Problems with 2004 Ford Explorer POWER TRAIN

My 2004 ford explorer has recently and quickly began shifting very badly. i always come to a complete stop and shift into neutral before shifting into reverse or drive because when shifting into reverse from p or d, it always takes a while, then clunks aggressively into place. while driving sometimes downshifting will also clunk into place. this issue has been reported by countless other drivers and has caused many potentially dangerous situations. from accelerating slowly then banging gears and taking off, to stuttering while trying to accelerate, or even switching into reverse while parking, and having the car try to jump back a few inches is only a few issues this problem has caused myself and countless others. people are replacing transmissions left and right to no avail, only a few 10 thousand miles after installing new transmissions, their car starts to experience the same issues as before. at low speeds and in parking lots this becomes a game of luck as you accelerate more than necessary to try to get going, then stopping and waiting a few seconds while you shift to neutral before shifting to reverse as fear of it banging into gear as you try to maneuver your car around people and other parked cars becomes a more dangerous task than it should be. in sum, while stationary, slow speed, or just cruising, the transmission while shifting gears, or shifting into reverse/drive, sometimes wants to bang into gear or lose power, or delay shifting only to bang into gear moments later. some issues when taking cars into repair is finding metal transmission shavings where they shouldnt be! finally, the excessive banging can also damage the engine over time in addition to the transmission. please reference the following link to get a better idea of the issues: https://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/explorer/2004/transmission/transmission_slipping_shifts_hard.shtml thankyou

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while driving and attempting to shift gears, the contact's son pulled too hard and fractured the gear shifter. the contact stated that the gear shifter was currently too loose and would not shift into any gear. the dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage and vin were unknown.

Well we just bought this explorer and just as i have read from others on this website our explorer is doing similar things. such as shifting in reverse takes 3-7 seconds to take hold, going up the mountains the suv had major kickbacks and jerks. i have not taken to dealership as of now. will make an apt. and put results later.

My steering column broke right off! trying to put it in drive @99,735 mi. had to tow it to shop, and replace the steering column. i see other people had this same problem. there should be a recall for this!!! i also had to replace the transmission @ 103,000 miles it would skip 3rd gear. seems everyone else has to replace the transmission. also back bearings!! what a disgrace. recall this disgraceful workmanship! no honor!

It slippes and won't just take off some take offbut the suv sits and when it does takebodf you have to let your foot up off the gas to get it to shift

Transmission shifts harder and shakes the entire suv. when i press the gas and get to about 35-40 it will start knocking really bad and feels like it's losing power. when i stop the exact same thing happens with the knocking. i was going 35 around a slight curve on i-45 freeway by little york shepard gulf bank area to be exact and the suv was driving fine. i was just getting onto the freeway at this time. hints the reason i'm not going so face. when i started picking up speed the transmission jerked so hard i flew into the next lane. luckily no one was around me but image if i was in traffic and this happen.

I have already put a complaint in about my throttle body issue. this evening i went about a mile and a half, and my wrench light came on and my truck started to not to be able to move. i pulled over, turned it off. waited a bit and restarted it. this time it took a bit to get it to start up. i then proceeded to go back home because of how it was acting a mile and a half after driving, not often two minutes later it happens again, and the engine started chugging, i couldn't move, and i almost got rear ended again! i then again turned it off and waited and then started the truck up. it took sometime once again to start. i finally made it back home in tears. i was able to get codes off, since i picked a up a code raffia few days prior. i got code p2104, p2111, and p2112. this issue needs to be addressed. i will be calling ford tomorrow!

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while driving 40 mph, an overdrive warning indicator illuminated while the vehicle decreased in speed. the contact stated that the vehicle was restarted, but the failure recurred. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 127,695.

Transmission failure with overdrive light blinking .no first gear,shifts hard , sometime it wont shift without letting off gas .with codespo731,po733,po734,po745 needs total rebuild this happened while driving down the road at 40 miles a hour , abs light is on . codes show wrong line pressure.engine knocking , timming chain issues.

When driving my 2004 ford explorer started making a grinding and humming noise on the left front of driver side tire area. abs and 4x4 high lights came on instrument panel. truck felt like it was going into 4x4 mode on its own and braking felt like abs system failed. took it to a ford dealership and i was told that both front wheel bearings needed to be replaced at a cost of $1053. since this truck uses sensors and traction control the sensor on the left driver side had gone out causing this feature no longer to work. it is a good thing this did not result in an accident since the vehicle was going into 4x4 mode on it's own and the brakes abs no longer functioned. just a quick search online will result in many found issues regarding this that ford has not done a recall on yet. what is it going to take to get ford to stand behind the safety of trucks they sell?

