Other engine problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer
1 crash 1 fire 4 injuries 6 of the 180 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2015 Ford Explorer report other engine problem at a median of 27,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 6,000 miles and a quarter after 63,000 miles, from 131 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 300 miles at the tenth percentile to 110,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 109,700 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.
57% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 miles | 5,628 miles | 27,100 miles | 62,709 miles | 110,000 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
Of these reports, 1 a crash, 1 a fire and 4 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 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 2020, at a median of 12,500 miles, and latest on the 2022 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2016 carries the most reports, with 253; the 2015 has 180. 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 ford explorer. While driving approximately 60 MPH, exhaust fumes emitted inside the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure recurred numerous times without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 100. Updated 09/21/15*lj
We have also encountered exhaust fumes in the vehicle. On long trips we have also experienced fatigue dizziness and nausea. When we go on the trips we have a sheltie which comes with us, and he has not looked good at times also. So on a trip today 7-7-2015 we brought along a co detector, on the way down for the hr trip the level was @ 81. That's with the AC on with temps outside @ 82. On the way back from are hr trip with temps still in the 80's the co level was @ 183. If you look at the cpsc.gov website you can see that @ the levels of 150-220 it will cause disorientation / unconsciousness & death!!!!!!!!!!!! So @ this point in our lives in our 50's we do not want to die. We will be asking ford to take our explore xlt limited back before we die. It only has 4200 k on it. I'm only hoping ford will take this matter seriously.we will be contacting ford tomorrow 7-8-2015 to file a formal complaint to address this problem, so others don' t have to deal with the co.
A follow up on a co problem, that happened on 7/7/15. Dealer took the explorer in on the co issue along with ford knowing of it. Gave us a rental for a week, and came up with no co levels after a week. Went to the dealership to take a ride with the service manager, exhaust was present but he said it was a hot engine smell. No levels where found but symptoms in my body of co where indicated while the service manager was in the vehicle. Left the vehicle for the day and was told by ford the service manager found nothing wrong and to come get the vehicle. Upon the ride home my co detector indicated levels at 534ppm. With the windows down and the sun roof open at 70mph. Along the way I stopped in the local hospital, waited an hour in a half for blood work then walked out. Had to get back to work. Only 15 minutes back home the levels went up to 871ppm. Calling the dealership and ford in the am to get this problem solved asap before some dies. 2015 with only 4,500 miles. Ford has known of this problem since 2011. Updated 12/05/17*cn
Also reported on the 2015 Ford Explorer
Other body or interior problem
Other steering problem
Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other powertrain problem
Other fuel system problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 180 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 engine problem happen on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
Across 131 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 27,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 6,000 miles and a quarter after 63,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
180 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.9 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