5,582 of the
43,182 complaints filed about the Ford Explorer
are about the transmission —
13% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2002.
5,582
Complaints
13%
Share of all complaints
172
Crashes
33
Fires
Transmission & Drivetrain complaints by model year
While driving down a main road, the speed limit changed from 40 to 55 mph. When the gas pedal was pushed, the car violently jerked, did not speed up, and proceeded to have a grinding sound emitting from the engine. No warning lights appeared. The grinding noise continued until the vehicle was placed in neutral and back in drive. We began looking into it and found a recall for the transmission. We contacted a local dealership and were told that they would not be able to inspect or address the issue until Ford issues a remedy (projected to be 8-11 months from now). Since then, the car has experienced harsh upshifting, hesitation with acceleration, jerking, and grinding along with significant rolling when put in park and let off the brake. We contacted Ford directly with no avail. No one has had any advice to “help” with the issue until Ford decides to issue the remedy. We have essentially been told to either park it and continue to make payments on something that is of no use, or to keep driving it and go until it stops. The concern is we have two small children and can not risk engine/transmission failure while driving down the road. The safety of our children comes before anything else, and this vehicle no longer provides safety for them.
NHTSA complaint #11758418 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Illuminated powertrain malfunction (wrench) indicator with DTCs C00A6 and C0631, caused by failure of the front axle disconnect actuator/intermediate shaft on an AWD 2020 Explorer at 46,821 miles. The vehicle displayed the wrench light along with "Service AdvanceTrac," "4WD Fault," "Hill Start Assist Not Available," and "Pre-Collision Assist Not Available." Multiple driver-assistance and stability systems disabled themselves simultaneously, including AdvanceTrac stability control and pre-collision braking. Loss of stability control and automatic emergency braking without warning is a safety concern, particularly at highway speed. The fault was intermittent at first. The dealer had the vehicle five days and could not duplicate it. Within a week of getting it back the condition became nearly constant. The repair is Ford TSB 25-2568, which replaces the front axle disconnect actuator/intermediate shaft with a revised, non-disconnecting design and a new halfshaft. Ford has published this bulletin repeatedly since spring 2023 — 23-2114, then 23-2174 (July 2023), then 25-2373, then 25-2568 (January 2026) — for 2020-2021 Explorer and Aviator AWD vehicles built on or before 30-Aug-2021. Ford has redesigned the part and eliminated the disconnect feature entirely, but has issued no recall or customer satisfaction program. Because this vehicle is out of factory warranty by age at 46,821 miles, the roughly $2,500 repair fell to me. I request that NHTSA review whether a known design defect that disables stability control and pre-collision braking warrants a safety recall rather than a service bulletin.
NHTSA complaint #11758573 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V675000 (Power Train), 25V093000 (Seat Belts), 26V402000 (Power Train), and 26V451000 (Seats) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted.
NHTSA complaint #11758053 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
my car was banging into gear when downshifting. I took to the ford dealer and they told me it was TSB 20-2337 a known issue. My warranty had just expired and I had to pay out of pocket for the damages. If this is a known issue, it should be covered by ford not an out of pocket expense. I was told by the dealer if may turn into a recall and if it does, I can they get reimbursed for it. How can a known issue be the consumer's responsibility to pay for when there is a flaw in their building of this expensive vehicle. I do not even have 70k miles and the transmission is failing??
NHTSA complaint #11757613 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the vehicle, and while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and failed to accelerate above 40 MPH. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle shuddered abnormally. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed, and it was determined that there was an unknown black fluid inside the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer stated that the failure was not associated with NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train). The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.
NHTSA complaint #11757409 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Vehicle started hard shifting while driving and noticed hard shifts when slowing down. Vehicle then began to lose power while driving. Display screen has issues at times screen will only display blue or stay in backup camera mode.
NHTSA complaint #11756878 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
In November 2025 vehicle began experiencing intermittent instances of rough shifting when the engine was under strain due to mountain driving. Since we do not live in the mountains, we returned home and waited to see if it would replicate. Vehicle began intermittently, replicating, hard shifting when coming out of Park. At that time an appointment was made with a local transmission shop in June 2026 to have an evaluation done. No error codes have been thrown at any point in time but the shop was able to highlight that there are metal flakes in the transmission fluid indicating the beginnings of mechanical malfunction of the transmission prior to 150,000 miles. At the time this started the vehicle was at approximately 137,000 miles. It is now at approximately 154,000 approximately one year later. It is my daily driver and only motive transportation. Shop has recommend a transmission rebuild due to metal flakes in the engine. It is a well-known fact, two Ford that they installed faulty, transmissions that prematurely go out however, they have not completed a recall to this date still. This puts unnecessary financial hardship on the consumer when the vehicle starts to fail prematurely.
NHTSA complaint #11756722 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission shifted hard. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that a software update was needed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the parking brake engaged each time the vehicle was shifted into park, and the message "Stuck in Park" was displayed on the instrument panel while driving. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed the part was not available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000.
NHTSA complaint #11756044 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The transmission is actively slipping and dropping out of gear while driving causing unexpected loss of acceleration on public roads. This represents an extreme road safety hazard. The manufacture was notified but refused to offer assistance or grace coverage immediately following a Premium CARE factory contract expiration.
