worry about new 2020 explorer limited (transmission)

[TBill]

My was built on 5/31/19 no issues with the transmission or the rest of the vehicle.

Bill

 

[yasser1986]

Yasser, anytime you buy a vehicle you take a chance. All manufacturers have their issues even MB. Follow the dealers recommendations and you will most likely be ok.
The new thin tranny fluids break down and leaves deposits. Hot weather causes this much quicker than cool weather.

I have been using "Seafoam Transmission tune" for a combined 15k miles in both vehicles. After your warranty expires, I would recommend using 1/2 can with each service, if you can get it. It has only helped my older vehicles and not caused any issues. If you had older cars, it could take out the transmission because of the build up of sludge that it loosens and get it flowing. In theory it should just return to the pan and be caught in the filter but bad things happen in life sometimes...

Yes you are right, every car in this world has issue even brand-new cars but issues are different. some issues can be acceptable like some Minor electric problem can be to deal with like airbags. but some other problems like transmission completely down need to be completely replace on explorer 2020. this is not a simple issue after paying over $50,000

 

[collinstm57]

Yasser, I agree that Ford's quality has dropped from the days of their old adage -- Quality is job 1...

I have stopped buying Ford's because of their transmissions among other issues.

 

[lugnuts55]

Yasser, anytime you buy a vehicle you take a chance. All manufacturers have their issues even MB. Follow the dealers recommendations and you will most likely be ok.
The new thin tranny fluids break down and leaves deposits. Hot weather causes this much quicker than cool weather.

I have been using "Seafoam Transmission tune" for a combined 15k miles in both vehicles. After your warranty expires, I would recommend using 1/2 can with each service, if you can get it. It has only helped my older vehicles and not caused any issues. If you had older cars, it could take out the transmission because of the build up of sludge that it loosens and get it flowing. In theory it should just return to the pan and be caught in the filter but bad things happen in life sometimes...

Seafoam helped my transmission when i bought the car. I bought a 96 Explorer Eddie Bauer from a friend about 400 miles away. It has the 4.0 with the electronic shift transmission. It has 4wd but not all the time 4wd. On my way home, I was on an exit ramp and the transmission light started flashing. I didn't know anything about this light or the vehicle. The transmission seemed to be working okay. I pulled over and shut it off. I started up after about a minute and the light stayed off. About 100 miles later, it started flashing again. I was slowing down to pull into a gas station when it started flashing. So it seemed to happen after driving at highway speeds and then decelerating. I made it home but the first thing I did was change the fluid. I added a can of Seafoam and drove it. The light still came on occasionally. I changed the fluid again and added a can of Seafoam. I had to do this one more time and it hasn't acted up since. The car has 180k and it runs well. The rest of the car is falling apart but that is a story for another thread.

 

[metroplex]

I personally know people that work at Ford and at Ford dealerships that have told me to avoid the 2020 model Explorer/Aviator like the plague. Sure there are going to be people that post they have 0 problems for now, but the big problems can always come later and there are those that may never encounter problems in their lease. Just head on over to NHTSA to read customer complaints to get a better idea of the problem trends. My personal experience with the recent Fords w/ EcoBoost engines is that there's almost no point in leasing since I am going back to the dealer constantly to have stuff fixed. I'm now just ignoring them and will turn it in to let them figure it out.

 

[yasser1986]

I personally know people that work at Ford and at Ford dealerships that have told me to avoid the 2020 model Explorer/Aviator like the plague. Sure there are going to be people that post they have 0 problems for now, but the big problems can always come later and there are those that may never encounter problems in their lease. Just head on over to NHTSA to read customer complaints to get a better idea of the problem trends. My personal experience with the recent Fords w/ EcoBoost engines is that there's almost no point in leasing since I am going back to the dealer constantly to have stuff fixed. I'm now just ignoring them and will turn it in to let them figure it out.

And that's why I decided to wait until 2021 model. I think Ford will make huge improvement on the next generation and fix the previous issues.

 

[peterk9]

And that's why I decided to wait until 2021 model. I think Ford will make huge improvement on the next generation and fix the previous issues.

Good idea in theory but I don't think that worked out so well when the 2011 model came out.

Peter

 

[Dakotagypsy]

hi people, my name is YASSER
i am from middle-east, saudi arabia

i am planning to buy explorer 2020 limited, but after a heavy search on internet about this model, i found so many people from USA and SAUDI ARABIA ( which is my country) complain about a huge transmission and Power train issues.

i search into this forum and NHTSA.com and i was shocked about so many people having serious transmission problems.

i don't know if FORD Co. already know about this wide spread problem but i am afraid that i might get this issue if i bought this car. please, i need a correct answer about this issue. is it still going on? will ford do something about?

thank you

(sorry for my weak English)

I recently purchased a 2020 Limited. I only have about 2,400 miles on it but have no problems. I love the vehicle. I almost bought a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica to replace my 2019 Pacifica. I am so glad I did.

 

[KKRISKAL]

Good idea in theory but I don't think that worked out so well when the 2011 model came out.

Peter

Yeah, I agree here. Take this scenario, now because of all the complaints, Ford knows what the problems are with some of the the current 2020 models. Now they decide to fix it for 2021 so some of the issues might require redesigned or re engineered parts/components. If the fix did in fact require a redesigned part, then there is no guarantee that those are not going to give problems (maybe different kind of problems) since again the testing time is kind of similar to what they had for 2020. So it is again a hit or miss situation from our perspective.

