My Explorer Overheated

[FordService]

Actually very appreciate your response. Please accept my apology as I was being very defensive. I guess I assume you are picking a fight for no reason.

As far as the "Fail safe" system, do you really think you can trust it as they can't even get the fan, and the MFT right?

anyway, the only reason I am posting all these suggestions is to hope someone from Ford (other than Cory, of course) are reading them and how much that are ruining as car that has so much potential.

Other members of Ford are definitely reading your posts and suggestions and I appreciate you taking the time and effort to post them.

Hi everyone. I just had the same issue with my Explorer. I have 6,700 miles on it and it overheated in Manhattan on Tuesday. I had to limp it home as Ford wanted to charge me $185 to have it towed to my dealer which was 8 miles further then the one they wanted to take it to. It ended up being the cooling fan that broke. Its still being fixed. I have had nothing but issues with my Explorer. Its now been in the shop 3 times since I picked it up in March. The reaction control module, the steering wheel position sensor and now the fan have all been defective. Im really not sure I will buy another Ford again.

I would be frustrated after taking it in three times as well. Your concern was already escalated, so you will be called soon. Please contact me via PM if you need any further assistance.

 

[granjack1]

overheating

I have had my explorer for two months. I have now had this overheating issue occur three times. The first about a month ago. The car overheated and all of the coolant spilled out. It went to dealrship for a few days and received a new coolant fan. A month later, July 4th weekend, it overheated in Lubbock, Texas- six hours from my home. The coolant spilled out again and the eginine began vibrating. We had to have it towed to a dealship. We had then rented a car and drove back to Uvalde where we live. A week later the car is supposedly ready. This time we are told the car just needed a new radiator cap. My husband picked up the car yesterday, and paid six hundred dollars for the rental car. Today I picked up my son from daycare, and left my car running for three minutes. When I came back, then car had an nverheated warning. Tomorrow I am driving it back to the dealership and filing a lemon law. $42,000 and it will now be in the shop three times for same problem within a month and a half. This is beyond ridiculous.

 

[1995E]

How did they not catch this in the Dubai testing? Is this a fan problem or could be a software/ sensor issue? I caught my fan not spinning at idle. Then I checked that the car was not up to temperature. With all the software problems on the car, I'm not surprised if the fan had something to do with sensors or software.

 

[nmbrinkman]

So what are the exact indicators you've got a problem. I didn't really pay too much attention to it since most cars at idle don't put out full AC but I did notice it wasn't blasting cold air like it would at 40%. I just noticed about 2 weeks ago a noise when the AC is on. It's hard to describe but it's a painful sound that goes away when the AC is turned off. I'm going to go out and turn it on with 100% AC for 20 minutes and temp gauge displayed and monitor it. I already called the dealership over a week ago but couldn't replicate it the day of the appt and didn't show up. Kinda frustrating if you combine it with the A Pillar noise as well.


Update: Didn't overheat but the noise is still there. Not always but gets louder when the RPMs go up. Is that the fan that some are having problems with? Is the fan electric or is it ran off the drive belt?

 

[nmbrinkman]

So what are the exact indicators you've got a problem. I didn't really pay too much attention to it since most cars at idle don't put out full AC but I did notice it wasn't blasting cold air like it would at 40%. I just noticed about 2 weeks ago a noise when the AC is on. It's hard to describe but it's a painful sound that goes away when the AC is turned off. I'm going to go out and turn it on with 100% AC for 20 minutes and temp gauge displayed and monitor it. I already called the dealership over a week ago but couldn't replicate it the day of the appt and didn't show up. Kinda frustrating if you combine it with the A Pillar noise as well.


Update: Didn't overheat but the noise is still there. Not always but gets louder when the RPMs go up. Is that the fan that some are having problems with? Is the fan electric or is it ran off the drive belt?

