Other powertrain problem on the 2010 Ford Explorer
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Ford Explorer report other powertrain problem at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 25,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 98,245 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
23% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27,355 miles | 60,000 miles | 81,000 miles | 118,839 miles | 125,600 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 29 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 1,200 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 810; the 2010 has 19. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
On march 29 at 9pm while driving at 30 MPH and passing a vehicle, my transmission stopped working. If felt like it dropped out of the bottom of my ford explorer 2004 with 63,445 miles. O/d light started blinking and check transmission was on the dash display. I immediately brought it to the nearest ford dealership, unable to drive faster than 20 MPH or shift gears. Reverse was completely not working. I had reported that I suspected transmission problems a year prior, and dealership stated that nothing was wrong. In october 2009 at 59,492 miles I brought it in to the same dealership and stated that while going into reverse and out of reverse the car made a clunking sound. Solenoid body was replaced under warranty. Approximately 3,000 miles later transmission was found to have a broken drum and needed to be replaced - warranty had expired. *tr
I have a 2002 ford explorer w/approx. 120m miles. My o/d light started blinking and I got a "ck transmission" message. After exploring the internet I found over 200 other owners complaining about the same problem. I terrified 2 take 2 my ford dealer after reading complaints from others. The light starts flashing after about 5 miles from starting the car. *tr
My wife and I were leaving our local walmart store and we were driving in the parking lot. We were going down a hill at approximately 10 MPH and my foot was covering the brake and was not on the accelerator. Suddenly the car accelerated rapidly with the motor racing. I immediately pressed the brake with both feet and stopped the vehicle but this sudden acceleration caused the car to travel approximately 50 feet. In another 30 feet the car would have gone off a high embankment. I am an experienced driver of 43 years without an accident and a trained and experienced driver education teacher, however, I was frightened by this sudden acceleration and my wife remarked that she would have not been able to stop the vehicle and would have been down the embankment. I took the car to the dealership and nothing was found. I am currently driving the car but are greatly concerned about the safety of the vehicle. *tr
Also reported on the 2010 Ford Explorer
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other brake problem
Other speed control problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2010 Ford Explorer?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2010 Ford Explorer?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.9 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed