Tl* the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. The controls for the cruise control became dislodged and he could not put them back. The dealer was notified, but he did not receive any assistance. He received recall notice # 09v399000 (vehicle speed control). A technician stated that they would repair the part described under the recall that would cause the fire but not repair the controls. The controls should also be repaired because without there functioning, the cruise control could not be activated. The current mileage was approximately 157,000. The failure mileage was approximately 155,000.
1996 Ford Explorer acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 6: complaints 11 to 40 of 148, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. While placing fuel in the vehicle, the contact noticed smoke underneath the hood. He opened the hood and noticed that the vehicle was on fire. The fire was doused with a fire extinguisher. The contact examined the damage and noticed that the wiring harness for the cruise control had melted, as well as the master cylinder. There were no warning signs prior to the failure. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. The current and failure mileages were 127,000.
Safety recall 97v-074000. Everything my vehicle did is described in this recall. The throttle stuck at 65 MPH on two different occasions so far. Both times occurred on days with temps at -13 to -15 degrees. The vehicle speeds up to the "stuck" speed with no gas pedal use, and won't stop without standing on the brake pedal. Upon shifting to neutral or park, the RPM revs up to about 5000. I have contacted ford customer service. The agree that is sounds like the problem listed in the recall. However, since I live in colorado, they will not fix it under the recall. I live less than 30 miles from wyoming, which is included, and further north than parts of nebraska - also included. This is a safety problem when I can't stop, yet they are not willing to help. The first occurrence was on january 2, 2008 - same situation.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. He noticed the on/off cruise control switch became tacky and his thumb print was left on the switch. There is a recall for the vehicle speed control (the federal safety agency campaign #97v074000), however his VIN was not included. The failure mileage was 190,000 and the current mileage was 191,000.
Speed control switch, also known as brake pressure switch on the 1996 ford explorer was defective. The thin membrane of the switch was in contact with the brake fluid. As the switch was powered all the time , hot, even when the ignition was off. This was a fire/safety hazard. Ford has already recalled millions of vehicles for this problem, but ford customer service stated there was no recall for this particular vehicle, and I must pay to have the retro fitted switch installed.
Tl*the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. On may 14, 2007, the vehicle's accelerator pedal detached without warning and the vehicle was towed off the road. The contact was driving 50 MPH at the time of failure. She stated that the vehicle hood release also failed and the tow driver could not open the hood. The VIN, purchase date, and engine size were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 163,000.
My 1996 ford explorer unexpectedly went up in flames between the hours of 3 am - 4 am on 12/27/2006. I was later informed by my insurance company that a defective cruise control switch might have caused this to occur.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 82 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle began to accelerate continuously without warning. The speed of the vehicle rose past 97 MPH. The brakes were applied and the cruise control button was disengaged, which did not change the speed. The vehicle was then shifted into neutral, and the brakes were applied with excessive force which slowed the vehicle down. The vehicle was not taken in for service following the incident.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably to 80 MPH on the highway without warning while traveling 60 MPH. The vehicle was not controllable by the applied brakes. The cruise control was not engaged. The contact put the transmission into neutral and reapplied the brakes, which assisted in stopping the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that the speed control could have caused the problem. The same problem occurred on 4 other occasions. The vehicle accelerated while stopped at a stop sign on 07/22/06.
Dt*: the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. It caught fire while parked, destroying the vehicle, the house, and another vehicle that was parked in the driveway. There is a the federal safety agency recall, # 05v388000, regarding the vehicle speed control. The vehicle had the same problems as indicated in the recall, however it is not included in the recall due to the VIN.
I was driving my 96 ford explorer sport, traveling 65 MPH on a freeway, when the car rpms suddenly went up to 5500 without me doing anything. The cruise control was not on. As the car accelerated I depressed the brakes and was only able to slow down slightly, I then reached down to check if something was contacting the accelerator and I also pulled the floor mat back. The car continued to accelerate past 80 MPH. Pumping the accelerator did not change anything. I have a manual transmission so I pushed down the clutch and the car slowed, however, the RPM stayed at 5500. I made it to the side of the freeway and turned off the car. I restarted it after the engine stopped and the RPM went back up to 5500. I then stopped the engine again and waited 5 minutes and then restarted and the car was then running normally. I took it to a ford dealer and they could not find a reason for the problem as there were no engine malfunction codes that would cause the incident and the accelerator and cruise control cables were in good condition. They suggested that the floor mat could have been the cause but I'm sure that was not the cause as I pulled the floor mat away and there was no change in the problem. The service tech and the dealership were honest and told me they could not find a cause and nothing was done to fix the problem.
