Problems with 2002 Ford Explorer STRUCTURE

We own a ford explorer in my wife's name diana giraldo. on sunday 9/19/2004 she opened the back liftgate and the hinge broke and the top half (glass ) of the liftgate almost came down on her. the suv was brought back to fullerton ford in somerville nj where it was bought in may of this year. they charged us for repairs and the part also for a loaner car while they were repairing it. it turns out there is a recall on this which i found on your web site. ford motor company was called and they said the recall letters haven't went out yet so we would have to pay. they only replaced the hinge and not the liftgate struts which was the parts in the recall also. recall number 04v442000 on your site , ford recall number 04s20 *ak

The right side piston assembly on the rear tailgate failed. as i was going to close the tailgate, the whole window shattered on top of me, resulting in glass in my face and the top of my head. i have done some research and seen that there is a "safety campaign" concerning this issue. what does that mean? i have contacted the dealer and have gotten no response. *jb

The panel that holds the back glass up is in the liftgate cracked. this may cause the glass to fall out while driving . dealer was notified.*ak

Drivers side lift arm on rear hatch failed to retract, causing hatch to close with arm extended resulting in damage to left hinge on drivers side rear hatch. lift arm was defective in that it would not work properly. required replacement of drivers side lift arm and drivers side hinge. rear hatch now does not line up properly. *ak

When the vehicle was parked rear liftgate window shattered when it was opened. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

Rear lift glass assembly. shattered upon opening, lift glass support bracket twisted out of place, causing the failure. 2 injured, an adult and a child. *nm

The consumer received a recall letter number 04v442000/rear liftgate glass. the consumer contacted the dealer to have the repair made, however the consumer has been waiting since september 2004; the parts have not come in as of yet. the dealer information is 3400 14th w, bradenton fl. 34205, 941-747-4411. please provide any further information. *jb recall campaign: # 04s20 on vehicles built from job #1 2002 through march 10, 2002 at st. louis assembly plant (slap) or through march 3, 2002 at louisville assembly plant ( lap). *tc

1) i opened the top part of the lift gate, and left it open 2) i heard a loud crash, while nobody was within 15 feet of the vehicle. the window had catashrophic failure, and laid on the ground in pieces. it appears that the weight of the lift gate was too intense for the strength of the glass. 3)it happened yesterday, and has not been repaired yet.*jb

The hinges on the rear door popped off and shattered the glass. the glass fell onto the toddler standing by the door. the rear door was defective to the point that it could not be closed. *ak

The rear window gate on our 2002 ford explorer has shattered twice from the simple act of closing the window.1.) my wife on both occasions was loading the back of the vehicle. the glass in the window shatters and spray bits of glass to a 5 -8 ft raidus. 2) this last incident she was in a crowded parking lot. she was closing the window gate when the glass shattered at about the half closed position. the bottom of the window gate fell to the ground, glass hit the cars on both sides our car. glass hit her in the face and all over her upper body. luckily she had her sun glasses on, so no glass was thrown into her eyes. it could have been alot worse had my 7 year old son been helping her like he normally does. 3.) ford motor company refuses to aknowledge the problem causing us to incurr over $1500 in repair costs or an insurance claim. the ford dealership we use says that it is a common occurance and they have numerous repairs of this type on 2002 explorers. parts are readily available but it involves body work so it takes up to a week to get it fixed. *ak pe04045.pco

Consumer received a recall for the rear hatch . the cylinder was defective. dealer had no parts for the recall. *ak

The hinge broke on the liftgate of the vehicle.*ak pe04045.pco

While the vehicle was parked, the rear hatch window exploded without warning. no injuries reported. please provide additional information. *jb pe04045.pco

Consumer has received recall letter/recall number 04v442000. however, the consumer has been waiting for almost 4 months now. the problem still exist. consumer was told there are no parts. please provide any further information. *nm

The rear lift gate hinge became loose and the lift gate arm snapped out, i only had this vehicle for six months, i contacted the local dealer the person at the parts dept had exactly the same issue with exactly the same vehicle except his was under warranty my has 54k, he recommended contact their body shop which it was very familiar with the issue they checked any recalls regarding this issue their computer reported a somehow familiar issue with the 2002 ford explorer, they also mention that as of 2004 they had redesigned the location of the lift gate arm placement. they suggested new parts from ford for $21.77 + labor. i'm looking this as an issue that should be recalled since has been a little use to this vehicle and this has been a common problem at the local dealer or doing a little research online. pe04045.pco. *jb

