This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owned a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph on the sand in a beach area that there was a failure of which a strong burning odor started, excess heat was felt by the driver, front passenger and 3 rear passengers. The vehicle was pulled over as they exited the vehicle. Upon inspecting the vehicle, it was noticed that there was a small fire near the transmission area, fluid had leaked onto the catalytic converter as the fire progressed to destroying the vehicle with the fire becoming extensive which had erupted all the way to the fuel system to the fuel tank. The fire department had arrived and extinguished the remaining flames. The insurance company had not rendered any assistance to inspect the cause of the fire. A dealer had not diagnosed the cause of the fire yet. The vehicle was destroyed due to the internal failure resulting in a catastrophic fire. The manufacturer was notified of the failure to determine if they may be able to investigate the cause of the fire. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000.
Broke down on a very high traffic bridge, that had no safety lane to pull over. Very dangerous, with no time to pull over when engine light came on. Repeat, this happens to all Ford sport tracs with plastic radiator housing. There are some class action lawsuits across the usa. Ford has known about this condition since 2002, but only notified government vehicles for the fixes.
Driving on highway check engine light came on and engine started missing and car shaking; pulled in to Ford dealer in next town; diagnosis said could be this or that they could not figure it out but got car running smother; we went another 300 miles to our destination; took car to local Ford dealer; replaced spark plugs and upstream O2 sensor; took it home; still ran rough seems like it is about to stall an a light or sitting in traffic; took it back; they had it for 3 days; mechanic drove it; could not figure out what was wrong and said they thought it was ok because mechanic could not make it drive like it was mis firing or anything unusual; drove home and it immediately started acting like one cylinder was mis firing. Am going to take it to a repair shop that is highly recommended and let the see if they can find out what is the matter.
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. While at a stop light with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle accelerated independently. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body and motor assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 61,130.
Driving the car it began to lose power, then get power, then it shut off. Restarted the car, started driving and it surged unexpectedly then began to lose power again, then it shut off. This scared my wife because she didn't know if it was going to surge or lose power. Took it to a mechanic and finally after a lot of diagnostics they determined it was the ECM or electronic power control module. I have researched this and a lot of people have had this problem.. Ford knows of the problem but will not replace the module. Others have written of this same problem. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ucusqj3-evk I just wish someone would look into this do something about it.
- Ocala, FL, USA
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After turning onto the main road out of our subdivision the vehicle shut down and would not start. The car behind us nearly ran into the back of the vehicle. It appears there is a design flaw in the tensioners used for the timing chains on the motor in this vehicle. The tensioners are a plastic that cannot hold up to the heat and eventually deteriorate prematurely. Apparently when one of them fails the vehicle automatically shuts off the engine causing the driver to lose control.
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. The contact stated that the radiator began to leak abnormally. The contact attempted to locate the parts needed to make repairs to the vehicle from an independent parts dealer, but was unable to locate the part. The vehicle was then scheduled for repairs with an authorized dealer. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileage was 35,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Brooklyn, NY, USA