Some 2025 Ford Explorer, Police Interceptor Utility and Lincoln Aviator SUVs could have lighting issues when connected to a trailer.
Although it’s just gone through the first major update in its sixth generation, the 2025 Ford Explorer is sadly no stranger to recalls. There are now no fewer than 11 recall campaigns affecting this latest model, with the latest being potentially inoperative trailer lights when hooking up a trailer. In itself, that’s not an issue if you don’t tow, but those who do — both the Explorer and its Lincoln Aviator sibling can tow up to 5,000 pounds, after all — will want to pay attention to this issue.
In total, this recall affects 213,121 vehicles. Of those, the vast majority are Explorers (189,879), while the rest are Lincoln Aviators (23,242). All affected vehicles were produced between November 29, 2023 and June 6, 2025.
Specifically, the problem comes down to the vehicles’ Body Control Module C (BCMC). According to what Ford told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administation (NHTSA), OEM supplier Aptiv Services may have improperly soldered components on the printed circuit board assemblies. As a result, insufficient solder joints between the wiring and the module circuit board could cause certain vehicle systems to fail, including trailer lights. Customers may get a trailer error message in the cluster when a trailer is connected due to this issue. Other issues like non-functional dome lamps, glove box lights, DC/AC intervers, USB chargers, 12-volt power points, rear defrosts or the horn failing to sound when using the alarm could all be symptoms of this issue. Power windows or mirror switches may fail to operate, and the air conditioning system could blow warm air, too.
The trailer light issue technically puts affected Explorers and Aviators out of compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
Strangely, though, analysis from Ford’s “Six Sigma Black Belt team” (what a name) suggests vehicles with more than 9,000 miles on the clock aren’t prone to this issue, if it didn’t occur early on in the vehicle’s service. The automaker began investigating the issue back in June, and through August 15 is aware of 21 warranty claims related to the issue. At time of writing, Ford claims it isn’t aware of any accidents or injuries stemming from it.
What’s the fix?
While automakers usually inform dealers of pending recalls before the NHTSA makes the report public, that is not the case here. Rather, Ford tells safety regulators it will notify dealers on October 10, 2025 about the problem, and send out notices to owners the following week. That initial notice is an interim notification, which will simply alert owners to the problem but not set actually contain a call to action for the repair.
The later remedy notification, Ford notes in its report, will not go out until March 31 – April 3, 2026. So, although we now know about this issue, it will be awhile before your local dealer actually has a fix ready. Eventually, owners will be instructed to take their vehicles to their Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the BCMC inspected. If the vehicle has fewer than 9,000 miles on the clock, technicians will straight-up replace the unit, regardless of whether the current one functions properly.
If vehicles have more than 9,000 miles on the clock, dealer techs will still look at the unit, and replace it free of charge if it’s not working correctly. As you probably worked out from how Ford described the issue, the remedied units will have a printed circuit board that actually has all the connected components soldered on properly.
For the moment, Ford has not issued a “Do Not Drive” advisory to owners, nor does it seem to plan on doing so. Nevertheless, this issue is worth keeping an eye on, especially if you use your Explorer or Aviator to tow. Even if you don’t, you’ll want to get in touch with your dealer if the vehicle is experiencing any wonky electronic systems I described above. Again, it may take awhile for the dealer to actually be able to fix it, but at least getting in touch may get you closer to the front of the line when a repair is actually available.
