2017 Explorer Platinum - Sluggish | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

2017 Explorer Platinum - Sluggish

Jon H

New Member
Joined
October 19, 2016
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
City, State
Wilbraham, MA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2017 Explorer Platinum
Hello Explorer forum, I have some great articles here that sound somewhat related to my issue. I am new to Ford, so I don't have any previous experience with any of their EcoBoost motors.

I have a 2017 Explorer Platinum with about 2k miles on it. At about 1500 it kind of just lost it's "kick" - that's the best way I can describe it. No codes, no service engine light. The issue isn't as drastic as other posts about losing power completely on the highway. It is noticeable usually at lower rpms where the engine will feel like it surges slightly but it never really has that kick like it used to - and definitely doesn't have that smooth consistent "push you back in your seat" feel.

I considered "turbo lag", but I have read that these motors have pretty consistent turbo torque through much of the rpm range.

A friend of mine has a 2014 Sport and said that under heavy throttle, he had lost power. When he brought it to the dealership, they found that a loose hose had come loose and there were no service lights on. I thought the same thing had happened to me, so I brought it to the dealer.

They looked over the truck and said everything checked out. They couldn't find anything. I asked them to keep it again and check it in the AM and also to have someone that knows these trucks compare it to how others perform. I really feel like the truck is underperforming.

My question is - does anyone have any recommendations on things to have the dealership check? I am at a loss and it is frustrating with a car this expensive that has 2k miles on it. I would think that they are the experts, but I feel like they checked the hoses (because I brought it up) and hooked it up to a computer, but couldn't find anything.

I still remember that day I took my son for his first drive in the car. I put it in sport mode and laid into the gas. We both had huge smiles on our faces as we took off. The car pulled pretty hard. It was awesome. It hasn't felt like that in quite a while.

Thanks everyone,
Jon
 



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!
.





Welcome to the Forum Jon.:wave:
A loose hose did occur to me but since that's been checked the only thing I can think of right now is a possible issue with the throttle body. The early 2016's had many issues with them but the later builds seem to have had it corrected.

Peter
 






What type of fuel are you filling up with?
 












Considering its a new vehicle and you shouldn't be out of any pocket expenses, it would be interesting to see it on a dyno.
 






Considering its a new vehicle and you shouldn't be out of any pocket expenses, it would be interesting to see it on a dyno.
I completely agree. I tried tracking some 0-60 times to get a sense of where the truck was at but it's not very accurate without some better equipment.
 






Welcome to the Forum Jon.:wave:
A loose hose did occur to me but since that's been checked the only thing I can think of right now is a possible issue with the throttle body. The early 2016's had many issues with them but the later builds seem to have had it corrected.

Peter
Thanks, Peter. I would think the 2017s would be better? But I will ask them about that too.
 






The dealership asked that too but I have always used super - 93.
Use 87 in my 3.5L Ecoboost and it has plenty of power so it is definitely not a fuel octane issue.

Peter
 












Maybe your oxygen sensor is acting up? There's a known issue if you do errands and drive around, stop for 30-60 minutes, then go again slowly, you get a weird throttle oscillation. And if you punch it, it goes away. And the theory is that it's water condensation. But maybe it's worth a look if your sensor is say, slightly worse for wear. Have you recently had any situations with extreme weather, say driving through deep water, fast through puddles, anything like that?

There are also key permissions where you can program a key to have limited speeds, etc. Doubt it's that, but who knows... just helping with possible ideas.

I'm also new to Ford with my 2017 Sport, so we have the same engine. I haven't had any issues yet, and have clocked in a whopping 1900km / 1200miles.

My biggest negative with the Ford is the crappy 6-speed transmission. It's slow and clunky relative to other brands, definitely the weakest link. But the stock programming on the gear shifting isn't the greatest -- gear hunting, etc, especially when punching the gas to pass someone can result in some very delayed shifts that are very jarring. It's totally fine accelerating from a standstill. I found driving in Sport mode all the time keeps things more predictable and smooth, even if you drive normally.
 






One more idea... I saw in another thread someone accidentally left their trailer sway mode on, which caused problems when trying to drive in a spirited fashion, without a trailer.
 






