Certi2020 Ford explorer ST needs need motor

[Justinb]

Hello everyone, I purchased a certified 2020 Ford explorer ST with 2000 miles on it, after 2 1/2 years and 95,000 miles the motor needs to be replaced.

I was driving did not get any warning, power train warning came up, engine shut off and I pulled the car to the side of the road.

First thing I checked. was the oil which it was fine, I had it towed to the dealer. First thing they said was the battery loss to sell, which was total BS. Three days later, they told me that the engine only had 3 quarts of oil and I needed a new motor.

I do all my own maintenance I have infinity with 260,000 miles on it, and I have records. Dealer wants 15 grand for replacement.

Ever since I got the car every time, I started the motor I would get a white puff of smoke. Dealer said it had to do with condensation.

Is there a way to check who own car or what happened the first 2000 miles, I can find nothing using vin number.

If anyone has had a similar problem, please reach out I’m gonna get a lawyer.

justin

 

[Dram789]

15k for an engine replacement is crazy. Thats diesel prices iirc. The white smoke def should’ve been dealt with when it was noticed. If they wrote it up when you told them about it you might have a chance, but that’s crazy

 

[Sentinel]

This happened to my 2020 in May. 43k miles. No tune, completely stock, no tracking. All oil changes done at the dealer I purchased the vehicle from in July 2019. Last oil change was late Nov 2022 and it had about 5k miles from the last oil change to when the motor ate itself, or more correctly, ate itself for the last time.

Driving home one night and all the sudden get a loud knocking sound, no dash lights, no smoke, no sounds, nothing prior to the ultimate failure. Thankfully I know the dealership GM personally, so they picked the vehicle up the next morning. 1.5 hours after they pick it up, I get a call from the service rep saying “you need a new motor”. Called him back and he said they spun the filter off and there was a bunch of metal flake. Checked oil dipstick and no oil registered. I asked how little oil would need to be in the motor to not register on the dipstick, shop foreman said 2 - 2.5 quarts. There was zero oil on my garage floor, zero smoke out the back at any point. Once they tore down the motor more they said the cam journals were badly scored. It appears on the surface the motor was oil starved somehow.

Once the cam journal issue surfaced, Ford quickly approved a new motor under warranty and requested the dealer send them my motor for further tear dow. At this point I have no idea what the root cause is and the dealer and Ford have been very quiet. I highly doubt I’ll ever get a real answer as to what caused this and where 4’ish quarts of oil disappeared to.

The dealer charged Ford $13,043.60 for the new motor and install. They charged Ford $1,700’ish for the loaner vehicle they gave me for 37 days.

I‘ve owned 17 vehicles, first time I’ve ever seen something like this, but I now have a new routine with checking the oil level rather frequently lol.

Lastly, there’s another guy on here that had the same issue, plus a few more if you Google.

 

[Dram789]

This happened to my 2020 in May. 43k miles. No tune, completely stock, no tracking. All oil changes done at the dealer I purchased the vehicle from in July 2019. Last oil change was late Nov 2022 and it had about 5k miles from the last oil change to when the motor ate itself, or more correctly, ate itself for the last time.

Driving home one night and all the sudden get a loud knocking sound, no dash lights, no smoke, no sounds, nothing prior to the ultimate failure. Thankfully I know the dealership GM personally, so they picked the vehicle up the next morning. 1.5 hours after they pick it up, I get a call from the service rep saying “you need a new motor”. Called him back and he said they spun the filter off and there was a bunch of metal flake. Checked oil dipstick and no oil registered. I asked how little oil would need to be in the motor to not register on the dipstick, shop foreman said 2 - 2.5 quarts. There was zero oil on my garage floor, zero smoke out the back at any point. Once they tore down the motor more they said the cam journals were badly scored. It appears on the surface the motor was oil starved somehow.

Once the cam journal issue surfaced, Ford quickly approved a new motor under warranty and requested the dealer send them my motor for further tear dow. At this point I have no idea what the root cause is and the dealer and Ford have been very quiet. I highly doubt I’ll ever get a real answer as to what caused this and where 4’ish quarts of oil disappeared to.

The dealer charged Ford $13,043.60 for the new motor and install. They charged Ford $1,700’ish for the loaner vehicle they gave me for 37 days.

I‘ve owned 17 vehicles, first time I’ve ever seen something like this, but I now have a new routine with checking the oil level rather frequently lol.

Lastly, there’s another guy on here that had the same issue, plus a few more if you Google.

