Dt: while driving in july the owner noticed that there was a problem with the shift mechanism. The gear position indicator was not correct. The vehicle had a normal position indicator for about 7 years. Then one day it went out of wack. The reverse was where neutral should be, neutral was where drive should be, and drive was where second gear should be. The owner has not taken it to the dealership or contacted them yet. The owner has not contacted the manufacturer. There was no problem with the transmission's performance, the owner is just concerned because he doesn't know what gear the car was in. The owner added that the gas pedal got stuck yesterday. The owner was backing out of a driveway. The owner was going slowly and and went to push the accelerator and it wouldn't accelerate. The gas pedal was jammed. The owner thinks the pedal was down a little bit and there was no reaction. The owner stopped the vehicle and shouted for husband to come over and look. Then she tried again. This time the accelerator worked. This was the first and last time the vehicle has ever this problem.*ak
1998 Ford Explorer acceleration complaints
Page 4 of 10: complaints 71 to 100 of 280, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt: 1998 ford explorer. The consumer parked car in the driveway and five hours later the car was on fire. The car exploded, and that was what alerted the consumer to the fire. There were no prior warning lights on before the fire. The cruise control still worked when consumer parked the car. Also, the brakes worked fine when she parked the vehicle. The car was only used for local activities. The car was inspected in november 2004 and nothing was found to be wrong . The fire department was called , and a report was taken. In addition, a police report an insurance company report were taken. When the vehicle was on fire it caught the consumer daughter's house on fire. There was at least 50% damage to the house. There was damage to other cars that were parked close to vehicle on fire, and damage to other people's property. The consumer contacted ford costumer service, and they advised her that there was no recall. Since then she received a letter from ford's legal department stating they will be in touch with her.
Dt: the consumer stated that 1998 ford explorer caught on fire and burned. The consumer was driving when the fire started. The vehicle was parked overnight, and the consumer had only been in the vehicle for about five minutes. The cruise control was still working. All of the instruments on the dashboard were in working order. The consumer had the air conditioner (A/C) on and noticed that smoke was coming through the vents. The fire was coming out of the dashboard from underneath the hood. The fire department stated that it looked like an electrical fire. The consumer contacted ford, and they asked what she wanted them to do about it. The consumer did have a fire report and pictures . The consumer only has liability insurance on the truck, which was a total loss. The fire was called in to the police, but the consumer was unsure if a police report was taken.
After vehicle was parked for four hours a fire started under the hood. The fire was put out. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak
Dt: 1998 ford explorer. The consumer stated while driving the gas pedal fell off including the mounted metal. The vehicle was not inspected to see why this occurred. The consumer's father fixed the vehicle. The problem has not been reported to ford. There were no prior problems with the pedal. This happened on august 24, 2005. This problem did not cause a crash.*ak
We have a 1998 ford explorer. On january 25th, 2005 o explorer was parked in the driveway & had been there approximately 2 hours. Consumer's wife had put chidren in the car & noticed smoke coming from the hood. When she opened the hood there was a fire near the brake fluid assembly. Fortunately she was able to get children out and put out the fire. Had the explorer towed to the ford dealership for repairs. When I asked the dealer what could have caused a fire in the vehicle when it was not running they seemed to have no idea & said they had never heard of this problem before. The next night while watching the news saw the recall ford had for later model vehicles due to the engine catching on fire. Iconsumer called ford, and they told him thiscar did not qualify for the recall since it was a 1998 exlplorer even though the pictures on the news showing were the fire occured looked identical to the engine on this vehicle. Ford did not seem overly concerned & the dealer just told me to keep reciept in case they changed their mind about the recall. I took pictures of my engine if needed. Prior to the fire my cruise control stopped working. Repair cost was over $700.00 plus rental car fee & towing expense. The cruise control swicth, brake fluid assembly, & hood insulation were replaced. Do not have the old parts.