One more idea... I saw in another thread someone accidentally left their trailer sway mode on, which caused problems when trying to drive in a spirited fashion, without a trailer.
The default in the 2017 is ON. That being the case it likely isn't the problem since there likely would be more reports.

Peter
 






Maybe your oxygen sensor is acting up? There's a known issue if you do errands and drive around, stop for 30-60 minutes, then go again slowly, you get a weird throttle oscillation. And if you punch it, it goes away. And the theory is that it's water condensation. But maybe it's worth a look if your sensor is say, slightly worse for wear. Have you recently had any situations with extreme weather, say driving through deep water, fast through puddles, anything like that?

There are also key permissions where you can program a key to have limited speeds, etc. Doubt it's that, but who knows... just helping with possible ideas.

I'm also new to Ford with my 2017 Sport, so we have the same engine. I haven't had any issues yet, and have clocked in a whopping 1900km / 1200miles.

My biggest negative with the Ford is the crappy 6-speed transmission. It's slow and clunky relative to other brands, definitely the weakest link. But the stock programming on the gear shifting isn't the greatest -- gear hunting, etc, especially when punching the gas to pass someone can result in some very delayed shifts that are very jarring. It's totally fine accelerating from a standstill. I found driving in Sport mode all the time keeps things more predictable and smooth, even if you drive normally.
I have read about the O2 sensor issues, but I was thinking that they would throw a code if they were bad, right? The key permissions is interesting. I didn't program any of them, but I will double check anyway...

And I agree about the tranny on the Explorers. Such a great car (when its runs well), and it would be even better with some additional gears! Thanks for all of your suggestions.
 






One more idea... I saw in another thread someone accidentally left their trailer sway mode on, which caused problems when trying to drive in a spirited fashion, without a trailer.
I didn't know that you could turn this 'off'. The "tow" button is not on, but is there a separate setting for sway mode?
 






It's possible I got them confused. I looked into sway mode and it appears to be an innate feature that doesn't affect normal driving. Regardless, this whole car is drive-by-wire and if you hit the gas and it doesn't give anything, could be something weird with the programming, or the sensors... rather than mechanical.
 






I didn't know that you could turn this 'off'. The "tow" button is not on, but is there a separate setting for sway mode?
As per the Manual, sway control can be turned OFF but the default is ON. Lots of good info in there.:)
 






Hey another idea Jon. Can you double check your AWD settings? I put my car in "rut-mode" and my throttle response matched your initial description. As soon as you turn it on, you get a message, but if you forget about it, turn the car off, it'll stay in that mode when you startup and won't notify you at all. The only difference was I have the yellow traction control icon indicating it's off.
 






Hey another idea Jon. Can you double check your AWD settings? I put my car in "rut-mode" and my throttle response matched your initial description. As soon as you turn it on, you get a message, but if you forget about it, turn the car off, it'll stay in that mode when you startup and won't notify you at all. The only difference was I have the yellow traction control icon indicating it's off.
Good thought but I did check that too. I am going to try turning all of the various driver assist features off today to see if that changes anything. Will keep you posted
 






Hey another idea Jon. Can you double check your AWD settings? I put my car in "rut-mode" and my throttle response matched your initial description. As soon as you turn it on, you get a message, but if you forget about it, turn the car off, it'll stay in that mode when you startup and won't notify you at all. The only difference was I have the yellow traction control icon indicating it's off.

On the 2016s at least, TMS defaults back to normal mode upon startup,
 



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!
.





It's a physical dial near the console and there's no resetting it. When you change it, you get the message. But if you forget and turn off the car, it stays there and never notifies you again.

EDIT: Wow, that was totally false. I just tested it on my way to work and it resets when you turn off the car, and you can spin it infinitely, so it's fully digital.

In any case, maybe, just maybe, there is a problem with the electronics that is getting the original poster into a weird state. He can try the AWD display mode to see if it's saying he's in normal mode or not. The one with the 4 tires. Even if it does, doesn't mean something might not be broken in the brains rather than the mechanical parts.

I drove part way to work in snow mode, even though there is no snow and it totally destroyed my performance capability.


01-explorer.jpg
 






Back
Top