Ford Explorer 2018–2021 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin SSM 50988 · NHTSA communication 10217832 · issued Aug 2, 2022
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Engine and Engine Cooling
component
2018–2021
model years
8
vehicle entries
Official summary
Some 2018-2021 F-150 3.3L, 2020-2021 Explorer 3.3L, and 2020-2021 Transit 3.5L may experience an illuminated low oil pressure and malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) with diagnostic trouble code (DTC) P0521 stored in the powertrain control module (PCM) after a short block or long block replacement. This may be due to a design change of the engine oil pressure (EOP) sensor, which is not backwards compatible. To correct the condition, transfer the sensor from the original engine or replace the EOP sensor with GN1Z-9D290-D.
Vehicles covered
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.