I currently own a 1996 ford explorer xlt, 4x4, 5-speed manual transmission. One thing I have noticed with this vehicle is when I am either stopping moderately hard/fast or making sharp right turns, the engine tends to stall. This only happens when the transmission is in neutral or I have the clutch in. The main reason this is a problem is because when the vehicle is stalled, the power steering is off. Most of my problems have been on off ramps where I'm traveling realitively fast and a right turn. Towards the end of the ramp I start to straigten out the wheel and realize I can't move it. Generally I am forced to slam on the breaks before running into something or if I have enough time, I will quickly attempt to start it. There was no specific incident date. This did not start to happen until after my 30-day warranty was up at from the dealer so I have not had anything done to attempt to fix it. I have found on the internet that several explorers have had this problem. Some people blamed it on a valve. Below are listed websites where people have submitted to forums. These are people in similar situations as myself. Thanks http://www.carconsumers.com/ford_explorer.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/04/13/national/main285613.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/10/national/main240067.shtml http://www.cartrackers.com/forums/live/gremlins/191.html http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi/forum/subtopic/topicid=0351/subtopicid=0000857 7/firstrecord=0/finalrecord=14/ http://forums.vmag.com/pm-1001/messages/3445.html.
1996 Ford Explorer transmission complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 119, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While pulling out of a parking lot vehicle died. Vehicle would not go into reverse or drive.
While driving vehicle suddenly hesitated to accelerate, transmission had gone bad, per dealership.
We purchased our vehicle used in 1999 with 33000 miles. 6 months after the purchase we needed a new transmission, another new transmission last year (2002), new ball joints, and now we are being told the rack and pinion needs to be replaced. Ford has not offered any recalls on this part but I have seen other complaints regarding this. My vehicle is constantly shaking (feels like I am going over rumble strips) when I am over 30-40 MPH. We also just had our vehicle aligned and it is out of alignment again because of this problem.
We have a 1996 ford explorer with only 74,000 miles. When we bought the vehicle it had only 25,000 miles. The maintenance on the transmission was done according to the maintenance book. When the vehicle is put into gear it slips in each forward gear. Reverse gear no longer works. When in reverse its as though in park. The overdrive light flashes rapidly.
1) no heat, only blows cold air. 2) transmission does not shift smoothly from reverse to drive.
While driving vehicle will skip gears. Vehicle will shift from first to third gear. Consumer had vehicle serviced and was informed by the mechanic that the 2nd gear band had broken. Vehicle has an automactic transmission. Mr
Transmission failed.
While driving, vehicle makes a loud humming sound which comes from front end of vehicle. Also, transmission has failed. Consumer constantly has to take vehicle to dealer. *ak the check engine light illuminated. The speed sensor and the o2 sensor were replaced. Jg
No summary listed for above vehicle.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Within a 6 month span consumer has replaced transmission twice. Transmiission exploded while consumer was driving. Consumer was trying to accelerate, and the vehicel was not accelerati ng.
Vehicle stopped running while driving at 35-40 MPH. Vehicle taken to a independent repair shop for transmisson repairs. Please provide any further information.
After I bought this vehicle, I have taken it back at least 6 times due to a vibration. On feb.2001, the transmission was replaced. This problem still existed, just not as much. I took the mechanic on a test drive 2 times after the transmission was replaced. Unfortunitely it did not do the vibration. Just recently, it started getting worse. I took it to another ford dealer today, I was told that it was the torque converter. At the time of the transmission replacement, I asked about the torque converter, I was told that it was replaced with the transmission. Obviously this was not done.
Was traveling 30mph and vehicle would not shift into 3rd gear from 2nd gear. Transmission would slip hard. Vehicle would jerk when this happened. At dealership, transmission was replaced with a used one, but same problem occurred.
