5 AC condensers in less than 4 years- thoughts/advice?

[Ana Polacek]

I love my 2016 Explorer sport. But there is a major problem with AC condenser. After 9 months of owning the Explorer, the AC condenser went out. The dealer replaced it through the extended warranty. Less than a year later the same thing happened and then the warranty company didn't believe that Ford correctly fixed it so they had someone check on the 2nd replacement - This took almost 2 months of nightmare back and forth. The 3rd time the dealer told me there was a puncture in the condenser and therefore it was not covered under warranty. Here we are 1 year later looking at replacing it again. Counting the original AC condenser this will be the 5th one to be in this Explorer in less than 4 years. BTW I don’t do any off-roading such that something would hit inside or outside of the car. Not normal right? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Ana.
No, that is not something that should be considered "normal" nor have I read a similar post about so many replacements.
Did the dealer expand on what the problem is this time?

Peter

 

[Ana Polacek]

for the 4th replacement now 5th condenser, I took it to the original that we bought the vehicle. They replaced it for free since it was under warranty. They said the part is guaranteed for 2 years and I might just have to keep replacing it. Still love the vehicle.

 

[KayGee]

Highly unusual. One would need to review the exact reason for the replacement to understand if it is just bad luck or something else.

There have been issues with condensers over the years. GM had a problem with some where the mount welded to them would eventually bend/flex and cause a crack to open, but that was addressed with a an updated design (many had to pay for repairs out of warranty, but it wasn't a recurring problem as long as the redesigned part was installed).