At about 6:00 pm on saturday 13 aug 2005 I went into my garage to get something and noticed it was full of smoke. I saw smoke coming from under the hood of my 1998 ford explorer. When I raised the hood, flames rolled from beneath it. I immediately extinguished the fire and then disconnected the negative battery terminal. My wife had already called 911 by this time. The fire fighters determined the source of the electrical fire to be a connector on the brake master cylinder. I was very lucky to have caught the fire in time. If this had happened when we were sleeping we might not be alive now. I have not received a notice of recall for this. I am sending the vehicle to the dealership on monday, if this is not a recall part I will have to pay for the repairs. I think that people should know about this problem and probably not park their ford in the garage.
Routine travel, coming to intersection when throttle stuck and vehicle proceeded through intersection. Brakes applied, but due to the high acceleration the vehicle would not stop. Put vehicle in neutral and turned off ignition to stop vehicle. Once vehicle stopped and waited for a few seconds, everything resumed as usual. After researching issue, this vehicle is experiencing the same issues as in recall numbers: 00s58 & 99s09.
Dt: 1998 ford explorer. The brakes lights failed on the vehicle. Consumer had the brake light fuses changed. They used the fuses that came with the vehicle. As soon as the second fuse was put in the vehicle caught on fire. Another person put the fire out by beating it with a towel. Then, consumer contacted a dealership by phone, they told her that there was a recall on the master cylinder but, he was unsure of the model years included. When the consumer contacted ford, they told consumer would get back to her. There were no fire or police reports available. The incident occurred on 7-262005 before the hood latch had acted up. Also, cruise control malfunctioned. . It melted the wires for the ABS and the spot for putting in the brake fluid.
My wife had the ford explorer parked outside the curves gym where she and her mother work out. When they were finished they were talking outside when her mother noticed smoke coming out othe the SUV. The explorer then caught on fire and burned.
Dt: 1998 ford explorer, accelerator pedal gets stuck while consumer driving, consumer took vehicleto the dealer for repairs. The dealer test drove the vehicle, and told the consumer that they could not recreate the problem. Consumer was concerned about the vehicles safety, this problem has occurred about 20 times this year.
Dt: consumer had a 1998 ford explorer. It caught on fire under the hood. The only damage was to the cruise control sensor, and to the brake reservoir. A bystander saw the fire and was able to extinguish the fire. The local dealership said they had never seen this problem before. Consumer had contacted ford, and was told because it was used and out of warranty that there was nothing they could do. The car was parked at approximately 7:30am ,and the fire started at approximately 11:45am. Consumer statesdthat they have only used the cruise control approximately three times since owning vehicle.
Dt: contact states while vehicle was parked it started smoking from underneath the hood. Upon inspection it was noticed that the cruise control switch was burned up. This vehicle was not covered under the recall due to VIN.
Dt: gas pedal fell off without warning. Dealer and manufacturer had not been contacted yet.
While vehicle was parked for 2 hours, a fire started in the engine. The vehicle was totaled. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak six to nine months prior to fire the cruise control stopped working. The insurance fire investigator determined the fire started in the cruise control.
Dt: 1998 ford explorer, one afternoon while at work her vehicle caught on fire. The vehicle was turned off and had sitting for hours. There were lots and lots of smoke. The fire dept. Put out the fire and the engine and spread to the dash area. The vehicle was totaled out. The recall letters had not gone out yet, and the day after the fire, the recall was extended to her vehicle year. The dealer told the consumer that is was obvious that the started from the cruise control mechanism. Have been in touch with the local dealership and the ford manufacturer and ford keeps putting her off. Because they keep saying that they will call her back in two days, so far it's been 3 weeks and no call from ford. The were no sign of any problems before this incident.
Vehicle was parked for about 15 minutes when all of a sudden it caught fire on its own. Results showed that there was an electrical short with the cruise control switch.