Dt: contact stated in 02-05 the car started smoking while driving. The consumer pulled over and there was a fire under the hood. The car was destroyed. The fire department was called. The consumer reported of having no problems with the cruise control prior to this happening. The consumer was unable to determine what may have caused the fire. He was not sure if it was electrical or caused by the vehicle speed control:cruise control. *ak
I was driving from louisville to rehoboth beach, de. I left around 4:00 am with no trouble with my car. Approximately 9:45 am est my cruise control went out on my car and my car kept accelerating and would not stop. I pushed every button on the steering wheel and kept pushing the brakes and that would only slow down the car. My car was traveling in excess of 80+ MPH, I only had the cruise control set on 74. My car was driving out of control on the curvy and mountainous roads of hwy 79 n and this went on for around 5 miles before I came to a straight-away at the bottom of the mountain and was able to put my car in neutral (slamming on the breaks) my car still did not stop, I finally put it in park (I'm in the emergency lane now, ) still did not stop and turned the car off. My breaks were smoking and I was finally able to get the car to stop. This was between mile marker 71 & 72. I immediately called aaa (my cell phone was out of range so I had to put it on roam) and the highway patrol showed up within minutes and waited with me until the tow truck came. He then towed me to gassaway ford where the service manager (john smallwood) checked out my car and told me the cruise control piece was defective. He removed it from my car and checked my breaks and said they were o.k. (I drove the rest of my trip to rehoboth and back to louisville, the breaks appear to be loose now and not as tight as they once were). He gave me the defective piece and they were out of that part so it was not replaced on my car. He advised to file a complaint with ford and with the federal safety agency because the piece was defective and I'm lucky I wasn't killed.
I own a 96 ford explorer and was told by co-workers that a defective part had been recalled in the 2000 model f-150 that part was the cruise control switch that was located in front of the brake fluid housing, it was a live wire even though the engine was off and the key was not in the ignition, if for any reason there was a spark or short that wire would cause the car to explode. I noticed that I had a leak around a part in my ford explorer that was in front of my brake fluid housing and when I went to the ford dealer to find out what the leak was from the mechanic told me that I had that same part that was being recalled in the f-150. The part only cost 18.00 dollars to replace but the point that I'm making is how would I have explained to my family why my car exploded when I would of had no idea what was wrong. I would like to put a word out to all the explorer owners around the world to have there cruise control switches check or replace so that they don't have a unpleasant visit to the ford repair place to find out that they could of not come back the next morning.
1996 ford explorer two doors: cruise control buttons on the steering wheel melted. New buttons put by a private technician at my own cost. Several ford vehicles are being recalled for this problem but not mine. Why not? I am the original owner.
Dt: the contact owns a 1996 ford explorer. The contact states that the cruise control switch o melted because of the hot sun. The cruise control does work, but the consumer no longer uses the cruise control. The vehicle has not been to a service dealer to report this problem. The consumer has not contacted the manufacturer.
Dt: contact's son owns a 1996 ford explorer. The contact stated there were no prior problems with the vehicle. Her son drove the vehicle for approximately 1-2 hours. After the vehicle was parked for about 20 minutes someone knocked on the door and said the vehicle was on fire. The vehicle was not inspected to determine the cause of the fire. The consumer has not contacted the manufacturer yet, but was going to do so.
Driving on the garden state parkway with husband, myself and 21 month baby in car, passing vehicle, when put foot on brake slowed down then when let off brake, car accelerated to a high speed, applied brake 2 more times, both times, slowed down but when took foot off brake the vehicle accelerated to high speeds without ever touching the gas pedal, resulted in a spin-out on the garden state parkway stopping short of crashing into another vehichle. Thank god no one was hurt. Called ford consumer relations, was told to take to a dealer for diagnostic test. Took car the next day to a ford dealer in cape may court house new jersey, said nothing was wrong with car.
Dt: when going down the road the accelerator fell off the firewall of the vehicle. When having it repaired by the dealership they had made a comment saying they had seen that before. They drilled bolted the firewall and attached it with bolts instead of spot welding it.
On wednesday december 29th, 2004, at approximately 3:30pm I was traveling south on rt. 9w in my 1996 ford explorer xlt. The weather was clear, approximately 35-40f, and the roads were clear of snow and ice. I passed a car going 35mph in a 55 MPH area, and my explorer stuck going at 3000r pms and accelerating. I tried to brake but my explorer would not decelerate. I put on my hazards, put both of my feet on the brake pedals pushing as hard as I could and still could not control the vehicle. I ended up trying to pull into an empty parking lot, it still would not slow down so I turned the ignition off and ended up going through the parking lot and crashing down a 10 feet. Embankment. Both air bags deployed, vehicle was totaled. Transported to hospital by ambulance for observation and released.