Consumer received recall 04v442000 rear concerning tailgate glass. however, consumer was told that the parts would be in late november. consumer contacted ford manufacturer, and was told they didn't know when the parts would be in. consumer has been waiting for four months. *ak consumer scheduled an appointment for december 15, 2004 to have the part replaced with a different component. *nm

The liftgate bracket cracked and the glass shattered. when this occurred driver was standing against the liftgate, and sustained cuts from the pieces of glass. recall 01i01000 was issued for this component, but this vehicle was not included in the recall due to vin. *ak pe04045.pco

Rear tailgate had a fracture about 10 inches long and the mold was touched up with paint prior to shipping or selling. it was cracked. dealer stated that they had a service bulletin on this problem.*ak

The rear hatchback hinges failed, causing the window to fall into the vehicle. the dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak pe04045.pco

I opened the top part of the tailgate on my 2002 ford explorer last night and the right hinge broke and fell on my head. luckily the glass didn't break and i wasn't injured. this is not the first case of this happening, i have come to find out. one of the other people this happened to (same year and model) was trapped underneath the hatch momentarily. i have documentation from this person of the incident that occured to him. this seems to be either a manufacturer's defect or something and luckily my 3 year old daughter who likes to climb in the back while i'm loadng the truck, wasn't there or it would have hit her in the head. please tell me what i can do about this other than pay an arm and a leg to get it fixed and hope it doesn't happen again! *ak pe04045.pco

When closing the rear hatch glass window shattered. *ak pe04045.pco *ts

While closing the rear window rear glass unexpectedly shattered. no injuries reported. consumer contacted the dealer for an appointment. *ak pe04045.pco

Ford 2002 explorer. i had my one year old in a grocery cart, popped open the hatch, opened it and the glass shattered all over the cart with the bottom of the hatch swinging out toward the cart. thankfully my child was not harmed. i went to ford, they said it was not covered under a recall and that it was not a safety issue. they said they had never seen anything like this and that it was my responsibility to fix. *nm pe04045.pco

I opened only the window portion of my back hatch and noticed that one of the hydraulic arms was no longer attached to the glass so i began lowering it and the glass shattered in my hands. consequent repairs are going to cost over $700 being as it is out of warranty though just over 2 years old. *ak pe04045.pco

After i parked the explorer at the mall, i opened the rear liftgate glass to take out the stroller. after i set the stroller up, i reached up to close the liftgate glass. at this point, while my hand is still on the liftgate, the glass shattered and exploded with glasses flew everywhere. the baby stroller is covered with glasses. unfortunately, i had not put my 8 months old baby is the stroller or else his face would be covered with glasses. at this point, i felt a sharp pain on my right hand and saw that there were two cuts and i was bleeding everywhere. after dropping the explorer at a dealer nearby, i went to the urgent care and got 12 stitches for the cuts. i called ford customer relationship center on monday to report the incident and was told to wait for 2 business days for the ford consumer affairs to call me back. after two days of waiting, i called back and this time i was told that it might take up to 7 days before they can call me back. i did some research on this problem and found out that there are numerous complaints filed with nhtsa regarding this problem and there is an open investigation by odi (opened on 06/02/2004). apparently, shortly after the introducing the 2002 explorer for sale, ford issued a special service instruction (ssi 01i-010) in april of 2001 to correct a liftgate lift cylinder mount issued in 56,000 vehicles built from 2/5/2001 to 3/30/2001. all vehicles built after that period were to have an improved lift cylinder mounting design. my explorer was built on 04/20/2001. however, i am very suspicious that this build date might be wrong since i kept the window sticker and the dealer's invoice when i bought the explorer and the dates on those is 04/09/2001. why is this date (04/09/2001) before my explorer's production date (04/20/2001)? my explorer might have been built during this 2/5/2001 - 3/20/2001 period since there are numerous complaints on this problem with known build dates after april 2001 period. *ak pe04045.pco