Yeah once I read this post I searched it up and found the other cases. I got 30k on my exploder so ima def look into a sort of extended warranty cause my b2b ended last month so I just got the powertrain left rn

 

[UNBROKEN]

Gonna get a lawyer for what? Things break…sometimes they’re expensive. If you have extended warranty out that far let them deal with it…if not it’s on you. Such is life.

 

[JCon]

Those with the engine issues…. Would u mind sharing your engine model/ ID. Many Tahoes had transmission problems and they were linked to only certain engines.

 

[JCon]

Yeah once I read this post I searched it up and found the other cases. I got 30k on my exploder so ima def look into a sort of extended warranty cause my b2b ended last month so I just got the powertrain left rn

Would u mind sharing your engine model/ ID. Many Tahoes had transmission problems and they were linked to only certain engines.

 

[CoHPhasor]

I have heard that earlier 3.0L engines had problems with the oil pan seal. Apparently they were using an RTV silicone and it wasn't cutting it. Newer motors supposedly use a pressed gasket now.
I would have to say that if the oil pan seals are under that much pressure that a seal lets out that much oil - they may want to look into things they can do to the physical shapes involved to keep oil in place.
(Why one singular point of failure that is prone to do so?)

 

[AlexscottST]

This happened to my 2020 in May. 43k miles. No tune, completely stock, no tracking. All oil changes done at the dealer I purchased the vehicle from in July 2019. Last oil change was late Nov 2022 and it had about 5k miles from the last oil change to when the motor ate itself, or more correctly, ate itself for the last time.

Driving home one night and all the sudden get a loud knocking sound, no dash lights, no smoke, no sounds, nothing prior to the ultimate failure. Thankfully I know the dealership GM personally, so they picked the vehicle up the next morning. 1.5 hours after they pick it up, I get a call from the service rep saying “you need a new motor”. Called him back and he said they spun the filter off and there was a bunch of metal flake. Checked oil dipstick and no oil registered. I asked how little oil would need to be in the motor to not register on the dipstick, shop foreman said 2 - 2.5 quarts. There was zero oil on my garage floor, zero smoke out the back at any point. Once they tore down the motor more they said the cam journals were badly scored. It appears on the surface the motor was oil starved somehow.

Once the cam journal issue surfaced, Ford quickly approved a new motor under warranty and requested the dealer send them my motor for further tear dow. At this point I have no idea what the root cause is and the dealer and Ford have been very quiet. I highly doubt I’ll ever get a real answer as to what caused this and where 4’ish quarts of oil disappeared to.

The dealer charged Ford $13,043.60 for the new motor and install. They charged Ford $1,700’ish for the loaner vehicle they gave me for 37 days.

I‘ve owned 17 vehicles, first time I’ve ever seen something like this, but I now have a new routine with checking the oil level rather frequently lol.

Lastly, there’s another guy on here that had the same issue, plus a few more if you Google.

I’m at 42600 ish and this just happened to me fml.

 

[MJ west]

Hello everyone, I purchased a certified 2020 Ford explorer ST with 2000 miles on it, after 2 1/2 years and 95,000 miles the motor needs to be replaced.

I was driving did not get any warning, power train warning came up, engine shut off and I pulled the car to the side of the road.

First thing I checked. was the oil which it was fine, I had it towed to the dealer. First thing they said was the battery loss to sell, which was total BS. Three days later, they told me that the engine only had 3 quarts of oil and I needed a new motor.

I do all my own maintenance I have infinity with 260,000 miles on it, and I have records. Dealer wants 15 grand for replacement.

Ever since I got the car every time, I started the motor I would get a white puff of smoke. Dealer said it had to do with condensation.

Is there a way to check who own car or what happened the first 2000 miles, I can find nothing using vin number.

If anyone has had a similar problem, please reach out I’m gonna get a lawyer.

justin

This just happened to me- 2020 Explorer Platinum, bought used. Approx 62 thousand miles and my engine locked up. I had been doing all oil changes at the dealer. I had been hearing knocking noises for a few days, pushed down on the excel orator and the car shook and turned off.

The mechanic said that there was no oil in my engine.
I have no oil in my driveway- no lights came on,
Nothing to let me know that there was a problem.
Anyone else? I would love to know. I am meeting with a guy from the dealership today.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MJ west]

I’m at 42600 ish and this just happened to me fml.

Please tell me what happened-

 

[CoHPhasor]

Was there any smoke anywhere?

