Ask Me Help Desk - My 2006 Explorer looses Power in Sand

Hello,
I got a Ford Explorer 2006 and last week was my first dune bashing trip to to the desert.
When going up on high dunes, I loose power and the whole car goes to a stop.
I found out from the manual that this model has AdvanceTrac thing responsible for RSC ESC SCS bla bla bla
In the manual, it says, if you push the AddvanceTrac button and you get the car sliding sign light turned on, then all these systems will go off. I tried that and yet I am still facing the same problem; the moment the car senses abnormal ground shapes, it slows down and however I step on the Gas, no power, until I wait for another 5 seconds then I get power back!

Guys at the Ford Agency in Dubai suck big time, a bunch of ignorants!
Anyone can help ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadycom

Hello,
I got a Ford Explorer 2006 and last week was my first dune bashing trip to to the desert.
When going up on high dunes, I loose power and the whole car goes to a stop.
I found out from the manual that this model has AdvanceTrac thing responsible for RSC ESC SCS bla bla bla
In the manual, it says, if you push the AddvanceTrac button and you get the car sliding sign light turned on, then all these systems will go off. I tried that and yet I am still facing the same problem; the moment the car senses abnormal ground shapes, it slows down and however i step on the Gas, no power, untill I wait for another 5 seconds then i get power back!.

Guys at the Ford Agency in Dubai suck big time, a bunch of ignorants!
Anyone can help ?

I have the 06 Explorer and I had a similar experience.

What I feel is that the Explorer have invested heavily after past overturning issues.
After we disable the Traction control , it still works because the Explorer is equipped with a roll sesing gyro. When the car is rolling and yawing a lot the computer thinks that we are getting into an accident so it kills the power to the engine.

I'll tell u 3 words that will help u in the desert . Tyres , tyres , tyres.!
The tyres on the explorer are all terrain BF Goodrich's.
These tyres dig a lot of sand and hence the car keeps trying to get ground. You can notice this from the tread patterns on the tyres.
Basic rule , the less the treads on the tyres the better it will be on the desert.
Hece the balloon tyres excel so well because once deflated the leave a big footprint on the sand.

If u want to keep those tyres and still hit the dunes, make sure u do not over rev the car , keep it below 5300rpm and try it in Low four gear.

Next time I hit the dunes I am going to try climbing a dune on the auto cause when u climb u would need more traction in the rear.

Do let me know of u'r experiences

Wow! You own an SUV and actually go off road?? Seriously, it sounds like you're doing the right thing. It must still be activated in the YAW rate sensors. Sounds like it's time for a 4Runner. Sorry, I'm a Toyota guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesiali

I have the 06 Explorer and I had a similar experience.

What I feel is that the Explorer have invested heavily after past overturning issues.
After we disable the Traction control , it still works because the Explorer is equipped with a roll sesing gyro. When the car is rolling and yawing a lot the computer thinks that we are getting into an accident so it kills the power to the engine.

I'll tell u 3 words that will help u in the desert . Tyres , tyres , tyres.!!
The tyres on the explorer are all terrain BF Goodrich's.
These tyres dig a lot of sand and hence the car keeps trying to get ground. You can notice this from the tread patterns on the tyres.
Basic rule , the less the treads on the tyres the better it will be on the desert.
Hece the balloon tyres excel so well because once deflated the leave a big footprint on the sand.

If u wanna keep those tyres and still hit the dunes, make sure u do not over rev the car , keep it below 5300rpm and try it in Low four gear.

next time I hit the dunes I am gonna try climbing a dune on the auto cause when u climb u would need more traction in the rear.

do let me know of u'r experiences

I never expected to find some comments after all this time lol but anyway thanks a lot, yes, you are right but my tyres were replaced by Michelin brand yet still they suck. I will try to use the balloon type, as for low gear... no way!! It gets stuck even worse!
hitting the dunes at lower RPM will cause it to stop because of its heavy weight. Yesterday I went to the local distributor and they seemed to have worked on a solution, they showed me a prototype on another explorer. Very simple a manual switch and cables connected to both censors that will disable them for good until the car is restarted and the switch is back to off. I will try it soon and update you. By the way the agent said this was done locally and is not supported by Ford yet the warranty will not be affected. They will cover :) Ford insist that this feature has to reactivate itself after 40KMs/Hour even if you switch it off.
Honestly it is a very good feature on road, try drifting the explorer on flat ground it won't work! I also have a Ford Focus 2006, and I tried to drift it using sharp turns and hand breaks, instantly the drift is stopped!! It is a life saver.
Now back to main subject. Hitting dunes with auto or rear wheels... hmmmm... in theory, it sounds interesting and logical only if you get to have the power diverted to the rear wheels when on auto, will try that too.