Cracked panel on below window on 2002 explorer. *tr

While opening my rear hatch window of a 2002 ford explorer, the driver-side hinge (strut.pco) which lifts the window came off, decompressing hard enough to completely shatter the window above me. i had several cuts to my neck, arms and head but nothing life threatening. i went to ford about this and they admitted that they were aware of such a problem but because i am beyond the 36k factory warranty, they would not do the repairs for me. i asked about the extended warranty which i paid $2000 for and was told that this warranty would not cover any repairs. i had to pay my $500 insurance deductable to cover the repairs at my loss. since june, i have searched all over the internet and find literally hundreds of complaints which not only had the same outcome, but the same sort of freak accident. why does ford not value safety? if my 2 year old child were standing next to me as he always does, he might have been killed.*ak

Returning home one sunday evening from grocery shopping with my grand-daughters(ages 4 and 5),i removed them from the vehicle and sent them in the house, while my teenage son and i unloaded the groceries. after the last of the groceries were removed, my son started to close the liftgate glass. as i stood next to him, the liftgate glass had only made it halfway down ,when there was an explosion .the liftgate glass had disintegrated as if shot with a gun. at the time of this incident, i had the explorer backed into the garage. so when the glass exploded,it flew outward towards us ,as well as inward into the vehicle. the next day, i drove the explorer back to the dealership with the liftgate glass missing. i was fortunate to still be under warranty, but when i asked the ford service advisor to confirm that this problem will be covered under the warranty, he was not reassuring. not having that confirmation that the dealership was going to cover this upset me greatly. i was called by the dealership later that day (monday), only to try to persuade me to agree to $500 dollars worth of maintenance, unrelated to the liftgate problem. in this same call, the service advisor did confirm that the dealership would fix the problem.two days have gone by, and i haven't heard from the dealership so i called and found out they had ordered a new liftgate glass and would replace it. however, by the end of the week (friday), i called them again,since no one was calling me with updates and was told by the service advisor that they will have to replace the entire liftgate door. and because of this they will have to keep the vehicle for a few more days, since they now will have to paint the new liftgate door to match the color of the vehicle. at this writing,the dealership has had the vehicle for over a week now. i don't have an accurate account of what was specifically changed (i.e. parts), but i will insist on a detailed list of what was done and why. pe04045. *ak

When unloading the vehicle liftgate glass shattered. *ak pe04045.pco

Hinge on liftgate glass broke and partially fell off, causing minor bruises finger & head injuries. pe04045.pco. *ak

The liftgate latch appeared to be faulty. it broke while my wife was closing the liftgate and the liftgate came crashing down, shattering glass everywhere. dealer wouldn't warranty, suggested that try to use my car insurance to cover the costs. *ak pe04045.pco

Liftgate glass applique cracked. i notified the ford dealership, and they told me that because my car was no longer covered under warranty, ford would not replace this item. i explained to them that this was a structural defect, and that i did nothing to cause the plastic to crack. they were very unsympathetic to my needs. this is a two year-old car, and i feel that if they do not fix this problem, by back window will not be secure, therefore causing yet another problem for me. the service manager told me that he has seen a number of explorer's come in with the exact same defect. this crack has nothing to do with mileage or abuse to the car. i feel that ford should replace and repair this defect at no charge to me, and issue a recall on this model.*ak

Rear hatch back window shattered when opened. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak dup of 10079152.pco

Rear window was in the up/open position for about 30 minutes and shattered while attempting to close it. it seemed to bow slightly prior to exploding. upon inspection, the hydraulic struts seem to have locked in place, with the resulting pressure on the glass causing the failure. the right hinge also sheared off. shattered glass spread over a few feet to the interior and sides of the vehicle. waiting for dealership to reopen after holiday weekend to discuss the matter.*ak pe04045_pco

Consumer received recall 04v442000 concerning rear liftgate glass. dealer was unable to perform recall repairs because parts were not available. *ak.....*ak

On may 15, 2004 while at a walmart in niagara falls, new york, the rear hatch hinge bolt on my wife's 2002 ford explorer sheared off and fell on her head causing a concussion and other related injuries. *ak pe04045_pco

Recall 01l010000, driver's side liftgate bracket snapped, causing the glass to shatter. dealership would not repair the problem because this vehicle was not included in the recall due to vin. *ak pe04045.pco

