Problems with 2003 Ford Explorer EQUIPMENT

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the contact heard a clicking noise coming from the a/c heater blend door actuator. in addition, the a/c failed to operate. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the technician advised that the blend door actuator needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure and the current mileage was 110,000. updated 03/07/13*lj updated 03/11/2013 *js

O/d light spontaneously came on. can not be turned off. transmission takes off slow. first gear slams into second, with slow takeoff causes cars behind me to stop short because my takeoff is very slow. *tr

I keep reading about 2 complaints that people need to know about and ford should take action on; the first being the back tail gate... ford do the right thing. the second has to do with the transmission, overdrive light, the parking brake and the cruise control. i use the cruise control when driving long distances and while on a few trips the overdrive light would come on for no reason, at least i thought, i then found out that i had an abs problem and wheel bearings problems. all happening at the same time? as if that wasn't enough my transmission was dripping fluid on my new driveway! this was while i only had only 70,000 miles, it wasn't right, i checked out the brakes, they had been replaced before however when i pull off the rear drum / disk to check the parking brake that's when i found the problem. i never use my parking brake, it rotted and delaminated and was dragging hence the od light, the overheating of the transmission which blew out the seal, the excessive brake dust which was partially the cause of abs sensor malfunctioning. the last part impacts the bearings, when the abs sensor malfunctions it can apply the brakes as in skidding or in tire slippage adding to early unnecessary wear on bearings and again overheating of the transmission. ford needs to install a few "smart" sensors, one which could track parking brake malfunctions, also one for fail safe temperature readings for the transmission. (that is before it is compromised.) do the right thing ford, your sales depend on it. *tr

Own a 2003 ford explorer the air bag light blinks then stays on constantly while the car is running. i am concerned about my safety whether my air bag is actually working or not. after searching the internet apparently several other ford owners are having the same problem. also i have a cracked panel on the back hatch , i have seen several ford explorers with the same crack and at the same location , took the ford dealer in clarksville indiana was told it was due to weather , was told several ford explorer owners are complaining about the same problem but unfortunately ford is aware of the problem but not doing a recall. was told would cost around $300 to replace the panel the ford dealership instructed me to file a complaint because they have seen too many themselves. *tr

Just happen don't no why the bottom frame of the lift gate has two cracks and im afraid that one of these days the glass may fall off the frame and cause an accident, thanks hope we get help with this problem. *tr

Brake pads completely disintegrated when inspecting pads, front edge of rotors have completely rusted. pads were in good shape thickness wise in some areas and rotted in other areas. pads and rotors were replaced now 5 months later it's starting again. parking brake pads delaminated again. abs light came on during trip for no reason? *tr

The message center on 2003 ford explorer can't be seen in daylight causing a very dangerous situation while driving and trying to read the compass , mileage, miles /gal, any readout of the auto. almost caused my wife and i to run off the road while trying to read the compass. night reading is fine, but daylight is terrible.. this situation should be fixed by ford before someone gets killed trying to read the message center in daylight. *tr

Cracking in the liftgate panel. the panel below the glass on my explorer has cracked down the middle. *ak

Have a 2003 ford explorer 2wd that was purchased new from local ford dealership. started having transmission concerns in early 2005, vehicles just over a year old. after taking it in to the dealership 4 times in a year, was told they couldn't verify the problem. finally, in march 2005 was told they had to tear transmission down and replace the clutch pack, on testing transmission, line pressure was low. after work performed, took back again, was having same concern, again told couldn't verify problem. had transmission serviced, after telling them i was experiencing same problem, they serviced transmission and said all was fine. in october of 2006, was heading out of town on a two lane road, when i went to pass a big rig on highway 113, just outside of woodland, as i got around big rig, and accelerated, the car wouldn't go into 3rd gear, the rpms kept racing and falling, racing and falling. i had plenty of room to pass this truck, or so i thought, until the car did what it did. i was nearly hit head on by an oncoming car because i couldn't get around the truck, due to the transmission not shifting into a higher gear. we got to woodland and immediately went to ford dealership where we were told the transmission was not serviceable, and that we would need a new transmission installed. upon returning home, and doing some research, have discovered there are hundreds of people out there that have had exact same failure of their transmissions. contacted ford motor co., and have had no result. local dealership says sorry, car is out of warranty now, it will cost around 3600.00. asked what has to happen before ford recognizes they have a problem with this transmission, and was told they didn't know. very dangerous in my opinion, to be out on a highway and have the car lose the 3rd gear, preventing you from going over about 25 miles per hour. *jb

