CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2002 Ford Explorer is hands-down our worst vehicle on record. "Avoid like the plague" is putting it lightly.
The 2002-2005 Explorer has a very well-established record of expensive transmission failure at under 100k miles. The Explorer has an enclosed transmission which is typically replaced with a rebuilt transmission at a cost of almost $3,000.
Another common problem for the 2002-2003 Explorer is wheel bearing failure at around 90k miles, with a typical repair bill of $500 to $1000 depending on how many wheel bearings failed.
Adding insult to injury, the 2002-2005 Explorer also has a massive problem with the rear panel cracking. While it's a minor annoyance compared to transmission failure, ironically the crack usually goes right through the Ford logo.
9.3
really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$2,840
Average Mileage:
94,800 miles
Total Complaints:
441 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
replaced with rebuilt transmission (115 reports)
replace transmission (86 reports)
transmission needs to be recalled (81 reports)
call Ford customer service and complain 800-392-3673 (63 reports)
not sure (40 reports)
local mechanic fixed, not giving dealer any more business (18 reports)
Oh god this 2002 Explorer is the worst the SES light came on now the tranny won't shift from 1st to 2nd gears. The man @ LEE Myles said that he replaced 4 already this year. Why won't FORD or FRAUD recall these trannys?????
Yet, another 2002 Ford Explorer Transmission Failure. Overdrive light started flashing, lost 2nd gear, had to have a new transmission. Ford needs to own up to this problem and I'm not stopping until I get some results... anybody with me?
My main problem is, that it's been over 2 weeks when I had a complete meltdown of my transmission (it wouldn't even stay put in park - rolled back on an incline). Wasn't close to home, had it towed to the nearest Ford dealer, since I have an extended warranty. That's when all the inconvenience started. Had to rent a car to get home. Luckily, I had another car to use once I got home. I was told that it will take a week to 10 days to get my car back. I couldn't believe it, but there was nothing I could do.
They took it apart, and then informed me that it's covered under the extended warranty, but they're waiting for a part, which takes couple of days to get. Part arrived, but, guess what.. the wrong one! We have to send it back and wait for the new part. At this point I called Ford and asked them why it takes so long to get a spare part, do they have the main warehouse on Mars. How can they send a wrong part, do they have monkeys working there? New part comes, the correct one, but, there is something wrong with it! They fix the something wrong, install it, put the transmission back together, install it and... it will go forward, but not into reverse. They have to take it apart again to find out what's wrong this time.
It has been 17 days now that I have brought the car there and I was just told that I would be lucky to get it in the middle of next week, which makes it additional 7 days. My question is, why does it take that long to get transmission working again and what do other people do when they don't have a car they can drive in the meantime. The warranty covers 28 dollars per day to rent a car and only for FIVE days. Now, I am not talking about a large car, not even a medium car (I own an Explorer because I need a spacious vehicle to get around) but even the smallest car will cost me 45 dollars (after you add all the taxes and fees, I am not getting the extra insurance coverage, that would be another 20 dollars per day). I keep thinking that there has to be something that they should do for me. And why does it take this long to fix a transmission. Any suggestions as to what I can do, where to call, write etc. Thank you for listening.
This is my first, and LAST American vehicle I am buying!! How shameful of this greedy FORD CEO's to be paid "brazillions" for such piece of junk... We, the consumers need to take action against the less than substandard quality that FORD is practicing! They should not get away with it!
Can't you tell that I am a "little" ticked off? A sealed transmission (5R55W) is a nightmare of a design!!! 3rd gear bands failed! Problem admited in a Ford TSB but not RECALLED??? Ford did hit the bottom, but for them low is not low enough... now they are digging a hole!! I believe that if every FORD owner that had/has this transmission problem will log in in a site like this, it will CRASH it due to multitude of cases I personally know of!! The only way we can wake FORD up is by being militant, do our part and sanction them with out $$$... I am wondering if YUGO engineers are being employed by FORD!
All of the sudden, the OD light began flashing and it was driving rough (felt like it was shifting from 1st to 2nd hard. Took to Certified Transmission and they said there was no 3rd gear????? Also said there were band parts in the pan. I called the local Ford service where I bought it and he said I should bring it there for a second opinion. And he would charge me $93 for a diagnostic. We decided to leave it where it is, since they have a good reputation. The Ford service rep said he had not heard of any transmission trouble with this year/model. Like we're stupid!!!!!
- Barb F.,
South Bend, IN, US
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I was on I-40 and my truck just stopped pulling in the middle of the road. I could have been killed. Luckily I as smart enough to immediatly put on my hazards and work my way to the emergency lane. There were no warning signs--NONE!!!!! Something needs to be done to at least help with the cost of a new transmission. I still have a year left to pay on the loan!
I bought a 2002 Explorer 3 months ago from a private owner with 69000 miles. The interior/exterior was in great shape and the price seemed right. After only 2000 miles the OD off light is flashing. After reading all the posts on the internet the problem seems obvious. How can ford have this many complaints about this transmission and not issue a recall is beyond comprehension. And they wonder why they have been losing market shares and americans are buying foreign. Why can't we who have been wronged get somebody like 60 Minutes or the better business burea involved? Maybe even the local news organization.
I first noticed the car jerking into gears and sometimes felt if driveshaft coming through floorboard.Ford told me I need a new transmission at 35,000. I was in shock! I thought Ford made excellent trucks.
First the warranty is typical 3yr 36,000, so it's my money I have to depart with.
I will never buy a Ford product again even though my father never drove anything else ( he never had problems with transmission with his vehicles) but Ford is not owning up to this flawed transmission. I have talked with other 2002 owners and up. Explorer owners saying transmission are jerky and won't shift in reverse without a 3 to 4 second delay.
