Other fuel system problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer
1 crash 1 of the 67 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 fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2015 Ford Explorer report other fuel system problem at a median of 32,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 57,500 miles, from 48 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 700 miles at the tenth percentile to 90,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 88,255 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
56% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 745 miles | 4,486 miles | 32,250 miles | 57,950 miles | 89,000 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 is 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–$2,200 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 24 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 205,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 87; the 2015 has 67. 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.
Bought vehicle, left dealership, drove approx 13 miles, parked truck while running, as my son and I waited for my wife outside of a store... We noticed a bad fume smell. My wife got in the car and ask what's that smell? I passed off as maybe protective oils burning off new parts. Next day I came home from work 12 miles away. Again vehicle in park waiting for my wife to meet me outside as we were going straight to the store.... The smell returned! We drove to get lunch meat 2 miles. It got worse as I drove. I notice as soon as I turned the heat down a bit... The smell got worse. Maybe because this allows more outside air to blend? After this I was sure this was a big problem. I searched the web for ford explorer fumes and was shocked to see all of the complaints lawsuits and media this has gotten! How could I not have heard about this? I'm quite sure there are plenty of people who haven't complained ! I don't want to believe the truck I fell in love with has this huge problem! I'm returning it! No repairs! Don't want it! Something needs to be done! I felt sick and dizzy after a short drive! Please believe me! This is bad! *tr
Horrible rotten egg, burning smell when accelerating in the cabin. Have taken it in 3 times and they tell me it will burn off between 10-15000 miles. I can't imagine that the fumes in the cabin are good for me and my family and the lack of concern from ford is laughable. We have contacted ford with minimal, unhelpful responses from them. Along with health concerns, the smell coming out of the exhaust is awful and probably should be brought to the epa. I attempted to drive 2 new 2015 straight of the train and they both were just as bad. This is not an isolated problem. *tr
During and after acceleration at any speed there is a very strong sulphur smell in the cabin of the vehicle. It appears to enter from the rear of the vehicle and it must be exhausted by opening the windows every single time. The fumes contain co2 and are very dangerous to all within the vehicle. All passengers complain of a light headache and nausea.
Also reported on the 2015 Ford Explorer
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 67 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 fuel system problem happen on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
Across 48 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 32,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 57,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2015 Ford Explorer?
67 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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