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Exhaust Break behind muffler

Jmicke

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Ames, IA, USA
#1
My 2020 ST has 48,000 miles. Last week it started to sound like a sick hoopty. Low and behold, one exhaust pipe broke clean off from the muffler. Seems like an emissions warranty item, yet I'm reading through the list of coverage and it is not listed. What the? I drive a lot of miles and may be the first to find the weak spot, but reading all the comments about exhaust vibration make me wonder if this is related. I did not hit something in the road to cause this.
 

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UNBROKEN

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Houston, TX, USA
#2
Seen lots of them break there and at the converters. 5 minute fix at any muffler shop….which is so way before I’d waste days fighting Ford to fix it.
 

Autoworker

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#3
Welcome to the forum. Even with 48,000 miles, I think that stinks that this would happen on a two year old vehicle. If you ever thought of an aftermarket exhaust, now you have a good excuse to get one. :)
 

ST-KK

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Zionsville, IN, USA
#4
My 2020 ST has 48,000 miles. Last week it started to sound like a sick hoopty. Low and behold, one exhaust pipe broke clean off from the muffler. Seems like an emissions warranty item, yet I'm reading through the list of coverage and it is not listed. What the? I drive a lot of miles and may be the first to find the weak spot, but reading all the comments about exhaust vibration make me wonder if this is related. I did not hit something in the road to cause this.
Multiple reports of this on the Facebook Explorer groups. Sounds like Ford has been replacing the entire exhaust system for those people.
 

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CA
#5
Mine has multiple leaks starting as well, and we just received a recall notice that the left cat may need to be replaced due to cracking in 2022.

Gotta hold put a couple more weeks for that Thermal exhaust, may have to throw in some downpipes on that order too lol.

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk
 

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Location
WI
#6
My 2020 ST has 48,000 miles. Last week it started to sound like a sick hoopty. Low and behold, one exhaust pipe broke clean off from the muffler. Seems like an emissions warranty item, yet I'm reading through the list of coverage and it is not listed. What the? I drive a lot of miles and may be the first to find the weak spot, but reading all the comments about exhaust vibration make me wonder if this is related. I did not hit something in the road to cause this.

Mine has multiple leaks starting as well, and we just received a recall notice that the left cat may need to be replaced due to cracking in 2022.

Gotta hold put a couple more weeks for that Thermal exhaust, may have to throw in some downpipes on that order too lol.

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk
I had a weld crack on my driver's side downpipe coming out of the cat, noticed it when I was installing my exhaust. Wasn't terrible but there was a slight leak there. Ford replaced the whole downpipe under warranty since aftermarket downpipes are not quite in my budget this year.
 

hbalek

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#7
I had a weld crack on my driver's side downpipe coming out of the cat, noticed it when I was installing my exhaust. Wasn't terrible but there was a slight leak there. Ford replaced the whole downpipe under warranty since aftermarket downpipes are not quite in my budget this year.
Mine has exhaust rattles and smells at cold start when the vehicle was about a year old. This has gradually gotten worse. i never had the flex pipe which rattled on the driver's side replaced. Now with this recall, it may end up being an entire new exhaust system.
 

Dallas ST

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#8
yep happened to me just this week. Dealer replaced the whole assembly for me.

Multiple reports of this on the Facebook Explorer groups. Sounds like Ford has been replacing the entire exhaust system for those people.
 

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Location
Virginia
Vehicle
2020 Explorer ST
#9
I just noticed this today, the band clamp on the flex pipe was loose and rattling so I was going to tighten it and realized that won’t fix the rattling… see pic of the flex split. Local Exhaust shop is going to replace the flex pipe tomorrow for 189.00….. better than spending 400-500 dollars for the Ford OEM passenger side tube. Has anyone experienced this issue?
 

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dealerjim

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Lake Elmo, MN, USA
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2020 Ford Explorer ST
#10
The same thing happened on my 2020 model with 43000 miles in the exact same spot. Took it to the local dealership and they wanted $250 to weld it back up and wouldn't do anything warranty-wise because there was a dime size dent in the muffler. Told me I must've hit something causing it to break. I declined and took it to a local muffler shop who welded it back up for $60. The dealership did notice hairline cracks around both catalytic converters during the tailpipe inspection and is replacing both under warranty. Still don't really understand how they would replace those but not repair the tailpipe. It's obvious the tailpipe material is too thin wall for that system. If something small enough to put a dime size dent in a muffler would cause a complete breakthrough of an exhaust pipe/muffler weld, I'm ashamed for Ford.
 

