2017 Explorer Sport: what I love, and not so much

[white owl]

Haven't had it long, less than 2000 miles, so can't comment on many things. FWIW, here are my reactions to some things about it:

This thing is a beast! Nicest truck I have ever driven. Really powerful, great ride, nice and quiet, sure footed, and quite agile for what it is: a large vehicle with high ground clearance. Off road, it handles varying terrain like a spider. Independent 4 wheel suspension was my first clue that this might be a car to own, and I am not disappointed!

I really like the keyless ignition. Didn't think it would matter to me, but it is so very convenient, now I am spoiled. To be able to leave the key in your pocket, and simply walk up to the car, automatically unlock the doors, get in and have it implement the correct drivers settings, start it up and GO! is awesome.

I love the sound system. The sport has the premium Sony with 500w and some soundshaping tech that makes it sound really, really good. I'm hearing lyrics I never understood before!

My compliments to Ford for making it so that the music from my phone starts automatically, even if I have turned off the music ap on the phone. No need to start it every time or even take the phone out of my pocket, it just starts back up where it left off! Excellent!

What I don't like so much:

- The damn double-honk. I never seem to know when it will do this and when it won't. I wish I had the ability to set it NEVER to do that. I don't need "reminders" that I have not locked the doors, or whatever. This is annoying behavior and I have no idea why I am not able to access the settings to turn it off.

- Having to fight the car to keep the radio playing with the ignition off. Some of us might like to sit in our car watching the sunset, listening to that awesome sound system, without having it constantly turning off. I know I'm not the only one! I'm pretty sure the battery can power the radio for hours, perhaps even all night, and still have enough power to start the car.

What a strange design decision on Ford's part. Turning the sound off every ten minutes is absolutely unacceptable, and I notice it is the source of numerous complaints by owners. I assume that other accessories are similarly affected.

At the very least, this should be an owner-accessible setting. At best, Ford might consider monitoring the battery state and turning off accessories only when starting power is truly threatened.

All in all, it's an awesome truck, that suffers from some overbearing design decisions: the truck knows better than the driver what's good for you. Uh, no. It doesn't. Give me the option to decide what's best, don't dictate to me like I'm an idiot. The Ford design team deserves a lot of credit for what they've done well, but they also need a good slap up the side of the head for this attitude.

That's all I got for now.

 

[613GT500]

Double honk can be disabled in less than 5min, with a $30-$100 obd adapter and free software (check out the forscan thread).
Radio can be turned on for an extended length, by simply pressing the power button, when vehicle is off (does not have to be on accessory).

 

[white owl]

Double honk can be disabled in less than 5min, with a $30-$100 obd adapter and free software (check out the forscan thread).

This should be a user-accessible option. Or at the very least, a dealer-accessible setting, where we can ask the dealer to set our desired custom profile. It seems strange to me that Ford does not offer this. But thanks, I will look into the forscan thread.

Radio can be turned on for an extended length, by simply pressing the power button, when vehicle is off (does not have to be on accessory).

When the engine is off and I press the power button, it activates accessory mode, and the radio may play for as long as 15-20 minutes, but after that it shuts off again. To properly watch a good sunset can take an hour or more, so I am repeatedly pressing the power button to turn it back on again. I'd like a better solution.

 

[613GT500]

This should be a user-accessible option. Or at the very least, a dealer-accessible setting, where we can ask the dealer to set our desired custom profile. It seems strange to me that Ford does not offer this. But thanks, I will look into the forscan thread.


When the engine is off and I press the power button, it activates accessory mode, and the radio may play for as long as 15-20 minutes, but after that it shuts off again. To properly watch a good sunset can take an hour or more, so I am repeatedly pressing the power button to turn it back on again. I'd like a better solution.

Double honk, when the vehicle is running is likely a transportation regulation and Ford doesn't want any liabilities.
The radio limit, is due to the start battery monitor and can also be disabled with Forscan.

 

[white owl]

Double honk, when the vehicle is running is likely a transportation regulation and Ford doesn't want any liabilities.
The radio limit, is due to the start battery monitor and can also be disabled with Forscan.

I'm talking about a double honk with the engine off, transmission in park, and the doors closed. So it's not liability issues.

