2022 Ford Explorer Reliability Report

Power cuts out while driving. In some cases the engine stalls and won't restart, and dealer fixes like a fuel pump module or vapor valve don't always hold. One loss of power in an intersection led to a crash with 4 injured and a totaled vehicle. Several reports describe catastrophic engine failure with no warning lights. Others mention camshaft and timing chain failure at 38,000 miles that came back after repair, and coolant leaking into the cylinders that required a new engine. Strong fuel or exhaust smells also appear.

The rearview camera shows a blue or blank screen, and most reports tie it to recall 23V342000. Many complaints are less about a failure than about recall parts being unavailable, with owners saying the wait has gone on too long. Two crashes involve rear alerts that warned too late or not at all, one ending in an out-of-pocket repair bill. One camera failure at 76,000 miles was traced to a failed processing module.

Power steering assist drops out with a driver-assist warning, including at highway speed, and a dealer software reset did not cure it. Several owners report the steering wheel moving side to side by itself, and one says it seized while reversing. One crash followed a sudden pull into a guardrail, after which the front wheel assembly was found detached, and the vehicle was totaled. A hybrid owner describes shuddering at 29 to 31 mph that they attribute to the driveshaft.

Burns from deployed side airbags are the most serious pattern. A police officer needed surgery and skin grafts after thermal burns from the exhaust port, and another driver reports a chemical burn from propellant. Other crash reports describe airbags that did not deploy along with a seat belt that failed to lock, and a knee airbag that partly deployed and released a substance that cut a passenger. Non-crash complaints include a bulging passenger airbag, an impact sensor warning, and an occupancy module that misreads seat belt status.

Brakes fail to engage or lose pressure. One report describes the pedal going unresponsive at low speed, leading to a crash with 4 injured. Another owner had repeated low-speed bumps when the brakes did not engage right away. One driver saw every brake warning light up at once, with ABS and the parking brake failing and stopping distance sharply longer. A dealer could not reproduce that fault. Other complaints concern the rear axle bolt recall and a pedal cover slipping off on a police unit.

Pre-collision braking misses vehicles crossing from the right and gives no forward collision alert. One car crept forward into the car ahead while stopped with auto brake hold on. One owner says the rear axle bolt recall fix was a software update that sets the parking brake automatically in Park. They report the car lunging forward or backward when pulling away afterward and call the fix a poor substitute for repairing the hardware.

The vehicle accelerates on its own from a stop with auto hold engaged. Two crashes describe this, one driving over a median into a parked car. Cruise control also raises the set speed without input. Reports describe jumps of 10 mph, and one owner saw it go from 55 to 85 mph when posted speed limits changed. These complaints come from low-mileage vehicles, and one owner has stopped using cruise control altogether.