Failure of front brake rotors due to excessive warping and corrosion. This resulted in poor braking and increased stopping distances. Poor quality oem front brake rotors were factory installed on this vehicle. Proper high quality aftermarket front brake rotors were installed. This resulted in excellent braking!
1998 Ford Explorer brakes complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 94, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rear metal brake line, running across rear axle, ruptured due to extensive corrosion. This resulted in complete loss of rear brakes. A new metal brake line had to be fabricated [part was not available from ford]and installed. Dealer cost $400+. Note: several ford dealers and brake shops advised that this is a common problem due to the fact that these brake lines were not properly coated to guard against corrosion.
The rear brake line broke due to corrosion.
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.
1998 ford explorer accelerator pedal broke loose from the floorboard while the vehicle was in motion.***no answer required***. *mr this caused the consumer to become unable to handle the vehicle in a safe manner. The consumer requested reimbursement.
The ABS light came on and stayed on while driving. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealership, and a diagnostic test was performed. The dealer determined that the module for the ABS and speed senor went out. The dealership also noticed the pins for the frontal air bags were never connected at the factory, rendering the air bags inoperative. *jb *sb
Consumer states: front brakes on outside of wheels it has a coating of dark powder. The mechanic thinks it's brake dusts no sign of it on rear wheels.
When attempting to stop, the bakes failed. The dealer stated that the brake line corroded. No impact reported. *ak the non corroding steel brake line rusted and ruptured.
While attempting to stop brakes locked . As a result, consumer had to pump the brakes several times to unlock the brake pedal.
Vehicle is having a problem with the ABS hydrolic unit. When the vehicle is in motion, it spits out brake fluid which damaged the rotors and the brakes. Owner took the vehicle to a service center to have this problem resolved. Owner later contacted the manufacturer and was told that the vehicle was no longer under warranty and the owner had to pay out of pocket for the repairs. Provide further details.
While driving down a hill, the driver applied the brakes. The pedal went to the floor and continued to pick up speed. The driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. Both frontal air bags did deploy. The driver was not hurt. The vehicle was totaled. *nm the hill was approximately 2 1/2 blocks and the consumer would normally drive down the hill with the brakes applied. *sc
While driving at night the interior and exterior lighting shut off which caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The rear end of the vehicle began to fish-tail and the vehicle rolled over twice. *nm all systems including the antilock brakes failed. The accident was a result of multiple system failures.
Emergency brake release lever bracket fell from connection to plastic dash. Ford will split the $2000 cost 50/50 to repair since no recall at this time. Feel poor design attaching mechanism to plastic dash instead of metal bracket. When used currently, must be careful to not let release get stuck under dash making it very difficult to retrieve and release the lever.
When applying ABS brakes, they would fail. Had taken vehicle to dealership, and mechanic could not determine cause of failure.
The brake sensors were faulty, the driver seat bolt had broken and fell while driving, the driver door lock was defective, and the brake warning lights system was inoperative. Scc
Brake rotors are "falling apart" and rusting pretty bad. Seems unusuall that rotors should fail like this. I have never seen rotors rusting and metal falling off like this. This is far beyond normal wear and tear.
Torque converter did not disengage when trying to stop the vehicle. Vehicle went through a stop sign and stopped when braking stalled the engine. Ford recommended replacing the solonoid that controls the torque converter. This is a safety issue. This failule is totally without warning and makes the vehicle difficult to stop. Stopping occures only when the brake is applied hard enough to stall the engine.
While driving 40-45 MPH when appyling the brakes, the brakes locked up causing loss of vehicle control. Consumer also states that the front right wheel came completely off and the truck flipped over causing injuries to the passengers. Nlm
Front brakes drag. Consumer took vehicle to dealer, and they replaced rotors and other parts. Please provide any further information.
We had a problem with rusted rotors from day one with this vehicle. Instead of two different dealerships replacing these faulty rotors they would clean them or turn them. I recently had them replaced at my expense because they could not be of use any further. I contacted ford with my concerns and was ignored. I fell that both dealerships knew these rotors were defective from the start and instead of replacing them like they should have they just cleaned them and sent me on my way. I am very dissatisfied with the way ford handled this issue with my brakes.
There will be resistance behind the brake pedal when trying to stop vehicle. This has occurred approximately six times. Dealership could not determine cause for this problem. Please provide any additional nformation/attachments.
The consumer brought the vehicle for tire recall, and it was discovered the vehicle's rear brakes were non-functioning, also the rear calipers had rusted out and the pads were not making contact with the disc surfaces, dealer replaced rear pads and rotors.
The left rear parking brake cable (part number fmc f87z 2a635 gb) was found to be rubbing against the tire. The rubber shielding on the cable had been worn down to expose the metal inside the cable. The side of the tire facing the cable was being worn down by the metal in the cable. It appeared that the cable might cause a tire failure while driving the vehicle.
Consumer was traveling 60mph and let up to reduce speed. Throttle never lifted for vehicle to slow down. Consumer road 2-3 miles, hitting brakes and throttle to see if pedal would lift. Consumer ended up running into a field, slowing to 40mph and slammed on brakes. All four brakes were burned up. Consumer wasn't sure if transmission was damaged. Vehicle is at ford to be looked at.
Master cylinder failed, causing loss of brakes, resulting in extended stopping distance. Dealer has been notified.
While vehicle was parked consumer's wife was at a side of vehicle, released parking brake pawl and vehicle ran her over without prior warning. Consumer would like to know what was next step against this situation.
All 4 brake rotors need to be replaced. Dealer says that there is not enough material left on the rotor to be machined. Why is this happening at 35000 miles? These parts should have a much longer life than that. Seems that there must be a defect.
While vehicle was in for unrelated reapirs, the dealer replaced both front disc brake rotors even though the warranty had expired by approximately 1500 miles. The service manager stated that "both rotors were shot" and that shouldn't happen at 37,000 miles. I had a 1995 explorer which did the same thing at approximately the same mileage. At that time, another dealer and ford would not do anything about the repairs and I had to pay for them. This is the second explorer I've had withn the same problem. It appears to me that there is a problem with explorer brake rotors. It's my understanding that this has been a problem on windstar vans as well. Do you have any information concerning this problem? I can't find anything in the recalll listing about it.
Vehicle accelerated on its own when applying brakes to come to a stop. Engine revved, and even though consumer applied brakes, vehicle went through garage wall. Dealer could not find problem. On mar 13, 2001 this happened again. Consumer pulled into parking space on 5th level of parking garage, applied brakes, and vehicle suddenly accelerated and hit concrete wall. Vehicle at dealer at this time. Consumer no longer feels safe driving vehicle.
Consumer was traveling 5to 10mph. While entering into a parking lot he applied brakes, and vehicle continued to acellerate and hit another vehicle.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1998 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history