The start battery monitor, if there is one, should recognize that there is plenty of starting power left after an hour listening to the radio. Sounds to me like there is no actual monitor, or if there is, they don't listen to it. I'll check out Forscan, but kinda pissed that Ford defers this stuff to a third party workaround.

 

[613GT500]

I'm talking about a double honk after the engine is shut off. So there are no liability issues. The start battery monitor, if there is one, should recognize that there is plenty of starting power left after an hour listening to the radio. Sounds to me like there is no actual monitor. I'll check out Forscan, but kinda pissed that Ford defers this stuff to a third party workaround.

The only double honk that I'm aware of and discussed here by others, is while the vehicle is running.
Or the single honk when pressing the lock button on the keyfob twice.
Both can be disabled in Forscan.

 

[white owl]

I've experienced that "engine still running" double honk but the one I'm talking about is where everything is off, but it didn't like you not locking the car, or that the last door to close was the passenger door, or something. It happens frequently, and I don't like it!

 

[peterk9]

To my knowledge there should not be any double honk when the engine is off and you lock the doors or don't lock the doors. If your radio turned OFF after 10 minutes is because you are in the accessory mode. Members that complained about this were not aware that the radio can be powered on without using the ignition switch. I can't recall exactly but I'm sure that I've had the radio play for over 30 minutes when powered ON without using the accessory mode. The power saver will turn OFF all items with the exception of the Parking Lights after 10 minutes. That is covered in the Owner's Manual. The Explorer's system does monitor the battery state and will turn OFF certain power outlets when the battery level falls below a certain level. Also mentioned in the Manual. The only issue I have is with the double honk when the door is closed and the engine is running and the key is no longer detected. I have become accustomed to not fully closing the door in that case when the situation arises. That scenario only occurs when I stop to pick up my mail from the community mail box.

Peter

 

[thefranchise713]

I've experienced that "engine still running" double honk but the one I'm talking about is where everything is off, but it didn't like you not locking the car, or that the last door to close was the passenger door, or something. It happens frequently, and I don't like it!

This isn't intended factory behavior, I don't think.

If the engine is off, it should only beep if you press the lock button on the remote twice to confirm the vehicle is secure. A single lock engagement will trigger no beep and just a flash.

If engine is off, and it beeps twice after pressing lock twice, it is reminding you that a door is at least partially ajar and the vehicle is not secure.

Otherwise it should be silent...

 

[white owl]

Maybe I'm just doing it wrong. When the radio goes off I hit the system power button, not the radio switch, to turn it back on. Which naturally activates accessory mode for another 15-20 minutes. I will change my tactics and see how it responds. Maybe all that's needed is a little more driver familiarity I'm still feeling my way around here, and appreciate you guys' help.

The double honk with the engine off and the doors closed is not intended behavior? I am very happy to hear that! I rarely use the remote, which stays in my pocket. Hmmm, maybe the remote is being activated unintentionally by other items in my pocket. Further research is required!

 

[Fentress24]

If you have the car in accessory mode (engine off and electronics still on), the double honk will still happen if you exit the car with the key in your pocket. I know this because every single time I stop to get gas I turn the truck off, but then turn accessory mode back on so that I can listen to the radio while I fill up. Every time, without fail, when I get out and close the door it double honks. Everyone looks over to see what the jerk is double honking for.

I have just gotten use to leaving the keys in the center cup holder when I get gas. I plan to do the forscan fix soon.

So that is one of my only big dislikes. The only other things that bother me are the rattles, and the rough transmission shifts. I am getting the rattles figured out (glove box, rear passenger seat) then hopefully a tune from Livernois will fix my transmission shifting issues.

Other than that, I absolutely love the truck. Tons of room, I have comfortably driven 7 people many times. Tons of power. New Chevy pickup (1500 series) didn't want to let me merge on the way home this weekend, The Sport made easy work of him. Averaged 19.3mpg over 700 miles this weekend up into PA and back to MD traveling at 80+mph for the majority of the trip.

 

[peterk9]

If you have the car in accessory mode (engine off and electronics still on), the double honk will still happen if you exit the car with the key in your pocket. I know this because every single time I stop to get gas I turn the truck off, but then turn accessory mode back on so that I can listen to the radio while I fill up. Every time, without fail, when I get out and close the door it double honks. Everyone looks over to see what the jerk is double honking for.

