Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE - SUPPORT DEVICE | ||||||||||||||||
| 97V137000 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | from 06/03/1996 to 06/07/1996 | V (Vehicle) | 2200 | 09/30/1997 | MFR | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 08/19/1997 | 08/29/1997 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Vehicle description: multi-purpose passenger vehicles. the liftgate assist gas cylinder bracket on the right hand bodyside outer panel was incorrectly welded. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | The gas cylinder bracket may not properly support the liftgate increasing the risk of personal injury. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will reinforce the bracket attachment with two pop rivets. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Owner notification is expected to begin september 30, 1997.owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1-800-392-3673.also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-800-424-9393. | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||||
| 9747 | 02/17/1997 | 51689 | Frame- rivet replacement with bolts- service tips. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||||
| 12852 | 06/01/1999 | 6092013 | Use kleenex brand juniors or li'l travelers to refill tissues for certain vehicles with the high series center console facial tissue compartment. *tt | 11/17/2000 | |
| 6429 | 06/01/1999 | 606842 | Information on refilling tissues for the center console facial tissue compartment. *tt | 09/03/1999 | |
| 982323 | 11/23/1998 | 603930 | Information regarding replacement and / or repairs on any lock component. *yc | 03/11/1999 | |
| 95161 | 08/01/1995 | 45947 | Sheet metal-roof panel and drip rail replacement- seam sealer application procedure.*sd | 04/25/1996 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||||
| 99203 | 10/04/1999 | 6089643 | Information on replacing the front bumper bracket. *tt | 02/10/2000 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||||
| 99-8-15 | 05/03/1999 | 606419 | Subject regarding door trim panel replacement - service tip. *tt | 01/05/2001 | |
| 98163 | 08/17/1998 | 6090873 | Locks failed. yd | 03/31/2000 | |
| 99242 | 11/15/1999 | 6090184 | Information on replacing and / or repairing malfunctioning (door, ignition and decklid) locks. *tt | 03/09/2000 | |
| BC1016497020 | 01/02/1997 | 51232 | Inoperable remote entry or keyless entry feature. the cause has been identified as a static build-up on the seat that damages the rap module. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| 9738 | 02/03/1997 | 51665 | Remote keyless entry- rke inoperative- vehicles built through 10/30/96. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| BC0257970201 | 01/02/1997 | 51094 | Power locks cycle by themselves remove each power lock switch and measure the open resistance. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
| BC0012972301 | 01/23/1997 | 51386 | Customers report inoperable remote entry or keyless entry feature. *jd | 06/27/1997 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||
| 05/01/2012 | 139161 | 1 | |
| Noticed that the recliner handle was bent on the drivers side. the next time i went to recline the seat the handle broke off at the rivet point. common problem according to the dealer. the part can only be bought from ford and the cost is $100. there was a service bulletin for this problem for a later year explorer. dealer said the new part is more heavy duty and made to replace the stock version that was light duty. no recall was issued and they have stopped making the part. *tr | |||
| 08/03/2006 | 160000 | 1 | |
| Gas pedal mounting bracket separated from firewall. *tr | |||
| 01/01/1901 | 1 | ||
| 1996 ford explorer rolled over in and accident. consumer requesting information on risks for ford explorers. *kb the consumers daughter was driving when the vehicle rolled over. after the accident, the consumer learned of problems with the ford explorer's roof strength and unstable wheel base. *jb updated *jb | |||
| 08/08/2004 | 1 | ||
| Sudden tread separation on left rear tire of ford explorer caused loss of control and on-road rollover. tire was a cooper eldorado radial zr1, size p23575r15, dot# 3dhlekn2900. | |||
| 02/10/2003 | 106000 | 2 | 04/14/2001 |
| While traveling at 50 mph 10:30p.m., without cause vehicle slid across highway to the left, rolled and flipped, and collided with a tree - vehicle landed on its side with roof in to the steering wheel: all windows broken and windshield shattered. roof actually caved in on teenage driver -fatality from multiple brain injuries.*ak | |||
