It's a better driving Explorer now...

[ExPlat]

Hi all, I have some good news for a change! My Explorer rides and handles better, the drivetrain experience is smoother because it is easier to finesse the throttle and finally, the gas mileage seems to have gone up ⬆︎!

Since owning this Explorer my mileage has been 17.4 mpg's overall looking at the dash readout, with the majority of it on surface streets and local driving. In local driving I often saw 16 mpg's and on two longer trips it got about 21 mpg on the highway. It always seemed difficult to drive smoothly, more than I thought it should have been. I will admit to exercising the gas pedal every so often while getting on the freeway or as 'needed', but not frequently.

Meanwhile, in the last 2 months I have done three major changes to the car.
1st: Replaced the OEM Hankook tires with Michelin Defender LTX 255/50R20 109H XL BSW AS tires. I set tire pressure at 34psi cold and when the tires warm up (in SoCal) they are at 37psi on the dash readout.
2nd: The car had a misfire and the Dealer replaced the all 6 injectors, the fuel rails & the HP fuel pump (warranty).
3rd: The battery went dead (2 bad cells) and the Dealer replaced it with a new battery (warranty).

As these changes came one after the other I can't give weight to any of them but things have improved.
I base my thinking on the last two tanks of gas since they replaced the battery, mainly because the car was in and out of the shop during the last 2 months and I wasn't tracking fuel use.
The car drives so smoothly now, the new tires have improved the ride dynamics, the engine repair and new battery have given me a smoother throttle response which creates a nicer overall ride. Finally, the last two full tanks of gas netted me 18.4 and 18.7 mpg's on local roads, without any driving behavior changes on my part.

As I bought this car in September of 2016 with 6,000 miles on it I can't say what it felt like new - but it sure feels new to me now at 11,700 miles. Hooray!!

 

[Exit32]

Thanks for the update, ExPlat. It's nice to see some good news here.

I'm curious to know if you use 87- or 93-octane fuel in your 2016 Platinum. Also, do you use one of the Top Tier fuels or simply buy whatever gasoline happens to be available. More info about Top Tier Detergent Gasoline here:

http://www.toptiergas.com/

Also, would you happen to know why the previous owner of your Explorer ditched it with only 6K miles on the clock? I wonder if it had drivability issues from day-one, and the previous owner decided to trade it rather than go through the process you followed.

 

[ExPlat]

Thanks for the update, ExPlat. It's nice to see some good news here.
I'm curious to know if you use 87- or 93-octane fuel in your 2016 Platinum. Also, do you use one of the Top Tier fuels or simply buy whatever gasoline happens to be available.
Also, would you happen to know why the previous owner of your Explorer ditched it with only 6K miles on the clock? I wonder if it had drivability issues from day-one, and the previous owner decided to trade it rather than go through the process you followed.

After the first couple of months of ownership I switched to 91 octane (the max in CA) and felt it drove better but I didn't always use Top Tier gas. The fellow I purchased from was doing well in his business and had just bought a new expensive house and two new $100,000+ Mercedes for he and his wife, I got to sit in his Merc S600 Executive Package. He may have driven the Explorer fairly hard too because I had to put new brake pads on the front axle after I bought it, the pads were glazed with hard spots.
As to why it is a better car now, the new tires are a huge improvement in the ride and handling. It's also possible that during the fuel system repair all the newest engine computer management software updates were done (I'm guessing). Then, a bad or weak battery can cause havoc with the computer system in these cars.
All in all, it has been worth all the effort having these things done.

 

[StevenC56]

ExPlat-What kind of drivabilty concern did you have? You mentioned misfire. Was the engine misfire like dropping a cylinder? What was the speed and conditions when this occurred? Sounds like the dealer used the "shotgun approach" to make the repair. At least the result was positive.

 

[ExPlat]

ExPlat-What kind of drivabilty concern did you have? You mentioned misfire. Was the engine misfire like dropping a cylinder? What was the speed and conditions when this occurred? Sounds like the dealer used the "shotgun approach" to make the repair. At least the result was positive.

Initially I felt that the engine was underpowered and didn't drive smoothly but I didn't have a new car reference point to draw from.

(Edit: I say 'didn't drive smoothly' and what I mean by that is when the gas pedal was pushed there might be a slight hesitation, then action - there wasn't a fluid transition from a standing start. In addition, the transmission would lag when pushing the pedal, it was not a quick up shift unless using the paddles. Sometimes it would sort of stutter, then go. My wife complained of a jerky ride because of the finicky throttle and trans shifts. I have a lot of experience driving a wide variety of vehicles, like fire dept apparatus, that need careful driving skills so this experience was unusual for me.)

After moving to 91 octane it did drive better so I continued doing that until the misfire started, about 5,000 miles after I bought it. The misfire made the engine hard to start and felt like it had a dropped cylinder(s) when accelerating. The whole saga is here. Actually, Ford's Engineering Hotline told the Dealer what to replace. After that experience I only use Top Tier 91 octane, it runs so nice now.