I just bought a 2017 Explorer XLT 2.3l n June of this year. I have about 9000 miles on it and transmission started making a whirring noise similar to straight cut gear noise. Then vehicle would shift out of gear and then engage all of a sudden, feels like putting it into neutral and slamming it into drive while revved up.
Took it to the dealer and they confirmed that the noise was not normal so they tore own the trans and they said had burnt clutches. They also found the case was seeping oil from a fill plug so they swapped out the case with a new one. Trans was reinstalled and when they test drove it it skipped gears, they removed trans and rebuilt again with more components like sun gear and tested valvebody and reinstalled. Test drove it and shifted fine until it got to a stop where it shifted into 5th gear and was stuck in 5th gear. Ford sent a reprogram for the truck and got that done and was no fix at all. Now they are replacing the valve body but will need to be ordered. The truck has been at the dealer for about 32 days. I was given a rental, A Focus... which is not comparable at all to the Explorer. I spoke to Ford Customer service and they opened a case for buy back after I told them the attempted repairs and time it has been at the dealer.They also said there was an option to upgrade.
Anyone have transmission issues, or have gone thru a buy backprogram ?
Sorry to hear about your problems. wow 9000 miles and already failed transmission!? I hope you had warranty.
I owned a 2017 XLT with the 2.3L as well, similar problems, purchased it new back in 2016. Mine had 65,000 (just past warranty) I actually had started to feel gear slipping before that at 55000, right after the recall for transmission reflash. Fast forward to 2022 and I took it in for service after and reported the slipping on 3rd and 5th gear (feels like a clutch is held and them bump, gear shift). I took it to the ford dealership local to me and they reported that they think I have a bad solenoid; obviously past 60000 they didn't cover this through the new car warranty so I reached out to ford; they provided some monetary assistance to help pay for replacing the diagnosis for bad solenoid valve body.
$900 out of my pocket later, the car shifts better but I still feel the slipping..also I dig through my mail and found this:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10181988-0001.pdf (keep this handy and ask your dealership about it)
I took it back to reassess the problem (asking for repair warranty now) and to see if this service program applied. They denied me on both,
they said their master tech recommends a full tear down ($3000 of labor) to really see what's wrong, then Ford can reassess and see how much they can help. They obviously didn't refund me for the parts/labor for the solenoid valve body work.
Without commitment from either Ford, or the dealership on covering the cost of the tear down, after pushing and pushing the dealer and Ford for commitment I decided to sell the vehicle. I asked Ford for the buyback program and they declined me.
At this point the car drove well, it had a minor hesitation on shifting that was noticed slightly. I sold this vehicle back to a ford dealership since I was quoted $9000 for a replacement transmission (which the service advisor recommended instead of a tear down and fix).
Funny enough while my car was still being diagnosed (2nd time) They lent me a 2018 explorer with the 3.5V6; it had 50000 miles and it had the same problems with shifting (hard shifting, gear shifting delay, slipping).
Although we loved this car and it performed well and was a great vehicle during most of its time with me and my family, I'd never end up buying another Ford their reputation for reliability is terrible.
transmissions and bad engines are the first things that you get when you google these vehicles, even their 2021's and 2022's have terrible transmission problems right off the lot (the 10spd) I was lucky to be able to get rid of my problem and get some cash back.
Depending on your state, be aware of the lemon law, technically you're taking it in to get fixed a second time with the same problem.
I think most states its 3 strikes on attempt to fix it, if they can't I advice to ask for lemon law return or get an attorney to help you with that.
If I was you, I'd try to get rid of the car. Even if they put in a new transmission, its only a matter of time, the transmission will fail.
I decided to invest in a Toyota with known reliability, most Toyota's nowadays are built in North America anyway so it satisfied my need to buy something American made.
