Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTHER | |||
| 10/10/2006 | 74000 | 1 | 01/01/1999 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the spare tire fell out of the mount while driving along the road at 20 mph. the cable failed next to the tire. the spare had not been used since the purchase of the vehicle. the contact has the affected parts. the service dealer and the manufacturer were not alerted. | |||
| 12/05/2005 | 151000 | 1 | |
| I have a 1997 ford explorer xlt. my ac blend door failed this winter. i can get either full heat or full cold and no in between. from what i have read, this costs about $1000 to have fixed. it is a ridiculous problem that seems to happen fairly often in ford vehicles. the affected models should be recalled and fixed. thank you. *jb | |||
| 04/17/2006 | 98000 | 1 | |
| I returned from a trip to notice that the spare on my 1997 ford explorer had disappeared. seems that the cable that holds it had rusted out and given way dropping the spare who knows where. i had never used the spare and had only noticed thinking i had seen fluid under my car. i have the car inspected for state purposes and nothing was ever said to me. i mentioned the occurrence to an online buddy and he said the same had happened to him. another acquaintance said he had it happen with his pick up truck. i called my ford dealer and was told they had a replacement winch & cable in stock so i thought what happened to me was not a rare occurrence and was recall worthy. it certainly is a safety hazard and i have no clue what havoc my spare may have created on the highway or wherever it dropped. *jb | |||
| 07/02/2004 | 1000 | ||
| Several problems with this auto, it seems to be falling apart. the driver side seat belt no longer latches. we have to loop the driver side through the passenger side. it appears this is an issue with several of these models. this is a serious safety hazard and seat belts are mandatory by law. is there anything being done? the left turn indicator has had electrical issues for years. it makes a zzzz sound and no longer works. i am also down to only one door that the key works on. that is the back lift. the door key had not worked on the driver side for years, then the passenger side went. i have the same heat problem the others are having. you either get full on heat and have to turn it on and off when it gets too hot or you get partial ac, always a little warm. both the ac and heat has been serviced, the problem is in the switch somewhere. and now the reason i'm writing is i have major electrical problems. fuses and solinoids have been looked at, there are no longer lights in the dash area. the lights on alarm (ding ding ding ding) remains on when the car is off, the keys out and the door shut which has drained my battery completly. i have jumped started it twice and now it sits in my driveway because it will cost a fortune to have the electrical looked at. if this is an issue with anyone else it should be reported to ford. not only can i no longer drive this car, it would be totally unsafe to use it. i need 4wheel drive just to get out of my driveway in winter and have no idea how i'm going to come up with the money for all these repairs. please advise if there are any recalls that address these issues. the incident date i listed below is for the time the seatbelt started to fail completly. we were on a vacation trip! | |||
| 10/15/2000 | 0 | ||
| My 97 ford explorers paint is checking very bad on all horizontal surfaces and rear gate, and is traveling down the sides getting progressively worse. | |||
| 05/20/2003 | 1 | ||
| The vehicle started to make loud noise, the consumer learned there was a recall, but the recall notice was probably mailed to the original owner. *jb | |||
| 7000 | 1 | ||
| The vents which released cold and hot air into the vehicle was broke, the consumer was not able to defrost the windows. *jb | |||
| 1 | |||
| Temperature blend door is made of weak material and is proned to shatter inside the air plenum heat assembly. *tt *nlm | |||
| 11/10/1999 | 2 | 01/01/2099 | |
| Ford was willing and actually paid the repair bill of $800+ dollars for the first repair. 25,000 miles later the same problem arises. i've done considerable research on this problem and the problem occurs frequently. dt | |||
| 12/18/2001 | 3 | 07/01/2099 | |
| The keyless number pad on vehicle quit working, then the remote for anti theft system quit working and finally the automatic door locks quit working | |||
| 03/01/2001 | |||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| While driving engine light illuminated on dash. took vehicle to dealer, cause unknown. engine light continued to illuminate dash. please provide any further information, and vehicle identification number.*ak | |||
| 10/01/2001 | 0 | ||
| While driving engine check light will come and stay on. had taken vehicle to dealer for repairs, and could not determine what had caused the situation. please provide more information.*ak | |||
| 11/18/2000 | 1 | 05/01/1997 | |
| Engine check light came on and stayed on when weather got cold. the ford service said the the air intake valve gaskets shrank and was letting in too much air and carbon monoxide into to the gas tank. i've never seen or heard of this happening with truck under 100,000 miles.*ak | |||
| 10/31/2000 | 1 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Ticking noise in engine since purchase. had the suv in a ford service center several times for recalls etc. had only 21,000 mile at purchase. went to another ford service center with engine service light on at 36,200. told i needed the timing chain replaced at my cost. according to your web posting a service bul. has gone out on this problem long ago. ford should have had a recall . if not fixed in other engines this will couse major engine failure and major expense to others. ford should have covered this! according to your web customer complaints i am not the only one that has had this problem. ford needs to be pushed on this problem before major engine failure happes to others with possible injuries etc. *ak | |||