All four seals where leaking including pinion seals. clunking noise 40 to 50mph when you let go of the gas ,holds back,heater gauge+mph gauge don't work most.of the time.paint chipping away all over.replaced all seals 5 times +yoke cvhalf shaft. replaced front differential still making the noise.poor lighting at night.it has a miss fire gave it a tuneup and still is doing it. radio volume won't turn down it goes louder when turning down.

Paint peeling roof hood differential replaced twice bearings wear out repaired twice back of tailgate panel cracked replaced 3 times

Transmission failure. shift solenoid "b" circuit failure transmission does not shift into 2nd gear until vehicle reaches 3000 rpm. o/d light flashes, service engine soon light activates and transmission stays in 3rd gear. don't use vehicle and is out of extended warranty.

When driving and you then shifting from drive to reverse it goes into reverse hard. sometimes it eases into gear and other times it is very hard. i thought well maybe it was me did my foot slip off brake or something?? it wasn't that i made a very conscious effort to make sure i did it correctly and still had the same problems. i also noticed that the vehicle doesn't shift from drive to park correctly kind of stops you before entering park then will go in after you were denied the gear the first time. currently still dealing with this was hoping there was a recall for either issue.

Overdrive light starting blinking car started shifting really hard and jerking. this is a known issue with ford explorers and need to be recalled. i dont have another vehiclebi really need help please

I've have my vehicle for 10 years. paid the dealership $450 to have a warranty for the power train and when i went to the dealership for them to fix it they wouldn't. i find out that my major issues are the mechanical differential. still having the this issue to this day and can never have my transmission cleaned or flushed because of that. also, my fuel system gets clogged a lot and gas mileage is horrible. also, my antifreeze leaks after i paid money to have the cracked seal fixed. this is just scratching the surface. i have many things wrong with my vehicle i feel should be covered by the manufacturer but i would like to know what defects are out there for my vehicle. *js

Had my used 2004 ford explorer for a week and i noticed the transmission jerking when it shift into the last gear. sometimes when i put it in reverse, i have to wait for a full minute for it to finally reverse. sometimes it jerks hard when i put it in reverse or drive. i'm sure the dealership knew about all this but never revealed it. of course when you buy as is, your screwed. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the transmission seized. the contact stated that when the accelerator was depressed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the gears failed to shift and the transmission had to be replaced. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 65,000.

Transmission failure, common for ford explorer 2004. *tr

Rear panel cracked in the shed. i have had to replace my transmission a year ago replace front hubs several times. and just last week i had to replace the back wheel bearing again. i don't understand why ford has not done a recall on these things.i see a lot of fords with the same crack on the back hatch.this is just crazy. if i new we couldn't check transmission fluid i would have never got this truck.i will never buy a ford again. we also have a 1994 diesel that we had to put a transmission in at 80,000 miles it sits in the shed and now my husband drives a chevy.our ford diesel only has 134,000 on it what ashamed. it will not even crank when its cold. bad work ford!!!! *tr

The car is in parking condition at work and after a long awhile it would not start even the full battery. i have attempted to make lots of checks for all component like relays, fuses and wiring connection they are all fine, in good condition. but finding out the starter relay had no power, no current flowing through it. i belief that the faulty is ( pcm unit ) power train control module that blocked a current from the starter relay. *tr

This is the second occurrence of this event. first one failed at 90,000 3 years ago. this was a rebuild ford transmission installed by the dealer. it failed again, this time the car was able to get safely to the side of the road, safety was an issue as it was not a movable car and stranded on side of busy road. *tr

I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green my car would not move. the car was in drive and it would just rev. the cars behind me started honking. i put it in the lower gears and finally started moving forward and drove it to the dealership. as i was driving to the dealership in the lower gears the car shifted out of gear while in traffic, i put it in neutral and back into 3 and it started moving forward again. this is very dangerous since the car will just shift in and out of gear and stop moving forward. at the dealership the car would not move while in drive or reverse. they told me the transmission needs to be replaced at a cost of $4,200, this is after i just had the throttle body replaced two months ago at a cost of $1,800. ford need to do a recall in these transmissions it could lead to an accident. *tr

When i shift into reverse it takes a few seconds to shift gear and when it shifts into gear it feels like the transmission fell on the ground . there's a big jolt right before it shifts into reverse. *tr

I was driving interstate 64 getting off the exist going around the ramp and a knocking noise started as i rounded the curb, then oil pressure dropped, my power was gone and, i barely made it off the ramp, but luckily the vehicle had enough speed to coast the curb to get to a safe place to stop. upon having it checked out by a local mechanic he suggested that the engine and oil pump needed to be replaced? as a single mother i don't have the money for the repairs, and from others complaints that i've seen it makes me wonder if its worth the trouble to find another engine and will it happen again. i thought had found a good vehicle that only lasted a few months...feeling irritated...get it together ford because this 2004 explorer is trouble!! was this just a test dummy model to see what problems would come of it??? we want and need answers to these problems. we're spending so much hard earned money on a vehicle that has more problems that keeps happening often. *tr

