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2002 Ford Excursion problems

The most common problem on the 2002 Ford Excursion is engine and cooling, typically around 79,284 miles. It has 1.2 times the complaints of a typical Excursion model year.

Typical year1.2x the typical complaints
Year score
65/100
Owner complaints
129
Recalls
4
Service bulletins
124
Worst area
Engine

The worst 2002 Ford Excursion problems

Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.

Problems by type

Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.

Specific symptoms reported on the 2002 Ford Excursion

Tire blowout 16Fire or smoke 9Stalling 9Loss of power 6Adaptive cruise 5

Recalls 4

Exterior lighting: brake lightsReported July 13, 2011 · 26,715 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Ford is recalling certain model year 2011 ranger trucks built from january 25, 2011, through april 25, 2011 at the twin cities assembly plant, and service parts distributed to dealers for certain 2004 through 2011 model year ranger trucks, 2002 through 2005 model year excursion vehicles, and 2002 through 2007 model year f-250, f-350, f-450, and f-550 trucks for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." the multi-function switch was shipped with a subcomponent (slider) that may experience deformation. A multi-function switch with a deformed slider may malfunction causing the turn signal, tail lights, hazard warning signal flashers and/or brake lights not to activate.
Risk
Non-functioning lights could increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the switches free of charge. The safety recall began on august 15, 2011. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 11V352000 · Recall details

Vehicle speed controlReported October 13, 2009 · 4,500,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Ford is recalling model years 1995-2003 windstar, 2000-2003 excursion diesel, 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 f-250 sd through f-550 sd diesel, 1992-2003 e-150 through e-550, 1995-2002 explorer, 1997 and 2002 mercury mountaineer, 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 ranger, and 1994 f53 vehicles equipped with the texas instruments speed control deactivation switch (scds). The scds may leak internally and then overheat, smoke, or burn.
Risk
A vehicle fire could occur with or without the engine running.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners that dealers will install a fused wiring harness in line with the scds. On 1999-2003 windstar vehicles with a leaking scds, dealers will also inspect the ABS control module connector and repair as necessary. Repairs will be completed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 27, 2009. Owners may contact ford at 1‑888‑222‑2751.

Recall number 09V399000 · Recall details

Engine and engine cooling: engine: dieselReported December 5, 2007 · 1,176,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain heavy duty trucks equipped with 7.3l diesel engines, the camshaft position sensor located on the engine of the vehicle may function intermittently, possibly resulting in an engine stall.
Risk
In the event of an engine stall, a crash could result without warning.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the sensor and replace it with an improved camshaft position sensor free of charge. The recall began on december 29, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 07V553000 · Recall details

Vehicle speed controlReported August 1, 2006 · 1,200,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain trucks equipped with speed control, gasoline or natural gas engines, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat.
Risk
Overheating could result in smoke or burn and an underhood fire.
Remedy
Dealers will install a fused wiring harness into the speed control system free of charge. The recall began on august 7, 2006. Owners may contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332. (note: also see recalls 05v017 and 05v388)

Recall number 06V286000 · Recall details

See all 4 recalls for the 2002 Ford Excursion

Defect investigations

Spark plug ejection from cylinder headOpened September 22, 2005, closed January 4, 2006

On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.

DP05005

Engine compartment firesOpened March 22, 2005, closed August 2, 2006

Ea05-005 is closed with ford?s actions in recalls 05v‑017, 05v‑388, and 06v‑286, recalling approximately 6.7 million vehicles equipped with texas instruments speed control deactivation switches (scds).the brake systems in these recalled vehicles generate a vacuum that can potentially cause the scds to fail and, in certain switch installation orientations, catch fire.ford is also including the entire population of 1998 explorers.ford has informed odi that testing to determine the cause of failures in the 1998 explorers will continue after this investigation is closed.odi believes that the vehicles exhibiting the factors causing scds failure described in this report correlate well with the observed failure rates on these vehicles by model and model year.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist in the non-recalled vehicles manufactured with scds that are not included in ford?s recalls.odi will continue to monitor the non-recalled population for incidence of engine compartment fires.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.see attached closing report for details.