| 05/30/1999 | 1 | ||
| The driver lost control of the vehicle and proceeded to skid into the southside of the roadway into a ditch and collided with a utility pole, there were 2 fatalities(texas officers accident report, bridgestone/firestone, p235/75r15, radial atx m/s, vdhl1pm435, left rear). nlm | |||
| 1 | 02/19/1996 | ||
| Front bolts and/or rivits in the front frame may be loose causing squeaks, clicks and movement of the frame, it is felt through the steering wheel when making tight turns. nlm | |||
| 11/02/1999 | 1 | ||
| Consumer started experiencing difficulty controlling the vehicle, the abs light came on and the vehicle caught fire, one person was injured while putting out the fire, the axle had broken and melted, but no one knows exactly what caused the fire. *slc | |||
| 07/31/1996 | 1 | ||
| Consumer applied the brakes for an upcoming turn when the vehicle rolled over and went down an embankment, the rollover resulted in 3 people sustaining injuries. *slc | |||
| 1 | |||
| Ice build up on rear quarter panel. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Ice builds up on running board due to design, making it unsafe to exit vehicle. | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| Design of console causes rearview mirror placement to be too low. this creates a blind spot for driver when trying to merge right. vehicle was taken to dealership. dealership seems to recognize that this is a design flaw. ford has agreed to look into this matter. please provide any furhter information.*ak | |||
| 1 | 05/01/1996 | ||
| Console failed. | |||
| While parked, an electrical short in the center console, caused the vehicle to catch on fire. please provide further details. *ak | |||
| Fire burned center of console, when battery was disconnected fire went out. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||
| 07/14/2000 | 0 | ||
| Consumer was traveling on the highway about 70mph and then she felt vibration, and all of a sudden tread came off of the tires and damaged vehicle. also, tail light was broken, as well as fender well and the bumper. the original atw tires were on this vehicle. consumer had them replaced. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||
| 10/16/2002 | |||
| Consumer states that the door behind the drivers seat has a lot of play in the handle. consumer can't open door. please provide any further information. mr | |||
| 09/01/2001 | |||
| When shutting off engine automatic door locks engaged. driver's rear door lock was replaced in september 2001, passenger rear door lock was replaced december 19, 2001. | |||
| 05/02/2001 | 2 | 11/01/1996 | |
| Power door locks are not working, therefore the doors do not open from the inside. this could be extremely dangerous if trapped inside. shouldn't they always open manually? isn't there a law providing safety for door locks? | |||
| Inside handles on left and right rear doors are broken. doors cannot be opened from inside. dealer has been notified.*ak | |||
| 3 | |||
| Door locks will lock and unlock for no reason, dealer stated there is no way of testing the locks, consumer is concerned that if there is an accident, the locks might lock. *slc | |||
| 3 | 02/29/2000 | ||
| This firestone wilderness/at tire, p23575r15 was looked at by a garage when tread sepration was noticed.*ak consumer states first faulty tire resulted in a blowout, 2 others were noticed at a garage with tread separation. consumer states inside passenger door handles on both left and right do not work. *slc | |||
| While driving interior lights comes on and off without manual operation. problem occurs within electrial system which causes door locks to malfunction. please give any further details. *ak | |||
| 3 | |||
| Was driving and engine check light came on & stayed. been to dealer. had sensors replaced, but problem came back. temperature gauge had failed to register. fuel guage was not working, and stablizer bar had broken and was replaced. also, power locks failed to release. *ak the sensors were being replaced over and over again. *yh | |||
| 01/03/1999 | 1 | ||
| Passenger's door in rear will not open from inside. consumer feels this is unsafe. *ak | |||
| 06/12/1999 | 100 | 06/01/1999 | |
