NHTSA Complaint #11456920 — 2014 FORD EXPLORER

Went to start my 2014 Explorer on and it struggled 3 times before turning on. It showed a "Check Brake System" light in the dashboard for a quick second but other than that the car seemed to be ok. I turned on my information panel to check the temperature gauge and it was normal. Kept it on that while driving my kids to school to make sure if I had to pull over I could. I immediately brought it to Hemborg Ford in Norco, CA. When I first brought it in and they popped my hood my coolant tank was below the recommended line and the service advisor immediately said it's most likely my water pump. They had my SUV for over 24 hours for testing and sure enough it's the water pump. Ford decided to install the water pumps INSIDE the engine rather than outside. This is a very dangerous move as the coolant and oil can mix which can cause a vehicle to shut down unexpectedly. Thankfully I trusted my intuition and took it in when I noticed something off and didn't ruin my engine or overall car. I was quoted $2900 to fix this issue. $2500 in LABOR and $400 in PARTS. This is because the job can take up to 14 hours to complete start to finish due to the location of the pump. This is ridiculous. We need something done. Soooooo many people are paying thousands of money out of pocket for something that shouldn't even be a problem. Look at all these complaints: https://www.vehiclehistory.com/articles/all-about-the-ford-explorer-water-pump-recalls