Rear restraints are inoperaple. The restraints will not retract. Dealer has bene notified.
1997 Ford Explorer seat belts complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 54 of 54, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Seat belt anchors of rear seats stick up. When passenger sat on the anchor while trying to move to the middle seat, the anchor hit the passenger's spine tail causing severe pain. Lower back problem since injury.
I was recently in an accident, both airbags did deploy but not the full extent that an airbag should deploy to. That then caused me fall forward upon impact, which then caused my head to strike the windshield of my car. There is a mark I believe on the window proving this, and also I had a headache for 3 days following the accident. My concern is that if I would have been hit harder, my head could have possibly gone threw the window. I hope that you can be able to contact me again involving this matter!! Sincerly, holly k hendrickson
No summary listed for this vehicle.
Back seat belt inoperable. Yh
1) throttle cable binds up. When it breaks free it adds 1,000 RPM to engine speed. Most pronounced after using cruise control on the freeway and deactivating cruise with brake pedal. Almost rearended car in front of me due to sudden acceleration. 2) seat belt retractor locks up. Restrains passenger to the point of pain. Very difficult to release. Retractor replaced once under warranty.
An unusual problem that has happened to me probably over 100 times in 2 years. After unbuckling the seatbelt, the seatbelt starts to retract as it's supposed to. However, just before fully retracting, with about 7-8 inches to go, the belt gets twisted just before it enters the belt shoulder guide/support/slide (exact name unknown--mounted on frame, about ear level when seated in car, changes the direction of the belt position to vertical). It seems to me that the weight of the buckle (male end) is off center in relation to the belt and causes the belt to twist. This twist prevents the belt from sliding throught the shoulder belt support/guide/slide. The 7-8 inches of slack gets caught in the door after exiting and closing the door. After re-entering the car and closing the door, the slack in the belt is still there (nothing has changed since exiting the car). The seat belt can be easily buckled (it just takes additional belt off the retraction roller) but the belt is still stuck in the door and the driver would never know it. A slight tug on the belt frees it from the door and the excess belt is retracted. This is a problem should the belt be called upon to work with the slack caught in the door. In a head-on, the body moving forward would not be restrained until the slack part of the belt is no longer stuck in the door. (the body moving forward frees the belt from the door). I'm sorry for the lengthy description.
Rear lap belts do not come out all the way. Sometimes they don't retract, incident occurred three times. Dealer cannot duplicate the problem.
Consumer cannot put a car seat in the meddle of the back seat because vehicle does not have a middle seat belt.
Passenger seat belt retract and locks restraining normal passenger movement.
Passenger's front and rear seat belts get tight and does not release to the point that the passengers can't move. Consumer has almost had to cut seat belt to release children.
Seat belt when worn cuts across driver's neck and rubs sideways.
Seat belts: driving approximately 30mph ,vehicle ahead of us slowed down to make a sudden stop I hit brakes and my nephew came forward into the back of the front seat. There is no clip to lock the belt into.
Car was hit in the right front at 50mph and then hit in rear when the airbags and seatbelts did not work.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1997 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history