Well I see that I have a long line of individuals here that have forked out nearly the same or more than I am going to in order to fix my Exploder. Started with the engine revving (sp) and not seeming to shift b/w 2nd and 3rd. I took it to a local shop pretty soon after noticing the problem. (I drove it home that day and then to the shop the following morning). They kept it all of yesterday and called me with the lovely news this morning. I was hoping it would be a solenoid (sp)... but I must say I was very disappointed. Their price quote to replace with another transmission 12 month/12,000 mile warranty is around 1870$. The mechanic told me that the clutch was burned out between 2nd and 3rd. I'm just astonished at the number of complaints as well as the mileage these transmissions seem to be failing at. I must say I've driven Fords as long as I could drive and I have been sorely disappointed over the years in the lack of quality.

So we had my sister-in-law in town for a visit and were in Seattle before going to a family BBQ. At Pike Place Market the d#$m Explorer starts slipping after we stop at lights. I say "well, better get it into the shop this week and have it looked at". When we get to the parking lot it makes a horrible grinding noise and won't move. Yes, the O/D light began blinking too. We go in and figure maybe letting it sit for a while might help. When we get back the wife drives and it seems to be working again...for about a mile. Then it won't go higher than first and we try to limp to a shop. We make another mile by stopping and starting again but then it gives up the ghost. After trying to find a transmission shop open on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND and failing miserably, we get a tow place who works with a shop to come collect the POS. We also call my in-laws to pick up the wife, sister-in-law, and kids. A few hours later the flatbed arrives and hauls the old lump of crap away.

The transmission shop calls on Tuesday and says it's looks gone. Would we like them to open it up and see exact cause? Of course we would! Today we find that it's a total failure and will require a full rebuild. Cost? Just shy of $3200USD with tax. The mechanic said they did a full inspection and everything had been maintained well. I keep my vehicles kept up. This was just a catastrophic sudden failure.

We tried to call FoMoCo Customer Service. Or what might pass for it somewhere. We were basically told "good luck, not our issue" by the CSR as there are no recalls on file for our problem. No good faith assistance or anything. Nice. We told them of the number of sites that show the number of complaints related to the transmission, specifically the 2002 model year. We will go ahead with the rebuild as we will need a vehicle but will be purchasing another in the near future. This came at a bad time as we are in the process of buying a house as well. Needless to say we will never own another Ford or Ford-related product again. It's a shame as we originally had a 99 Expedition and had little to no problems and have a friend in another state who is a Ford Service Manager. He will be hearing this story too.

To reiterate, I will never buy another product from this company again and will go out of my to advise anyone against a purchase if they are thinking of one. If there is ever a class-action suit, I would be most happy to join. I will drive this piece of refuse only as long as it takes to replace it with something else.

I thought my bought my wife the deal of a lifetime... a 2002 Explorer XLT with leather, the works... on the basis it had a "slight transmission problem". Being a 30+ year certified and respected technician in the "aftermarket" vehicle repair industry, I thought a simple transmission diagnosis with corrective measures/parts, or at worst, a transmission replacement was on the horizon. No. "Old school" component replacement or repairs aren't an option anymore. My $8,000.00 scanner can't read or reprogram the codes the dealer equipment can, and I can't buy dealer service equipment to do so at any cost. I live on an island in remote arctic Canada, so there are no dealers "just around the corner" to take the vehicles Ford dealers knew the vehicles they sold were being marine shipped to. Places that don't have dealer support. I sincerely hope my submission is not deemed "inappropriate", as there are remote areas not serviced by roads all over North America, that are affected by much the same problems.

An example of Manufacturer's admission and subsequent balking to "pay the bill": In late 1999, a charter bank here had an electronic "passlock" issue with a brand new Ford they bought and had shipped here. I diagnosed the problem as being a piece of dealer service equipment being required to reprogram the passlock system to allow the engine crank sensor to relearn. The manufacturer's call center representative told me to tow the vehicle to the closest dealer. I argued we were unable to tow vehicles to a dealer, and asked the name of the person telling me to do this. I also stated shipping out of here is cost prohibitive, which mattered not to the call center person. So... I did. I towed the new model year vehicle to the airport, and watched it being loaded onto a Boeing 737. It arrived at the dealer later, with my diagnostic envelope on the driver's visor, dealer confirming my diagnosis was correct. It took 15 minutes to reprogram the passlock, and all was done. The dealer drives the vehicle back to the airport, it's loaded it on another aircraft to be shipped back here. Dealer cost? Labor rate of $87.00 per hour with 15 minutes admittedly spent. (I had replaced engine oil and spark plugs prior to it being sent to the dealer) Ford cost? Airline bill: $13,000.00 return, cargo class. It took Ford 2 years to pay... but they eventually did. Yet they don't afford the option of purchasing dealer service equipment to this day. Their representative said: "We won't sell this equipment to anybody, to counter auto theft". Like somebody could leave an island.....