 

[TBill]

I have a 2020 Platinum that I took delivery on just about a year ago. No issues with any major components, one minor issue with the drivers's seat memory module. Its a great vehicle and I love the power and technology.
TBill

 

[Steveinnm]

hi people, my name is YASSER
i am from middle-east, saudi arabia

i am planning to buy explorer 2020 limited, but after a heavy search on internet about this model, i found so many people from USA and SAUDI ARABIA ( which is my country) complain about a huge transmission and Power train issues.

i search into this forum and NHTSA.com and i was shocked about so many people having serious transmission problems.

i don't know if FORD Co. already know about this wide spread problem but i am afraid that i might get this issue if i bought this car. please, i need a correct answer about this issue. is it still going on? will ford do something about?

thank you

(sorry for my weak English)

I have a 2020 Explorer XLT 4WD. Just turned 6K yesterday. Brought it into shop today to get trans cooler recall done. Five hours later received a call saying my transmission is leaking at the rear of it. Going down there tomorrow morning to see. Oh btw. I'm a retired heavy line diesel mech for usps. Maybe I should of keep my 97 2 door explorer sport with 258K on it.

 

[collinstm57]

if you buy it -- keep the Trans fluid changed regularly...

In hot environments it is critical -- no matter what anyone tells you otherwise. If the dealer does a complete fluid swap stick to 30 - 40k. If you do it yourself I like 15k since you only swap 1/3 to 1/2 of the fluid. It is cheap insurance.

I like to keep 1/2 a can of Seafoam Hydra Trans Tune with each drain and fill at 15k. Hopefully they went back to adding a dip stick and changeable filter. Some of their "Better Ideas" -- suck...

 

[jshenry1963]

Yasser, I'm sure you will enjoy it when you get it.
Be sure you follow the warranty requirements stated by your dealer. You don't want to have a break down, following what someone on a forum said, and then try to use that as an excuse, they won't support it. Especially because yours is in a much hotter and more sand in the air normally than most of the US. If the forum guy suggests to do something more often, well, might be a good idea to follow it, but if they say, "nope, don't need to change until x..", well, forget it and follow the dealer warranty, again, especially since you are in a much different land than most of us are.

My son works in the auto repair industry, and finds that most of the explorers, especially those with ecoboost, usually fail when someone doesn't follow the recommended by the dealer timelines for service. It needs regular servicing a bit more than my F150 did.

Mine is an 02/20 build date.
The ONLY complaint on the transmission is a once in a while kathunk sounding / hard feeling shift if I am going over some of the hills here in TN where the hills is on an incline, and then crests for less than a second then starts back down hill. It will shift hard downshifting during that change to downhill sometimes, otherwise, works great. But then most all of my Fords have done that as well, F150s, TBirds, etc.
11k miles so far, just had it serviced, and working like a top still.

Get the FordPass app, it is useful, could find your car if it gets stolen, remote start, vehicle status, warranty status, etc.

Enjoy
John

 

[Steveinnm]

if you buy it -- keep the Trans fluid changed regularly...

In hot environments it is critical -- no matter what anyone tells you otherwise. If the dealer does a complete fluid swap stick to 30 - 40k. If you do it yourself I like 15k since you only swap 1/3 to 1/2 of the fluid. It is cheap insurance.

I like to keep 1/2 a can of Seafoam Hydra Trans Tune with each drain and fill at 15k. Hopefully they went back to adding a dip stick and changeable filter. Some of their "Better Ideas" -- suck...

Thank you for the info on changing the tranny fluid every 30-40K. I'll get rid of it before I reach that mileage. I've had many problems with this vehicle. Nothing is built the way it used to be.

 

[peterk9]

He already owns the 2020 XLT and has 6K miles on it.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I have a 2020 Explorer XLT 4WD. Just turned 6K yesterday. Brought it into shop today to get trans cooler recall done. Five hours later received a call saying my transmission is leaking at the rear of it. Going down there tomorrow morning to see. Oh btw. I'm a retired heavy line diesel mech for usps. Maybe I should of keep my 97 2 door explorer sport with 258K on it.

Welcome to the Forum Steve.
The transmission seems to be the weak link in the 2020 Explorer.

Peter

 

[boiler662]

if you buy it -- keep the Trans fluid changed regularly...

In hot environments it is critical -- no matter what anyone tells you otherwise. If the dealer does a complete fluid swap stick to 30 - 40k. If you do it yourself I like 15k since you only swap 1/3 to 1/2 of the fluid. It is cheap insurance.

I like to keep 1/2 a can of Seafoam Hydra Trans Tune with each drain and fill at 15k. Hopefully they went back to adding a dip stick and changeable filter. Some of their "Better Ideas" -- suck...

Its a sealed transmission, unless you have the pump to cycle the fluid you wont be filling it yourself.... There is no dipsitck because Ford are dipsh!ts......

 

[jshenry1963]

Its a sealed transmission, unless you have the pump to cycle the fluid you wont be filling it yourself.... There is no dipsitck because Ford are dipsh!ts......

Crap, that means there's no way to add seafoam or anything down the road for the 2020s? argh,
Can't even check levels or anything?
I guess it is another instance of the need for the stealer, uh, I mean the dealer, argh

 

[boiler662]

Crap, that means there's no way to add seafoam or anything down the road for the 2020s? argh,
Can't even check levels or anything?
I guess it is another instance of the need for the stealer, uh, I mean the dealer, argh

Correct there is no dipstick in this transmission...... Thats why people who had the leak show up only caught it when the transmission blew up

 

[KKRISKAL]

I usually change the transmission fluid after the first 5K miles just to clear out everything. So I asked my dealer to change the fluid and they just told me that the gasket etc. required for the change is Not available and is on back order with Ford until April - May 2021. I was just surprised because even the 2021 models are out and they don't have parts?