On the other hand, and although the AdvanceTrack break down the power of your engine when it sense none stable ground, there is another reason why you get stuck in the sand and that is "NO DEFLOCK"! Dammit Ford how much would it cost you to install a defflock system in your gear like the one in Nissan Patrol or Land Cruiser and the Toyota Prado?!
Those cars ROCKS on sand, I've seen them and tried them. Even Hummer H2 or H1 cannot compete with the power and performance of a Nissan Patrol in the desert! Yes.
The benefit of deflock is all your wheels have equal power. If one gets in a soft sand hole and spin in the air the rest are still functioning and at least 2 will get you out however, with ford what happens is once the car feels that a wheel is spinning in the air, it will divert all the power from the other three to that one! I saw it happen in my own eyes, one wheel spinning in the air (4x4 low or high) and the other 3 not spinning an inch.
Now as much as it sounds stupid, it is one hell of a feature on the rocks.
Just to be fair, I went in a trip to an extremely rocky place. In the valley, I had to cross a tough path where nothing but rocks and really big rocks. In that situation, each wheel was rolling over a different size and shape of rock. I started hearing the sound of the def distribution power and the performance was amazing and crazy!! Each wheel will get more or less power to climb/roll over which makes the explored jumps over these rocks like a rabbit.

Yes it is a safety feature. My 96 has it.

Hey Kitch,

After you told about your similar experience I went through the manual carefully again.

One of those pages did say like you said that the "Advance track RSC" can only be disabled below speeds on 40 kmph. So above 40 kmph it is always enabled.

I went through the fuse locations. There are a few fuses to control the Engine PCU or management . I might try pulling them out and seeing it it works that way.

By the way I tried deflating my tyres to 11 psi at the back keeping the front @ 4ps1.

I put it in Low 4 and third gear . Kept the speed just below 40 kmph. You must be knowing the dune at hatta roads where they rent out the quad bikes I climbed it twice. Felt REAL happy Dude! My friends were finally impressed with the explorer . Lol

Have to say its not very easily to drive the Explorer on upslopes. Have to note a lotta things.
FYI
My friend has the Prado . The Prado does not come with a Diff lock. Neither does a Wrangler. And I am not sure about the Land cruiser.

One car I am sure that has one is the Toyota Fortuner. I have driven on road on a test. The 4liter has a diff lock.

I am glad to hear the Explorer does well on rocks. If you a bit into rock I suggest you keep the all terrain tyres for them.

By the way did you notice that the 06 Explorer does not have a front tow hook. Another thing the Explorer is not as heavy as most people think it is. Its lighter than a Prado. I think its around 2150 kgs. I know for sure the bonnet is made of aluminium.

If you want to try new tyres check out the BF goodrich Macadams. Its got an excellent tread pattern for dunes. But I would not take them to the rocks as the side walls are soft.

I am sure the Americans would have no clue how we do dune bashing here in the Middle East. I don't think the Us has loose sand desert like we have here.

Keep in touch.

Will keep you posted on new Explorations.

Ciao

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesiali

Hey Kitch,

After you told about your similar experience I went through the manual carefully again.

One of those pages did say like you said that the "Advance track RSC" can only be disabled below speeds on 40 kmph. So above 40 kmph it is always enabled.

I went through the fuse locations. There are a few fuses to control the Engine PCU or management . I might try pulling them out and seeing it it works that way.

By the way I tried deflating my tyres to 11 psi at the back keeping the front @ 4ps1.

I put it in Low 4 and third gear . Kept the speed just below 40 kmph. You must be knowing the dune at hatta roads where they rent out the quad bikes I climbed it twice. Felt REAL happy Dude !! My friends were finally impressed with the explorer . lol

Have to say its not very easily to drive the Explorer on upslopes. have to note a lotta things.
FYI
My friend has the Prado . The Prado does not come with a Diff lock. Neither does a Wrangler. And I am not sure about the Land cruiser.

One car I am sure that has one is the Toyota Fortuner. I have driven on road on a test. The 4liter has a diff lock.

I am glad to hear the Explorer does well on rocks. If you a bit into rock I suggest you keep the all terrain tyres for them.

By the way did you notice that the 06 Explorer does not have a front tow hook. Another thing the Explorer is not as heavy as most people think it is. Its lighter than a Prado. I think its around 2150 kgs. I know for sure the bonnet is made of aluminium.

If you wanna try new tyres check out the BF goodrich Macadams. Its got an excellent tread pattern for dunes. But I would not take them to the rocks as the side walls are soft.

I am sure the Americans would have no clue how we do dune bashing here in the Middle East. I don't think the Us has loose sand desert like we have here.

