NHTSA Complaint #11291440 — 2016 FORD EXPLORER

THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO OVERHEAT WHEN DRIVING AT AN INCLINE. AS SOON AS THE VEHICLE WAS LEVEL THERE WERE NO OVERHEATING ISSUES. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OVERHEATING DUE TO THE GRILL SHUTTERS BEING STUCK CLOSED AND AS A RESULT THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING AND NEEDED A PARTIAL REBUILD. THE VEHICLE WAS STILL ELIGIBLE FOR CERTAIN REPAIRS UNDER THE WARRANTY, MILEAGE 58,120, SO FORD COVERED THE PARTIAL TRANSMISSION REBUILD AS THEY DETERMINED WAS FIT. THE GRILL SHUTTERS MALFUNCTIONING AND BEING STUCK CLOSED WERE NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY BUT THE MALFUNCTION WAS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE AND OVERHEATING OF THE VEHICLE. REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED IN MAY 2019. IN NOVEMBER 2019 AND APPROX. 2K MILES OUT OF WARRANTY AND JUST SLIGHTLY 2K MORE MILES SINCE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILD AND GRILL SHUTTER REPLACEMENT, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO OVERHEAT AGAIN. THE OVERHEATING WOULD OCCUR CONSISTENTLY WHEN SITTING IDLE OR IN MOTION ON STREETS AND ON HIGHWAYS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP AGAIN FOR DIAGNOSIS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE HEAD GASKET WAS BLOWN WHICH WAS CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO OVERHEAT. FORD ADVISED THAT DUE TO THE GRILL SHUTTERS BEING STUCK CLOSED THAT ULTIMATELY WAS THE CAUSE OF THE DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE AND THE HEAD GASKET BEING BLOWN. THE MALFUNCTIONING GRILL SHUTTERS ARE A MAJOR ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE FIXED ON FORDS BEHALF SO THAT ADDITIONAL ENGINE DAMAGE DOESN'T OCCUR. FORD IS NOW NOT COVERING THE HEAD GASKET BEING BLOWN/OVERALL ENGINE DAMAGE EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS ULTIMATELY CAUSED BY THE MALFUNCTIONING GRILL SHUTTERS. THE VEHICLE IS NOT DRIVABLE WITHOUT OVERHEATING AND THE OVERHEATING COULD CAUSE A FIRE WHICH COULD BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IN SOME CASES, FATAL.