NHTSA Complaint #11606829 — 2016 FORD EXPLORER

The water pump failed on my way home from work. A light in my vehicle started blinking rapidly and a warning alarm started sounding in the vehicle cabin unexpectedly. My vehicle suddenly overheated in the middle of a busy intersection causing me to stop unexpectedly to assess the situation before proceeding to safety. I (middle aged female) had returned from a long trip with two toddlers 800 miles round trip which extended late into the night on remote stretches of road without assistance available for several miles only a few days earlier. Had this happened a few days earlier, during that trip, I would have been stranded with two toddlers, alone after dark in a remote location. An independent service center made the diagnosis and performed a repair. They stated I was lucky the leak did not enter my oil reservoir based on the location of the water pump, locking up the engine and leaving the car completely inoperable in said intersection. The location of the water pump, and the fact it failed around 100,0000 miles seemed premature for similiar vehicles and the design/placement of the water pump is significantly more difficult to troubleshoot and repair. The cost of the repair was ultimately $3825.69 plus an additional cost to procure a rental vehicle while for the week my vehicle was being repaired.