Problems with 2002 Ford Explorer STEERING

Ford explorer 2002 clutch pack in rear diff went out causing rack and pinion to go out. ford dealer states this is a common problem with this year. had rear diff rebuilt by dealership with ford parts and 24,000 miles later the dealership says it needs replaced again. at $1300 to over $1500 each time this is crazy and neither ford nor the dealership will assist in the cost. after calling ford customer service my aggravation increased because they refused to acknowledge that this is a problem. now same problem on our 03 expedition. if the diff locks up i can only imagine what will happen. *tr

Complainant has had difficulty shifting into park since the vehicle was purchased used in december 2007. december 2008 just after christmas vehicle rolled backwards down a slight inclined driveway. the complainant parked the vehicle and was in the home for approximately 35-45 minutes when the complainants wife asked where was the vehicle why wasn't it in the driveway. the consumer went outside and found the vehicle rolled backwards down the driveway and came to rest in the yard (grass). the complainant also noted and additional incident where the vehicle stalled and the complainant could not get the vehicle in park. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. the contact stated that the shift gear detached from the steering column when being shifted out of park. in addition, the key would not turn. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the steering column needed to be replaced. as of january 2, 2008, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. the vin and engine size were unavailable. the current and failure mileages were 69,000. updated 01-29-08. *kb the consumer stated contacted ford customer relations several times and informed to bring to a ford dealership in turn ford informed the consumer there was nothing they could do due to the fact the vehicle's warranty had expired. updated 01/29/08 *tr

I was leaving work..cranked my car and went to shift from park into reverse and the gear shift leaver "broke" loose from the steering column. it was just "flopping around". i called my dealership and they sent a tow truck since i couldn't shift into gear and drive it. i also could not get the key from the ignition since the car couldn't tell it was in park. the tow truck driver said in 20 years he had never seen anything like it. this morning the service department at my dealership said "you sure exerted a lot of force on the shift handle because you broke the steering column". i exerted no force...it was very easy. and my comment to the service coordinator was "i'm a 60 year old woman...i couldn't possible exert enough force to break the steering column!". they are now telling me it will cost in excess of $1700.00 to fix it and they can't tell me how long it will take because "we don't stock steering columns, and since you used enough force to break it, we have to have one shipped in. when we know how long it will take to get the part, we'll tell you when you can get your car back." *tr

Gear shift mechanisms broke apart and seperated from the steering column leaving the vehicle in park position. towed to dealer. part not available for 1 month. previously had vehicle to dealer stating there was a noise emanating form the steering column. could not find anything. am told the part is $700 + and $200+ to install. my contention is this was a faulty part. if this happened while driving, it could have deployed the air bag causing a serious accident. even the dealer has never heard of the mechanisms breaking apart as this one did. *tr

Pulling out of a neighbor's driveway, my shift rod cracked off and dangled, leaving the truck immobile. nothing had preceded this. due to towing fees, i contacted a local mechanic who was able to bring it to his shop, a mile away, vs. to ford, which would have required a $200 flatbed tow. this provider tried for 3 weeks to get a part, # 5l2c36529a, told that ford had 1300 vehicles with this issue. if this had happened on the street, there would have been an accident. several calls to ford and local dealerships have been not only unproductive but fruitless and demeaning. we are concerned for others that have this same issue, which ford (which i have always been loyal to prior to now) has gone out of its way to deny, are going to be endangered and would like a recall investigation, please! *tr

My wife was starting the vehicle and attempted to shift into drive when the gear shifter broke off. had vehicle towed to repair shop where mechanic stated that he had never seen this before. he attempted to find parts but ford had no parts nationwide to repair due to change in manufacturers. must have been a defect with the original manufacturer which forced them to find a new manufacturer for this part. had to replace entire steering column assembly. took over 1 month to get part and cost over $900 to repair. *tr

Shifter broke from the steering column when my truck was in park and i went to put it in reverse and it snapped. after only six months and one week it happened again on 03-04-2008. *tr

Gear shift broke while engine was running and vehicle was in park. key could not be removed. could this occur while vehicle is moving? replacement of entire gear shift was required. old gear shift assembly has been kept for future reference.*ak

My wife was going to work on 6/12/07 when she arrived in the parking lot. she went to put the vehicle into park when the column shifter broke off in her hands. she was not able to take the key out of the ignition. i dismantled the steering column and found that a metal piece had sheered off that attaches the shift lever to the upper steering column. this piece of metal is made out of pot metal and is of a poor quality design. the truck is sitting in my driveway as we do not have $500 to buy another steering column. this poses a safety risk in the fact that a parent could get stranded with kids and could put them in danger by not allowing the key to be removed.

