Heater blend door has broken, so defroster does not work. Difficulty seeing out front window in cold weather. This appears to be a common problem, for which I was quoted a $900 repair.
1997 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 50, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Door compartment between the heater and the air conditioner, made of plastic is broke, causing not to have a heater. Dealer has been notified. Consumer will add more information on this issued. Mr
The keyless number pad on vehicle quit working, then the remote for anti theft system quit working and finally the automatic door locks quit working
Drivers door lock not working properly, gasket cylinder front cover, torque converter shudder, catalytic converter, rt bank exhaust manifold; these problems have been corrected, but new ones mount every week. Now there is a problem with the steering, being checked tomorrow.
Bracket attached to firwall by three small rivets. Rivets broke loose, pedal became inoperational while driving.
Tailgate while in lifted position fell/failed due to left rear bracket coming off, causing minor injury to owner. Child almost injuried due to braket failure.
Door handles on front passenger and rear passenger doors will not unlock from inside of vehicle, cause unknown. Please give any further details.
Both rear door hinges, left and right are broken. Consumer unable to open doors. *ak
Failure of metal at the location where the hinge attaches to the door. Had door checked in march of 2000 because door wasn't working properly. They found nothing and no visual signs.continual and normal use of the door has caused this obvious weakness or defect in the metal to rupture and make the door inoperable.
Although not a safety problem, I believe my rusting running boards should be considered a defective product. I have contacted the dealer and they refuse to help me. 1998 models and newer models have plastic running boards so obviously ford realized they created a defective product and changed it.
Vehicle has four doors, doors in rear will not operate unless unlocked doors from inside. When operating from outside too open, door locks will not opearate. This is a safety concern because in case of an emergency doors will not operate unless consumer is outside to open them. Dealership is aware of problem.*ak
Rear tailgate doors will not open from inside of vehicle. Dealr has been contacted.
Vehicle experienced several engine problems, consumer stated that the engine sounded like no oil was in it when started, dealer has replaced gaskets, upper intake cam tensioner three times, and there was a coolant leak. Left front door hinge replaced, it was making noise. Power steering pump was replaced, it was noisy when turning the wheel. Vanity mirror on driver's side would not close all the way and popped when opened, dealer replaced it. The right front of the vehicle was lower than the left front. Brakes were squeaky, dealer replaced front brake pads and turned rotors. A tap noise was heard while playing cd's. Vehicle experienced several transmission problems, while going over bumps and railroad tracks, transmission jumped out of gear, dealer intalled overhaul kit because the clutch had burned. 4 wheel drive was inoperable and made a rubbing/groan noise, when reversing and putting intor drive, consumer heard popping noise, dealer replaced rear transfer case flange and removed driveshaft. Vehicle would not start, it would turn over, dealer found the PCM was not wiring, dealer replaced PCM.
There is metal fatigue of door panel at hinge at the upper right hand corner of the rear lift gate. The company says the door has to be replaced, that it cannot be fixed as a fix would further fatigue the metal. The bending of the metal is taking place where the hinge attaches and is bending the panel up so that when the door is closed, the bent body work acts as a scoop, drawing rain water, air and, I assume, exhaust fumes into the passenger compartment. I complained to ford and they have said they will cover approx. $1,000 of the $1300 estimate to fix the problem. However generous that may be, I feel this is a problem than is a design problem and that it may affect many more than just my unit. I have not yet taken the car in for the repair....the earliest I can get an appt. Is 12/11. The dealer has been most cooperative in this but the expense of the replacement of the door is large and, in my estimation, should be 100% covered by the company. Jm.
Passenger doors would not open from the inside, the dealer replaced both door handles.
The vehicle went onto the shoulder then over, corrected while coming back onto to roadway and rolled over striking a light pole (bridgestone/firestone, p235/75r15, wilderness at m/s, vdhl1py207, left rear). Nlm
Summer 1999- trip to florida, ran into rain storm around decatur, alabama. We had slowed to 35 - 45 MPH maximum after feeling what felt like the vehicle trying to hydraplane. Then we heard a slapping sound like the rubber was loose. Stopped and check it and tires appeared okay. Continued carefully. To date, we still hear a sound similiar to a ball bouncing while driving it. Local dealership's service mgr. Said the tires were cupping. We have had the tires balanced and rotated every 10,000 miles max. And the alignment checked numerous times; all have been okay. I run approx. 32 lbs. In the tires. Door locks - left rear had to have 2 motor replacements before it operated properly. Now left front control lock is not unlocking properly without numberous attempts.( dot number: w2hl1py49 tire size: p235/75r15 )
Hydraulic lift cylinder bracket broke away from the frame on the driver's side. Dealership is aware of the problem. Problem has not been corrected. Please provide any further information.
Occupants cannot exit rear seat, door handles do not work.
Rear passenger's and driver's door handles from the inside are inoperative. In case of an emergency driver/rear passenger cannot get out. Dealer will repair at owner's expense. *ak.et.
Car makes a rattling noise when driven. Also, vehicle has scratches/cuts on its body.
The door handle machanism has failed on each of the rear doors. A plastic piece broke off the mechanism. This resulted in not being able to open the door from the inside, inhibiting egress of any passengers during an emergency. Both failed mechanisms have been replace by the selling dealership at our expense. Representatives at the dealership indicated to us both times that this is a common problem with our type of vehicle. We believe that this is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. It is not always possible to get the vehicle in to the dealership in a timely manner to get this door opening replaced. We had our broken part replaced today. Ford part # f77z-7821818-aaj is the one that was most recently replaced.
While driving the accelerator pedal fell off, catching the accelerator pedal and the weld to the firewall broke. Nlm
Both inside rear door handles broke off while exiting vehicle. Dealer notified, and repairs were made at consumer's cost.
Both back doors will not open from the inside. Child safety locks are not on. This is the second ford explorer I have owned and I had the same problem with the other one. A ford dealer has acknowledged that they have sold numerous parts to correct this particular problem. This newer model has a feature where the doors automatically lock when you reach a certain speed(5mph?). I feel like this could be hazardous because you have to rely on the driver to open the doors and it cannot be done without first unlocking them. If the vehicle was on fire, this problem would delay the time that the passengers in the back seat could be safely removed from the vehicle..
No summary
Due to the location of the hood cable, the cable is pressing against the battery, causing the acid to eat through the cable, consumer is also unable to open the hood of the vehicle due to the problem. Please provide any further details.
Front main seal. Paint--paint faded and had no paint under door jams.
Passenger side door came open last 2 times. The last time the door came open I fell out of it, and hurt my back, and can not stand for any lentgh of time. I would like something done its been ongoing for almost 3 months with ford motor company. And I e-mailed you in january and I should of heard something from you beginning of febuary. And I still have not heard from you why? Thank you nedra j. Osso
Electrical failures continually replacement of the faulty PCM module and spark plugs did not rectify failures.
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