Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL | |||||
| 17729 | 04/01/2004 | 10008230 | Message center displays computing fuel instead of distance to empty. *tt | 07/23/2004 | |
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||||
| 16309 | 10/01/2002 | 10013078 | High side pressure fluctuations on vehicles equipped with a fixed scroll a/c compressor. *tt | 04/07/2005 | |
| 17217 | 09/01/2003 | 10004079 | Air conditioner hooting noise during light load acceleration at low speeds, from 1000-1300 rpm. *tt | 11/18/2003 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT | |||
| 11/19/2010 | 133700 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. the contact stated the air conditioner works on the vehicle, but the heat does not. the contact has replaced the thermostat and was told there was no leak in the heating coil. the manufacturer stated it could be the reactor causing the failure, but it is not under warranty or recall. the failure mileage and current mileage was 133700.rl | |||
| 05/04/2009 | 72450 | ||
| I keep reading about 2 complaints that people need to know about and ford should take action on; the first being the back tail gate... ford do the right thing. the second has to do with the transmission, overdrive light, the parking brake and the cruise control. i use the cruise control when driving long distances and while on a few trips the overdrive light would come on for no reason, at least i thought, i then found out that i had an abs problem and wheel bearings problems. all happening at the same time? as if that wasn't enough my transmission was dripping fluid on my new driveway! this was while i only had only 70,000 miles, it wasn't right, i checked out the brakes, they had been replaced before however when i pull off the rear drum / disk to check the parking brake that's when i found the problem. i never use my parking brake, it rotted and delaminated and was dragging hence the od light, the overheating of the transmission which blew out the seal, the excessive brake dust which was partially the cause of abs sensor malfunctioning. the last part impacts the bearings, when the abs sensor malfunctions it can apply the brakes as in skidding or in tire slippage adding to early unnecessary wear on bearings and again overheating of the transmission. ford needs to install a few smart sensors, one which could track parking brake malfunctions, also one for fail safe temperature readings for the transmission. (that is before it is compromised.) do the right thing ford, your sales depend on it. | |||
| 04/12/2010 | 97751 | ||
| A little over a year ago i and a friend came out of a grocery store to discover there was a hairline crack in the rear panel of my 2003 ford explorer. i drove right over to a ford dealership to report the incident. i do have an extended warranty for 100,000 miles. it was reported to the warranty company and i was denied repair. i was told i could pay $1,000.00 to have it repaired or put caulking on it to help to seal the crack. i put the caulking on it as i did not have the money to pay to have it fixed. i am retired and on a fixed income. over the course of time the crack widened causing the panel and window to shift to the left. on monday 4/12/10 i opened the hatchback window to place a few items inside and the window came crashing down on my head almost driving me into the ground. the hinges broke and had a friend not been there with me i could not have lifted that window. he and i worked for 45 minutes to get it placed back to where it was not hanging and had to put bungy cords on to hold it in place. i have had a headache for 3 days now. i drove right over to a ford dealership to report the incident. the service manager took my information and contacted the warranty company who got back to him and stated they would replace the hinges. i told him this is unacceptable!! this crack has widened over the last year and the hatchback has shifted to the left. replacing the hinges is a temporary fix. like putting a bandaid on a compound fracture! i think the entire hatchback has weakened and if the big door falls on me i could be killed. at this point i am unable to utilize the hatchback at all and must climb over the back seat to retreive anything behind it. | |||
| 07/09/2006 | 51000 | 1 | 10/31/2002 |
| We were involved in a motor vehicle accident on the below date. a person went through a red light and hit our 2003 ford explorer on the right rear wheel area at approx 40 mph. there was over $ 6,000 in damage on our vehicle. when our vehicle was released to us from the body shop 6 weeks later, our heater, when turned on was making a loud banging sound. it sounded like something was knocked loose from the impact. it is now april 2007, and we have been trying to get our insurance company to fix this. we took our 2003 ford to capital ford in carson city, nevada where we bought 3 new ford vehicles. capital ford told the insurance company that this is a common problem with this vehicle. allstate , our insurance company told us that we would have to pay at our own expense to take the dash apart on this vehicle to see if this was accident related, at 10 hours labor at $ 90 per hour! i have checked all recalls with this vehicle, and called ford directly, and have found no problem with this heater. please help us! *tr | |||
| EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE | |||
| 08/22/2012 | 130000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. the contact stated that the hinges on the back lift gate fractured and allowed the glass to become disengaged. the vehicle could not be driven. the dealer was notified and informed the contact that there were no recalls on his vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who stated that the vehicle had been repaired under the recall nhtsa campaign id number: 04v442000 (structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments) 8 years prior and provided no other assistance. the failure and current mileage was 130,000. pmb | |||
| 08/22/2012 | 130000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. the contact stated that the hinge on the back lift gate fractured and allowed the glass to become disengaged. the vehicle could not be driven. the dealer was notified and informed the contact there were no recalls on his vehicle. the manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the vehicle had been repaired under the recall for nhtsa campaign id number: 04v442000 (structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments) 8 years prior and provided no other assistance. the failure and current mileages were 130,000. dt | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL | |||
| 08/15/2003 | 300 | ||
| I have had my explorer since may 27. it had 11 miles on it when i bought it. the first time it would not start it had 300 miles on it. eventually i did get it started, brought it to ford and they could not find a problem. the 2nd time the same thing happened i had 2300 miles on it. i had it towed to ford. when it got to ford it started and they could not find a problem. this happened again at 2500 miles and 2700 miles. ford still has it now. they have had it for a week and still do not know what is wrong with it. the problem occurred on june 5, july 8, july 25 and august 21. so far all work has been warranty but i have been without my vehicle 21 days in the 3 months i have owned it. | |||
| 01/05/2003 | 1000 | 20 | 12/31/2002 |
| The remote door auto lock does not always work when remote pushed. this happens very often and with both remotes. when this problem exists, the radio gets crackly too. been to ford in plymouth, mn but can't find problem. if i should need to use in an emergency, this could be a major problem. *la | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||
| 08/12/2006 | 52179 | 1 | 11/10/2005 |
| 4 items 1 - have owned the 2003 ford explorer for 7 months. while test driving, i noticed a hum noise coming from rear tires. was told it was tread noise. we took it for oil change at very well respected national automotive service shop. i was informed i needed to replace the rear hub assembly that is was critically broken. waiting to contact local ford dealer for resolution based on tsb research i have done. 2 - whining noise from air conditioner when accelerating. don't really know what is going on. saw this also on tsb. contacting local ford dealership. 3 - abs light randomly comes on. don't know why and no pattern to when. contacting local ford dealership. 4 - cruise control not working. i was driving down the road this weekend, using cruise control. stopped quickly for a car in front of me. when i started going again, the cruise control wouldn't work and hasn't worked since then. i don't know if it has to do with the brakes. i noticed ford recalled some cruise control mechanisms in other vehicles but not in the 2003 explorer. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2003 | 3 | 06/01/2003 | |
| The consumer complained of noise coming from the air conditioner. *nm *tc *jb | |||
| 04/15/2004 | 15000 | 1 | |
| While driving/idling heat would be coming out of the air conditioner (a/c) vents on the driver's side. this problem caused third degree burns to the consumer's right leg. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak | |||
| 06/01/2003 | 12 | 1 | 04/19/2003 |
| On my new ford explorer, there is a air conditioner leak is letting 134a gas into the ozone layer. 134a pisses out of the a/c system everytime i use the air conditioner unit.*ak | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM(GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM) | |||
| 05/21/2007 | 65500 | 150 | 09/15/2003 |
| The message center on 2003 ford explorer can't be seen in daylight causing a very dangerous situation while driving and trying to read the compass , mileage, miles /gal, any readout of the auto. almost caused my wife and i to run off the road while trying to read the compass. night reading is fine, but daylight is terrible.. this situation should be fixed by ford before someone gets killed trying to read the message center in daylight. *tr | |||