I purchased a 2003 ford explorer new, ever since owning the vehicle, i believe the first 6 months it was in the shop for repairs. issues with windows, paint bubbling after having the protective coat put on it. there have been far to many issues with this vehicle to even recall. i tried once to get it replaced under the lemon law and was told it did not qualify. the vehicle has only 39,000 miles on it and already has had 2 rack and pinions replaced. when i asked ford if there was a recall they said they knew nothing about it, when i said how can a 36,000 mile vehicle already need 3 rack in pinions there response was well its actually only two, i said no it originally had a rack in pinion when i purchased it so it is on its 3rd. i have had to have the electrical repaired in the rear window as well and now it has stopped working again. when i called to set up an appt. was told i had to take it to the service dept. that fixed it the first time, they told me know because they did not honor my warranty because it was not a ford warranty. i call the shop back complaining why was i sent there, they said because it was the original shop and they should have serviced it. this is the problem, you take the vehicle in with problems no one can seem to find what is wrong with it and when they do they fix it and it breaks again. so at this point my rear window does not open, i am on my 3rd rack in pinion, have had issues with the gauges not working and so on and so on. this is the worst vehicle i have ever owned. here i purchased a new one so i wouldn't have to worry about car problems and that is all i have had since day one. i would not recommend a ford to anyone nor would i purchase another one. sorry thing for me, was if i did not pay cash for it, i would have defaulted on the loan and they could have kept the vehicle. *nm

4 items 1 - have owned the 2003 ford explorer for 7 months. while test driving, i noticed a hum noise coming from rear tires. was told it was tread noise. we took it for oil change at very well respected national automotive service shop. i was informed i needed to replace the rear hub assembly that is was critically broken. waiting to contact local ford dealer for resolution based on tsb research i have done. 2 - whining noise from air conditioner when accelerating. don't really know what is going on. saw this also on tsb. contacting local ford dealership. 3 - abs light randomly comes on. don't know why and no pattern to when. contacting local ford dealership. 4 - cruise control not working. i was driving down the road this weekend, using cruise control. stopped quickly for a car in front of me. when i started going again, the cruise control wouldn't work and hasn't worked since then. i don't know if it has to do with the brakes. i noticed ford recalled some cruise control mechanisms in other vehicles but not in the 2003 explorer. *jb

We were involved in a motor vehicle accident on the below date. a person went through a red light and hit our 2003 ford explorer on the right rear wheel area at approx 40 mph. there was over $ 6,000 in damage on our vehicle. when our vehicle was released to us from the body shop 6 weeks later, our heater, when turned on was making a loud banging sound. it sounded like something was knocked loose from the impact. it is now april 2007, and we have been trying to get our insurance company to fix this. we took our 2003 ford to capital ford in carson city, nevada where we bought 3 new ford vehicles. capital ford told the insurance company that this is a common problem with this vehicle. allstate , our insurance company told us that we would have to pay "at our own expense" to take the dash apart on this vehicle to see if this was accident related, at 10 hours labor at $ 90 per hour! i have checked all recalls with this vehicle, and called ford directly, and have found no problem with this heater. please help us! *tr

Factory rearend was replaced in my 03 ford explorer. since then the problem of gradual rearend deterioration has not been fixed. if the rearend fails catastrophically then a serious accident could occur. ford motors does not consider this to be a safety concern, but it definitely is. ford should recall all vehicles with the defective rearends and fix their problem. *tr