If Ford wants to keep customers then do the right thing and recall these transmissions!
I purchased this Ford 1 1/2 years ago and now the transmission is going out. It was purchased from a reliable use car dealership but they failed to tell me about the transmission. I got a quote from a transmission shop for a cost of $1,695 to $2,100 to have this fixed.. My first car was a Ford and I should have known that all Fords are still the same no matter what year they are. Ford sucks. I'm going back to foreign cars.
I too have an 02 Explorer with a bad transmssion. It was fine this morning, and I got it on the road just a few minutes ago and BAM, problems. It winds up to the red line on the tach and will not shift until you let off the gas. When it shifts, it jerks into gear and shudders. I believe it goes from 1st to 3rd. It will not shift back down into lower gear for passing. It just loafs there in high gear until it jerks down to 1st, squealing tires and redlining it. The O/D off light is flashing and the service engine light is now on. There is a nice little "check transmission" display on the computer. The local Ford dealers were very quick to point out that it was out of warranty. Honda had a similar problem with its transmissions, and upon realizing it issued an "implied warranty" up to 100,000 miles for transmissions on those affected cars. Ford could care less. Its no wonder America buys Japanese.
Similar problem as all the others here. 2002, V8, 46500 miles, purchased new, no trailer tow package, never pulled a thing in it’s life, female driven, very easy life. “Check transmission” warning in message center came on, O/D off light flashed on and off rapidly. Warning lights would come on at about 50 mph and reset when key was turned off. No warning lights at all in low speed city driving. All shifts appeared to be normal. O/D engaged OK. Torque converter might not have locked up at highway speed, tough for me to tell since I drive it so rarely. Bottom line, took to dealer, they found a “chunk of copper in valve body” and other metal shaving throughout the entire transmission. Entire transmission replaced with a new Ford remanufactured transmission. Fortunately the repairs were still covered by Ford ESP extended warranty so total out of pocket was only $50. Was told the bill would have been over $4,000 without the warranty.
Transmissions should not fail after 46000 miles. Never did like the idea of a sealed transmission. Whether I could have detected early warning signs of failure by checking the fluid regularly we’ll never know. But as President Reagan once said, “trust, but verify”.
There is a Techinical Service Bulletin out on this, THEY (FORD) say its not a safety issue.... so no recall was issued, but I beg to differ. With two kids in the car when your on the highway with no previous indications of any problem you suddenly have a car that stops dead.
I definitely got a sick feeling to my stomach reading these other complaints because mine was so similar. The O/D would flicker and it couldn't shift from 1st to 2nd gears. I am so lucky that the previous owner had an overhaul done while it was still under warranty (for the exact same problem) and that his warranty on the overhaul covered my repairs. Had I not extensively researched the car's history, I wouldn't have known about the overhaul already being done once. I made sure that the dealer would honor the warranty from the previous owner before buying. Good thing or I would've been out $3500. But what about all of my fellow owners here who weren't so lucky? Ford says, "Too bad," I guess. Now, I feel like I'm just biding my time until it happens again. What a joke. No recall on this? Ford has lost my business forever.
Because my vehicle is over the 36k mile limit ford told me it wasn't their problem, but they are willing to take my arms and legs to fix it. Everyone with explorer problems needs to contact customersaskford.com and register all of these complaints so that hopefully they will issue a recall. There you will find a question page just ask(how do I file a complaint with ford motor company) this will get the ball rolling. This is the 2nd eddie bauer explorer I have owned and the 3rd transmission I have had to replace.
Purchased the vehicle used, with 49,000 miles on it -- the day after we took it home, we noticed that the vehicle lurched out of, and into 1st gear -- we took it back to the dealer and 3 days later were told that it was a torque converter clutch problem -- were told that we were lucky that we had the 30 day used car warranty, or it would have cost us $3500! Had another transmission problem 14 months later, but that's another story...
The O/D light started to blink one morning and the truck would lurch out of 1st gear into 3rd -- was told after the diagnostics that I had lost 2nd gear and that the "pin" had broke... The dealership had to "rebuild" the whole transmisison and gave me a 1 year warranty on the work. 4,000 miles later, all is still okay.
Just a single guys car. To and from a desk job no towing or hard driving with this truck. One morning truck just wouldn't keep rpm and o/d light stayed on. Ford Dealer said it was the transmission band. Is this a problem for others?
First transmission failed at 300 miles. Yes 300 miles. Then at 50,000 miles it failed again. It has been in the shop a week and the dealer still has not diagnosed the problem. They would not give me a replacement until they diagnosed the problem. The customer service supervisor then proceeded to hang up on me when I asked to talk to his manager. I will never buy another Ford and would not recommend the car to anyone
When the O/D lite began flashing, we had it serviced and the error code pointed to a torque converter clutch problem. Assuming that the valve body gasket had blown and needed to be replaced (around $400 service cost), we had a technician drop the valve body after he discovered that there was 'chunks' of brass and steel in the pan. He dropped the valve body, the gasket was fine, but there were more 'chunks' of brass and steel in the valve body. The next day, the transmission would not ramp up beyond first gear. I'm looking at having to overhaul the transmission. Ford said there are no recalls on the 2002 Explorer transmission. Someone tell me how normal driving conditions causes 'chunks' of metal to appear in the valve body and transmission pan!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Oh god this 2002 Explorer is the worst the SES light came on now the tranny won't shift from 1st to 2nd gears. The man @ LEE Myles said that he replaced 4 already this year. Why won't FORD or FRAUD recall these trannys?????
- bruce bruce, Ny, NY, US