| I bought this suv used and i thought i was getting a great vehicle, boy was i wrong. it has been one thing after another with this suv. please check all of my complaints this is an interior problem, these things cannot be caused by evey day use. the problems i am having are, back seat door handles are broke, the spare tire release broke the first time it was used, the air bag light went off and caused an inconvience to my family, the tires have been replaced and the alingment hasen't been right sense i've owned it, the back seat doesn't work properly, it will not release to fold forward, and the motor on the hatch hasen't worked properly from day one of my ownership. please help me with this matter. thank for all you do. margie hulsey. ml | |||
| 2 | 01/01/1996 | ||
| Front and rear door handles fail - unable to open doors from inside. *ak | |||
| 2 | 12/01/1995 | ||
| Right front and left rear door handles on the inside of the vehicle broke, making it impossible to get out of vehicle. dealer has seen vehicle. *ak | |||
| 02/01/2000 | 03/01/1996 | ||
| The broken interior door handle may have been broken for a long time but, because of the child safety lock feature being activated it wasn't noticed until the child safety lock was deactiveted only to find that the door handle would not open the door. upon disassembly, i found the plastic cam that unlocks the latch of the door to be cracked off rendering the handle useless. as for the transmission, the premature and expensive failure should become a recall item for ford as i have found that many owners of this type vehicle are experiencing problems of great financial consequence and possible tragic health consequence.. i'd say a disporportionate number of explorer owners are encountering similar transmission failures. the life threatening condition of a bad transimission could have led to a lock-up or unexpected rapid deceleration at highway speeds which could have rolled the truck. internal components were badly scarred and irrepairebly damaged. initial symptons were hesitation on accelleration at shift points ford issued several service bulletins to address these symptoms but never recalled the defective product.*ak | |||
| 04/30/1997 | 3 | 07/01/1996 | |
| The door handle has broken three times. ford is aware of the problem but will not fix,re-design the handle. family and friends also have the same problem with there 1996 explorer. i'm a safety expert for dol-osha and feel this is a safety problem and ford needs to fix asap the plastic design of the handle. if you can not get out of the vehicle during a potential crash this could be a safety problem. *ak | |||
| 09/01/1998 | 25 | 06/01/1998 | |
| This is a leased vehicle from ford motor company, the door locks and tail gate lock have a short in the electrical system that causes the locks to go up and down and the motor to stay on inside the doors causing them to overheat and create potential fire hazards. the fuse had to be taken out of the vehicle to shut the lock mechanishms off, the ford company refuses to fix this defect in this vehicle. | |||
| 05/03/1999 | |||
| Left rear door handle broke. dealer and manufacturer have been notified. *ak | |||
| 01/12/1999 | 2 | 11/01/1997 | |
| Rear door handles on both sides have failed. please contact if a recall is pending. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Freezing rain causes the doors to freeze to the seal mouldings making it impossible to enter vehicle. | |||
| Rear doors will not open . one handle has been sprung and the other broke off. owner has contacted the dealer and manufacturer. *ak | |||
| 06/01/1996 | 1 | 12/01/1995 | |
| Automatic locking system failed. | |||
| 06/01/1998 | 2 | ||
| Inside handles are breaking, causing the back doors to become stuck. will not open, resulting in consumer being trapped in vehicle. *ak *ml | |||
| 09/01/1998 | 2 | 09/30/1995 | |
| Inside rear door handle is inoperative. | |||
| 08/13/1998 | |||
| Both inside rear doors do not open when handles are used. dealer has replaced both handles and condition reoccurs. dealer informed consumer that ford is aware of this problem. *ak | |||
| 2 | 09/01/1997 | ||
| Tachometer/ driver's side interior handle failed. | |||
| 3 | 10/01/1995 | ||
| The rear driver's and passenger's door handle on the inside has broken 3times within 2 years, and the driver's and passenger's doors cannot be opened from the inside when the handle is broken. mileage 18062, 19364, 29265. *ak consumer states that he has written ford, however they have not replied. *slc | |||
| 02/02/1997 | 2 | ||
| The inside door handle on the passenger's side has broken twice which does not allow the door to be open from the inside. the handle was replaced in feb of 97, and on 10/7/97 for the same problem. *ak | |||