Perhaps this could be broken up, and posted eslewhere on this site. If not, please excuse me. This is my first attempt to get the truth posted.

I see very similar situations as mine. With no warning...no lights, no problems, nothing...my Explorer just stopped working. We got it to a transmission shop by driving very slowly and stopping every few hundred feet, turning the engine off then turning it back on. It would go for a few hundred more feet before stopping again. The guy at the transmission place said that the whole thing was just worn out. He showed us the transmission and the bands that had all broken. He said it probably started with one band breaking, then the stress that put on the other bands caused them to break too. The cost of a rebuilt transmission was $2,100. The majority of this cost is labor. I was without a car for five days while it was being repaired.

Without warning, the transmission simply failed. There were no indicators on the dash,nothing. The car simply began revving but not going and suddenly shifting with a huge lunge and clunk. Initially took to Ford to inspect and told 3rd gear gone and intermediate bands broken. They would gladly replace with a re manufactured trans along with a 3 yr 100k warranty for $3500.00 I asked the service guy why won't Ford offer that warranty upfront at the initial time of purchase. No answer. Purchased this vehicle new and it has always acted quirky with shifting on occasion. Reading the complaints, I see I am not alone. Ford has got a problem and they need to recognize it. Never again will I purchase a Ford. Sorry Henry, the quality is not there!

I'd like to echo several posts. Blinking O\D light, transmission will only shift into overdrive under no load, late and hard shift from 1st to 2nd (or accelerate to about 20 mph then back off to minimize jar to drive line components), and 4-wheel drive will not engage. From the day I bought this Explorer new, the transmission shifted later and harder than I though appropriate. Then at about 80 to 85k miles the OD and 4-wheel drive stopped working and shifts btwn 1st to 3rd became much worse. The torque converter lock up still seems to be working (can tell when it's running road speed in 3rd gear).

After some research using Ford Shop Manuals, there seems to be direct relationship between 1st to 2nd late/hard shifts and the overdrive problem but I can;t find an official Ford posting or Tech Bulletin to provide details. Internal pressures control the shifting and there are several valves, orifices, solenoids, etc that can cause improper control pressures.

I'm not a professional but I've been an engineer for 30 years and have been racing and working on cars as a hobby since I was 5. I'm not afraid to try corrective maintenance if I can find the proper tools and information such as shop manuals, and current TSBs. I got the Explorer shop manuals but unable to get the emissions manual that provides info to complete troubleshooting.

Ford must know of the problem and truthfully, I think the reliability of the tranny in the IRS Explorer falls well below the public's expectations and should be even farther below Fords acceptance criteria. No wonder they didn't use IRS in their top of the line Ford Mustang. The Shelby or Cobra (always mix it up) has a standard differential. Despite the premature failure, I would probably be content if Ford provided their Explorer owners a detailed description of the failure, developed a long term fix, provided Ford owners some reasonable options to install the parts and/or make the modifications needed for a long term fix (to include self repair as an option), and establish a help desk to assist customers with this extremely high transmission failure rate.

An earlier post hit the nail on the head when they said "I bleed ford blue but this shakes my faith in Detroit. its just plain sad." I too bleed Ford blue. I have 3 Explorers (91, 96, 2002), a '52 F-250, '57 F-150, and a 66' Pony. The least reliable, well the only one that has failed on me, is the 2002 Ford Explorer. This is the car I bought (new) for my wife so she would have reliable transportation as she works and plays soccer mom for our three children. It is sad, very sad. Ford, please take some action!!!!!

OD light starts blinking, stopped at a stop light tried to take off, revved way up going from 2nd to 3rd gear had to back off it several times before it finally went into gear. Service guys says band needs replaced and slight overhaul at $2000 bucks........So we fixed it at a Ford Dealership with Ford Replacement parts. 17 month later same thing, Found out that the replacement parts are only Gar. for 12 month so we have to pay $2300 to fix it again. What the HELL, I called ford, that was funny, SORRY NOT A PROBLEM THAT IS A RECALL

