Frustrated with issues - 2013 Explorer

[crazyye]

Finally decided to join to vent regarding all the problems I have had with my 2013 Ford Explorer XLT 4wd. I must say I am very disappointed. I will be contacting Ford as multiple of this issues occurred more that once. The rear brakes are a joke... My ac compressor clutch failed twice in less than 4 year. See the list below... My wife sadly has lost faith in the vehicle and feels unsafe bringing our two young children in it. Twice the brakes seized while driving, and once caused smoke. We are scared that they'll be a tire blowout.

The sad part is I cannot afford a new suv or van.


2013 Ford Explorer - Delivered September 26th, 2012

June 9th, 2014 -17,798km - Rear passenger brake won’t release. Rear pads seized in anchor. Unseized and machine rear rotors. Inspect front rotors, also has heat spot. Replaced rear rotors. Warranty - no cost.

August 26th, 2014 - 19,124km - No air conditioning, clutch came apart, compressor seized. Brakes checked, 10mm in front, 8mm in rear. Warranty - no cost.

December 5th, 2014 - 21,027km - Steering making noise, lubricated steering shaft at steering gear. Warranty - no cost.

July 27th, 2015 - 26,594km - clips holding rubber seal all broke under hood. Steering still making squeaking noise. Replaced upper bearings on upper strut mounts. Brakes showed more than 50% on quality vehicle inspection. - Warranty - no cost

October 10th, 2015 - 29,104km - steering still squeaking noise, lubricated. Corrosion on hood, waiting on answer. - Warranty - no cost

April 4th, 2016 - 35,206km - rear brake pads and rotors had to be changed due to seized calipers. - $271 for parts, did labour for free.

April 18th, 2016 - 35,607km - burning smell from rear driver side brake, Dealer checked and said all was ok and that rotor heat was ok after road test.

June 20th, 2016 - 37,286km - No air conditioning, clutch failed and damaged compressor. Rear upper control arm bushings was finished, replaced by removing both rear wheels, rear calipers, parking brake cable brackets. Asked about the corrosion on hood. Service manager said that I was out of warranty. Told him I called for an appointment 2 weeks prior, and they were fully booked and that Oct 10th was their next appointment, and that they were made aware on the phone. Cost was $533 for a/c (told is was $1900, they goodwilled some of it), bushings $483 + $140 for alignment.

July 7th, 2016, heard noise from driver rear wheel. Jacked up suv and could barely turn tire. Brought in on the 8th.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum crazyye. Too bad that your first post had to be one like that.

Peter

 

[crazyye]

Thanks Peter. I've been a long time lurker, pretty much since we got the suv. Sadly tonight I lost it when I realized my brake was seized again. I don't have the time to bring it to the dealership all the time. With the 2 kids and all their activities, it makes it difficult. My dad is on his 4th ford from that dealership, and it is my first. We've both decided that it will be our last ford vehicles. Even though he has not had issues with his new ford truck, he had a lot of issues with his last ford F150 and mercury grand marquis. He always believed in domestic, but we both got toyota camry's and love them.

I have a 2008 camry hybrid that has had 1 issue, the sunroof had to be recalibrated out of warranty, and the dealership did it for free. I also just replaced my front brakes for the first time at 158,000km (gotta love the hybrid system capturing the wasted energy when slowing down). The best part of the brakes, not once in 158,000km did that need to be taken apart and greased. That's the answer I got from my ford dealership to prevent the calipers from seizing on the explorer. What a joke...

 

[Machine090767]

Could it be that the actual dealership is doing something (sabotage) to your Explorer? way too many things have gone wrong for it to be a coincidence.

 

[crazyye]

At this point I think that their techs arent properly doing the work.

Could my rear bushings failing so early been caused by the rear brakes issues I have been having? If so, I will be requesting my money back for that work.

 

[613GT500]

At this point I think that their techs arent properly doing the work.

Could my rear bushings failing so early been caused by the rear brakes issues I have been having? If so, I will be requesting my money back for that work.

The heat from the brakes could have caused the bushings to crack.

 

[crazyye]

Just got a call. They said it was the shield behind the rotor that was rubbing on the rotor, which was making the noise. The mechanic apologized since he's the one that put it back on after changing the bushings 2 weeks ago.