So that is one of my only big dislikes. The only other things that bother me are the rattles, and the rough transmission shifts. I am getting the rattles figured out (glove box, rear passenger seat) then hopefully a tune from Livernois will fix my transmission shifting issues.

Double honk is easy fix. Just do like I do when I jump out to get the mail and leave the vehicle running, don't fully close the door. Haven't noticed any shifting issues. Nice and smooth so I don't really even notice them.

 

[Fentress24]

Double honk is easy fix. Just do like I do when I jump out to get the mail and leave the vehicle running, don't fully close the door. Haven't noticed any shifting issues. Nice and smooth so I don't really even notice them.

I think I am one of a couple that have had transmission issues on a 2016. I had a full rebuild at 16k miles due to a failure. I have probably been overly critical of the transmission since then, but I drove my father's F-150 Ecoboost a couple weeks ago and the shifting was a night and day difference. His truck was much smoother.

 

[peterk9]

I think I am one of a couple that have had transmission issues on a 2016. I had a full rebuild at 16k miles due to a failure. I have probably been overly critical of the transmission since then, but I drove my father's F-150 Ecoboost a couple weeks ago and the shifting was a night and day difference. His truck was much smoother.

I wonder if the transmission setup in a Sport might be different than a non Sport. As for the radio issue, it just occurred to me that instead of turning the ignition to accessory mode, just turn the radio on by itself. That will cure the double honk. I just confirmed that.

Peter

 

[white owl]

My Sport shifts very smoothly, but more noticeably as I get to know it better. The only time I experience a "rough" transmission shift is if I start off on a downgrade, where I am not giving it any throttle, and it wants to jump into a higher gear immediately.

One thing I wish they would do is, always display the selected gear with the tach display. As it is, the selected gear is only displayed when using the paddle shifters.

 

[peterk9]

My Sport shifts very smoothly, but more noticeably as I get to know it better. The only time I experience a "rough" transmission shift is if I start off on a downgrade, where I am not giving it any throttle, and it wants to jump into a higher gear immediately.

One thing I wish they would do is, always display the selected gear with the tach display. As it is, the selected gear is only displayed when using the paddle shifters.

Not sure about Sport but on my Explorer and the previous one, the gear selection is shown on the dash all the time, but not in the tach unless using the paddles.

 

[white owl]

Not sure about Sport but on my Explorer and the previous one, the gear selection is shown on the dash all the time, but not in the tach unless using the paddles.

My dash shows that the transmission is in D, but the numerical gear in use (1-6) is only shown when using the paddles. I would like that number to be shown next to the tach at all times.

 

[peterk9]

My dash shows that the transmission is in D, but the numerical gear in use (1-6) is only shown when using the paddles. I would like that number to be shown next to the tach at all times.

Okay, I understand. I misinterpreted your post. None of the models have that and I don't believe any of the Lincoln models have it either. Haven't seen that on any vehicle.

Peter

 

[white owl]

Haven't seen that on any vehicle.

It would be very easy to do, though. They already show the numerical gear when the paddles are in play; just show it all the time, is my suggestion. It's a few lines of code. Include it in a system update, even over wifi.

Surely Ford has a good, active team working on this stuff ALL THE TIME. I cannot imagine that they would not. But what's their access, what's their importance in the hierarchy? These nerds must be set free, to finish what they started!

Regarding the radio turning off, I find that by using only the radio switch with the accessories off, I am able to get 30 minutes before it quits. Not ideal, but better than 10-20 minutes. So thanks for that, Peterk and 613.

I really want this truck to be perfect. It's damn good already.

 

[rlarsen462]

Okay, I understand. I misinterpreted your post. None of the models have that and I don't believe any of the Lincoln models have it either. Haven't seen that on any vehicle.

Peter

FYI the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT for one does this, it's a selectable option in the cluster and instead of just 'D' or 'S' shows D1, D2, D3, etc for the gear it's in. I had a 2015 model for about a year and I liked being able to see the gear it was in (and it helped me realize the horrible rough 6-5 downshift I had in that thing that ultimately led to it being lemon-lawed).

I was also able to enable a similar display with the gear number next to the drive mode in my 2013 Audi RS5 using the VCDS (OBDII programming interface), but it wasn't able to be selected from the factory.

So it does exist in some vehicles, I actually like the feature, but it's uncommon enough that I didn't expect to find it in the Explorer.