So it overheated today. I was in line in a drive thru with my 2 y/o and 5 y/o and it stopped blowing A/C (90 degree Souther California afternoon) and then my temp gauge started climbing. Temp went down once I got on the road but would rise at every stop light on my way home. Got it to my shaded parking spot and let it run (A/C off). Temp gauge still rose but still not to "H" and I shut it off. Came back 5 minutes later and cycled the key to read dash but didn't start the car. It was pegged at the top and warning lights and CEL were on. Ford Roadside Assistance had it towed to nearest dealership (and purchase location) and it's being serviced as I type. I talked to the service manager about setting me up with an extended warranty upgrade since god only knows how hot my engine actually got after I shut it down and what potential damage it caused. He directed me to call Ford. Well, he gave me the (800) 493-FORD but the actual number is (800) 392-FORD as I found out after 45 minutes of redirection by Ford customer service employees. I told them what happened an the lady in a nice manner told me there's nothing they can do but she'll escalate it to wherever she said she would and I'll hear back from them. This is kind of BS since Ford knew there was an issue with the fan and as far as I know there wasn't a recall. So what? We're supposed to wait until our EXs overheat on us to get the fan replaced? I brought the car to my dealership last week at 12:30 to have the A/C noise inspected but was told to come back at 1pm since they were on lunch. I work nights and spend days with my two kids while mom goes to work. I can't bring my car in on a whim. As it is I had to inconvenience my neighbor to watch my kids so I could ride with the tow truck to arrange a rental. Then I had to pay $20 to cover what Ford wouldn't on my Nissan Sentra rental. Top this off with me getting called in to work days the rest of the week so now my wife has to drive 30 miles round trip to drop off the rental and pick up our EX tomorrow. I guess I can't complain too much since I don't have the ext. warranty which covers a rental so my dealership is doing me a solid and covering all but $20 of a rental. I just don't want to get stuck footing the bill on a blown head gasket in March 2014 or at 61,000 miles (whichever comes first )

 

[StunnedMonkey]

What's the build date of your EX, nmbrinkman?

 

[nmbrinkman]

What's the build date of your EX, nmbrinkman?

I bought it at the end of Feb... How/where do I find the build date?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

If you bought at the end of Feb your EX likely fell into the build dates listed in the TSB. I was just curious how many of these overheating problems were affecting vehicles built outside of those dates. I have a later build, so I was selfishly hoping that yours was built in the official "bad" range. Sounds like it was.

 

[RandyH2]

I bought it at the end of Feb... How/where do I find the build date?

Look at the sticker/plate on the driver side front door frame (or on the door, I can't remember which).

 

[mlsjrs]

overheating

My EX has 3100 miles on it. Just today I was waiting in traffic and the AC started to blow warm air and the temp gauge started to rise into overheating range (red). As soon as I took off and drove a few miles the AC came back up and the cooling level went down.
Spoke to the dealer, they will check it out next week. They said if it does it again bring it in right away.

I'll let everyone know the outcome.

 

[jrmexplorer]

My EX has 3100 miles on it. Just today I was waiting in traffic and the AC started to blow warm air and the temp gauge started to rise into overheating range (red). As soon as I took off and drove a few miles the AC came back up and the cooling level went down.
Spoke to the dealer, they will check it out next week. They said if it does it again bring it in right away.

I'll let everyone know the outcome.

I WOULD NOT DRIVE IT IF I WERE YOU


Just bring it to a dealer and let it sit until they can look at it. Better yet, find a different dealer that can get you an appointment sooner. Your cooling fans have likely failed and it is only a matter of time before it overheats. The reason that the temp went down when you drove off is that the natural air circulation that comes from a car at speed was enough to cool the engine back down.

While the Explorer has fancy overheat protections to prevent damage to the engine in such a situation - why take a chance?

 

[nmbrinkman]

I WOULD NOT DRIVE IT IF I WERE YOU


Just bring it to a dealer and let it sit until they can look at it. Better yet, find a different dealer that can get you an appointment sooner. Your cooling fans have likely failed and it is only a matter of time before it overheats. The reason that the temp went down when you drove off is that the natural air circulation that comes from a car at speed was enough to cool the engine back down.

While the Explorer has fancy overheat protections to prevent damage to the engine in such a situation - why take a chance?

+1
Don't drive it! It will overheat. Don't wait until it happens. I don't buy the whole fail safe cooling bit. My engine wasn't quite to "H" when I shut my engine off. It overheated (temp gauge hit "H") between the time I turned the engine off and came back to check the temp 5 minutes later. How hot did it get? Fail safe cooling doesn't magically cool off your engine.

 

[Joe Dirt]

It's not supposed to cool your engine. Ford knows the tolerance of the engine, and it shuts down prior to that point. Has anyone blown an engine yet? Blown head gaskets? What does the gauge mean- what temps are you at? It's all computerized to keep it in the safe range or shut down and the shutdown system seems to be working.

Either way, take it in now. If people here know it's a problem, know their Ex is in the affected range on the TSB and continue driving it and have issue, well...

