My brother had a 1991 Explorer, really nice, and rarely had problems, so when it was time for me to buy a new car the Ford Explorer was my pick; as I thought I had a decent amount of knowledge as to the reliability of the vehicle, as well as, the new third row seat was a real selling bonus. (I needed the room for kids) I really do enjoy my 2002 Ford Explorer, but have now found out that the transmission on this vehicle, and the 150's too, seem to fail around 75,000. (Mine was 85,000.)

I think the car isn't made to the standard it once was, it seems more cheaply made than the older models like my brothers 1991 Explorer. I had a Honda Accord before I bought the Ford and never had any significant problem with that vehicle, and I owned it for 16 years! Well, now that gas prices are off the charts again, perhaps my next car will be a Honda. Even though I enjoy the Explorer, I have spent a small fortune repairing it in a relatively short amount of ownership time. Now, all the little things are happening because the car is 9 years old with 118,000 miles, so if you can't afford car repair bills, don't buy this vehicle.

Same problem as many others have reported. Parked at a gas station to fill up and upon turning the vehicle ignition on, and shifting, the gear shift lever literally fell out of the steering column and into my hand, and the key could not be pulled out. Inspecting the works under the rubber cover, it is clear that the stress point is engineered poorly (it's way too thin for the amount of use this part gets). Independent repair shop advises the entire steering column has to be replaced, and if new part is used, a sweet $1,600 courtesy of Ford Motor Co. Able to obtain a used column for $800, so with install and towing around $1,100. Was considering a new 2011 Ford Explorer but now have second thoughts. When we purchased this vehicle new from the dealer, we noticed oil on our garage floor. It was leaking oil under the engine. Dealer checked it multiple times and couldn't figure out where the leak was from. Plant personnel came out and they ended up doing some kind of diagnostic photo imagery of the engine and found a cracked engine! They did replace the engine, which you'd expect. The vehicle only had 150 miles on it!

Well, let me begin that I will never buy a Ford card ever, ever again. So I'm driving along and the O/H light starts to flicker on December 23rd. Called mechanic, said don't worry about it, drive and see what happens. Well ok, the light went off. The car never acted funny in any way. Drove fine, shifted fine, nothing weird. So I'm out of town and guess what, this piece of crap left me stranded with a 275.00 tow bill and my whole transmission went out. This is crap. Just got it paid for not that long ago. Soul owner, garage kept, oil changes religiously, maintenance religiously, so you tell me why a perfectly good SUV which was treated as a queen should all of a sudden just break down leaving me with a 4500.00 transmission replacement invoice. Buyers beware, don't buy an explorer, they don't last. I'm broke so this doesn't help. Now what am I to do.

Like the last +80 incidents, I too had the displeasure of a broken shifter on my 2002 Ford Explorer. After having the POS towed ~ 40 miles from a ski resort in WA State to the closest dealership, they quoted me +$1600 to install a new steering column. REALIZING THIS WAS A TOTAL HOSE-JOB, i got on the internet and found this web-site.

I quickly found that Robert in Sweden had a cost effective solution to fix the problem . He manufactures a shifter linkage kit to greatly reduce the cost. I ordered the kit for <$100 and he mailed it to me within 10 days. I then took the part to dealership who installed it for me.

Despite my dissatisfaction with the dealer who charged me $315 for the ~1 hour to install the part, my Explorer is now functioning fine.

IF IT WASNT FOR ROBERT I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN SHAFTED THE ~$1600 FOR THE DEALER TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE STEERING COLUMN. WHAT A JOKE! FORD SUCKS!!!

Robert is my hero and can be yours too !!

Hat's off to Robert. Bravo!

His contact information is : robert66@tyfonmail.se

PS> Why the hell cant' Ford find a cost-effective option to fix this simple problem. THIS IS THE LAST FORD I WILL PURCHASE!!!

AT 75K MILES AND NOT A HARD DRIVER (63 YR WOMAN) NO DIPSTICK DESINED, NO SERVICE NOTIFICATION ISSUE BY FORD 10 % PLUS OF ALL LATE MODEL EXPLORERS HAVE TRANSMISSION FAILURE 350-- 3000 REPAIR AND NO NOTICE BY FORD AS TO WHAT DEFINITIVE ANSWER AS TO WHY ALL EARLY FAILURES WHAT IS CAUSING SLIPPING , MECHANIC SAYS FLUID CHANGE AND FILTER A DIFFICULT PROCEDURE DUE TO SEALED TRANSMISSION ( SUBURBAN = 79.95 +OIL 96.00) EXPLORER ESTIMATE 300+

DOLLARS WITH NO WARRANTY THAT PROCEDURE WILL REDUCE OR ELIMINATE SLIPPING

I am going to keep this short because I really liked my Ford Explorer. I looked for this

Explorer before I found out that this is a factory problem. I paid cash for my Explorer. Who would build a transmission without a dip stick. Now that I am unemployed this has created a real problem for me. I have a brand new truck in my drive way that I can't drive.