AT FIRST WHEN I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE I THOUGHT IT JUST RAN A LIL ROUGH FROM THE PREVIOUS OWNER. HELL NO. NOW FROM READING ALL THESE COMPLAINTS THIS CAR IS A PIECE OF SH*. I LOVE THE LOOK OF MY CAR AND I HATE EVERYTHING ELSE. I PUT SO MUCH MONEY ON AFTER MARKET PIECES THAT ITS NOT EVEN WORTH IT ANY MORE. 1ST STARTED WITH TRANNY WITH O/D LIGHT FLASHING AND HESITANT SHIFTS WITH A CLUCK. THEN DRIVER DOOR DOESN'T SHUT ON OCCASION WITH THE ANNOYING CHIME AND LIGHT STILL ON WHILE DRIVING. LOUD CLICK OR CLUNK FROM ENGINE WHILE IDLE WITH NON-STOP SHAKING. EVERY TIME I KILL THE ENGINE THERES A LOUD POWER DOWN NOISE LIKE AN AIRPLANE POWERING DOWN. NOW AN EMBARRASSING LOUD CLICK COMING FROM THE REAR WHEELS AT LOW SPEEDS ( ACCELERATING, BRAKING, AND CRUISING ) AND SO MUCH MORE. ANY ADVISE ON ANYTHING SO I DON'T GET FCKED OVER BY THE DEALER. ALREADY GOT TRANNY REPLACED AND NOT EVEN A MONTH LATER SAME PROBLEMS ALONG WITH THE TIMING CHAIN. GOT EXTENDED WARRANTY STILL BUT FOR SOME REASON STILL ENDED UP PAYING 1500 LAST TRIP TO DEALER CUZ OF CERTAIN PARTS THE WARRANTY COMPANY DIDN'T COVER. IM NOT RICH SO I CANT TRADE IN. NEVER AGAIN A FORD COSTUMER!!!

Having trouble with your transmission? DO NOT CALL FORD. They just ask questions make you feel like your getting somewhere say sorry and than make it another complaint to file away. I just called ford I was told they had no solution. I asked how many complaints they needed for a recall they said it was not a safety issue. NOT A SAFETY ISSUE!?!?!?!? When your driving down the road at speeds around 50,when your overdrive light starts blinking and though your pressing the gas peddle it just revs your engine as you loss speed with cars whizzing by you your children in the truck and you have no place to pull over and you don�t know what�s going on, That is a safety issue. ALL you can think is this is not happening, why is this happening and please GOD don�t let us get hit. I find that makes it a safety issue.!!!!!~NOT A SAFETY ISSUE!!!!!DO they drive the SUV? TRANSMISSION FAILURE IS A SAFETY ISSUE!!!!! What if I was on the highway? What if we got stuck in a storm? I bought a SUV with 4wd so I can get to places I have to go no matter what. I use it less often because of gas prices, my mom uses more gas in her small FORD car than I do. I could not for the life of me figure out why I would need a new transmission in a SUV so young. I thought it was poor gas and I find out its not the gas its FORD. I guess the saying is true buyer beware but they are not giving all the info. There has to be something that can be done. WE are just trying to survive like the rest of the world don�t WE as consumers have a right to feel safe in a SUV that is sold using tactics to make us feel we are safer? Who makes the decision if its a safety issue? DO THEY DRIVE IT?WOULD THEY? I am happy to be able to vent here I hope others will see. I wish I knew about this site eairler.well now I take this to other sites and maybe more will join the complaints here.How many do you think FORD will need before doing something like replace it or even warn others? I think they will wait for someone to die.I think mr. ford would roll over in his grave if he saw his company now.Found On Road Dead. Fix Or Repair Daily NO I KNEW NOT TO BUY A FORD AND SOME POOR SUCKER IS RIGHT BEHIND ME.anything for a buck.

2002 Explorer XLT 104 000 miles NEVER pulled any trailer boat etc.. My wife just drives to work store etc.. what a piece of squeeze. I looked around and the average price for rebuild is $2500. The o/d light started flashing and shifting was rough. I was told the tranny was losing pressure.. is TOTALLY ELECTRONIC.. DO NOT BUY.. Ford said we could trade it in for $5000 ..the truck is in perfect condition. It has never been wrecked, is perfect, all service by Ford.They said they never saw a problem.. imagine that... The longest trip we took in this truck was about 500 miles round trip. We have changed all fluids on or about..(within 500 miles ) of dealer recommended intervals... If the dealer is going to charge what they do and tell you need a new tranny go with another make of vehicle. We plan to repair it and trade it in for another brand. Maybe we can get a vehicle that can last longer without a MAJOR DRIVETRAIN PROBLEM.. I can take some minor window, paint, or other small problems but engine or tranny failure when it has been kept up .. no way!!!!!!!!

I was experiencing some problems with my explorer not shifting - I tried to check the fluid and took it to a transmission place - non of us could find the dip stick - The solution there is no dip stick! I took it to several transmission places and was told by one place that the technician had just been to his update class and he showed me that there was a 2-4 problem with those transmissions as well as other problems listed in the updates- Ford would not handle the problem so I took it to a place that my mechanic referred me to take it. I have had it back there several times but they have taken care of me! Some of it has just been sensor problems - WHAT A NIGHTMARE monthly payments and over $5,000.00 worth of repairs and still counting!