2002 ford explorer rear lift gate panel below the window cracked at around 65,000 miles. Two weeks later it cracked again. I searched the internet and found a large number of problems reported on the 2002 ford explorer with this same issue.
2002 Ford Explorer body complaints
Page 10 of 17: complaints 251 to 280 of 486, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The problem is my 2002 ford explorer rear window liftgate, my panel below the rear window is cracking for no reason, I do not use is part of the liftgate, after doing some research on the internet I found over 100 owners with the same problem. This is a design and engineering safety problem that will allow the rear window to fallout or explode when operating the door or normal driving of the vehicle . Ford motor company should replace the panels at no charge to the owner of 2002 and up ford explorer with this tailgate design.
Tl *- the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The rear window has a crack near the window molding. No incident occurred which would have caused the window to crack. The contact also observed another vehicle, same make and model with an identical problem. *ak updated 03/07/07
The middle panel under the glass in the back of the car has cracked. I suspect it was due to cold weather. I have since seen other explorers with this problem and notice that there are a lot of complaints online about this. In addition, this past summer my shifter snapped off the barrel. I had 4 kids in the car at the time. Ford responded by telling me that I had 75k miles and no warranty and I didn't typically get my car serviced there so they weren't going to be willing to "work with me" to get it resolved. When I told him I had my 'regular' mechanic look at it he said that the labor rate was probably cheaper with him than at ford. Well - now tell me why I would service my car at a ford dealership? Oh yeah...in case I get cracks or shifters fall off and maybe they'll 'work with me' on the price. Big incentive. Oh yeah, my fuel gauge doesn't work - another common problem. My previous explorer (about 10 years back) had the same problem . The guy up the street has an explorer (2003) and it doesn't work either.
Ford replaced the liftgate glass hinge on this explorer per your recall notice on sept. 1, 2005. On january 13, as I closed the liftgate (gently, not slamming it) it exploded into shards of glass that went all over the garage and cut my face. Glass flew in front of the car. I had only closed the liftgate approximately 2 inches from its full open position when this occurred. There was nothing to impede the closure, and the liftgate did not strike anything on its way down.
My lift gate on my 2002 ford explorer eddie bauer just cracked last night and upon research I found out that this is a common problem with this year explorer. It is a defect with the rear lift gate and ford needs to address this problem. There are thousands of people with the same problem as I have that I found while doing a quick search. This piece is going to need to be replaced and then painted to match the color of the vehicle which is going to cost $500 or more which should be fords responsibility.
There are no identifiable event leading up to the discovery of the problem. It was cold at night when I found the problem, but the car is in the garage. Problem: ford explorer 2002 rear tailgate crack. The tailgate has a clean crack from top to bottom under and to the right of the ford oval. I have not yet replaced the tailgate. I have read numerous complaints of this same problem all over north america.
(1) excellent care of vehicle, no accidents (2) rear panel on hatch cracked all the way through on first cold day of fall 2006 (appears to be stress from thermal expansion/contraction) (3) dealer said $350 to replace panel and paint and was not under any warranty from ford
The tailgate under the glass that lifts up is cracked all the way down from the glass to the part where you can lift the whole tailgate right by the key hole. I have noticed a few others cracked in the exact same place while driving around town. I have informed mitsibishi where I bought it used but they say I have to contact ford. What do I do?
2002 ford explorer eddie bauer v6 4x4 rear window lower plastic panel completely cracked throughout.
At 74000 miles our transmission went out completely while we were on vacation! The dealership where we bought the vehicle, said that "we were the only one's who have had this problem" (yeah right!) it cost us $6000 out of our pocket to fix. At 86000 miles the rear window cracked right below the window. Ford and the dealership refuses to fix it. Again, stayton ford told us that,"we were the only people who have had this particular issue." at around 85000, 95000 and 105000 miles, the rear seals leaked. We were promised each time that they would last "for at least 50000 miles." we were always a few miles away from getting them replaced for free since they're limited warranty is only good for 10000 miles. At 111000 miles the electrical system went "haywire." even when all of the door and hatch are closed, the dome light continues to go on and off (making it hard to drive at night) because it senses that a "door is a jar." sometimes, the key pad that's located on the drivers side window sets off the alarm when we push the first number on the key. Totally unreliable vehicle that I'm afraid to drive!
Cracked on the back panel, between the window glass and ford logo.
I own a 2002 ford explorer xls with 51,300 miles. On 11/23/06 two long cracks developed in my lift gate panel just to the right of the ford emblem. One crack extends the full length of the panel. The other extends from the top of the panel and extends to the top of the ford emblem. These cracks developed completely without any damage or force being applied to the panel. The truck was parked in the carport. I researched my damage and found others with the same model explorer with the same damage in the same location. Several of them advised that ford would not acknowledge or repair the damage. The location of the damage poses a real danger if the panel completely separates. If separation occurs the glass can possibly shatter causing death or injury. I am convinced the damage is caused by a structural defect in the panel which is in no way my responsibility to repair. I am requesting that ford motor company repair the damage and possibly issue a recall on the panel for the 2002 ford explorer. I look forward to hearing from you soon to discuss the damage to my vehicle.
The panel below the rear window gets vertical cracks. It happened the first time at about 60,000. The dealer where I purchased it replaced the rear panel as part of the hinge warranty recall. At the time, it had 1 vertical crack. I now have 100k on my car and the cracks have happened again. I now have 3 vertical cracks. This is definitely a defect. My daughter has the same car and has the same problem. On carcomplaints.com there are 48 people who have reported the same problem. The ford dealer said that ford does not acknowledge that this is a design defect and will not cover repair of this. This is a safety issue because with the cracks the upper rear panel has lost it's integrity and the window could dislodge.