EA05005

Accelerator pedal sensor (etc)Opened February 23, 2004, closed February 10, 2005

Failure counts from odi?s analysis are stated above; see the additional problem experience discussion in the summary report.ford data contained duplicative reports for 4 odi complaints and 1 crash.three crashes were allegedly due to intermittent operation of the electronic throttle control (etc) pedal, one crash occurred when an etc disabled vehicle was struck by another motorist, one report contained no detail.the injuries were minor.an issue involving fixed etc pedals was investigated also, however failure reports and populations are not shown above; see summary report for detail.although ford has used etc based throttle control systems for many years, the pap feature was new for my 2002.the subject etc sensor produces two output signals which the engine management system (ems) utilizes to:1) determine fueling requirements; and 2) perform sensor diagnostics.one signal is linearly proportional to throttle pedal position; the second is a digital signal.by design, the detection of a sensor fault results in the engine returning to (or remaining at) the idle state.ford identified a defect in the pap etc sensor which prematurely affected an output signal; the migration of internal sensor lubricant caused a loss of proportional signal.the failure mechanism is progressive and as the sensor deteriorates, the ems will detect a fault, store a fault code, illuminate a warning lamp, and the engine may remain at/return to idle.in the early stages, normal operation can be regained by pedal re-application.the failure progresses until the engine remains at idle.the engine does not stall, power assisted steering and braking systems are unaffected. Ford corrected the etc sensor defect and conducted field service action (fsa) 03b03 to replace etc pedals, addressing 50% of vehicles.at agency request to improve completion rate, ford extended fsa 03b03 for 6 months.based on odi's analysis of available data, ford's action has appropriately resolved the etc sensor proplem in the subject vehicles.the closing of the investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist, and should not be considered as having any precedential value or effect binding the agency in future defect investigations. See the attached summary report for additional information.

EA04006

Accelerator pedal sensor failure (etc)Opened September 26, 2003, closed February 18, 2004

The subject vehicles for this investigation include model year 2002 and 2003 excursion and f super duty trucks equipped with 7.3l diesel engines and an optional power adjustable pedal (pap) feature.the subject vehicles utilize an electronic throttle control (etc) system to control engine speed and power.the accelerator pedal position sensor of the etc system was replaced under ford's field service action (fsa) 03b03 (announced in february 2003) due to concerns that it may not operate as designed and as a result, may cause the vehicle to continue to idle or unexpectedly slow when the accelerator is applied.certain complaint and warranty information related to the vehicles involved in fsa 03b03 has not been provided by ford, as discussed in detail in ford's response letter (dated december 2, 2003) to odi's preliminary evaluation information request.this additional information, which is required to adequately assess the safety implications of the alleged defect, will be obtained and analyzed during the engineering analysis phase of the investigation.the manufacturer failure report counts will be determined at that time.

PE03044

Technical service bulletins for the 2002 Ford Excursion 124

Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.

See all 124 bulletins for the 2002 Ford Excursion

What 2002 Ford Excursion owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Sep 26, 2023 · Suspension, Transmission · MI

As I was driving the transfer case and drive shaft dropped out of truck. Broken bolts and no warning.

Filed Mar 29, 2021 · Body · 201,352 miles · NJ

Large patches of paint topcoat peeling from vehicle roof, absolutely no evidence of primer having bonded/ adhering to separated topcoat, peeled paint is identical on both sides, obviously primer intended to integrate topcoat with substrate was faulty and not acceptable.

Filed Sep 5, 2019 · Engine · 210,000 miles · AL

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford excursion. The contact stated that each time she drove the vehicle, it stalled without warning. After the failures, all the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact coasted the vehicle over to the side of the road and waited a minute or more to restart the vehicle. Sometimes, it took up to four attempts before the vehicle would restart. When the vehicle was restarted, it hesitated to move. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, but the technician could not find a failure code. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 07v553000 (engine and engine cooling). No further assistance was offered. The approximate failure mileage was 210,000.

