2.3-liter-equipped 2025 Ford Explorer models have a serious software issue with their Powertrain Control Module (PCM).
24,655 examples of the updated 2025 Ford Explorer are under a new recall campaign to address a loss-of-power concern. According to what Ford Motor Company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), SUVs equipped with 2.3-liter EcoBoost engines can temporarily lose power, and potentially damage the transmission’s parking pawl, resulting in vehicles rolling away in Park gear unless the electronic parking brake is also applied while vehicles are stationary.
Affected vehicles were built between December 6, 2023 and September 6, 2024, according to the automaker’s records. Ford notes either condition — a power loss while moving and/or a rollaway condition — could increase the risk of a serious crash, naturally.
The problem relates to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM). In some circumstances, Ford says, “The vehicle’s PCM software programming erroneously triggers a reset in the event an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) data handling feature in the software encounters an unexpectedly small value.” Drivers may encounter a momentarily loss of acceleration, or in the event the PCM resets 8 consecutive times in 18 seconds, a total loss of motive power. A reset while driving could cause the parking pawl to inadvertently ratchet into place despite the vehicle still moving, damaging the pawl itself and other parking system components within the transmission, if the car is traveling faster than 10 mph.
If the PCM resets while driving, drivers may see a warning light in the instrument cluster, apart from any resulting mechanical malfunctions triggered by the PCM resetting itself.
What’s the fix?
Ford dealer technicians will update the Explorer’s PCM software to the latest version (SB5A-14C204-VD), free of charge, when owners take their vehicles into their local Ford or Lincoln dealer to complete the repair. According to what the automaker told the NHTSA, dealers are already aware of the problem as of April 14. The updated software will “properly handle small values and will not trigger a reset if they are encountered”.
Owners will be notified by mail between May 26 and May 30, 2025. If you need to see whether your Explorer is affected, you can check Ford’s recall website for campaign number 25S35, or the NHTSA recall page (recall campaign 25V-239) for more information.
All 24,655 Explorers within the recall population are impacted and need to have their PCM software updated, Ford says, but this issue does not seem to impact other models with the 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 built within the same time frame, such as the performance-oriented Explorer ST.