| 10/10/1996 | 1 | 12/01/1995 | |
| Electric door lock actuctor failed. | |||
| 06/01/1996 | 2 | 10/01/1995 | |
| Interior door release lever failed twice. | |||
| 12/30/1996 | 1 | 06/01/1996 | |
| Rear passenger's door will not open from inside. | |||
| 1 | 04/01/1996 | ||
| Door assembly recall repairs refused due to unavailability of parts (96v-070). *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE - SUPPORT DEVICE | |||
| 04/12/2007 | 120000 | 2 | 06/12/2004 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. the contact stated that the hatchback support gate would not properly support the glass. also, the child safety locks do not work properly. the vehicle has not been taken to the dealer for inspection. she notified the manufacturer and they stated that her vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 97v137000 (structure:body:hatchback/lift gate:support device) or nhtsa campaign id number 96v070000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch). the failure mileage was 120,000 and current mileage was 129,000. | |||
| 10/02/2007 | 132000 | 1 | 09/21/2007 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. the contact stated that the liftgate assist gas cylinder bracket snapped at the welding point, which caused the liftgate to close without warning. as of october 16, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. the dealer and manufacturer stated that his vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 97v137000 (structure: body: hatchback/liftgate: support device). the failure mileage was 132,000 and current mileage was 134,000. | |||
| 11/25/2006 | 62000 | 1 | 12/29/1995 |
| Vehicle is an suv with a rear liftgate / hatch that raises upwards when open. on this day i was loading some item is the rear of the vehicle when the liftgate suddenly fell and stuck me on the head. the liftgate is normally supported by a gas type strut on each side. there are ball type pins attached to the liftgate and the body for these gas struts to attach to. the upper pin on the right side of the lift gate snapped off and allowed the liftgate to fall. it appears it was rusting through, however there is no other rust on any portion of the liftgate. only one gas type strut will not support the weight of the tailgate. in only two days i have found four other people who have experienced this same problem with 1995 & 1996 explorers. *nm | |||
| 08/05/2004 | 1 | 10/20/2000 | |
| On or around the date indicated, a gentleman from staples office supply was loading a chair and desk into the back of my ford explorer when the hatch collapsed. luckily, i was standing there and caught the hatch before it fell on his head and back and possibly really injured him. apparently, the left hydraulic arm of the hatch sheared completely off the bracket welded to the vehicle. upon inspection, both sides are completely rusted and the other arm could shear off at any time. nowhere on this vehicle is there rust and these welded brackets are in the interior seal of the rear hatch and are in no way exposed to water. we were able to unhook the arm totally with the little pins holding it in place. then the hatch wouldn't close properly once the arm was removed. (i was told this was probably due to the change in weight distribution.) i called ford (national 800 number not the local dealer) and asked them about it. the customer service woman immediately told me that they had no complaints on that and that there was no recall so i would have to pay for it. i took the vehicle to a body shop which gave me a quote of $468 to weld new brackets on (both sides will need to be replaced to prevent future injuries). the hydraulic arms themselves work fine. upon viewing your site, i see there was a recall the year after the car was made dealing with the right side hydraulic arm and improper welding. (recall # 97v137000) i basically just want it fixed and want them to fix anybody else's so nobody else will get hurt. what if a mom is unloading groceries with her kid and the door comes crashing down on them??? how many injuries or deaths will it take for them to fix something like this??!! *jb | |||
| 10/01/2004 | 1 | ||
| Nhtsa campaign 97v074000, 97v137000, 97v070000. ford issued a throttle, liftgate, and door assembly recalls. this vehicle was not included in the recalls, but the consumer was experiencing the same problems as those vehicles that were recalled. the vehicle identification number was outside the remedy scope. *jb | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HOOD - HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS | |||