On top of it all my sister bought one also because she liked mine. Enough with having

to change wheel bearings. I didn't buy something I wanted to work on. My Mitsubishi

has 260,000 miles on it which has saved the day for me again. This is a dangerous

problem.

Hello

Ppl

I m having a problem with my ford explorer xlt 2002 model

In the morning i start my suv and let it warm up then i put it in drive and nothing, I have to accelerate the rpm to 4 or 5 to actually get it into gear, then once it goes in the first gear it doesnt want to go into the 2nd gear and then the od light starts blinking once i drive the car for about 1/2 hr then i shut it down and restart the car the problem goes away it drives as if nothing is wrong with it i have taken it to ammco and a few other local mechanics they all told me that i have a transmission problem as i got the error P1700 I don't know what to do can someone help me if they had a similar problem can got it fixed as i think its not the transmission issue cause if it was it wouldn't be driving perfectly after a while and yeah forgot to mention the service engine light soon came onn too and stayed onn any help with this will be grateful.

Our family bought this a 02 Ford Explorer in 2005 as a reliable car to drive our household of 6 around. This became unreliable right off the bat of purchasing it. It sat in the Ford service dept for 3 weeks after purchasing because it had rear end trouble right after purchase, also major electrical issuse, horn honking when using the keypad entry after pushing first button. Needed a new battery every year for all 6 years we have owned it, because the indoor lights and door mirror lights would not shut off in a timely manner. Then came the bearings, on front and back, then a waterpump, a belt, rear springs, a new motor, and transmission that clunks and will not shift properlyinto 3rd gear.

I bought a chevy cavalier brand new in 1997, and the thing is still going and has 240,000 miles on it. This Ford has been the worst experience of a car I have ever had. I actually bought foreign this time, because I could not afford the unreliability this Ford provided. They really should provide some sort of recall to consumers. Who can afford to fix the major running mechanisms of a vehicle? W

So my mother has my truck on a trip to maryland, she gives me a call and let's me know my o/d light is blinking out of no where. i thought maybe she hit the o/d button on the gear shift, i wish that was the problem! she then tells me that it's shifting hard between 2nd and 3rd gear and she suggests maybe i needed transmission fluid...again..i wish that was the only problem. we hang up and i do a search on google for "o/d flashing in 2002 ford explorer" i came across this site read the complaints and my stomach began to ache. long behold here i am a week later with my truck in the shop with a blown transmission. a friend of mind found me a great deal on a totally rebuilt trans with a 2 year warranty with a $1,700 price tag. times are hard and this repair caught me off guard, with ford knowing the problem they should've recalled these transmissions along time ago.

i'm so disappointed that they're ignoring this problem. a friend of mine suggested i file a class action suit against ford, but would need for others to join me! anybody interested email me @ cbezzy2002@yahoo.com let's all get our money back for this faulty transmissions that ford already knew about!

my ford explorer is a piece of sh*t its been 1 problem after another first da windows in the front stop goin down then the lights would blink off an on in the inside while im drivin. then the seat belt chime would beep for no reson well thats minor compared to the big whammy the od light starts blinkin da sh*t dont want to switch gears an if drive it more then 30 min all hell breaks loose cuz now da piece of sh*t won't move it will start juss fine once put in gear it does absolutely nuthin where in the hell is the recall every one has the same complaint ford what the f*ck r yall goin 2 do now im down 2300 dollars for the repair

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer and like many of you have the same problem. O/D blinking and check transmission light goes on. We switched to Ford after buying Toyotas for over 20 years. They were great cars and drove for 200,000 miles. But got too expensive for us. And then we switched to Ford. Very disappointing. We were enjoying the car being paid off a year ago and now need to sink $$$ into it. Ford knows the transmission has been a problem, and so should do a recall. As soon as you mention to a mechanic that it's a 2002 Ford Explorer, they say the words first - you need a new trans.