On monday november 5, 2007 at around 4:15 pm while driving home on cheverly avenue I received a call on my two way radio from the cheverly police department. The caller stated that my 1998 ford two door, ford explorer sport had dropped its spare tire in the middle of cheverly avenue. At first I did not believe the officer, being that I am the director of public works, I thought that he just needed to talk to me so I made a u-turn and drove back to where the officer was parked. To my surprise there was the officer with a spare tire which I later identified as being my 1998 ford explorer spare tire. I looked under the truck and the cable that held the tire in placed was damaged, rusted, and it had dropped the tire in the middle of the road. Earlier that day I was driving on the capital beltway route 495 in the washington dc area and if that tire would have dropped I the middle of this busy roadway can you imagine the potential for an accident? Ford motor company needs to find a better idea for the spare tire and ford ought to tell all vehicle owners that have a similar system for the spare tire to change them, replace them every so many days and/or use different materials that would not rust. Thank god I was in my neighborhood and going at a low speed. Otherwise only god would know what could have happened.
1998 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 48, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The spot welds broke on the metal bracket that holds the gas pedal to the floor.
Dt*: the contact stated in cold weather, the hinges do not hold the hood in the upright position. This caused the hood to fall on the contact's head and neck, causing minor injuries. The hood hinges were replaced by the dealership, but this has not corrected the problem.
Dt: the contact stated the passenger's door will not open from the inside or outside. The vehicle has not been to a dealership to determine the cause of the problem.
Dt: contact stated that right after purchasing the vehicle he had replace the brakes, tires, fuel filter, the fuel injection was cleaned , the anti lock sensors where replaced, the windshield was replaced . The air bags are also deployed. While driving the vehicle it vibrates on the left side. He took the vehicle to a mechanic they put the vehicle on a rack trying to line the vehicle. It would not line up. They found that the ball joints bad, also the motor mounts are broken. The mechanic told him that the frame is bent beyond repair.
Dt: the consumer stated that 1998 ford explorer had a liftgate problem. The left side of the hinge busted at the top. There has been a recall on the hinges, but the consumers vehicle was not included in the recall. The hinge was noticed about three months ago. The liftgate cannot able to close completely due to the broken hinge. The consumer talked to ford, and they did not offer any free remedy. The consumer has not taken the vehicle to the dealership to have it repaired yet, but was going to do so.
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.
The hood had too much weight. The rams that held the hood were not strong enough and caused to hood to fall down. The rams were replaced. *ak
1998, ford, explorer, consumer had problems at different times getting the driver's side door not open after the vehicle was unlocked. This problem happened while consumer was driving or when the consumer was out of the vehicle.
Tailgate shell shows cracks around the hinges from metal fatigue. *mr this appeared to be a defect. *sc *jb
I was checking fuses under the hood of our 98 ford explorer when the hood came down without provocation, crushing fingers on my left hand. The pistons that hold the hood up, gave way causing this accident. To date I have difficulty using my left hand correctly. I spoke with many attorneys and they said since there has not been any similar cases to mine, none would pursue it. I called ford and they said they would make a note of the incident. Ford manufactured a defect, harmed me and everyone just wants to round file the case. Would your group like to see pictures of my crushed finger? It happened, and ford is responsible. Is there anything I can do? Garry melott.
Driver's side door would not open.*ak both the key and keyless entry failed to open the driver side door. It was also impossible to open it manually from inside and outside since linkages were bent and latch mechanism was inoperative. Latch assembly and arms were replaced.
Cannot open driver's side door. Automatic door opener does not work, door handle does not open door, key does not open door. The only way to exit the car is to crawl over the front seat divider and exit through the front passenger seat door. The driver is literally trapped in the car. I have scheduled service at the dealer tomorrow, july 9, 2002. I will be interested in seeing how the service people get in or get out of the car through the driver's side when I drop the car off. This is a serious failure of either an electrical or mechanical component and could cause serious harm if a person was required to exit the car on the driver's side in an imergency.
When making turns, especially right turns, vehicle slides and almost turns over.*ak. Consumer states vehicle is experiencing acceleration problems,and there was a humming noise coming from the engine, signals are not working, dealer replaced a defective connector and multi-function switch, firestone tires have experienced tread separation, which were replaced in july 2001, the rear seats move/bounce when driving, the rear seat belts were inoperative, the dealer replaced the buckles, there was smoke coming from the steering column, dealer replaced the multi-function switch, the windshield was chipped, the alarm would not chut off at times, dealer replaced a bad loose wire.