While parked, i started up my vehicle and put the truck in reverse. however, the truck would not reverse. i was able to drive forward and took my vehicle to mechanic. he stated that the fords were "well known" for having bad transmission due to certain pieces not fitting, especially the 2002-2006 models. i searched online and realized this problem is a lot bigger than just "a few" cases. this is an epidemic of neglect! additional issues include the throttle body for which your establishment has already investigated but limited the "recall" for years 2009-2013. this should be extended further to cover all incidents within a certain mileage. mine started around fifty thousand miles until i had it replaced for $650! i request an investigation on the transmission failures, specifically with the inability to reverse. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated while driving 10 mph, the transmission failed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 130,000. *tr

While driving my explorer down the highway, the transmission blew with out much warning with my baby in the car. the vehicle went from drivable to not moving within one day. it started with a hard shift and acceleration being delayed when trying to make a turn. then the o/d light came on and the vehicle lost all power within ten miles of my home leaving us stranded in the dead of winter on the highway with very little room to pull over so we could have been hit at high speeds. *tr

When accelerating the suv shakes, it has a hard time sometimes going from one gear into another. i started the truck today and it made a thumping sound. the transmission is going on it and i take care of it. i have a hard time getting the truck to go into gear to go in reverse. *tr

Every since we've financed this lousy suv 08/2012 we've had a clicking noise from the rear and still cant figured out what that is,but the transmission has been slipping and shifting hard,we have replace front left wheel bearing and abs sensor just a few months ago and the bearing is bad again and the front right wheel has a bad ball joint and the visibility thru windshield is horrible,always have a hard time seeing, cna only see a few inches ahead!!! this car needs serious recalls the air conditioner stopped working in less then a yr!!! and we bought this car with only 68,506 miles!! we already spend over a grand for a fuel pump!!! this car sucks!!! plz help we still owe thousands and everytime we blink an eye it's not safe to drive because of wheel problems!!!! *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that the rear wheel wells and frame were rusted. and the rear hatch was fractured. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 100,000. updated 09/30/14*lj the consumers stated the transmission jerks into gear. updated 02/25/2015 *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle independently shifted from first to second gear accompanied by an abnormal noise from the transmission. additionally, the contact experienced resistance when attempting to shift from park to reverse. the contact would have to shut off the engine and restart the vehicle before the vehicle would engage. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but had not been diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 107,000.

This is the second ford explorer i have owned and both of them had the same transmission problems. yet ford has no recall or even anything to fix them except $3,000.00 to a dealer out of you pocket for their mistake. i guess since no one has been proven to have gotten injured or died due to this issue, then there won't be a recall made on it. this is totally unsatisfactory for the ford motor co. because they have workers that screw up, the consumer ends up footing the large bill of repairing it. there is a known problem with the transmissions of these explorers from 2000 - 2005 yet no one seems to want to address it. ford motor should be ashamed of putting such faulty vehicles out on the road and endangering another humans life for their profit. this is the last time i will buy and ford product and i will encourage everyone i know not to buy ford either. i wonder how ford would like the media exposure for this issue. no good customer service or product. *tr

Just bought a 2004 explorer eddie bauer edition with 105,000 miles on it as soon as i got home the transmission started to slip. it lunges hard when put into reverse. this is a well known problem with ford. they refuse to do a recall. i'm sure someone will have to die before its dealt with. i pray it's not you or yours. *tr

I was on my way to work on a tuesday morning with my son who is a college student at my school on august 20, 2013. i work at a community college and it was the first week of the fall semester 2013 starting. i arrived about 10:15 a.m. and could not find parking. i found a parking stall in the staff parking lot. i put the ford explorer in reverse and was going backwards to park in the stall. when i moved the shift gear handle to put the truck into drive into the parking stall, the gear shift was just broke off. i couldn't believe it! i had to act quickly and hit the emergency brake and turn the ignition off from the car to make it stop. i was really scared! luckily, i dropped off my son so he can go to his first class. i had to have the car towed to banning, california and have my mechanic fix it. still to this day, ford cannot provide a part to fix the steering column shift level. ford says its on backorder, no one has the part. they don't know when i will have the part to fix my truck. i need help, i hope you can issue a recall on all 2004 ford explorers with gear shift level breaking off. very upset need your help to get my truck fixed. this matter has made me sick with high blood pressure and would appreciate someone to investigate this matter right away. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that when he attempted to shift gears, the vehicle failed to respond. the contact believed the transmission was defective however, the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 115,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that after having some unrelated repairs performed on the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shift out of park and when it did, the vehicle could only be operated in third gear. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 123,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that the transmission failed. the vehicle would sporadically surge and would exhibit an abnormal grinding sound. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer where it was determined that the fly wheel was spinning because the torque converter had failed. the vehicle had not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 129,000.