This sounds crazy.
If you have the dealership changing oil, and it was not in the last day or so, they couldnt have forgotten to put in the oil.
If not in your driveway, or in a parking spot you were in, where did it go?
- Do you see oil streams/coating on any engine parts, trans?
- Leaking on the highway?
- Did the oil leak into the cylinders and fill them?
- Did the oil blow through the turbo into the exhaust system?


This is insane, and definitely something that needs to be examined and corrected.

 

[CoHPhasor]

Gonna get a lawyer for what? Things break…sometimes they’re expensive. If you have extended warranty out that far let them deal with it…if not it’s on you. Such is life.

One thing I will note is not being able to trust Ford with shit like this.
I had a Ford Fusion Energi that started knocking. The dealer had done an oil change and messed up at less than 20k miles on it.
I said "So, with rod(s) knocking, you're replacing the engine, right? (short block)"

They said "No. We ran the numbers through the computer and it told us to replace the parts here".... so a dealership which is not a trained machine shop, was going to simply replace a few lower engine parts and put it back together... because they wanted to get more money from Ford. Luckily it was a lease, and although the deal I had on it was crazy, so would have been keeping that engine.
That shit went right back at the end of the lease.

 

[Cajun Heat]

This just happened to me- 2020 Explorer Platinum, bought used. Approx 62 thousand miles and my engine locked up. I had been doing all oil changes at the dealer. I had been hearing knocking noises for a few days, pushed down on the excel orator and the car shook and turned off.

The mechanic said that there was no oil in my engine.
I have no oil in my driveway- no lights came on,
Nothing to let me know that there was a problem.
Anyone else? I would love to know. I am meeting with a guy from the dealership today.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Interested to hear what the dealership says.

 

[AlexscottST]

Please tell me what happened-

Please tell me what happened-[/QUOTE

confused Christmas tree dash
Power loss
Slight tick
Then a hard knock
Then limp mode
Full motor replacement covered under warranty

 

[AlexscottST]

Please tell me what happened-

I have videos but I can’t post them here

 

[bluesnake01]

Im pretty positive its noted on the manual book regarding the car burning oil even new being perfectly normal.

Some mfgs have it as 1qt/1k miles as normal. If you car was low on oil after a couple of thousand miles from last oil change and seized up because of it, unfortunately, thats on you.

Just an FYI, the engine will knock before the engine seizes and will greatly reduce power especially in the last minutes leading up to it. It doesnt just die out of nowhere without any symptoms unless it had a hole on the oil pan that leaked all oil instantly..

 

[CoHPhasor]

Im pretty positive its noted on the manual book regarding the car burning oil even new being perfectly normal.

Some mfgs have it as 1qt/1k miles as normal. If you car was low on oil after a couple of thousand miles from last oil change and seized up because of it, unfortunately, thats on you.

Just an FYI, the engine will knock before the engine seizes and will greatly reduce power especially in the last minutes leading up to it. It doesnt just die out of nowhere without any symptoms unless it had a hole on the oil pan that leaked all oil instantly..

If a vehicle burns 1qt/1k miles, sell it, or enjoy your Model T.

This engine is high pressure and is known to be able to explosively evacuate. (I would not say it is common, but it has happened.)

Although many here are very experienced with engines, many have never been in a vehicle as it has seized. Try not to eviscerate people for not knowing.

 

[bluesnake01]

If a vehicle burns 1qt/1k miles, sell it, or enjoy your Model T.

This engine is high pressure and is known to be able to explosively evacuate. (I would not say it is common, but it has happened.)

Although many here are very experienced with engines, many have never been in a vehicle as it has seized. Try not to eviscerate people for not knowing.

Not trying to be a dick but just letting people know how it is. I know from experience because that actually happened to me when i was in my late teen's. So im 100% familiar with how a car would sound or feel with low oil especially in the final moments.

So letting others know from my experience, if the car is loss on power badly, makes a huge ticking sound on start up, gets worse with time and starts making a more "permanent" ticking sound thru the driving and feels like it wants to turn off on a light, more than likely you are running out of oil or its not circulating properly. Just an FYI, the car will NOT overheat nor show it getting hotter.

I was 19 years old driving a 2001 Mustang Cobra with under 50k miles when it happened to me lol live and learn.

 

[CoHPhasor]

^ Oh, I understand, it just seemed like the idea that this motor can go almost instantly because of its setup, was being shot down.
It' not one or the other, both are true. Giving people info on some of the symptoms they may experience is still important.