NHTSA complaint #11755501 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was shifting roughly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and it was determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.
NHTSA complaint #11755523 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
RECALL COMPLIANCE & SAFETY DEFECT DESCRIPTION: The vehicle was transported via roadside assistance to a licensed manufacturer dealership due to severe engine overheating under an active manufacturer safety recall. Service personnel systematically modified intake paperwork to alter the true mechanical state upon arrival, removing safety recall and towing documentation. Intake files were falsified with the notation stating that the customer reported a bad battery, executed solely to evade mandatory factory safety recall tracking protocols and obscure dealer liability for subsequent failures. UNAUTHORIZED SHOP-FLOOR HAZARDS & MECHANICAL DAMAGE: Following custody transfer, shop technicians induced severe physical damage to the vehicle's twin-turbocharger assembly, resulting in a snapped turbo stud and a torn engine air filter. The vehicle was subsequently operated on public roads by shop personnel for 75 to 80 unauthorized miles under active engine overheating conditions without correcting thermal or safety recall failures, creating an immediate risk of catastrophic engine block structural cracking. The safety failures triggered 13 critical system fault codes across powertrain, electrical, and battery systems, which went entirely unaddressed while the shop attempted to compel payment under an altered repair estimate. CYBER SABOTAGE OF OUTBOUND SAFETY TELEMATICS: To actively obstruct diagnostic tracking and safety verification, shop staff executed a forced remote network reset of the vehicle's cellular modem. This reset deliberately severed user profile access and entirely deactivated the outbound telematics pipeline to systematically block the outbound transmission of the 13 powertrain and thermal fault messages to the user and manufacturer databases.
NHTSA complaint #11755278 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2020 ford Explorer had several issues with the hill assist, TCM control, power train malfunctions, it shifted very hard between first and second gear, at times it felt like it wouldn't accelerate at all and would pop into gear at higher speeds. I took it to Family Ford of Enfield several times for repairs which never fixed the overall problem. After several times at Family Ford of Enfield, I continued to drive my vehicle because my trusted dealership kept telling me the car was repaired. Now my vehicle needs a new transmission at 100% my cost.
NHTSA complaint #11754900 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the vehicle made an abnormal sound while downshifting, with a loud boom coming from the underbody of the vehicle. The vehicle was bouncing while downshifting from 4th gear to 3rd, 2nd, and into 1st gear. The failure reoccurred while downshifting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired by the dealer. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic, and the transmission was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.
NHTSA complaint #11754374 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked back and forth and then stalled. No warning light was illuminated. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a transmission specialist; however, the cause of the failure could not be determined. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
NHTSA complaint #11753258 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35-55 MPH and coming to a stop, the vehicle shuddered and jerked. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving from a complete stop. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
NHTSA complaint #11753283 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2020 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that while decelerating to approximately 25–30 MPH, the vehicle jerked abnormally. No warning lights were illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that parts were unavailable to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was later taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with an incorrect response from the immobilizer control module. The contact was advised not to continue driving the vehicle. The contact relayed the diagnostic information to the dealer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V402000 (Power Train); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the repair could be paid out of pocket with a possible reimbursement whenever the parts became available. The failure mileage was approximately 94,600.
NHTSA complaint #11753325 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact called on behalf of his wife, who owns a 2016 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while reversing at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact researched online and was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V164000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.
NHTSA complaint #11753015 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Begin with cliff, I was not wanting to lock or locked or start the vehicle as I was driving. I stopped at the light vehicle started shaking, and as I drove through the light to pull over power steering assist failure, terrain, failure, and control failure.
NHTSA complaint #11752959 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that on several occasions, the vehicle unexpectedly rolled forward while the vehicle was in park(P). Due to the failure, the contact was forced to engage the parking brake to prevent the vehicle from rolling forward while in park(P). The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V117000 (Visibility) and 26V402000(Power Train); however, the parts to do the recall repair were not available. The dealer was notified of the recalls and confirmed that parts were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
NHTSA complaint #11752986 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Back in 2026 I bought a vehicle from Wild West Ford in Guymon ok about three weeks after I bought the vehicle there was a safety recall on it for the rear axle bolt. Ever since the recall was done, I noticed a significant change in my vehicle rear and it shook real bad. basically I was eating my tires and so I took about to wild West and they told me to go get alignment done so I went and got an alignment done, and it still was doing it and I had taken it to at least four different Ford dealerships across two different states and they all told me that there is nothing wrong with my vehicle, so I looked it up on the forum in the procedure on how the recall was done and i find out that the bushing was improperly installed. One of The ford dealership is the one who send me a picture of the bushing even starting to rip. Please help my kids ride in this vehicle everyday and Wild West claimed the recall but did it completely wrong and refuses to fix it so I took it to different dealerships and with each dealership, I specifically asked them to re-look into the recall because I feel like it was done wrong and they all said that it was all up to four specs in the end. there was nothing wrong with it, but here’s the proof that it is so how do I get my vehicle fixed?
NHTSA complaint #11752834 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.