We was drive the street doing 30 mph until we came until a stop light . when the light turn green the transmission started to act like in didn't wont to go into gear . when only had the car for a year in only put almost less then 9 to 8 thousand mile on it. when the car full service every time... don't know what to do any more. *tr

Going 55 miles an hour truck slip out of gear. *tr

Transmission is slipping and makes a grinding noise while driving and when back up turning the wheel it jerks and makes a banging noise. garage said it be $3500 to fix it. it seems like tons of people with this suv are having the same problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the gear lever would not shift in and out of gear until after several attempts. in addition, the transmission would slip gears while driving. the failure recurred intermittently. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. the contact was advised to rebuild the transmission and replace the torque converter. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 89,456.

On the body the tailgate panel keeps cracking this makes my truck look bad compared to the money i put into it. my engine or transmission acts as if something is wrong it is not shifting gear right. on the electrical tire pressure light keeps coming on and it also keeps leaking water from somewhere. ford needs to go out of business for selling these pieces of junk. it makes no sense. *tt

While putting the car in reverse in the parking lot the gear shift completely snapped off and the car was stuck in reverse. the keys were stuck in the ignition and i couldn't turn the car off. i had to put the emergency brake on and call for help on my cell phone. when help arrived after a couple of hours they were able to manuever what was left of the gear shift enough to put the car back in park and turn the car off. i called the ford customer service division and spoke with a representative named [xxx], he preceded to tell me that ford has never heard of such a problem and that he couldn't help me. he said there are currently no recalls available for this part. i searched the internet and found hundreds of the same complaint on fords and advised [xxx] and again he said ford has never heard of such a problem. i am relieved that it happened in a parking lot and it didn't cause an accident. ford should be ashamed of themselves and their shoddy workmanship and take the necessary steps to resolve this problem. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the vehicle shook. upon inspection, the driver noticed that the rear passenger side lug nuts had loosened and the tire was only being held in place by one lug nut. the contact mentioned that the failure recurred on the rear driver side tire but in this occasion the tire detached while driving 70 mph. in addition, the contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift into third gear. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the technician diagnosed that the transmission, studs, log nuts, rotors, and tires needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 124,000 and the current mileage was 132,000. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. the contact stated that while driving 55mph the transmission down shifted to first gear causing the vehicle to slow down and the rear tires to drag. the contact was able to shift gears which brought the vehicle back to speed as he merged into a rest area. the vehicle was towed to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure and current mileage was 136,000.

Transmission seems to slip and engine revs also when put in reverse transmission seems to jump. *tr

I purchased a 2004 ford explorer in july 0f 2011, and traded in my 2001 oldsmobile of 5 years. i also purchased the 12 month 12,000 mile warranty. before driving it off the lot i had the dealer fix the abs system because the light was on. there is a crack going down the back of the trunk but nothing else was wrong at the time so i left the crack alone. in april of 2012 i took it to the dealership for a belt, check trans, shocks, ball joints, and a ticking in the heater when knob was turned to heat (not cool). i told him to just fix what was on the warranty and also give it a oil change. he informed me that the trans was fine. after getting the car back my heat went out and i was told by a mechanic buddy that my brakes, rotters, emergency brake pads and the back tires were shot. so i had him replaced them because this was also not covered on warranty. just last week my rpm started jumping with miles over 65.(no lights were on at the time)so i took it to 6 different places getting estimates on what could be wrong. all shops said the same thing. "start with fuel filter, oil filters and oil change". the day after i paid for all this the service engine light came on. (egr valve code) the man at auto zone told me to take it off and clean it with spray and let it dry before replacing. i took it to a shop and had them do this. the same day i picked up the car my service engine light came on again, o/d light and the car was driving like i was hauling a bus and jumping. i took it back the next day and he replaced the egr valve new since the same code was showing up. later that day after getting it back the car started doing the same thing after driving for 5 miles this was friday 9/21/12. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford explorer. while driving approximately 25 mph, the overdrive warning light illuminated intermittently on the instrument panel. the contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder and shut the vehicle off. after restarting the vehicle, the warning light continued to illuminate. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. the technician stated that the transmission would have to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 98,000.

I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden my transmission started slipping and the cruise control kicked it because the vehicle started to slow down so it went into high rpms then the transmission grabbed and shot the vehicle forward and i lost control and we spun in circles off the freeway. had it not of rained all day the suv would have flipped. now my transmission is leaking fluid and it must be repaired by dealership or garage only and i cannot afford this repair and i see that there is a major problem these transmissions in these vehicles and me my child or my husband could have been badly hurt if not killed had this been on dry pavement!!! *tr