Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||||
| 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 | |||
| 05/05/2011 | 82066 | ||
| While removing grocery bags from the rear of my 2004 ford explorer xlt, the left liftgate hinge snapped and the windowed half of the rear liftgate door came apart leaving the left side of the door still attached to the hydraulic liftgate bar but otherwise dangling and unsupported. then i could not shut the door so we propped it with pillows to ease the stress on the left side. i had problems with the liftgate hydraulic bar collapsing on my prior ford explorer but those repairs were covered under a recall. this morning ford denied there was a recall for my present vehicle and refused to provide any information on prior recalls involving the same liftgate apparatus failure that occurred to my 2004 model. i called the ford dealer who said they would have to charge me for towing to bring my suv for repair there. my local repair shop that is less than one mile away is coming to pick up the vehicle and repair it. i think ford has still not resolve these liftgate apparatus problems after all these years of being on notice of the structural problem and even having prior recalls for 2002-03 explorers!! i could have been seriously injured had the door collapsed on me. it also could have caused the window to shatter and my liftgate glass door fully breaks aways from the car, it will result in body damage to the rear bumper. | |||
| 05/09/2010 | 95547 | ||
| Gear shifter fell into my hand while trying to put my 2004 ford eddie bauer explorer from park into reverse. the vehicle is parked but not in park. it is only being held still by parking brake as it is stuck in between park and reverse. the key can not be removed because the car is not in park. there were zero events leading up to this failure. fortunately, i was parked in my drive way but i can only imagine the consequences had i been parked on a hill or had the shifter broke while in gear where it would have remained. i have not repaired the problem as of yet it just happened today, but after doing research it appears as if entire steering column needs to be replaced and i am to spend any where from $1000 to $2000 to replace a defective part with a brand new defective part to have it happen again at any time. i was able to locate over 100 complaints on the exact same issue dating back to 2/2007. i am curious as to why there has been no recall for this situation. | |||
| 03/08/2008 | 67000 | 1 | |
| My concern is in regard to an ongoing problem that my vehicle and thousands of others like it have; the lack of safety one may be faced with if the rear on these vehicles fail due to substandard parts used in the rear differential on the ford suv's and f-150's. my understanding is that the costly repair that is required the manufacture will not honor after the basic warranty is over even though this is an ongoing problem. on these vehicles. i was told today that if i continue to drive the vehicle to the point of complete failure i risk the vehicles back wheels locking up. my question to the nhtsa is why has there not been a recall on these vehicles knowing that this is a major problem in the drivetrain of these vehicles. i have 79k on my vehicle and a friend had their rear differential replaced at 22k and the problem is prevalent again on that vehicle again as well. in my estimation this could result in serious injury. what does it take to get a recall on this problem? does hundreds of people have to die or suffer serious injury for something to be done? i have had my vehicle back to ford for one bang or clang or another since the vehicle had 18k on it. will the nhtsa ever see fit to make a re-call on these vehicles or again does several people need to suffer injury or loss before something is done? *tr | |||
| 09/01/2008 | 47000 | 1 | |
| Of the numerous issues with this vehicle, the worst is the transmission (40,000 miles ). same old story. started with clunking and hesitation and surging when shifting into reverse and now is 'clunking' into gears 2 and 3 during normal driving. the rear drivers side window motor has been replaced twice. the rear window panel has a vertical crack to the left of the ford symbol that just mysteriously occurred even though we don't even use the window. the truck stalls when the cruise control is applied below 45 miles an hour. my wife and i really loved this truck but like many others we have become embarrassed by our purchase. if this kind of fraud were to occur with any other product we would have some sort of recourse but not surprisingly the motor company's seem to enjoy a certain level of protection. the 'better business bureau' won't even listen to car complaints. given the severe and ubiquitous nature of the complaints about this vehicle it comes as no surprise that no remediations is forth coming from this organization, the manufacturer or any other. the cost of these vehicles is a burden to say the least and is financially devastating to those of us who purchased them in good faith only to have a 30,000 dollar vehicle become useless and dangerous before reaching 50000 miles. like all the other 'victims' of fraud, i am wasting yet more of my time by complaining about it. *tr | |||
| 07/14/2004 | 44000 | 1 | |
| My 2004 ford explorer had to have the complete rear end fixed. it has only 40,000 miles and should never have had to repair this part of a automobile. especially a 2004. the repair shop said they have never had to repair a rear end and they have been in business for 30 years. there has to be something wrong that ford did to my vehicle to have this break this soon. it cost me over $1200 of which we are on a fixed income. we had to sell things, borrow money with interest and with my husband so very ill that his medicine for 7 pills every three months is over $700 a 3 month. someone had to make a mistake. i have driven fords since i started drive over several years ago. matter of fact the first car i drove was the ford push button. please find out if there is someone that can help us with this extremely high repair bill. this car is our only transportation and is very wrong for us to have to pay this much for repair for such a new car. thank you , norma grotberg *tr | |||
| 10/11/2004 | 1 | 06/09/2004 | |
| Car was parked in a driveway with rear window towards garage door. the back window of the car along with a piece of the actual door exploded off. the piece of the door flew up into the air and came crashing back down onto the car. their was glass everywhere. had anyone been facing the car it could have caused some serious bodily injury. or had the car been in motion anyone inside the car could have been hurt or anyone driving behind could have been hurt.*ak | |||
| EQUIPMENT - ELECTRICAL - AIR CONDITIONER | |||
| 02/02/2008 | 56000 | 2 | 02/02/2008 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that the air pressure hose that connects to the air compressor failed. as a result, the air conditioning system became inoperative. the dealer stated that a new hose would cost at least $400. the vehicle has not been repaired. the contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. the failure mileage was 56,000 and current mileage was 60,080. updated 09/17/08. *lj the air conditioners high pressure hose failed twice. one form the hose on the drivers side going to the radiator. updated 09/25/08. *jb | |||
| 02/02/2008 | 70000 | 1 | 12/31/2004 |
| While going to open the rear hatch of my 2004 ford explorer, i noticed a crack in the hatch door from just below the window down to the next panel. when i opened the window on the hatch door, i noticed that the left hinge that holds the glass is coming loose. i am unable to utilize the rear cargo area of my vehicle now for fear that the left hinge will break off resulting in the entire door coming off the vehicle and falling or dropping onto me or one of my children, causing severe personal injuries. the mileage on my vehicle is approximately 70,000 miles. nothing has been done yet to correct this failure because after reading other people's experience with having ford refuse to acknowledge the problem and the government thus far refusing to issue a recall, my hands are tied. i do not want to pay for the repair myself because i have already been burned by ford on other issues relating to this vehicle, i.e., the abs module and the air conditioning system. *tr | |||
| 06/01/2004 | 1000 | 10 | 03/31/2004 |
| Air conditioner and defroster are moldy, causing illness. *ak | |||