My ford explorer lost control while on the highway. while changing lanes the vehicle would not straighten. the truck fishtailed several time before spinning out. vehicles crashed into retaining wall. tie rod was broken on the driver's side.*ak

Car started making humming noise when going 30-45 mph, took to a mechanic who ref me to the dealership to check the transmission and then for transmission flush, still the same issue, i was advised that the tires needed to be replaced, i have 4x4 which requires the same 4 tires or the car will jerk. the brake pedal vibrates, and the 4x4 gauge doesn't work, replaced the component and still the same issue. any who to make a long story short, now i am hearing a clinking and rubbery sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. i am now forced to take the car in... and of course be charged a ridiculous fee, for them to run diagnostics on the truck to diagnose the issue, and then of course pay for parts and labor.... my next car will be a foreign car.. they break down less, and the cost of maintenance and equivalent or less then the cost of maintaining a good ole' american made ford vehicle. (lexus, kia, and i believe either mazda or toyota are owned by ford.. so steer clear of those brands). timeline reflects the latest issue, and the amount of previous problems.. amount to many. *jb

Defective rack and pinion box on 2002 ford explorer limited with 43k miles - has anyone had any problems with their same year explorer with the rack and pinion and/or any success with ford fixing the problem? *jb

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. *jb

I have a 2002 ford explorer with 102,000 mile on it. for the past 3 years, once a year, i've had to have the rear end worked on. this last week it started making a whining noise again. i took it in to the dealership this morning and they stated that the ring and pinion needed to be replaced along with the bearings. i just had all that done 11 months ago. they say the warranty is out on it by 4k miles. again, this is the third time i've had this problem. every year it seems i have to spend $1500+ on the same issues. after much research, i see that this is a recurring problem in the 2002 ford explorers. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the steering column handle fractured and detached. before it fractured, the steering handle seemed to have a clicking sound in it. this incident occurred when the vehicle was nearly parked therefore the contact was able to avoid any accidents. the steering handle was replaced. updated 09/13/06. *jb

Persistent quality problems: engine, transmission, power steering, air compressor, and related safety hazards such as defective rear hinge. *nm

Tried to put the vehicle into reverse from park and the column shifter broke off. vehicle could not be driven and was towed to a transmission business. cost to repair is $1300. i bought this vehicle in 2004 used. i've had the rear transmission seals, shocks, tires, front window and the entire steering column replaced. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked the contact attempted to put the vehicle shifter into the drive position however, the steering column completely fell apart. the vehicle was driven home and then to an independent repair shop and repairs have been made.

Steering column jammed twice. first time under the warranty, then 1 year later not covered by warranty. father has same vehicle make and model year, he had two put in his also. rear end went. had to replace two axles already. *jb

Backed my 2002 ford explorer out of the garage and put it in park for a moment and went to put the car in drive and the gear shifter broke off. the steering column had to be dismantled to allow for towing and mechanic having trouble getting the parts to fix it. *nm

I am asking you consider an investigation for the 2002 ford explorer xlt steering column. mine broke and rather easily and it cost me $1,400.00 to fix. ford told me there was no recall on this to my surprise. after doing my own online research, i see 45+ other folks had similar or same issues as i did. see the link: http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/explorer/2002/steering/gear_shift_broke_off.shtml please give this the attention it so desires. i called ford yesterday 2/19/10 and they basically said, we are doing nothing unless you folks who work with them consider this a recall situation. please let me hear from you. len pace the failure mileage was 130,000....mw

Dt: the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. the contact stated that the rear bearing went out on 9-6-05. the consumer is unsure if it was on the right or the left. she did not hear a noise prior to this but reported that the vehicle felt sluggish. the contact said that the vehicle was not steering properly and it was pulling all over the road. she reported that steering was very sloppy and she could not control the vehicle. she called ford motor company and they took a complaint from her and said they would evaluate it within 3-5 days.*ak *mr

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. the contact stated that she had issues shifting gears and when she would turn corners, the vehicle would shift out of gear. other times, she had issues shifting into drive and moving forward. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that there were no related recalls. the transmission was replaced in 2008 at a repair shop. however, the failure continued. when the contact placed the vehicle in park (with the engine on) and went into a store, the vehicle shifted into drive and hit a building and then moved back and hit another vehicle. there were no injuries. a police report was filed. the vehicle was taken back to a repair shop where the contact was informed that a component of the steering column would not allow the vehicle to lock into gear. the steering column was repaired. however, after the repair, the transmission slipped. the vehicle had not been repaired. the manufacturer had not been notified. the current mileage was approximately 140,000. the failure mileage was approximately 80,000. updated 10/21/11*lj

Dt*: the contact stated the gear shift detached from the column while trying to put the vehicle in drive. there were no warning indicators prior to the problem. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who replaced the entire steering column. the manufacturer was also alerted of the problem. after the steering column was replaced the key would not fit in the ignition properly and the vehicle has been returned to the dealer for inspection today.