| 10/15/2006 | 144000 | 3 | |
| Lifted the hood of the truck and the supports failed. the hood almost came down on my head. *jb | |||
| 12/24/2006 | 3 | 10/23/2005 | |
| I had opened my hood to check the fluid levels and the two gas supports that hold it up failed and the hood almost hit me in the head. had i not been paying attention it would have came down on my head and caused serious injury. *jb | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - ROOF AND PILLARS | |||
| 11/02/2002 | 3 | ||
| Bought ford explorer in 1996, new. filed a complaint with bbb regarding problems. nothing was achieved. in november of 2002 was in an accident where the vehicle rolled over, my seat belt did not lock, nor did the air bags deploy, which resulted in severe injuries to myself. broken neck (c-2, tbi tramic brain injury and broken bones. i beleive the failure of the seat belt, roof stability and airbags malfunction caused my injuries. the driver and other occupant received no serious injuries. nothing was done to correct the failure as you can see in the numerous law suits againist ford motor co. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 10/05/2004 | 97000 | 1 | 06/23/1996 |
| After the discovery of some small rust on my passenger doors i took it to ford to be fixed. they ended up discovering my frame is rusted along the bottom of my doors. i am now very concerned about safety with this vehicle. it has only 97,000 which for a suv is not much.*ak | |||
| 09/03/2001 | 0 | ||
| Support frame that holds car together on front of vehicle was severely cracked. consumer took vehicle to dealer, and they were not going to do anything. consumer felt that the entire front end of vehicle could fall off. then, car would flip over, and passenger could be injured or killed. vehicle was rolling death trap. frame should never break, it could be bent, but not broken. please provide any further information.*ak | |||
| 08/01/2000 | |||
| As reported on 9/5/00 (before the tire recall hearings on 9/6/00) to senators richard shelby and frank lautenberg and house representatves w.j. billy tauzin and fred upton: i recently read in the times that the explorer tire that blows out most often is the rear driver side tire, which makes me wonder if there is a design defect in the vehicle. upon closely examining my 96 explorer (which didn't come with firestone tires, by the way), i found that the body leans to the left (driver's side), resulting in a vertical sag of about half an inch on that side. i confirmed that the sag is not related to vehicle loading - the sag persists with both vehicle and gas tank empty; or to weakened springs - the chasis stays level, only the body sags. also, the vehicle has not been in any accidents that could have caused this. since then, over the last couple of weeks or so, i have been closely observing explorers and other suv's on the road and in parking lots. the results of my admittedly not-so-scientific survey are as follows: (1) about 50% of the older explorers on the road show a similar sag to the left. (2) none of the explorer's observed showed a sag to the right. (3) less than 5% of the other suv's observed showed any sag, which was equally likely to be to the left or to the right. i thought i should pass on this information to you, for whatever it is worth, before the tire recall hearings in the senate tomorrow. sincerely, ramesh dhingra. *ak | |||
| 08/01/1999 | 0 | ||
| Consumer was traveling about 65mph on highway and heard a loud noise tread separated from left rear tire, and damaged the left rear quarter panel, knocking off the chrome cover off, and bolts broken and bent the rear quarter panel. *ak | |||
| 07/26/1996 | 1 | ||
| Extensive corrosin/rust of entire undercarriage.*ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 08/24/2007 | 127485 | 1 | 09/01/2005 |
| Gas pedal came off from its mounting to floor board driving while vehicle. mounting plate seems to have only one bolt securing it to the floorboard. their are three mounting holes for the peddle backing plate and three holes through floor board. top hole had stressed metal indicative of what ever was used to hold gas peddle backing plate. lucky us for just getting off the express way. something bad could happen to me and my wife. *tr | |||
| 1 | 06/27/1996 | ||
| Vehicle flooded with water due to manufacturer never installing the hoses that connect and drain excess water from the roof area, resulting in damage to interior of vehicle. | |||