2016 Explorer Throttle Body Problems

I don't think he is exaggerating. My Explorer has been in the dealer too many times this year first year.
As a summary in 12 months:
1) Fan assembly replaced 3 times, required 4 visits. This took several phone calls and letter because Ford said it was normal, finally they released a msg to dealerships.
2) Left stranded,Throttle body replaced, vehicle was out for 10 days, vehicle towed with 6k miles
3) Seat cover had to be replaced, required 3 visits, it wasn't properly fixed the first time.
4) SRS light was on, TSB applied, looks terrible, cables cut and taped very poorly by the "factory trained" technicians.
5) Cowl noise, TSB applied. required 2 visits
6) NAV SD card fault, going back to dealer Monday because they couldn't replicate...
Edited: 7) tires (20 inch) have 4/32 left with 20800 miles
Based on unavailability, time between failures, time to fix it, this is in the lower extreme of unreliable. I would be fool to say I can trust an unreliable vehicle....The minute the warranty is over it'll be gone. The problem is that we are really tired of going to the dealership.
I have gone to the dealership more this last year than in the previous 15 years.
Good luck.

 

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Well, a new twist....

According to the Ford website, my dealer, and Ford customer service.... my vehicle is not included in either the reprogram or replacement. ....

After not finding the FSA on the website for my vehicle, I turned to the dealer (OASIS) and nothing, and ultimately Ford direct and they concluded that the FSA was for different plants, different production lines, and even different options/model... beyond what we know about it being for the 3.5 NA engine.

My dealer told me that as far as retail vehicles having a failure, they have had none! But they have been replacing ETBs as fast as they can on many, many Police Interceptor vehicles for on-duty failures... He speculated a little that there may be a slight difference in the ETB in the Police vehicles as the engines are slightly different, and the programming is very different. He also was the first to mention that it could come down to batches of units and which production line got the bad batches. Considering the number of failures for the police vehicles he said it may even be an issue that the ETBs were in short supply and to keep production running, some ETBs for the Police units were put into retail units with the retail or wrong programming and the two may not have matched so well. That may explain the reprogramming of some vehicles. All speculation....

Ford direct seemed surprised at first and had to put me on hold and after checking, confirmed the vehicles covered by the FSA, are not all 2016 explorers and not all 3.5 NA engines and not even specific build dates but actually down to specific plants, production lines, and batches of ETB units. So don't be surprised if you are or aren't covered... they were the ones that even hinted it could be options also.... I asked whether it was just 4WD units or units with the towing package (as some engine parts and programming is different) and they couldn't confirm it but they said that is very possible.

So while the answer is not any clearer to us, it seems that Ford has been learning from the failed units and is getting a better handle on the failed units, like where, when, batch numbers, programming versions, options/engines.2or4WD, etc... to actually pinpoint the problem and only fix the ones that are affected. When the issue first surfaced, they probably didn't have much data to look at and the first reaction was just replace the ETBs as fast as they could but they may have used the same programming or units from batches that later turned out to also include a problem... That is a great first reaction but as the info comes in, they can get a better handle on the real issues and make better decisions on which vehicles are most likely to have the problem and how to better solve the issue.

The biggest thing i learned is that there is no longer a shortage of the part, and most dealers have multiple units and it is a quick repair if you are traveling and have an issue.

Good luck everyone,
BaseFan

 

Checked owner.ford.com with my VIN and it has the same 16B32 notice. Took a print out of the same to the Ford Quick Service near my home and the person there said that it is replaced only if there are issues 0) Interestingly, he did not check my VIN against any database of sorts on their PC.
Question to the experts and people who have already done the replacement is that am I being given bad information by the Express Service?

 

Thanks @peterk9. I took the vehicle again to the dealer and run a check with the VIN and the confirmed the issue. For my case, they are "reprogramming" to prevent this issue. No other details were provided. I see that there are others who have done the same and say they have difference in how the car accelerates. I will update with the details from the receipt once I have my SUV back.

 

The fix done
<details>
B 16B32 RECALL--ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY REPAIR
CAUSE: WF4
16B32D REPROGRAM PCM USING IDS
7558 WF4
FC: PART #: COUNT:
CLAIM TYPE: 16B32
AUTH CODE:
7558
10138 AS PER FSA 16B32 UPDATE PCM CLEAR CODES
</details>
It is cryptic. Am not a mechanic but I wonder how a "Reprogram of PCM" will fix Electronic Throttle body issue.

 

Whatever error or anomaly the ETB was sending back to the PCM prior to the fix, causing the vehicle go into limp mode may not be a major component issue and the fix will just "ignore"?

 

I hope that is not the only fix that is done to address what sounds like a serious issue.

 

If your explorer has gone to 'limp mode', expect it to occur again after you get the PCM reprogram. Mine wouldn't accelerate, got the DTC's, and I took it in and only received the PCM reprogram. Not but a day later, it began studdering even more at low speeds and I had to take it back for round 2. I gave the service mgr an earful and the finally replaced the throttle body. His explanation was Ford recommended the PCM reprogram first and that fixes 9/10 of the problems. For those that it doesn't, they expect them to come back.

I gave some pretty bad survey scores for risking my families' safety to perform a trial and error fix. I still have a bitter taste from the experience. I had the recall notice on myford, trouble codes, etc. All signals pointing to a faulty throttle body.

 

I hope you captured this in your Ford survey response. I even went as far as using a nearly identical response back in Sept for my same issue (after they tried the PCM reprogram and cut corners, risking my family again). I was more angry that they didn't replace the throttle body in the first place, after I had DTC's, the TSB or whatever PC term they used for it, and gave them the explicit symptoms that should've prompted a replacement.

I really hope their survey scores prompt a shift in their replacement/reprogram protocol. IMO, it is incredibly irresponsible to cut corners and not replace the faulty throttle bodies.

 

yeah, i didn't realize my profile was inherited from the old Sport Trac forums.

For point of reference, I have an early build 2016 Explorer XLT w/ 3.5 NA engine..

 

The reported issues after the flash are my main concern and hesitation to have it done after my ETB was replaced back in May 2016

 

Is this a problem with a certain engine. Forgive my ignorance if this has been answered. I am new to the site and not real sure on navigating it. Thanks

 

Thanks Peter. I have yet to buy my Explorer and I am researching possible issues. We have it narrowed down to 2016 Limiteds though and should have one by this weekend.

 

Just to let you know I have a 2011 Explorer XLT and for the past week I have been randomly stalling when I come to a stop. I spoke to someone where I work who had the same problem on their 2012 Fusion. He had the throttle body replaced and my Explorer is in local dealership today getting the throttle body replaced under my extended warranty.

 

The TB was changed in 16 so different issue.

 

Ok so it is doing it again after the throttle body was replaced but this time when starting it turns over but won't actually start up for a few seconds. It also turns over with a very fast clicking as if maybe the starter work too hard. I also had a yellow wrench come up on the dash. This is by far the worst Ford I have ever had and I have had a lot of Fords. I have put a lot of money into this piece of crap!

 

The clicking and such was NOT a symptom with the 16's and sorry you are having trouble.