At a complete stop vehicle surges (accelerates). have to place in neutral at standing stops to prevent an accident. driver's side power window switch failed, had replaced, also the window whines when rolling up. passenger's side power window regulator(cable) snapped?? when rear windows are down at a speed of 20 mph+ it sounds like a helicopter is in the back seat(actually physically hurts your ears!!!) <<<<no fix or repair?? anyone else have this problem? 55-65 mph steering wheel shakes. repair attempt balanced and rotated tires and suspension was inspected. still shakes. rear spare tire accessories cover handle broke. <<not abused. how do you change a flat with no jack or no tools?? (spare tire came down alright though). egr valve failure @ 40,000 miles. 4x4 intemittent shifting issues from low>auto and auto>high. can not pin point problem. that about wraps up my lovely experience with this vehicle. i am a married father of two and the only one working on a limited income. i bought this truck with very low miles thinking it would be dependable not unaffordable. *nm

Began backing out of garage but noticed "door ajar" light on; a frequent occurrence in this car, and light doesn't indicate which door is the problem. so, finished backing car out of garage and parked it in driveway, placing car in park and applying emergency brake. left car running. exited car, left driver door open, and had some time to stand, turn around and look at back door behind driver's side first. determined it was closed by visual check. began to move toward rear of car to check hatch next (hatch problematic; had it fixed after bought the car then it was just recently recalled again. but much to my shock the car slipped out of park and ran over me. tried to dive out of way; car ran over me at both knees. suffered crush injury. had car examined; forensic specialist thought it was a design flaw with lots of gap in steering column between reverse and park and some play in where it would groove in. *jb *nm

Steering column broke while driving. consumer applied the brakes, and the pedal went to the floor. consumer lost control of the vehicle, and it crashed into a guard rail. upon impact, both air bags failed to deploy. driver sustained minor injuries, and went to the doctor on her own. vehicle was towed, and totaled out by the insurance company.*ak

It started very early after buying the 2002 ford explorer...electrical prob..couldn't get veh started...100 miles away from home dealership....towed to closest ford dealership...fixed; or so we thought. same thing happened a week later. home dealership advised us that the other dealership installed the wrong part and it could have caused life-threatening problems....we contacted the other dealership and advised them what our home dealership said...of course the dealership denied this...anyway...home dealership installed new part...veh ok....then wheel bearings had to be replaced in front 1st left side-then right. (this was after the rear end was replaced) boy, was that a major fight with the home dealership! now! the transmission is gone!!!!! isn't there something we can do? ford has been using defective parts!!!!and now asking for government money???!!!!ford should be paying for this! *tr

2002 ford explorer rollover incident on 12/26/2004 resulted in the death of my stepson.*ak

When shifting from drive to park column shift lever would get stuck. upon a stalling ,, when shifting from drive into park to restart the car, column shift lever broke off resulting in being unable use the vehicle while in a parking lot at night with small children in the car. vehicle towed to dealer, where we were told the whole steering column needed to be replaced at an estimate of $747.00 for a three year old vehicle.*ak

Upon parking the vehicle and returning back to start it up lever which changed the gears broke inside the steering column. took vehicle to the dealer, and was told there was nothing they could do about it. *ak the key became stuck in the ignition and the shifter broke at the column because the steering shaft broke. *nm

The gear is defective, it comes out of park on its own and it is hard to get it into park.

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford explorer. the contact stated that the differential failed on his vehicle. the component was replaced in july of 2004. the gears in the differential were wearing out quickly and the differential began to leak fluids out of the pinion seal. the contact heard a howling and groaning sound while driving the vehicle 55 mph. he stated that the gear shift lever locked up on many occasions. the four-wheel drive also locked up in april of 2007 while making a u-turn. the purchase date and failure mileage were unknown. the current mileage was 67,200. the consumer provided repair invoices pertaining to the defect. updated 09/05/07 *tr

While driving 70 mph consumer lost control of the vehicle, dealer notified. *ak

Consumer stated that while making a left turn he heard a loud humming noise and had difficulty turning vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the technician indicated that the power steering rod failed. this problem occurred in july. in august the consumer made a turn and the vehicle shut off in the middle of an intersection which caused the steering wheel to lock up. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who indicated that the fuel tank needed to be replaced. the glass in the rear hatch rattled. the vehicle was purchased new and the consumer believes it should not be experiencing these types of problems. *ak *nlm