| 12/01/1999 | 07/01/1999 | ||
| 3 weeks after having my vehicle inspected by the state of texas and 4 weeks after inspection by ford dealership the tread was off my two front tires. luckily this was caught before it killed someone. i replaced the tires with more wilderness tires thought the firestone dealership had no explanation for the instantanious tread loss. ford was also notified at the time. after it came to light on the tire problems i got with ford who says it's firestones problem. firestone says it's my problem. i feel the 16 inch wilderness should be recalled before more are killed. please do what you can !!! (tiresize: p255/70r16)( dot number: tire size: p255/70r16 ) | |||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| 08/16/2000 | 1 | 01/01/1997 | |
| Need to secure custody of vehicle left in texas - please contact us( dot number: ) | |||
| 03/01/2000 | 1 | 06/01/1997 | |
| I was driving on highway at 55mph when heard slight thumping noise, followed by huge noise, when i realized my right rear tire blew out. the ford explorer remained very straight and i pulled over. the tire was shredded into pieces. at the time i thought it was a strange blow out because it didn't seem instantanous. i also thought it was strange because the tires were in good shape. always rotated, etc.. since the tires had 42,000 miles i replaced all four tires. unfortunately with the same brand!! it wasn't until i heard about the tires on the news that i realized why it happened. i wonder how many others there are that never even reported a problem. *ak( dot number: tire size: p235-75/15 ) | |||
| 09/01/1997 | |||
| Back order since january because replacing bad on all explorers and no recall. no safety defect mentioned in the summ ary. *ak | |||
| 02/02/2000 | 0 | ||
| Engine check light came on. consumer took vehicle to a mechanic who told her that a hole was produced in the intake manifold.*ak | |||
| 1 | 08/01/1997 | ||
| Maufactures should alert customers that using a fuel not recommended for california emission could result in damage to vehicle.yh | |||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||
| 07/21/1999 | 1 | 08/01/1997 | |
| The very first time i went to use the spare tire on this 97 explorer the winch failed and had to be replaced. *ak( dot number: tire size: p235/75r15 ) | |||
| 11/17/1999 | 1 | 08/01/1997 | |
| Ford powertrain system disengaged while driving down a highway with a steep grade. auto engine braking control was lost with loud gear tearing sounds. vehicle speed immediately encreased to a dangerous level during curved down-hill setion of the road. heavy application of brakes kept us from sliding off the highway and down the mountain side. there was no warning that the ford gem control module was failing and subsequently instructing the transmission transfer case to release/engage in such a manner as to destroy the powertrain and disconnect the vehicle from the powertrain. *ak | |||
| 06/25/1999 | |||
| Check engine light came on while dirving 25-35 mph. vehicle had no power/ brakes. vehicle coasted to a parking lot to avoid an accident. was not able to steer car. *ak | |||
| 06/05/1999 | 2 | ||
| When consumer was trying to turn off the engine the vehicle suddenly accelerated. driver couldn't stop vehicle by applying brakes, and he had to move the pawl to neutral and turn switch off. *ak cruise control failed. the entire keyless entry electronic system failure caused the starter kept turning over and over, but the engine did not start. *yh | |||
| 04/26/1999 | 1 | 05/01/1997 | |
| No summary | |||
| 01/01/1997 | |||
| Rear door locks won't unlock unless you use unlock button on front door first. child safety door lock won't disengage on left rear door, someone has to open left rear door from the outside. keyless control will not unlock either if right rear door lock gets hung up. i have tried several times to get repaired, but have no documentation except once in 1997. i seldom have passengers in the back, but if there was an accident anyone in the rear could not get out. i just want the door locks fixed. there are some similiar complaints with the nhtsa, idi id 702648, 827786, 829733, 537402, 538918, and 530692. any help will be appreciated. *ak | |||
| In early march of 1997 the ford assembly plant in louisville, ky flooded. this plant produces ford explorers, mercury mountaineers, and ford ranger pickup trucks. ford estimated that approximately 2000 vehicles were affected. ford also stated that none of the damaged vehicles will be shipped to dealerships. not true. i bought one of the damaged vehicles at don reid ford in maitland, florida. don reid ford failed to disclose the material fact that my truck had been flooded and cleaned as a result of the flood. my guess is that ford sold all or most of the 2000 damaged vehicles. my truck is rusting, on the bumper and the underside of the car. i also have an electrical problem: my windshield wipers come on of their own volition. i assume that the other owners of these damaged vehicles might be having electrical problems, or other unexplained problems related to the flood, which could pose safety problems. the problem is that these owners don't know that their vehicles had been sitting in the floodwaters of kentucky. my guess is that ford has secret warranties for these cars. | |||
| 01/15/1999 | 1 | 11/01/1996 | |
| Anecdotal description emailed to nhtsa webmaster 5 minutes ago | |||
| 1 | 11/01/1996 | ||
| Check engine light continually lighting for no apparent reasons. | |||
| 08/07/1998 | |||
| While driving about 15 mph the explorer began to travel at a speed of 80 mph because the floor mat got stuck under the pedal. driver shifted the transmission into neutral to stop the suv while using the brakes. problem has not been reported to dealership. | |||
| 1 | 02/17/1997 | ||
| Check engine light comes on frequently. | |||
| 1 | |||
| Check engine light comes on. | |||