Vehicle was parked for an hour or more when it caught fire under the hood on the driver side. The local fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire was not determined at this time. The manufacturer was notified.
1998 ford explorer caught on fire while parked.*mr the vehicle fire caused damage to another vehicle as well as the consumer's home.
After starting the vehicle and the vehicle was in gear it had to be given more gas because the throttle body was sticking. Owner contacted the dealer and the manufacturer. Because of the mileage on the vehicle they will do nothing about the problem. *ak the throttle continues to stick causing unsafe driving conditions.
The federal safety agency recall 00v422000; ford issued a throttle recall. This vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN, although, accelerator got stuck and engine surged forward when accelerator was freed.
The accelerator pedal separated from the floor on my explorer. The car would only idle. I was able to pull over. I re-bolted the bracket to the floor after visiting the dealer. It appears two spot welds broke.
Vehicle experienced unexpected acceleration. When approaching a stop vehicle accelerated intermittently, and while driving consumer's vehicle smashed into two other vehicles. Consumer was aware that this problem was ongoing, and would like to know why the manufacturer had not recalled vehicle. Took vehicle to the dealer, and after the vehicle was evaluated by the service technicians, consumer was told that the problem could not be duplicated.*ak the consumer had a tire failure.
When the consumer place the gear in drive or reverse, the throttle became stuck, as a result the vehicle lurched forward. Please provide additional information. Throttle sticks after starting the vehicle. Additional force is required to depress the throttle, which results in th vehicle lurching. The sticking throttle makes it very difficult to maneuver there vehicle in tight spots such as parking areas. Ford dealer was notified but said the vehicle was past the extended warranty for this problem. The problem occurred again between 30000-35000 miles and was repaired under warranty.
When pressing on the brake pedal, the vehicle surged forward. This caused the consumer's vehicle to rear-end another vehicle. *ak the consumer rear-ended a harley davidson motorcycle. *sc
The consumerthat the accelerator pedal came off of the fire wall, when he attempted to accelerate. The bracket came off. Provide further details.
While driving,vehicle suddenly accelerated uncontrollably. The driver placed both feet on the brake pedal the vehicle continue to accelerated. The driver shift the vehicle in neutral and turn the vehicle off and was able to coasted the vehicle to the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic informed the driver that the problem could not be duplicated. The driver informed the mechanic recall number(99v062001) was for this vehicle based on the problem with driver vehicle. Also the mechanic informed the driver the is recall was not available for this vehicle. A representative would be down to make that determination. Please fill in additional information.
The accelerator pedal bracket suddenly broke as a result of flimsy craftsmanship. The metal bracket is attached to the metal body of the vehicle by 3 thin pegs (they snapped at the base of the bracket) and glue! (it's obvious it's the faulty manufacture's work, and never messed with previously.) this defect could potentially cause you to be stranded (no acceleration) possibly on the highway making it a dangerous situation. I experienced loss of control with the acceleration and a sudden acceleration which nearly caused a crash. I'm attempting to consult with galpin ford of van nuys, ca currently to repair the problem, but am experiencing lack of communication. 1998 ford explorer-eddie bauer v-6 sohc(?) vehicle wall accelerator pedal bracket. *ak ! ___/ ! ---! ! ---! * ! ---!___
Spot welds holding accelerator pedal to firewall broke, leaving foot pedal attached only by accelerator cable. Breakage occurred while driving 1998 ford explorer on interstate highway. When driver moved to brake for stalled traffic, accelerator pedal lodged under brake pedal. Driver avoided multi car collision by shifting to neutral and kicking accelerator pedal out of way. Fuller ford dealership re-welded accelerator pedal to firewall for $152. Worker noted that windstars are far more prone to this condition, and that this is the second explorer that has been seen for this condition.
Vehicle accelerated in full throttle when brakes was released. As a result, vehicle was involved in a frontal crash. No report of airbag deployment. Dealer could not duplicate the problem. *ak
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