Traveling home on highway 509 around 3:00 pm in my 1996 ford explorer, conditions were clear and dry, passed a car going 40 MPH in a 55mph zone, upon passing the accelerator went straight to the floor and stuck there. Tried to place my foot under the pedal to lift up, could'nt. Suv steadilygaining speed,las time I glanced down I was going approx. 95mph, tried to apply brakes to slow down enough so I could get on the shoulder of the road safley,SUV went off the road did a flip in mid air rolled hitting on the passenger side and came to rest on drivers side. Air bags did not deploy, engine was still running wide open, managed to somehow reach the ignition key to turn engine off, it took fire rescue 35 minuters to cut me out of the SUV,I was taken to the hospital with minor injuries,as of 12/10/04 I am still going through therapy with my neck and shoulders, SUV was a total loss.had to purchase a new automobile.
The federal safety agency campaign 97v074000, 97v137000, 97v070000. Ford issued a throttle, liftgate, and door assembly recalls. This vehicle was not included in the recalls, but the consumer was experiencing the same problems as those vehicles that were recalled. The vehicle identification number was outside the remedy scope.
While driving vehicle suddenly accelerated uncontrollably. The consumer applied the brakes and pedal went to the floor. The vehicle continued to accelerate with speed. The consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, pulled over, and turned the vehicle off. The consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection, and the mechanic determined that the speed sensor cable needed to be replaced. *ak the consumer was entering a ramp when the vehicle had taken off very fast. The consumer felt the experience was like the cruise control had taken over. The consumer stated that her foot was all the way down on the brake pedal . The consumer managed to slow the vehicle down, veered off of the highway, shifted the gear to park with the vehicle still moving, then applied the emergency brake with only seconds to spare.
The bracket holding the foot accelerator pedal on my 1996 ford explorer broke off while driving the vehile. As a result of this failure I lost complete control of the ability to add fuel to the engine and accelerate or hold speed. The bracket appeared to have been welded to the firewall as part of the manufacturing process. All 3 welds broke. At the time I was not doing anything out of the ordinary and had not put any abnormal strain or pressure on the foot feed pedal or the bracket. There is no appearance of corrosion so I suspect the welds failed farily recently. If this failure had occured as I was pulling into or accross traffic a serious accident could have resulted.
I was driving 75 on i76 in colorado. I had the speed control set to 75 MPH. All of a sudden, I couldn't cancel speed control and the speed started increasing. I tried everything to cancel it - no luck. I slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a slower speed moving straight before turning the key and engine off - I knew the steering wheel would lock, that's why I straightened the car out on the shoulder before I turned it off.
Consumer complained about a cruise control. Problem. After cruise control was activated vehicle kept accelerating, and vehicle would not stop. Driver had to put the vehicle in reverse to get the vehicle to stop. Consumer had the vehicle towed to an independent repair shop, where the mechanic disengaged the cruise control.
My 1996 explorer is a 5.0 litre awd eddie baur purchsed used. After driving using the cruise control without incident, I pulled into a parking lot. Coasting slowly into a parking slot applying the brakes, the engine appeared to increase power making it difficult to stop. The more I pressed the brake pedal the more the engine power increased preventing the vehicle from stopping until colliding with a vehicle in front. With the brake still applied, the engine raced when put in nuetral until switching the ignition off. The brake and accelerator operated normally after restarting. Damage resulted to the explorer bumper. I did not observe the gas pedal position during the incident but assumed it could have been driven by the cruise control cable under uncommanded operation and severed the cruise cable before proceding. A similar problem had occured during a prior stop the same trip but abruptly returned to normal operation possibly after having pumped the brakes to check them. The same type problem with engine power surge during braking to a stop occured on prior days when the cruise control had not been used and may have corrected after pumping the brake. Reviewing nhsta complaint odi id 736277 and subsequent experiment on my vehicle, it appears the problem could potentially result from inadvertant pressing the gas pedal during braking due to proximity of the pedals but I can't rule out uncommanded cruise control operation activated by a brake signal. Please advise if investigation and discovery have resulted in any probable causes and recommendations for corrective maintenance for this safety hazard. Does not display symptoms corrected by recalls for throttle body sticking and jammed cruise control cable.
The vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning.
Recall 97v074000 concerning throttle body failure. During the winter months while revving up the engine it will race very violently. Engine would race to the point when it would be necessary to press the brakes real hard to keep the vehicle from moving forward. This happened ten times in 2003 . This vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN.
Truck was in park. Put my foot on brake, shifted into drive, truck immediately moved forward with foot still on brake, at approx 2- 5 MPH. Pushed continually harder on brake with no response. Lifted foot completely off brake and pushed again, then truck stopped. Went through a garage door in the process, couldn't stop until truck was fully through.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1996 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history