Filed Jun 6, 2019 · Tires · 170,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford excursion equipped with toyo open country r/t tires (na), size: lt285/75/r16. While driving 65 MPH, the rear passenger tire experienced tread separation. Prior to the failure, the rear driver's tire was replaced by allen tire (located at 1725 superior ave, costa mesa, ca 92627, (949) 646-5236) due to a bulge in the tire. The contact stated that there was damage to the vehicle. The set of tires were a replacement set. The tire was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14t014000 (tires). The manufacturer was contacted. The approximate vehicle failure mileage was 170,000 and the tire failure mileage was 75,000.

Filed May 25, 2018 · Wheels · 136,896 miles · FL · crash

Had a b f goodrich lt315/75r16d all terrain ko, dot: bfauhx111211, front left tire explode without any warning, was driving north on highway 65, about 16 miles south of branson, mo. I was traveling around 65 MPH in the right hand lane on a clear dry day with minimal traffic. The tires were purchased on 4-23-11, sam's club #6361, vehicle had 91,461 miles. The incident happened on 5-8-18, the vehicle had 136,896 miles. (45,435 miles). When the tire exploded it severed the front left brake line resulting in the loss of control of the vehicle, causing major damage to the vehicle, resulting in the vehicle being totaled.

Filed Mar 28, 2018 · Electrical, Transmission · CA

Was driving on highway and vehicle all of a sudden lost power kept pressing the gas pedal and it wouldn't go as felt like you wanted to turn off it would stall we have checked everything in the truck engine everything and everything seems good transmission does not have any metal shavings I did notice that for some reason the electrical panel have melted it was all completely melted and they believe that the transmission is also melted and stuck together I'm not sure because we still haven't I mean transmission has no signs that something wrong with it I think this is very thing I think this is very dangerous for a vehicle to just stop in the middle of the freeway and imagine if they would have been traffic thank god that there wasn't that nobody was right behind me cuz the truck just stopped and it was not going

Filed Jan 15, 2018 · Steering · 259,000 miles · MD · crash

While backing the vehicle I felt a pop and then there was no steering control. I looked under the vehicle and found that the tie rod connection to the pitman arm had snapped.

Filed Jun 27, 2017 · Tires · 166,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford excursion equipped with sunfull mont-pro ht781 tires, size: lt265/75/16. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle vibrated abnormally. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the rear passenger side tire tread separated, which caused a bubble in the tire. Within less than a thousand miles later, the front driver's tire also experienced the failure. The retail facility where the tires were sold and installed was not contacted. The tire manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate vehicle failure mileage was 166,000 and the tire failure mileage was approximately 4,999.

Filed Aug 21, 2016 · Engine · MD

I have a 2002 ford excursions and 2 time spark plug ejection from the motor.

Filed Jan 17, 2016 · Engine · 167,000 miles · MI

I started my truck after sitting for 36 hours and what sounded like bad exhaust leak ..after being checked out by mechanic found that a spark plug and coil has been spit out of motor ..I had them repace spark plug and coil on top which repaired the problem ..today I was driving to town 10 miles and after stoppi g to get gas the noise started again !

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Other model years

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Questions about the 2002 Ford Excursion

Is the 2002 Ford Excursion reliable?

Owners have filed 129 complaints about the 2002 Ford Excursion, 1.2 times a typical Excursion model year.

What is the 2002 Ford Excursion year score?

The 2002 Ford Excursion scores 65 out of 100 (average). The score compares it with the other model years of the Ford Excursion: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.

What is the most common problem with the 2002 Ford Excursion?

Engine and cooling, with 37 complaints, typically around 79,284 miles. Next is tires (27).

How many recalls does the 2002 Ford Excursion have?

4 recalls, covering exterior lighting, vehicle speed control and engine and engine cooling.

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