seek legal advice and demand a replacement vehicle?
3) If they do replace the engine how challenging is that, should i care?
4) Is there any recourse for me to escalate this to corporate?

Im really worried that a dealer service guy is going to swap out the engine, it's a massive task and i don’t trust that they will do it correctly.

There are a few others who have had a motor replaced but it totals less then a handful who have been members on here. All were successful.

Although frustrating, a motor replacement is not a massive task I'd be more concerned about a mechanic tearing down my motor and rebuilding it. You are having a motor pulled and a new motor installed. That is not that big of a deal repair wise as they come assembled to the dealer. Only things they will have to put on are the accessories (alternator etc).
 






2015 Sport - Replacement Engine - Case Update

So as of now 10/3, I still haven't got the vehicle back or have any idea when it will be ready. I'm told the engine has shipped but they don't know where from or when it will arrive (quick internet search tells me the engines are built at Ford's no 1 engine plant in Cleveland which is about 6 hours from dealer). Regardless, Illinois lemon law states 4 attempts at repair or 30 business days. The question I have is does anyone know if Saturday's count as business days for a car dealership? I've read in a couple of places that if business is conducted on a Saturday (i.e. They are selling cars and writing contracts) then it counts. If that's the case tomorrow will be 30 days (I dropped car off on 8/30) and I'll be able to invoke lemon law. Any comments/experiences from the forum are welcome.
 






So as of now 10/3, I still haven't got the vehicle back or have any idea when it will be ready. I'm told the engine has shipped but they don't know where from or when it will arrive (quick internet search tells me the engines are built at Ford's no 1 engine plant in Cleveland which is about 6 hours from dealer). Regardless, Illinois lemon law states 4 attempts at repair or 30 business days. The question I have is does anyone know if Saturday's count as business days for a car dealership? I've read in a couple of places that if business is conducted on a Saturday (i.e. They are selling cars and writing contracts) then it counts. If that's the case tomorrow will be 30 days (I dropped car off on 8/30) and I'll be able to invoke lemon law. Any comments/experiences from the forum are welcome.

Typical definition of a business day is Mon-Fri excluding holidays. If the Illinois statutes don't define business day it will probably fall back on that. I HIGHLY suggest contacting an attorney in Illinois the handles lemon law cases. Just ask them the business day question. I personally would wait the standard definition period because if you say something thinking Saturdays are included they will get on it and get it ready to go before the 30 days is up. Also 30 days just doesn't include this visit, it will includes all visits for which the vehicle has been unavailable for use.

Just wanted to add that personally the business day thing is a joke. Here (WI) its a plain 30 days unavailable for use.
 
Last edited:












I had my 06 V6 replaced earlier this year with 190k+ on the clock. I have no idea what broke, but when it did, it went "CRACK!" while idling in the garage. Stopped dead, and never turned for me again.

I had a long block put in. Came with 3 year/Unlimited miles warranty for parts and labor.
 






I'll try and be brief. 2011 Explorer XLT, original owner, 105,000 miles. Never had any issues. Had it service a couple of weeks back, changed air filter, transmission flush, coolant flush, climate system serviced, oil change, etc. Drove it around town for a week.

A week ago Friday left for vacation, driving from Indiana to Hilton Head SC. Stopped for lunch just south of Charleston WV after about 7 hours of driving. Vehicle felt sluggish coming onto the ramp back to the interstate, but hey it's the mountains. About 10 minutes later traveling up a hill the High Engine Temp alarms go off and I feel a loss of power. Then the Oil warning light goes off. There is no shoulder so I coast about 30 seconds until I can pull off. By now the engine has stopped. The vehicle has never overheated before.

After some googling we call for a tow. While waiting I pop the hood. No steam or smoke, but you can smell the coolant. Check the oil and it's milky and caramel colored. I'm not a car savvy guy but this seems bad. Guy tows us about 8 miles to Ford Dealer. The Explorer left a puddle of coolant on the tow vehicle.

After a couple of hours we line up a rental ($1200 for a Flex for a week) to get us back on our trip with intent to get the vehicle on the way back the following Saturday. In the meantime the Ford techs say..replace the engine. Coolant in the oil, etc. Tearing it down would be a lot of labor and who knows what they'd find. $5100 total parts and labor for a used motor (51,000 mi) or $7500 for a new motor. We literally have 5 minutes to consider options before they close for a three day weekend,

Opted to let them put the used motor in. Picked it up yesterday and immediately drove it 7 hours home. No issues. WV tech says the old motor had a cracked head.

So:

1. Is it likely that the head cracked due to the overheating, or did it likely overheat due to the cracked head?

2. The dealer here in town flushed the coolant system a week before. Is there something negligent they might have done that precipitated this? I imagine I have no recourse either way though, sans evidence.

3. Of my choices (tear down and fix, used engine, new engine) was our chosen option reasonable under the circumstances?

I hate dealing with cars, buying or servicing. I always feel like I'm getting taken
 












I'll try and be brief. 2011 Explorer XLT, original owner, 105,000 miles. Never had any issues. Had it service a couple of weeks back, changed air filter, transmission flush, coolant flush, climate system serviced, oil change, etc. Drove it around town for a week.

A week ago Friday left for vacation, driving from Indiana to Hilton Head SC. Stopped for lunch just south of Charleston WV after about 7 hours of driving. Vehicle felt sluggish coming onto the ramp back to the interstate, but hey it's the mountains. About 10 minutes later traveling up a hill the High Engine Temp alarms go off and I feel a loss of power. Then the Oil warning light goes off. There is no shoulder so I coast about 30 seconds until I can pull off. By now the engine has stopped. The vehicle has never overheated before.

After some googling we call for a tow. While waiting I pop the hood. No steam or smoke, but you can smell the coolant. Check the oil and it's milky and caramel colored. I'm not a car savvy guy but this seems bad. Guy tows us about 8 miles to Ford Dealer. The Explorer left a puddle of coolant on the tow vehicle.

It sure sounds like your water pump failed and coolant made it's way to the engine oil causing the engine to overheat and seize. I recommend that you read the thread Peter posted above "water pump failure leads to dead engine"

StunnedMonkey's best case was a failed water pumped and about a $2,300 repair, while his worst case was exactly what happened, a seized engine due to a failed water pump. It would be nice to see Ford help him out and put out a TSB on their internal water pumps and include something about them in the maintenance manuals. Perhaps the TSB would add a detection device or sensor that would give an early warning of a leaking internal water pump. After all, if Ford is willing to put a $40 part inside the engine block then they should bear some responsibility if it fails before the last mileage interval listed in the maintenance manual, 150,000 miles.
 
Last edited:






Back
Top