Ford Explorer May Be Making You Sick: Reports

Your Ford Explorer may be making you sick. Hundreds of owners of the midsize SUV have reported to safety regulators that the smell of rotten eggs or sulfur exhaust is leaking into the vehicle cabin, and they worry it may be toxic carbon monoxide.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which opened an investigation last year, said “at least one low-speed crash incident” has been alleged among 154 complaints about the exhaust system. Model years from 2011 to 2015 are affected in the NHTSA investigation.

However, CBS News reported Monday that as many as 450 complaints have been made about the problem, and some involve vehicle years 2016 and 2017.

The Ford Explorer is the top-selling midsize SUV in the country.

The problem, according to NHTSA’s public file, seems to occur when drivers are accelerating while climbing steep grades or merging onto freeway ramps, or when they’re using the air conditioning system in the recirculation mode.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford told CBS News that “in rare circumstances, there have been instances where customers detected an exhaust odor in Explorers,” but said the issue “poses no safety risk.”

A Newport Beach, California, police officer told CBS News that he passed out behind the wheel of his 2014 Ford Explorer police cruiser and crashed into a tree. He thinks the fumes were responsible. Doctors haven’t found a medical reason to explain his symptoms, according to the report.

“I just went out,” Brian McDowell, the police officer, told CBS. “Just like that.”

McDowell is suing Ford for his injuries, which include scars from a dislocated shoulder, a fractured eye socket and traumatic brain injury, according to the CBS News report.

“When I saw that they said there were no injuries, we immediately got NHTSA on the phone,” Brian Chase, McDowell’s attorney, told CBS. “I gave them all the information we had in the lawsuit.”

The automaker didn’t recall the vehicles, but issued two technical service bulletins, one in 2012 and the other in 2014, according to NHTSA. In the first, Ford called for additional sealants and other remedies, then superseded it with a call for additional software changes to the recirculation mode operation during full acceleration.

“Some vehicle owners reported little or no improvement after the TSB remedy,” NHTSA said.

Ford has settled a class action lawsuit filed in Florida for an undisclosed amount, but another in New Jersey is still pending, CBS said. Ford has denied the allegations in the New Jersey lawsuit.

Photo by RL GNZLZ via Flickr Commons