2003 Ford Explorer: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 22, 2016 · Brakes, Engine · 202,000 miles · WI

2003 ford explorer, while driving through town I started to slow down for a group of kids waiting to use a cross walk when the explorer shut down & lost all power to control brakes and steering almost hitting the kids.. I have taken to a shop & was told they could not duplicate the issues I have been having for 5 years. The reason I am now reporting this is because the close call I just had with the cross walk. This problem starts after about 5 or 10 minutes of run time then clears up not returning until next run or some time later...

Filed Aug 15, 2014 · Engine, Steering · 112,000 miles · MD

My vehicle suddenly without warning will stall and I lose all power. No power steering. I am able to put the vehicle in neutral and can turn the vehicle back on. The mechanic can not find any codes etc on why this is happening. Apparently this is a common thing.

Filed Oct 25, 2010 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · MI

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. While driving 35 MPH, the vehicle suddenly lost power, the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was towed to a transmission specialist who stated that the gear solenoid needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The current and failure mileages were approximately 110,000.

Filed Aug 19, 2009 · Wheels · 112,000 miles · MD · crash

Purchased the vehicle from carmax on 9-19-07 it has been towed in at least 5 times and has been in for service for the same issues over and over again transmission, radio/nav system ,spark plugs breaking off and going into engine , back firing when starting vehicle ,starter / ignition switch,front noise and loss of power .on 11/28/07 it was towed in 2 months after I purchased it. They stated on the invoice brakes and emergency brakes severely rusted, carmax has said they performed two inspection on this vehicle 1 in va. And 1 in md. How did they miss brakes ( on monday, march10th 2009 heading south bound i95. The SUV ( 2003 ford explorer) started to shaking violently. At this point, I had started slowing down from 65 MPH to 55 MPH to get off of 95. Moments later the tire flew off of the ford explorer, before I even had a chance to get off. Fortunately, I kept control of the SUV and was able to get over coming inchs of hitting the guard rail and other cars around me. . The tire went of the road up the hill and back down onto 95. The tire went about 2/10 of a mile down the road. Fortunately, the tire did not hit anyone else and no one hit the tire. I came slamming to a screeching halt hard on the front passenger side of the car ,jamming my left arm. The car has been towed to carmax in white marsh, md. They have stated to me, via voice mail , that this is not supposed to happen. This was due to faulty wheel studs and we should follow up with ford . My warranty will not cover any of the damage that has been done to SUV. After doing research on ford explores I have found that they have had this problem with faulty wheel stud since 1998. Yet, I have not seen any recalls. We are very fortunate that my family was not in the car . I feel that ford explorers need to been investigate as well as recalled. They are very unsafe and it looks like ford is covering these issues up.

Filed Oct 19, 2008 · Visibility · 148,000 miles · 00

While out of town, vacationing and touring for fall colors, I lost all power to the climate control system after a short coffee stop. When I started my explorer I notice I had no heat, fans, defroster or power to the climate control system. Thinking I had blown a fuse, I opened the owners manual and checked the fuse diagram pages for the system that was not working. I checked all the fuses indicated but, I found none of them had blown. After detouring and heading for the local small town, I purchased an emergency fuse replacement and tester kit as it was now getting dark, trying to continue re-checking any fuses (while in the confined and most awkward place to install a fuse control panel under the dash board on the drivers side) was going to have to wait till daylight. On my return to my campsite I change the head lighting from auto to manual and pulled out on the knob to turn on the fog light system. As I did this all power to my climate control system returned and was working normal again. This could have been a real problem as the next morning I woke up to frost and 0` temperature and overcast for the day.

Filed Feb 11, 2008 · Transmission · 40,000 miles · IL

The transfer case failed on our 2003 ford explorer. This is a known problem at ford and due to a design flaw with the explorer. It cost $2,000 to fix. Our mechanic referred us to a transmission/transfer case specialist who had seen multiple explorers with this problem. Ford should issue a recall for this known defect. The consequences of a failure in the transfer case can be a complete shredding of the gears and sudden loss of power, which could be extremely dangerous.

Filed Jul 23, 2005 · 43,000 miles · PA

We own a 2003 ford explorer xlt. We were driving on I-79 and all of a sudden the car lost power so that we could not go above 25 MPH on a very busy highway. We were towed over 100 miles back home to the dealership and were told that "for some reason the air mass system went bad and caused the catalytic converters to go bad." the mechanic stated that he would try to get the dealership to pay for the catalytic converters since they are so expensive, however, I believe this offer was made in order to cover up an issue with the manufacturing of the vehicle. The car is still in the shop 5 days later and we do not know anything more as to how this could have occured. We have been diligent at keepingup regular maintenance and the car only has 43,000 miles on it, so this is not something that should have occured with no warning whatsoever. We have two small children and are very greatful that no large trucks were right around us as the time of the incident or we could have been seriously hurt as they can not slow down from 75mph to 25mph in a quick manner.

Filed Aug 24, 2004 · Fuel system · 11,666 miles · CA

Vehicle loses power and you are unable to accelerate it, its stalls as a result of the loss of power. The vehicle is difficult to get out of traffic. Vehicle was repaired several times including replacement of fuel pump, fuel filter, and cruise control wires. The vehicle is not repaired at this time.

Filed Dec 16, 2003 · Engine · 15,900 miles · CA

The truck stalled while driving. When the incident occurred the truck lost all power steering and brakes. The dealership ran a diagnostic test but no failure code was found.

Filed Apr 16, 2003 · Engine · 1,497 miles · FL

The vehicle lost power while driving, which caused the consumer to pull over. *jb 2003 ford explorer lost power while driving, causing the driver to pull over.