Because the abs light comes on during long drives and remains on until we stop the vehicle, our explorer has been in the shop on 3 times in 3 states. we''ve been told that we shouldn''t worry if the light goes off after stopping. a ''grinding'' noise checked in colorado for 3 days last year wasn''t a problem until our rear differential suddenly went "out," in ohio. in illinois, the abs light came on and stayed on for the first time. we went to the closest ford dealership, and since it didn''t remain lit, we were told to get it repaired in iowa, since it wasn't "major." the abs rear sensor was replaced. the mechanic said that explorers with differential replacement were having sensor problems. when the differential was replaced in ohio, the service rep mentioned a "kit" to replace the differential. both garages seemed conversant with the abs sensor and differential problems. the suv has been maintained at ford dealerships to ensure systems serviced by mechanics and technicians well versed in ford products. the abs sensor light problem recurred in may after a 200 mile road trip, going off after we stopped. my brakes failed when i tried to stop while traveling between 5-10 mph,about 550+ miles into an extended road trip. no citation was issued as the sheriff's deputy said there were no skid marks on the pavement to indicate that i had "jammed" on the brakes. i had pressed the brake pedal to the floor and had no brakes when i hit the back of a penske moving truck. the abs brakes and "auxiliary" brakes failed on the vehicle, with over $11,000 worth of damage to the front end of the vehicle, even at a low rate of speed, which seems to be a pattern of problems with the abs. the air bag didn''t deploy. i reported this to ford's customer care center on 7/18/2005, got a reference number, and was told i would hear from the consumer advisory group within 3 business days, haven''t heard from them, yet.

While driving/idling heat would be coming out of the air conditioner (a/c) vents on the driver's side. this problem caused third degree burns to the consumer's right leg. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

I have had my explorer since may 27. it had 11 miles on it when i bought it. the first time it would not start it had 300 miles on it. eventually i did get it started, brought it to ford and they could not find a problem. the 2nd time the same thing happened i had 2300 miles on it. i had it towed to ford. when it got to ford it started and they could not find a problem. this happened again at 2500 miles and 2700 miles. ford still has it now. they have had it for a week and still do not know what is wrong with it. the problem occurred on june 5, july 8, july 25 and august 21. so far all work has been warranty but i have been without my vehicle 21 days in the 3 months i have owned it.

Re: second (mid-section) seat - driver's side 1. seat belt became lodged behind seat release causing back of seat to jerk forward and strike my child in back of neck. 2. facts: a) when my daughter (12 years; 89 lbs.) leaned forward in her seat, pressure was placed on seat belt causing release to engage and jerk forward; b) my daughter was still in seat belt when i pulled off the side of road to check on her; c) i was repeatedly unable to get the back of her seat to "lock in" place; d) upon further investigation, i found seat belt to be lodged securely behind seat release and each time my daughter moved forward and placed pressure on seat belt, the release was engaged; e) this incident wasn't the result of an accident; e) brakes weren't being used at time; f) she was seen in emergency room due to pain in her neck. back and head; she was diagnosed with a cervical strain and had to wear a neck collar for five days. 3. contributing reasons for occurrence: a) seat belt is secured to side of vehicle; b) when a person gets into third row seat, it's easy to get caught on the seat belt causing it to hang behind seat release; (c) if seat belt doesn't retract properly, it catches behind seat release; d) it can also catch on front of release. 4. additional concerns: a) second seat release is a two step release: if this was a situation where the brakes had to be applied quickly and firmly, second part of release could have potentially engaged causing my daughter to be struck from behind and throwing her forward causing her to strike the front of her head on the back of the driver's seat which impact could have quite likely caused me to lose control of the vehicle. 5. this is a very serious situation which could cause catastrophic results if not corrected in all explorers equipped with this type of seat belt and seating arrangement. thank you for your attention to this matter. i look forward to a response in this regard. *nlm

The consumer complained of noise coming from the air conditioner. *nm *tc *jb

On my new ford explorer, there is a air conditioner leak is letting 134a gas into the ozone layer. 134a pisses out of the a/c system everytime i use the air conditioner unit.*ak

The remote door auto lock does not always work when remote pushed. this happens very often and with both remotes. when this problem exists, the radio gets crackly too. been to ford in plymouth, mn but can't find problem. if i should need to use in an emergency, this could be a major problem. *la