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. *nm

While opening the rear door hinges broke. consumer took vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the hinges and struts needed to be replaced, and replaced them. however, a few months later while closing the rear door the glass broke. no one was injured. vehicle was taken back to dealer, and the mechanic replaced the window. *ak

I lifted the top portion of the tailgate to retrieve items from car. as it lifted, the bolt that hinges the right top side of the tailgate broke off, the hydrolic portion let go and the tailgate came down on my head. i was unable to close the tailgate after that, and it was hanging down on an angle, undriveable as it continued to fall further down and make "cracking" noises. it is currently being fixed, however ford is not too concerned! my car is 500 miles over warranty (1 1/2 years old), and they say i am responsible to pay a portion of this bill.*ak pe04045_pco

I was opening the door to get my daughters diaper bag and hinge broke. my husband was trying to put it back and the glass shattered in his hands. my daughter and i were standing next to the vehicle as the glass shattered. this could have taken my entire families eye sight. the glass literally exploded. this issue is definitely unsafe!!! especially when there are young children around. and mothers are opening up the hatch to get out a diaper bag with a child in hand. please note this is the second time we have had a problem with this hatch. we took it to ford. this should be a mandatory safety recall.*ak pe04045_pco

rear hatch lift on my 2002 ford explorer glass shattered when i closed it after placing a diaper bag in the back i took the vehicle to texas ford to find out if there was a recall i was told none. they refused to replace my glass because it was out of warranty. that i should file on my insurance. *jb pe04045.pco

While standing under the raised liftgate (top half) loading groceries, the glass suddenly and unexpectedly shattered causing my wife and i to be showered by shards of glass and then hit on our heads and backs with the falling liftgate assembly. this incident caused us head, neck and back trauma and also a scratched cornea to my wife's left eye. ford refuses responsibility for this incident.*ak pe04045.pco

Vehicle was parked with sunroof open. when trying to close hatchback after loading swimming equipment, glass shattered. *la this occurred twice, inconveniencing the consumer's daily routine. *ph pe04045.pco

I have a ford explorer 2002 xls. while opening my rear window door the left hinge (latch) broke and the window exploded throwing glass everywhere including pasengers inside the vehicle. i went to the vendor and was told that this was not anymore responsability of the manufacturer since the warranty was expired. i complaint was filed with the police department since in the incident there where people involved and happened in my workplace parking lot. pe04045_pco

I am the owner of a 2002 explorer that for a year started with a squeak noise coming from the chassis supports. every time that i took my vehicle for an oil change to the dealer i complain about this problem, and it was always mentioned to me that this type of car do not have any lub points for the chassis supports. they could not find the squeak noise from where it was coming. *ak the squeak noise started to be so bad, that i went underneath the car and found by myself from where the noise was coming. the chassis supports parts of the back were replaced. the same squeak noise started to happen on the front end and parts were changed. well surprise, i got my car after repair and after checking it one more time by rocking the vehicle there still a squeak noise coming from the front area. imagine that this a common problem on this explorer 2002 fleet, i had a '98 explorer that never developed this problem.

Consumer was responsible for repairing a customer's vehicle because the rear window shattered when he opened the rear hatch. when he closed the hatchback the rear liftgate window exploded. a recall was issued. but this vehicle was not included in the recall because of vin, per manufacturer. *ak pe04045.pco dob is 12/02_061704_pco

Upon closing the hatchback the strut locked up and the glass shattered. pieces of glass landed in consumer's eyes. consumer was not injured since he wore glasses. vehicle was turned off when this occurred.*ak pe04045.pco dob is 10/01_061704_pco

In august, 2003, the vehicle back window hinge broke while loading groceries, it caused damage to the tailgate frame and the glass cracked. both were replaced taking over 7 days. the same component broke again in january, 2004, causing the rear glass to crash on my wifes head. luckily she only had a minor bruise and bump from the impact. i asked the manager of maintenance about this problem, and he said it happens all the time.*ak pe04045_pco

The consumer leaned over into the rear compartment of the vehicle when the rear window hinge broke and fell on top of the consumer's head. the hinge was replaced, but in the process, the "flip open" rear window shattered, subsequently the entire rear window along with the left and right hinges were replaced. (prior to the incident, the consumer noticed that the rear window would open without one opening the entire rear door to gain access to the back of the vehicle) *ak *sc pe04045_pco