 

[nmbrinkman]

It's not supposed to cool your engine. Ford knows the tolerance of the engine, and it shuts down prior to that point.

I never said it did. As a matter of fact by saying it "doesn't magically cool off your engine" I am conveying what it does not nor is it supposed to do. I just don't know what temp my engine reached after I shut it off and do not want a leaking head gasket at 4 years/30,001 miles. I not convinced Ford knows the tolerances of the engine nor am confident it's "computer" kept the engine temp in the "safe range". It may have but with digital gauges it's an educated guess at best. It's unacceptable to have this issue on 5 month old car.

 

[NHarris]

It's unacceptable to have this issue on 5 month old car.

I'm not looking to argue, but you did buy the first year of a completely new generation of explorer. So you should expect issues. Look at the explorer history; the 91's (1st gen) had a fair amount of issues (especially with the transmission), and the 02's (3rd gen) definately did with many various items.
I do agree its unacceptable but I would have bet money a few months ago that the 5th gen would come with many first year issues as with most first year vehicles.

 

[G37RRaiders]

It is extremely funny that all these people don't have an overheated 2011 Explorer comes here and tell us what to do, and it is our fault that we bought the explorer.

 

[nmbrinkman]

I'm not looking to argue, but you did buy the first year of a completely new generation of explorer. So you should expect issues. Look at the explorer history; the 91's (1st gen) had a fair amount of issues (especially with the transmission), and the 02's (3rd gen) definately did with many various items.
I do agree its unacceptable but I would have bet money a few months ago that the 5th gen would come with many first year issues as with most first year vehicles.

A pillar noise I can deal with. MFT I don't have issues with. But a automobile's cooling system isn't revolutionary. And last I checked Ford isn't a recent start up company.

 

[NHarris]

A pillar noise I can deal with. MFT I don't have issues with. But a automobile's cooling system isn't revolutionary. And last I checked Ford isn't a recent start up company.

I know about cooling systems and all.
TBH I havent been completely happy with any of my fords. Ford lacks quality in my opinion. Never will buy a Ford again. Sorry for getting off topic.

My whole point of that is from the first generation to the fourth generation the Explorer used a clutch style fan and going from that to an electric fan could be an issue as its new electronics and fans styles. I just wanted to point that much out (its already known by most). And I was pointing out how all first years have issues and this is a first year for the 5th Gen. Obviously they had faulty electronic fans.
I know many manufacturers (including ford) use electric fans and its nothing new. At least ford is recognizing and fixing these issues.

Don't think I'm being arrogant here. I'm not going to argue with anyone here. I just want to clear my statement(s) up.

 

[nmbrinkman]

A recall would be recognizing and fixing the issue. Luckily I was close to home. I had my 2 and 5 year old kids and 4 month old puppy in the car. What would I have done if I wasn't close to home? I'm frustrated more than anything. I really otherwise like the car. It's my first Ford and coming off mostly foreign cars I really wanted to buy American. I hate to think I might regret it down the road.

 

[new to ford]

I agree with nbrinkman, the sensible thing to do here is to issue a limited recall for the affected build dates. My ex is right with this build date.

The TSB calls for fan replacement if any of the following issue occurs:
1.- Fan squealing at shutdown
2.- Loss of AC
3.- Enginge overheat (Duh!)

Back in early June, our ex developed above issue #1, I scheduled an appointment with the dealer, but prior to the appointment, the squealing mysteriously went away. Dealership position is: "sorry, if we can't reproduce the issue, we can't replace the part under warranty" so I had to cancel my appointment and reschedule if/when any of the three issues occur. Some days I feel we are driving a "time bomb". The ex is my wife's daily driver, I constantly remind her to look at the coolant gauge.
The fix from FORD is unacceptable at the time: yeah, just continue to drive it until the car overheats and leaves you stranded on the side of a road... oh, you are 500 miles away from home on a family vacation that is getting ruined because of our shi**y fan design?, sorry, my apologies!:thumbdwn:
Right, people will tell me I am now arguing about "incidental/consequential" damages due to a failed fan. But I'll bet you those people don't own a 2011 ex with a build date right in the middle of the TSB date.
Oh, no actually I am sorry, I forgot, it's my fault for not expecting "issues" when buying a first model year of a completely redesigned vehicle.
I had a 99 passat wagon, sold at 198,000 miles prior to buying the ex, never had a coolant issue with that vehicle.
But I still love the ex!