While driving my 2002 ford sport trac at about 40 MPH,engine shut off without any warning,just a shaking feeling,then completely shut off,while in motion. Very dangerous situation! No check engine light came on and no codes were present. I was able to get out of traffic and avoid being hit. Had to crank for about half a minute and it restarted. Have driven on a daily basis about 200 miles since and problem has not recurred as of yet.vehicle is well maintained and up to date on filters,etc...
2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine problems
24 complaints (17% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 19,900.
- owner complaints
- 24
- of this car's complaints
- 17%
- typical mileage
- 19,900
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine7
- Engine: gasoline3
- Exhaust system2
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
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
What 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The body mounts on the vehicle are desintegrating. I touched it with my hand and it fell apart. Body mounts should last much longer.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer sport trac. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an automotive repair shop where a mechanic performed a diagnostic test and detected a malfunction in the emissions control system. The manufacturer had issued a voluntary recall for the emissions control system however, the contact's vehicle was not included in the recall campaign. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 161,673.
I bought a 2002 ford explorer sport trac new. Shortly after have electric window problems drivers door back passenger window and now the passenger door window, bad body mounts,and idles bad when in park or stopped at a red light. Rpm's 500 to 1000 back down to 500-400. 2002 had a baby girl 1 1/2 years and another on the way needed a 4 door and also for work. I kick my self every day that I have owned it but had no choice money was tight and still is could not afford every time getting things fixed so I lived with it!!!! Until I found this web page I am fed up I have always owned ford but after this im not so sure anymore! And reading other peoples with the same problems the sport trac is one big lemon!!!!!!
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer sport trac. While driving 40 MPH, the oxygen sensor caused the check engine light to illuminate and the cruise control failed at 40,000 miles. The dealer promised over the phone to repair both the recall and the engine light, but later denied service because the vehicle was 24,000 miles over the limit to repair the oxygen sensor. The technician disconnected the cruise control switch to prevent a fire from occurring until the parts for the recall were available. A year has passed and the dealer still does not have the parts for the repair. The recall number was unknown. The current mileage was 56,000 and failure mileage was 40,000.
I bought this truck on february 20th, 2004 with a little over 20,000 miles. On february 24th, 2004, after leaving the dealership my truck died on a busy street on two separate occasions. The salesman told me that the truck had flooded. On june 10th, august 12th, november 19th, and again on december 2nd, 2004 (the only ones I wrote down it does happen more often) my truck also died while driving down the road. These have all been very serious incidents where I felt lucky to not only be alive but that I hadnt hit anything or anyone else. The technicians from the dealership have looked at my truck on all these occasions and gave me little or no excuse for the truck to die. At this time Ive asked for a reasonable refund with no success&&Im at a loss&&&please help!!!!
While driving vehicle stalled. The consumer pulled over and restarted the vehicle. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
Problems with vehicle engine stalling while driving. *mr this was an intermittent problem. There would be no warning. *sc
I purchased a ford explorer sport trac in dec. 2002. I have been in and out of the service department a number of times. The following is a list of items that I've had repaired under warranty: 1.) front brakes: a loud rubbing/griding sound became increasingly louder. The first time the service dept. Folks said that it was normal. The next time I brought the car in, they could deny the noise and they subsequently replace one rotor and resurfaced the other. 2.) rear axle: a broken seal allowed hydroulic fluid to cover inside of the rear wheel causing difficulty in braking. The service dept. Repaired under warranty 3.) the transfer case for the 4-wheel drive was leaking fluid. The service dept. Repaired under warranty. 4.) the vehicle stalls a numerous amounts of times (10-15 times) since I've owned it. It stalls while I'm driving at 35 miles per hour, in reverse, day or night. When I go for an errand and park, the vehicle will not start. An hour later, when the tow truck is there, the vehicle start. It drives me crazy!! The service dept. Says they cannot do anything because nothing registers on the computer and they cannot simulate the problem. The last time it happened (08-04-04) merging on to the freeway it stalled. Upon start-up, black smoke poured out of the exhaust and idling was extremely rough. I had it towed to a ford dealership. The service dept replaced a mass airflow meter under warrenty. The vehicle runs...I'll cross my fingers!! My current problem is that the front tires are severly cupping and the front end viberates at 60 MPH and over. The vehicle has 25k miles and the tires have been rotated 5 times about every 5k miles. I had the wheels checked for alignment and balance and it is to specifications. The service dept says its normal and to continue with the rotations. The tires are wearing unevenly and prematurely. The tire shop recommends that the shocks and struts be replaced. The service dept does not.
My 2002 ford explorer sport trac stalls when going down the road. It's like you're taking your foot off the gas and back on it again except that isn't what I'm doing. Today it did that and then went dead while driving down the road. I took it to the ford place but they said with no lights on it wouldn't do any good to hook it up to a machine. They said it could be anything from electronics, fuel pump, etc. My warranty runs out in about 4,500 miles. This has been going on for about a year with the stalling out but this was the first time it actually went dead while driving down the road. I would estimate that over the past year that it has stalled at least 25 separate occasions but only 1 time so far did it go dead.
Questions about the 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine
Does the 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac have engine problems?
Owners have filed 24 complaints about the engine of the 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, 17% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 19,900 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford Explorer Sport Trac have bad engine?
The Ford Explorer Sport Trac model years with the most engine complaints are 2002 (24 complaints), 2007 (21 complaints) and 2001 (19 complaints).
Other 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac problems
Transmission 32Electrical 21Acceleration 19Brakes 19Body 16Fuel system 14Locks 9Lights 7Seats 5Suspension 5Seat belts 2Steering 2Tires 2Visibility 2Airbags 1
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