2002 Ford Explorer: jerking or lurching

Filed Sep 17, 2016 · Transmission · 283,000 miles · MI

Transmission, jerked, stalled and had difficulty shifting while driving on freeway/ highway. Additionally, the o/d (overdrive) light came on and continually flashed prior to the transmission starting to noisily grind with a burning smell. I've had 5 professional diagnosis all stating it's a different transmission problem. A class action lawsuit and ford motor company recall is needed on the transmissions, this is a widespread problem and issue for nearly 20 years.

Filed Apr 27, 2016 · 160,000 miles · CT

Takata recall . My od light keeps blinking , takes forever to shift I have to take my feet of the gas until I hear it shift then I can press the gas again and the car jerks when the gears shift. The car will shut off if I put the car in reverse or if I change the gear to drive . There seems to be a lot of issues but the od light seems to be common. I took it to more than one dealership and they told me that its a transmission problem. Why hasn't ford taken responsibility and recall this issue if its happened to so many of us . I am a mother of four that needs her car and this is unfair because its a very expensive fix I was quoted between $2,500-$3,000

Filed Aug 10, 2014 · Transmission, Wheels · NV · fire

Was driving on the highway and felt a sharp jerk/pull to the right. At first thought it was a flat tire so got off on next exit. Wasn't a flat tire but could smell something awful. Made grinding sound and still had bad smell, knew we had to drive it back to the place we are staying at. Had hazard lights on and only drove 10-15 MPH because of the sound and because of how scary it was. Knew something bad was happening to our car. Brakes at this point practically went out. Would not have to press brakes to stop vehicle at a red light, the car would just stop. Steering wheel was not even, but more or less 90 degrees to the right. Pulled into the neighborhood and into the driveway and a car leaving the street saw that our vehicle at this point was on fire! Extinguish fire (since it was a gas fire) and looked at the damage. Looks like the front driver side wasn't even connected to anything. Do not know how or when fire started but the flames when we noticed were about 1 foot tall and wide by the internal driver side wheel.

Filed Jan 18, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 157,000 miles · FL

My ford explorer has had so many ridiculous problems. This one is extremely inconvenient. The car has trouble shifting gears, it spins from 1st to 2nd gear and then I have to let go of the accelerator for it to shift again, it skips 3rd gear altogether and jerks into fourth after pressing and depressing the accelerator a series of times. Once it's in 4th gear, it doesn't go past 50 MPH. My mechanic says his monitor detected a faulty solender and the entire pack has to be replaced, but that may not be the only problem. If that doesn't do the trick (even though it needs to be replaced regardless) he will have to open the transmission and possibly rebuild or replace some of the parts. I have encountered hundreds of other 2002 ford explorer owners with the same problem. Aside from this, I have a list of other dangerous issues that this car has had and that has endangered my family's and my life numerous times: - gear shift breaking off the steering column as I shifted from reverse to drive in the middle of a busy intersection. - ignition cylinder/switch breaking - possible spontaneous explosion recall related to the cruise control - rear latch breaking and inability to use the rear latch. - electrical system failure - doors not closing properly & draining the battery - faulty alarm system - faulty temperature gauge and radiator - ford not allowing customers to buy just the parts needed for replacement and repair and forcing their customers to purchase entire packages only in order to get the necessary parts at extremely high prices. Ford should be incriminated for selling these vehicles knowing full well that they are flooded with life threatening issues to their customers.

Filed Sep 27, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 152,000 miles · OR

While coming off a freeway my car suddenly jerked and the transmission failed. Causing my vehicle to stop. When trying to move forward the car began to try to roll backwards into the car behind me. I was lucky I was coming to a stop rather then going full speed on the freeway. After much research I have found that this is an all too common problem with this make model and year. The transmission now needs to be completely rebuilt according to 2 mechanics.

Filed Apr 3, 2012 · Transmission · 155,550 miles · MI

Out transmission isn't out yet, it's on its way out. When accelerating it stops at 25-35 MPH and the RPM rev up to the red limit if you don't take your foot off the gas and it wont switch gears for a minute or so. Sometimes you hear a loud dropping sound and the entire car jerks when it switches gears. This first happened when speeding up on a busy main road near detroit, almost causing us to be rear ended. We took it to a transmission garage and were informed it would be $2,000 or there abouts to fix. Had the other driver not been paying attention or had this happened on a highway myself, my fiance, our four children would have been seriously injured or worse. Apparently the transmission is a recurring problem with this model of vehicle and the manufacturer should be made responsible for this blatantly dangerous defect.

Filed Mar 31, 2012 · Transmission · 119,483 miles · CA

Been jerky and jumping for 2 years but today the transmission would not upshift when starting out or down-shift when slowing down. The engine went to high RPM with little or no forward progress.all this was preceded by the over-drive light flashing on and off followed next by the check transmission light. Next the check engine light came on. The forums on this vehicle will tell you that this 6 speed automatic transmission on the v-8 engines are just junk. Way to many complaints. Will ford fix this on an out of warranty vehicle? After pulling.

Filed Dec 19, 2011 · Acceleration, Transmission · 130,000 miles · AL

While driving my car to work, I came to a stop sign at the end of my road, like I do every morning. However, on this morning, as I tried to accelerate from a complete stop, my car bogged down which left me in the road for seconds longer then was safe. There was a car speeding around the curve, and my car would not accelerate like it should. Finally, and thank god, it jammed into gear, and me and my one year old son were not injured. Also, on that same day, my car starting skipping while in first gear, which also was a safety hazard because it was jerking so hard, it was hard to keep in under control, plus it also slowed my progression across highly congested areas down, which also put my safety at risk. We took my car to the shop, and the repairman stated that my transmission was having problems with first gear and overdrive. There had been no previous warning or indicators that something was wrong with my transmission until the day of. We had the fluid checked and the engine checked. Nothing was wrong that we could have prevented.

Filed Sep 27, 2011 · 93,000 miles · GA

The transmission has a 5 second delay when going into reverse or drive. The car transmission jerks forward suddenly and randomly shifts into a higher or lower gear while driving. There is a loud grinding noise while the car is running and while the gears are shifting.

Filed Sep 6, 2011 · Airbags, Transmission · 85,000 miles · KS

I bought my 2002 ford explorer in 2005. At about 85000 miles I noticed the transmission started to slip and often jerks real hard when shifting into 3rd. I had the transmission fluid changed by an authorized ford dealer in my area and they told me there are no metal shavings in the fluid, however, they did tell me that the 2002 fords are well knows for having transmission problems and they see it all the time in this make model and year. I called ford and they told me there are no recalls on the transmission, however, reading all the problems on the internet about owners who have complained, I feel there should be a recall on this because it is a safety issue!

Filed Jul 11, 2011 · Transmission · MA

I own a 2002 xplorer, recently the o.d light began blinking and the truck started jerking violently. I did some research and found out there are thousands of people with the same transmission problem.I have an eight year old who was in the truck with me at the time.this is a major safety issue with ford and should definately be looked into.

Filed Jun 8, 2011 · Transmission · 84,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. The contact stated that the odometer began to flash and the vehicle began to jerk abnormally. The vehicle was taken home and parked. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were 84,000.