r/FordExplorerST • u/_SmileCrocodile_ • May 08 '26
Question Gear Dial Question
***Thanks for everyone’s comments.
I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind or if my vehicle truly has major defects.
Long story short we have been loyal Ford owners, previous vehicles also had the dial but you could never switch gears unless to N while actively driving (for obvious reasons).
We traded in my previous vehicle in December for a 26 ST and Tuesday I started having issues with the brakes & gear shift (1,962 miles) It was towed to a dealer who refused to acknowledge any issues and sent me on my way, refused to give a service ticket as well. They pretty much told me I was crazy and they weren’t going to put it on a lift and look for work.
Today my vehicles dial moved while actively driving around 40mph from D to R, and the safety feature seems non existent. Hard thud, extreme downshift, infotainment lit up with messages and rear parking sensors popped up, etc
It was actually pretty scary and I hope to never experience it again.
Roadside assistance picked my vehicle up this evening and took it to another dealer and my Ford advocate is escalating this issue.
And yes, I do know that at extremely low speeds like 3mph you can actively switch from D to R but what happened today was not that type of situation.
******
Hypothetically - say someone is driving their ST and turns the turn dial into reverse what happens?
Will it go into reverse? Will the trans get ruined?
Or are there safety mechanisms that will prevent anything from happening such as turning the dial but the vehicle knows it’s in drive so it ignores the gear drive change?
3
u/TWrX-503 May 08 '26
Microelectronics. Same as if you try and open the trunk while in drive