The vehicles overdrive failed resulting in transmission failure, the manufacturer has been contacted. Nlm
O/d light flashes after 15 min. Of running vehicle. Transmission then shifts hard up and down. Ford service says they cannot find anything wrong.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
Consumer had taken vehicle to dealer regarding transmission problems on seven occasions, when shifted into reverse, vehicle will hesitate and then pop into reverse after 15-20 seconds, vehicle will not always go in reverse, dealer stated that transmission was going, but not to do anything until all gears were affected.
This vehicle was professionally serviced and maintained. At 74,000 miles the transmission began slipping. When ford tested the vehicle they told me it broke down an that the starter, flywheel, torque converter and entire transmission had to be replaced. They said they have never seen this before. The more I talk about this, the more I hear about ford explorer transmission problems.
Consumer states he heard a strange noise coming from front part of vehicle, he took vehicle in to be inspected and when mechanic put the key in the ignition and turned it, there was a loud banging sound and the engine seized, according to the mechanic's report, something behind the torque converter locked up and ruined the transmission, the transmission, flywheel and starter motor had to be replaced.
Vehicle got stuck oin park position. Also, sometimes while driving transmission could be stuck in drive gear.
Beerings were shot, truck was not used off road at all, feel that it is a manufacturers defect. The part alone was $ 285.00 . I am aware that I am reporting thisvery late, but the real reason is that I am upset that the gear shift indicator is not working I.e. The little arrow in the dashboard that tells you what gear you are in. They want $ 150.00 to replace that piece. I feel that the indicator should last the life of the vehicle. I plan on writing ford about both of these problems and hope to have them pay for the gear shift indicator repair. Thank you.
During a routine transmission fluid and filter change I discovered a potential problem.during the refill and check of proper fluid level the dipstick gives a false indication that the fluid is at the correct level. It indicated to me that the level was over full. This was even verified by a certified ase technician at a local walmart. He noted the level was low. I discovered that you have to look at the opposite side of the dipstick to acquire the correct reading. By doing this I discovered the fluid was nearly 2 quarts low. The reading on the front side never changed where the cross hatched indicators are. This could be fixed by a simple change in the dipstick. This presents a problem of transmission failure due to improper fluid levels. I believe owners should be notified.
Transmission failed twice under normal driving conditions. Lost power under certain circumstances. Same problem both times. Engine seized when vehicle hit a puddle of water at low speed. Air intake is mounted unusally low on this explorer allowing water into the combustion chamber and causing hydrostatic lock. Ford motor company has been contacted and reads a scripted response when I have tried to get any additional information about what I consider a serious design flaw.
Transmission was whistling/rubbling, and would not drive. At 13 months old transmission was replaced. Currently, noises were back, but it was running. Dealer told consumer not to drive vehicle.
Transmission not shifting into 3rd gear onced warmed up. This vehicle has been serviced by ford since new at the dealer it was purchased at. Service verified problem but didn't know what caused it, said they've seen this 3-4 times and could only recommend overhual or replacement. Fluid for transmission had been overfilled when serviced by them in febuary 2000. Est cost of repair 2-3000.
No safety defect listed.
Uncontrolled rapid acceleration. Only stop by set tronsmission in neutral and/or punch down on gas pedal. Happened 3 times to date.
In june of 1996, 1 new tire blew out, and I was lucky to get a replacement and goodyear reinbursed me for the cost of a new tire. Eventually, my tires started wearing oddly, and after getting a whole new set, my sway bar link broke. I had the sway bar replaced, but my new tires are also wearing very oddly. I have had several front end alignments, tire balance and frequent rotations. No one is sure why my tires are wearing as they are, on the inside only. The tread is very thin, and I think I will need a third set of tires on this truck. I wonder if the sway bar is part of the problem. It seems like everything big and expensive went out on this car as soon as it hit just over 100k miles. Of course my transimission, and catalytic converter problems were not covered under warranty, even though both were very close. I plan to take the car to ford to discuss the tire problem, I hope someone can explain why I am going through so many sets of tire. I have never had an accident in this vehicle, and have maintined it carefully. Could the sway bar be a problem? *ak (tiresize: lt23s/75r1)( dot number: tire size: lt23s/75r1 )
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