1992 Ford Explorer: jerking or lurching

Filed Apr 27, 2004 · Fuel system · 30 miles · CA

Within 24 hours of buying my 2002 ford explorer sport trac, I experienced my first problem with this vehicle. I took the vehicle home on september 14, 2002, saturday afternoon after buying it and on sunday (9/15) with my wife in the car, the vehicle started hesitating/jerking and finally stalled out while driving down a country road. It seemed that the vehicle was not getting any gas. I was able to get the vehicle started again and I immediately took the vehicle back to be checked and was told it would be fixed. I received a call from future ford telling me that I should only fill the gas tank full to avoid problems. I informed the future ford representative that this was not an acceptable option for a brand new vehicle. I have taken this vehicle back to future ford 6+ times for the same problem and in each case it was not fixed, or it cannot be fixed. One time this last summer in 100+ degree heat, my wife and I stopped at a shopping mall. When we started to leave the mall, the vehicles air-conditioning would not work, as we started driving it started hesitating and then black smoke was coming out the tail pipe and it was jerking violently. I was close to the dealership and I immediately drove it to the dealer. Future ford dealership states they are unable to find anything wrong, but they have replaced parts they thought were causing the problem and other items they found wrong. Why or how they cannot find anything wrong with the vehicle is beyond me. This vehicle has stalled out or hesitated numerous times besides those I have taken it in for. I have been fortunate to this point that when it hesitates and/or stalls out that I have not been in the middle of turning right or left or heavy commuter traffic. Because when it dies there is not any power steering. I will not take it on any long trips because I feel that it is not safe or dependable.

Filed Sep 3, 2000 · Tires · VA

Brand new car. Tread separated and came off before second tank of gas ever used in car. Fortunately it was a rear tire. Wife driving on I-17 with infant in car seat. Firestone dealer was a jerk. Claimed my wife had run over something. Salesman we bought car from intervened and got us a new tire. Tires wore unevenly on that explorer and had to be replaced at 35,000 or so in spite of conscientious rotation. Replacement tires made 55,000 with no rotation - they were pathfinder radial atrs. Bought new explorer in nov, 1997. Tires on it were firestone wilderness. They wore unevenly, dished out, and I had to replace them a year ago at 33,000 miles. One had partially separated tread when we took them off. We bought michelins. On both explorers, we bought replacement tires from reputable dealers. At time of replacement, both those dealers carried firestone wilderness atrs. I don't think either dealer would have stocked bad tires, although clearly the original tires furnished on both explorers were awful tires. I hope that you folks are checking into the possibility that two different tires were made under the same name - a cheap one for the ford original equipment monopoly and a better one for the replacement tire market where there was true competition.( dot number: tire size: 15 inch )

Filed Apr 25, 2000 · Acceleration · OH

While at a stop in a driveway waiting to enter traffic the car suddenly lurched forward. At first I thought that through some lack of attention that I had somehow stepped on the gas. Making sure to firmly put my foor on the brake, it happened again 30 seconds later. At that time I noticed that the tachometer went up to 1500 RPM. This happened one more time in the next half hour. I parked the car and later when I tried to start the car to check for a problem the engine failed to crank over. I found that the + connector on the wire to the battery had cracked making a loose connection. I am an engineer who designs microprocessor control systems and believe this is a software problem. It is my opinion that this intermitent connection brake to the battery (spike or loss of voltage) caused the computer to reset and open the idle adjust control valve momentarily as if the engine was first being started. I believe this problem could easily be repeated in a test and I would have done it if there wasn't a good chance that I could have zapped my computer at my expense. I think this is serious because if someone would have been walking on the sidewalk or been behind a car at an intersection I would have hit them. There should be a check in the program that prevents the valve from opening max if the engine is running.

Filed Feb 26, 1999 · Transmission · CT

When in drive car acts like in neutral, then with gas added, jerks and goes into gear - only in cold season and first thing in morning

Filed Dec 5, 1996 · Acceleration · CA · crash · 1 injury

Shifted from park to reverse, engine accelerated, lurched backward, hit a pole, engine kept racing, wheels kept spinning, vehicle bounced off pole repeatedly, shifted to drive, vehicle took off, hit a building, then stopped, no prior warning.