Keep in touch.

Will keep you posted on new Explorations.

Ciao

Thanks for the comment :)
1. How can you deflate your tyres to less than 15?! This will make your tyre burst out of the rim no?
2. My friend has the new Prado 2007 and as we were together in Hatta, he assured me that he has a deflock! Have to double check again.
3. Yes it does not have a hook from the front, but I made an issue at Al-Tayer and they installed one for me free of charge although it is deep and a bit far to reach but it is better than nothing.
4. The explorer is 3 Tons exactly, it is indeed heavy. I can feel it on high dunes.
5. They already installed the switch to day for me under my own responsibility disabling the RSC and ABS auto breaking. I will try it soon.

Regards

1) The V6 4.0 ltr Explorer is 4716 lbs (http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=642).

The is equal to 2139 kgs. For an SUV that size its pretty light.

2) The Prados that come in Dubai don't have the "Differential Locks". Maybe the new full option ones have it ? I know that the ones that are sold in Oman has it. UAE always asks for the leftovers. Its cheaper and we get more options in Oman in case of most cars like Toyotas etc.

3) Let me know how it goes with the switch in the desert. I would want to do it as well. We can always switch it back yeah ?

R'gds
J

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadycom

Hello,
I got a Ford Explorer 2006 and last week was ......

Guys at the Ford Agency in Dubai suck big time, a bunch of ignorants!
Anyone can help ?

I have to requote on the last comment since I cannot edit. The guys at the Ford agency in Dubai have proven to be helpful and supportive really!
I must admit, they do try to help you as much as they can and at minimum cost possible.
Thanks to Boulos and Ravi, who both have experience in the offroad issues with Explorer, and worked well on providing any possible solution :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesiali

1) The V6 4.0 ltr Explorer is 4716 lbs (http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=642).

The is equal to 2139 kgs. For an SUV that size its pretty light.

2) The Prados that come in Dubai don't have the "Differential Locks". maybe the new full option ones have it ? I know that the ones that are sold in Oman has it. UAE always asks for the leftovers. Its cheaper and we get more options in Oman in case of most cars like Toyotas etc.

3) Let me know how it goes with the switch in the desert. I would want to do it as well. We can always switch it back yeah ?

R'gds
J

The link you sent me has an error. But the door side says total weight 2.8T so I guess there is a confusion here. If you have an explorer 06, have a look at the side of the driver door. This is the right weight by the way :)

I don't think so mate

I looked for it there I no weight given.

Anyway even if there was a weight it will be in pounds not kgs or tonnes.

IIHS-HLDI: Ford Explorer

That link again for u'r reference. Its an US govt rating site.

Its accurate.
Did u take to the desert after the switch installed.

I drove a Hummer H3 today. The Explorer is far better than the H#.

We did a few dunes and it started heating up a bit. OPened the door handle, part of the handle came out.

Interior quality sucks.

The ride is quiet and smooth. Not powerful. That weighs 2300kgs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesiali

I don't think so mate

I looked for it there i no weight given.

Anyway even if there was a weight it will be in pounds not kgs or tonnes.

IIHS-HLDI: Ford Explorer

that link again for u'r reference. its an US govt rating site.

Its accurate.
Did u take to the desert after the switch installed.

I drove a Hummer H3 today. The Explorer is far better than the H#.

We did a few dunes and it started heating up a bit. OPened the door handle, part of the handle came out.

Interior quality sucks.

The ride is quiet and smooth. Not powerful. That weighs 2300kgs.

The Tayer Fords has Arabic written tags on the driver door side. I double checked it today, it is clearly saying 2.832 KGs, 100% as seen and in Arabic. This tag is put by customs and the Tayer guys said that it is correct! Anyway regardless...

Not yet, I will do it maybe in a couple of weeks, a lot of work these days.
H3 sucks big time really. The H2 is excellent. Many says H2 still does not equal a Patrol in performance, I say no! The H2 is almost as a Patrol in the sand as long a the right wheels are installed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadycom

The Tayer Fords has Arabic written tags on the driver door side. I double checked it today, it is clearly saying 2.832 KGs, 100% as seen and in Arabic. This tag is put by customs and the Tayer guys said that it is correct! anyway regardless...

Not yet, I will do it maybe in a couple of weeks, a lot of work these days.
H3 sucks big time really. The H2 is excellent. Many says H2 still does not equal a Patrol in performance, I say no! The H2 is almost as a Patrol in the sand as long a the right wheels are installed.

Hello Shady,

Long time since we spoke. I was wondering if you manage to crack your radiator on your explorer? ;)
THis radiator/ auto transmission cooler I sjust to big for the car.
I have more rviews to share. Do u still check this site out?