Abs light came on at 19,518 miles, 22,071 miles, and 27,078 miles. more importantly, however, are my issues with the 2002 explorer rear end. 10/1/03: 27,078 miles abs light came on, the dealer replaced the assembly. rear differential was leaking, dealer replaced the seals. 7/28/04: 40,541 miles rear end leaking again. half shafts were worn. rear locking diff was slipping. the dealer had to replace both halfshafts, seals, and clutch packs. 9/22/04: 43,203 miles rear axle chattering. replaced whole rear axle assembly. 2/25/05: 54,960 miles rear diff making more noise. left rear axle bearing was noisy. replaced left rear axle hub and assembly. on test drive, the dealer found that the bearing they just installed was bad, so they had to replace it again. 8/11/05: 68,000 miles leaking fluid from rear end. the dealer performed the following maintenance: replaced diff seals, replaced timing chain, replaced right front hub assembly, replaced ring and pinion, replaced front end tie rods, replaced both lower ball joints, performed front end alignment. all told, i have had my explorer in the shop at least 10 times. my warranty is about to expire (7,000 more miles) and i'm going to try to get ford to buy the vehicle back. from what i've heard, this is not an easy process and apparently doesn't happen often with such 'high mileage' vehicles. if they don't buy it back i will be forced to take a huge loss on the vehicle. i will then purchase anything but a ford. *jb

While pulling into parking space (right) in parking garage my explorer experienced a sudden accleration-at full throttle (snapping the steering wheel to the right) (extremely loud revving, whining and another sound like a bad belt screech all at the same time) before the crash. no brakes (pedal went to the floor). crashed into steel i-beam bending it and cracking concrete pillars. no airbag on impact.

When towing vehicle in recommended towing mode, steering wheel locking mechanism will randomly engage, locking the wheels of the towed vehicle. if this occurs right after a turn, locked wheels will pull towed vehicle to the direction that wheels locked in.*ak

Consumer states while driving the steering wheel locked and vehicle stalled. consumer is not able to unlock steering wheel and vehicle will not start.*jb

Im complained that the steering was too sensitive. i swerved to avoid a tire in the road and lost control of the vehicel. took car to dealed who found no problem. days later i received a call from the dealer that they had a factory rep coming to test my car. (why if there is nothing wrong) the factory man said he road tested the car and put it on a lift. he found no problem that is the way a short wheel base should drive. fords big excuse was there is a sticker on the sun visor that reads "avoid abrupt manouvers" the rep even wrote on my service ticket that the lable was in place. the car can flip over but we told you so. i dont think this is safe and it is not right for ford to know they have another problem and wash it away with a lable. drive down a highway and tell me if you can avoid abrupt moves. how come airlines dont put stickers on the seats that this plane might fall from the sky. ford has a problem and the public will pay with their lives.*ak

while traveling at 25 mph steering became impossible to turn in any direction. took to dealer, and they stated this was a known problem with a defective seal. consumer feels consumers lifes were put into danger because of a known problem. please provide any further information.*ak

Went to shift vehicle to drive from park position, shift lever went down without shifting vehicle into gear., upon inspection the bottom of the case where the shift lever is held by a pin had broken off, the only way to repair this situation is to change the entire steering column according to two (2) ford dealers i visited. upon searching this problem on the internet, i find it amazing of how many other people have the same problem. it cost $1265.00 to replace the unit not including labor cost. i believe that this is fatigue on that piece of metal. ford should be made aware of this as a defective product and a recall should take place. *tr

Ice and slush enter the door panels from under the vehicle causing, doors to freeze shut. *ak

While pulling into parking space (right) in parking garage my explorer experienced a sudden accleration-at full throttle (snapping the steering wheel to the right) (extremely loud revving, whining and another sound like a bad belt screech all at the same time) before the crash. no brakes (pedal went to the floor). crashed into steel i-beam bending it and cracking concrete pillars. no airbag on impact.

When driving steering will lock up for about 5 to 7 seconds. this happens intermittently. dealer contacted. please add vin. *ak

While driving, consumer would hear popping noises coming from left front end. dealer checked and repaired steering column shaft. problem not resolved. took back to dealer and steering column assembly was replaced. however, problem was not resolved. took vehicle back again and left front wheel hub assembly was replaced. nothing solved the problem. mechanic could not resolve it. manufacturer is working on solution.*ak *jb

The vehicle has been in the service dept 3 times since purchase on 8/01. upper & lower steering shaft has been replaced on 9/14/01. the front end rattles when i am operating the vehicle over normal terrain. steering wheel has a popping feel when i go over a bump or turn right, feels like th e car is going out of control (at slow speed). the vehicle will be back at ford on 12/6/01 for further testing to detect/correct these problems. after looking at your website, i have discovered similar complaints exist. i will take copies with me to the dealership supervisor today.*ak

There is a noise that sounds like something is loose in steering column. made an appointment with dealer , and dealer refused to fix vehicle because it was not purchased there. *ak