While driving on a winding road at 50 MPH due to the instability, vehicle suddenly rolled over, flipping left to right and crushing the roof that caused serious injuries to driver and passenger side occupants, also upon impact driver and passenger side air bags failed to deploy. *ak
Consumer states that while driving, vehicle suddenly experienced a rollover, resulting in major injuries to passenger and driver, the roof crushed in on the passenger and broke his neck, consumer is concerned about the design of the roof.
Electrical problems with the electric door locks on drivers side has broke 3 times. Gas pedal sheared off while driving down the road. Heater went out; mechanic said there was a 1997 ford part on the 1998 truck. Face plate for the radio, time is out. Lever for the passenger seat broke off. All of this happened at 25,000 miles. This is the first ford I ever owned and unfortunately the last!
Driver's door lock is no longer operational, key code and key will not unlock vehicle. Nor will inside door handle work. Consumer is concerned in case of a accident she will be trapped in vehicle.
Trunk door will not shut properly. Consumer is able to slide his hand in while door is shut. *ak consumer contacted dmv and found out vehicle had been in an accident, consumer specifically asked for a vehicle that had not been damaged, however dealer sold it to him anyway, consumer feels deceived and is experiencing multiple problems with vehicle. Radio is inoperative at times. Hatch rubs agains frame of vehicle. Taillight and headlight are out of alignment, fog lights had lamp failure. Vehicle experiences problems with absorbing road shock, vehicle pulls to right. Check engine light illuminates, vehicle experiences low power. Rear power window motor failed. Power antenna failed. Right windshield wiper interior garnish molding loose, rear wiper blade skips center of glass, dealer replaced rear wiper arm and blade assembly. Steering gear assembly replaced due to noisy. Bumper not even.
Doors on driver and back passenger sides will not open from inside of vehicle which could pose a risk if quick exit is needed. *ak consumer states upon arriving home she tried to exit vehicle by pulling the door handle to open door when all of a sudden it failed to open, consumer states she had to crawl over the passenger side to get out of vehicle, consumer states she also has to go through passenger side to get into vehicle , also the back door on the same side is broken with the same problem.
While driving under winter conditions, traveling at approximately 65 to 70 MPH, vehicle began to lose control. Right driver's side tire went into a ditch, and vehicle rolled 1 1/2 times. Driver's seat belt failed to lock up and preventing injury to driver. Please provide any additional information/attachments.*ak air bags failed to deploy during accident. Nlm
Drivers side door does not catch properly. Nlm
I have a vehicle that has serious safety problems, the manufacturer has attempted to repair the defects on a number of occasions but I am left with a vehicle that is unsafe. The federal safety agency website shows several listings of the same problems I have encountered: the federal safety agency item # sb613200 the federal safety agency item # sb605343 the federal safety agency item # sb613320 all items pertaining to engine hesitation. My vehicle is a safety hazard when this intermittent condition occurres, when pulling into the flow of traffic or crossing across traffic the vehicle may leave me as a "sitting duck". Another persistant problem that I have is a driveline vibration.after replacing the defective tires (firestone wilderness at) at my expence, the vibration still exists especially under a towing load.this problem also was attempted to be repaired, on more than one occasion, by the manufacturer but I am left with a vehicle that feels as if the transmission/rear end is about to fall apart. I think the manufacturer has issued a service bulletin for this vibration caused by rear end/transmission defects of it's trucks but I have not been able to obtain it. If you can assist me in any way please contact me. Thank you.
Driver's door has pulled away from the frame of vehicle, causing the door not to properly close. Please give any further details.
Brother was checking underneath vehicle & noticed the under carriage was rusty. Contacted dealer & manufacturer & was informed it's normal due to heavy road salt that was used. Also, seat & anchor attachments were rusty. Vehicle sold as new due to low mileage, according to dealer.
Left fender well was hitting front tire on turn.
Vibration.
Brake pedal and switch, auto door lock and brake lights.
Left and right rear windows hinges threads wore out, screw and window fell off on the driver hand and damaged left side of the car. Yh
Vehicle hydroplaned and driver lost control due to poor tire(firestone wilderness) traction reslting in an accident and due to poor stability of the design it resulted in vehicle roll over.
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