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Location
Brookfield, WI, USA
#11
My 2020 broke after ~18k miles 18 months ago.. The dealership did the same thing, oh there is a dent in the muffler its not covered.. I said take a picture and contact ford, that is not a physical damage break. Ford ended up fixing it. Just yesterday at 38k miles it just broke again... A truck that costs over $50k and it has an exhuast worse then a Chevy Chevette.. this is a complete joke. this is my last ford... I am just waiting for the new Grand Cherokee to get the twin turbo inline 6 and I am going to dump this low quality pos.
 

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Location
Frederick md
Vehicle
2021 Explorer ST
#12
The tailpipe on my 2021 with 46,000 miles did the same thing yesterday and I didn't run over anything or take it 4 wheeling either. I'm taking it to the dealer but it's looking like a waste of time, listening to others' experiences. I contacted Ford on Facebook or whatever it's called and will see what they say. Needless to say, I'm pretty shocked. I've had Fords for 40 years and this is the first time I've had something like this happen
 

Messages
68
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16
Points
7
Location
Frederick md
Vehicle
2021 Explorer ST
#13
My 2020 ST has 48,000 miles. Last week it started to sound like a sick hoopty. Low and behold, one exhaust pipe broke clean off from the muffler. Seems like an emissions warranty item, yet I'm reading through the list of coverage and it is not listed. What the? I drive a lot of miles and may be the first to find the weak spot, but reading all the comments about exhaust vibration make me wonder if this is related. I did not hit something in the road to cause this.
The tailpipe on my 2021 with 46,000 miles did the same thing yesterday and I didn't run over anything or take it 4 wheeling either. I'm taking it to the dealer but it's looking like a waste of time, listening to others' experiences. I contacted Ford on Facebook or whatever it's called and will see what they say. Needless to say, I'm pretty shocked. I've had Fords for 40 years and this is the first time I've had something like this happen
same thing happened to my 2021 ST a couple of weeks ago. Took it to the dealer and was quoted a price of $3800 for new muffler. Eff that. I talked to the service manager and lo and behold, they could weld it after all. Sounds like a common problem. I’ve never been off-road or over crappy roads. My first Ford was an ‘84 Ranger and I’ve had fords ever since. I’ve seen the erosion of quality
 

hbalek

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#14
same thing happened to my 2021 ST a couple of weeks ago. Took it to the dealer and was quoted a price of $3800 for new muffler. Eff that. I talked to the service manager and lo and behold, they could weld it after all. Sounds like a common problem. I’ve never been off-road or over crappy roads. My first Ford was an ‘84 Ranger and I’ve had fords ever since. I’ve seen the erosion of quality
I know wat you mean! At almost 4.5 years and 50K miles, I feel like I'm driving a vehicle over twice as old! It was designed and engineered to fall apart when the lease ends. LOL Problem is I didn't lease it, I bought it.
 

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Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Vehicle
2020 Explorer ST
#15
I know wat you mean! At almost 4.5 years and 50K miles, I feel like I'm driving a vehicle over twice as old! It was designed and engineered to fall apart when the lease ends. LOL Problem is I didn't lease it, I bought it.
Happened to ours also, was told the exhaust system wasn't a warranty item. Thermal 3" fixed the issue.
 

hbalek

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#16
Happened to ours also, was told the exhaust system wasn't a warranty item. Thermal 3" fixed the issue.
I've had a slew of major repairs since the first 10 months of ownership, but luckily so far they have all been under bumper to bumper, powertrain, emission warranty or TSB or recall. I knew a year and a half ago when the 3 year warranty was ending I should buy a FordProtect PremiumCare for 4 more years. So far, I have not used that warranty which has a $100 deductible. I have no idea if exhaust system is under that extended warranty. I haven't inspected my exhaust to see if there's any problems with it. I did have the driver side cracked catalytic converter replaced in 2022 when it was about 3 years old and that was under warranty.
 



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