Cracked panel below rear window (ford calls this an applique).
Crack appeared under back glass on drivers side all the way through panel down past ford emblem, another crack is on passenger side back all the way threw , but not down quite as far.
Vertical crack all the way through rear-panel below rear glass about 2 inches to the right of the ford emblem. Have seen other explorers around with the same crack.
Dt*: the contact stated while parked, the rear hatch was lifted up, and the hydraulic support device failed. This caused the rear hatch to close forcefully on the arm of the contact. The left arm of the contact sustained a huge bruise, and was wearing 3 layers of clothing at the time of the incident. The following day, the manufacturer was contacted, who determined that the dealer should be contacted for repairs. The dealer was contacted, and the support device was replaced. The contact expressed concern that a child could have been seriously injured or killed if the rear hatch failed with a child present.
Rear liftgate on my 2002 ford explorer eddie bauer has a crack in it. I worked for ford for 2 1/2 years and can not believe that they will not fix this problem. I personally have seen hundreds of the same thing happen to other people. With ford hurting for business you would think that they would repair these to keep their customers. I personally own two ford products and unless they fix this problem then I will purchase my next vehicles from a different manufacturer.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked and being washed by hand, the liftgate glass became unfastened and fractured when the gate was opened. This malfunction caused personal injuries. There were no warning signals prior to the incident. The vehicle was taken to a dealership.
Well....here is the 2nd complaint that I'm filing on my vehicle. I purchased my explorer brand new with only 10 miles. I thought I would get the brakes checked since I had 68,000 miles only to find out the rear differential was bad and needing repair. Ford dropped the ball on that!!! Now I discovered that the rear panel has cracked. I will never buy another ford again!!! There needs to be a class action lawsuit filed against them!!!
Dt*: the contact stated the bracket connecting the right strut to the liftgate rotated out of position, causing the liftgate glass to fall and shatter. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, who was unable to determine the problem. The manufacturer was also notified. There was a the federal safety agency recall # 01i010000 which pertained to the side and rear glass. The vehicle was not included in the recall due to the VIN.
There is a two to three inch crack in my back hatch door in my 2002 ford explorer xlt. It is in the body work right to the left of the windshield wiper. I called ford at least three times and asked if they would resolve this form me as I felt never should a crack in the body of a vehicle occur. They said there has been no recall each time I called and that I should check back. That's as far as they would go. I was driving one day and saw another explorer with a worse crack than my own. I do not have this person's information as I have misplaced it. I talked with my own vehicle place (fred bean's of west chester) where I purchased the vehicle and they will not handle the problem without charging me. I do not feel I should have to pay for such an incident as there was no damage to create the problem. A couple years ago when I had the hinge issue taken care of then it wasn't too long after that the issue arose. I can only assume that the impact of closing this hatch with weak or improperly installed hinges may have caused this crack. When I spoke with someone at the ford place, the person of whom remains anonymous for obvious reasons, said to me that they have seen about 10-100 other vehicles come in to their place alone with this same issue and no one would do anything about it. Please contact me.
I have taken in my 2002 ford twice to have the hatch hinge repaired. The third time I took it in to the dealership was because I got a recall for my vehicle. The recall description was for: the liftgate glass strut may become disengaged or the hinge may fracture allowing the glass to fall and possibly break. After a year of it's recall the hinge again popped out but this time the rear glass of my vehicle did shatter. I took my vehicle again to the ford dealership (where I've taken it now for the fourth time) and they stated that because they already "fixed" the recalled part they were not obligated to replace the rear window hatch. Two things are possible: 1. The ford dealership installed the recalled part incorrectly or 2. The recalled part was also defective. I am not going to pay out of my pocket for the recalled part to be fix.
Dt*: the contact stated after shutting the liftgate glass it shattered and rained down. The broken glass cut the arm, leg and foot of the contact. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, who informed the contact that a repair would not be performed because the window cylinder did not appear to be damaged. There was a the federal safety agency recall # 01i010000 which pertains to the side and rear glass. The vehicle was not included in recall due to the VIN.
On the back liftgate, the middle body piece has cracked again after being replaced around the ford symbol. Dealer has replaced once and will not replace again. The axle housing is leaking next to the differential.
Dt*: the contact stated the transmission slipped at variable speeds, sometimes not engaging the next higher gear or at times the engine would race, then slam into gear with a banging noise. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer where computer diagnostics would not recognize the 5th gear in the automatic transmission. The transfer case was rebuilt, but the problem continued. The vehicle has been inspected on 7 occasions. The rear lift gate window hinge was replaced, but continued to fall out of the hinge. The manufacturer was notified.
2002 ford explorer rear window hinge broke scraping the rear window. *kb the liftgate hinge snapped off as the consumer opened the rear glass window. The broken hinge also caused the rear class to scrape the paint on the upper rear portion of the vehicle when the glass broke off the hinge. The consumer contacted he dealer. They advised the consumer that they were aware of the problem at to bring the vehicle in. The technician check the vehicle VIN against the recall and informed the consumer that the vehicle was not included in recall 04v442000. The consumer paid to have the hinge replaced.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the liftgate latch was not properly secured. While trying to close the liftgate, the contact noticed that the screw that holds the liftgate had loosened, and would not close. The vehicle was taken to a service dealer, where the hinges were replaced. The manufacturer was notified, who informed the contact there was a recall on the hinge, but that recall was closed.
According to my mechanic "the caged nut broke from 8 an inch bolt with washers on the rear end" he had never seen anything like it before.
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