2016 Explorer Sport PTU Failure

[SpaceN3rd]

Recently, my dad's 2016 explorer sport had a kind of clunking feeling coming from somewhere in the drivetrain, but only at low speeds, and usually only in reverse. At low speeds (less than 5 mph), the transmission would clunk, and the car would shutter. About a week later, we got six inches of snow here in colorado, so I drove it to school. When I put the car into snow mode, I could hear a low basey sound coming from the transmission, and experienced the shuttering and clunking while reversing into a parking spot. I thought it was just traction control, due to the massive potholes in the dirt parking lot. Yesterday, my dad brought the car into the dealer to have them look at it. They said it was a PTU failure, and will be replacing it under warranty. It's surprising considering it only has 35k miles. Anyone else having this problem?

[Gjkrisa]

Good to know 10k miles in one year I'm going to need to talk to Ford about my 3 year 36000 mile warranty

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[SHOdded]

Sorry to hear, Space, these failures are not uncommon.  The reason is unknown, but most will attribute it to gear lube failure.  This is despite the XSport's cooled & monitored PTU sad.  The Police Interceptors are on a 30K mile schedule for gear lube changes, if that helps any.

[Lexingtonian]

I am of the belief that the PTU Oil should be changed within 5,000 miles of the unit leaving the factory then, again in the 15-25K mile range hereafter. Ford is being disingenuous with the "Lifetime Oil" statement.

OP feel free to take a look at my 2016 Explorer Sport PTU Oil Change thread for more info of what the oil looks like after 16,500 miles...

http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,7831.0.html

[jbrown9999]

Well, then I'm behind on '16 SHO.  I'm at about 8400 miles and have changed the engine oil 4 times so far.
So, in addition to an early change on the PTU, what else should I do at this mileage?

Also, maybe we should have a thing under maintenance that says "Steps for New Ecoboost owners" and cover both brand new and used purchases for things that us noobs should do.

[SpaceN3rd]

I am of the belief that the PTU Oil should be changed within 5,000 miles of the unit leaving the factory then, again in the 15-25K mile range hereafter. Ford is being disingenuous with the "Lifetime Oil" statement.

OP feel free to take a look at my 2016 Explorer Sport PTU Oil Change thread for more info of what the oil looks like after 16,500 miles...

http://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,7831.0.html

Holy crap! Anyone know if the dealer cna do the fluid changes? Also, how much would it cost for the dealer to do it?

[Lexingtonian]

Holy crap! Anyone know if the dealer cna do the fluid changes? Also, how much would it cost for the dealer to do it?

That's another problem SpaceN3rd. The dealer probably wont do it, and certainly wont under warranty. Ford is telling them it's lifetime fluid and because of that, they will bot touch it. I've read of a few dealers that accepted payment for the work, but consensus across the interwebs is, it's rare..

[CroR1]

How about this assumption; Ford knows that the PTU is a POS and they do not want dealers changing the fluid as this would place a liability on dealers if the PTU explodes after the oil change has been done. Simply, all involved would question how correctly the fluid change was done by dealer. I think the design of these clutches in the PTU are overheating, main reason for failure. overheating shortens the lifespan of oil....

[polskifacet]

How about this assumption; Ford knows that the PTU is a POS and they do not want dealers changing the fluid as this would place a liability on dealers if the PTU explodes after the oil change has been done. Simply, all involved would question how correctly the fluid change was done by dealer. I think the design of these clutches in the PTU are overheating, main reason for failure. overheating shortens the lifespan of oil....

No clutches in PTU, they are in the transmission.