general problems of the 1998 Ford Explorer - part 1

Speed control gets hot to touch. All top facing has melted off from heat. I was on highway and my steering wheel became extremely hot. My seat was repaired after recall years ago. It continues to drop low to floor.

Gas pedal bracket welding broke while driving and gas pedal is now just dangling - checked on internet and there are a large amount of complaints about same thing - should be a recall.

When I stepped on the gas pedal and started to proceed through an intersection, I lost all power and had to roll or coast very slowly through the intersection and stop on the other side in a dangerous position in traffic when I could coast no further. The gas pedal bracket had completely broken off the firewall and was laying on the floor. The bracket had been attached by three spot welds. Some other people stopped traffic and pushed me to a safe place to park. The Ford dealer parts' department has no parts to fix it and suggested we buy some bolts somewhere and reattach it ourselves somehow. To completely lose power without warning was extremely dangerous! thank god I was in a controlled intersection and not turning left across oncoming traffic or it could have turned out much worse. Reading online blogs and comments shows this problem of the gas pedal bracket falling off Ford products and losing power is not uncommon.

Rear end roars and speedometer quit working.

When backing up at 5mph vehicle accelerated at high speed went up curb and hit guardrail. After 2-3- seconds vehicle dropped down to 0 mph.

The Explorer brake peddle went to the floor to stop the vehicle . There was smoke coming from under the hood . In a few seconds , the truck was in flames. Police and firemen were called to the location . They put the fire out in a few minutes .

I was driving 45 mph when the accelerator went all the way to the floor, I put the car in neutural and then speedometer went all the way up to the max, and coasted off to the side as soon as I could. This caused the engine to be damaged and the car is not driveable.

We used the Ford Explorer ealier in the day to visit local relatives. We parked the car in our attached garage at around 4pm that day. We were woken up around 1am to noises coming from the garage. Upon opening the garage door from our laundry room, I found the hood of the Ford Explorer in flames. I slammed the laundry room door and proceeded to get our 3 yr old son out from his room that is located above the garage and out of the house. My husband also went into the garage to see what was happening, by then the truck was fully engulfed in flames. He was going to try to put out the fire but quickly realized that there was no chance. The fire was too big by then and being that our gas water heater was located next to the vehicle, he quickly exited the garage but did receive 2nd - 3rd degree burns to his hands, feet and right flank of his back. By the time the fire dept arrived on scene, the garage was engulfed in flames. The fire destroyed the garage, the support beams for the second floor above the garage and the laundry room. Also, the entire first floor has smoke and water damage and the second floor is mostly smoke damage.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked unoccupied outside of the contacts residence when it burst into massive flames. The fire department extinguished the fire and the vehicle was completely destroyed. A fire report was available. The contact stated that the manufacturer issued a voluntary recall pertaining to the speed control system modification under NHTSA campaign id number: 00v422000 (vehicle speed control) and the vehicle was included in the recall but had not yet been repaired. The contact believed the failure was related to the recall defect. The failure mileage was 167,000. Updated 05/03/lj updated 05/23/11.

1998 Ford Explorer caught fire parked under my carport. 1/6/11 @ 14:00hrs.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign id number: NHTSA campaign id number: 00v422000 (vehicle speed control). The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised the contact to return after the first of the year to have the recall repair performed. A few months later while driving 35 mph, the steering wheel and brakes froze without warning. The contact crashed into a pole as the vehicle independently shifted into reverse and accelerated backward. The driver sustained major injuries and was transported to the hospital via ambulance. The police were called and a report was filed and available. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was deemed as destroyed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown. Updated 06/02/11.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While parked, the contact stated that she smelled smoke coming from the steering column. She believed the failure to be similar to NHTSA campaign id number: 06v286000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that they would be opening a case on her behalf to further inspect the failure. The contact did not inform the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The current and failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

On July 17, 2010 the accelerator to my 1998 Explorer (eddie bauer) stuck when I was trying to back a little ways down my drive way. The truck accelerated out of control and jumped the street hitting my neighbor porch damaging the porch and neighbor's yard. The police came and completed an accident report. The Ford Explorer was towed to the body shop and repaired towed to a local Ford dealership for repair. The dealership says there is nothing wrong with the Ford Explorer. I traded the vehicle in. I have spoken to other 1998 Ford Explorer owners and they also have experienced the same problem.

While attempting to back of parking space at home, vehicle accelerated out of control and hit townhome across the street. Accelerator pedal was recently repaired at dealership (01/12/2010).

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While parked he saw smoke and flames underneath of the hood of his vehicle. The dealer was contacted, and he was advised to bring the vehicle into the dealer. The speed control wiring harness had melted ; which caused fluid to leak . No repairs were made. He then received a letter for recall campaign id number: 09v399000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer will contact him with a response within a fifteen day period. The failure and current mileages were 155000.

While accelerating from a complete stop, the gas pedal snapped off and fell to the floor of the car. We were able to coast out of the intersection where it happened. Once stopped we discovered that the welds that held the petal to the fire-wall (I believe that is what the mechanic later called it) had broken. The mechanic was able to bolt the pedal back on. While there were no injuries, or irreparable damage to the car, it could have been a far more dangerous situation, as we were headed for a busy highway at the time. We feel Ford should be aware of this incident, take responsibility for the cost of repair, and take steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be repaired according to NHTSA campaign id number 06v286000 (vehicle speed control). After the repair, the speed control no longer worked. A private mechanic also stated that the wiring inside the column, which connected to the air bag, was melted and caused the air bags to malfunction. The contact returned to the dealer with the report from the mechanic. The dealer denied the free repair request and stated that the repair would not be covered under the recall. The dealer also stated that to remedy the issue, the contact would have to pay $2,500 to replace the wiring, air bags, and the part used for the speed control repair. The manufacturer has not yet been notified. The current mileage was approximately 158,000 and failure mileage was approximately 157,000.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While parked in the driveway, the vehicle caught fire without warning. A family member safely extinguished the fire. The vehicle was completely destroyed. The contact has a copy of the report from the fire department. The manufacturer stated that her vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign id number 06v286000 (vehicle speed control); however, they would not assume financial responsibility because the component already failed. The contact stated that she never received a recall notice in the mail. As of October 14, 2008, she has not received a remedy for the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

I had a 1998 2dr Ford Explorer that caught on fire for no reason at my job on June 17, 2008. It was a under the hood fire. I arrived at work at 8:26 a. M. A couple of minutes after 11:00 a. M. Is when the building manager knocked on my door and told me the fire department was looking for me because my truck had caught on fire. The car ended up being a total loss. Everything on the inside was severely smoke damaged. My radio melted and I loss certain paper work that I had in my glove compartment. My heater cord was left on the ground along with some other wires after the tow truck towed my truck away. That's how burned up my truck was.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While parking his vehicle (2 mph), the vehicle surged forward and crashed into the wall of the parking structure while the brake was depressed. The contact stated that the vehicle would not stop until he shut off the engine. The current and failure mileages were 150,000. The purchase date was unavailable.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While driving 5 mph into the garage at the repair shop, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a wall. The dealer stated that the throttle failed and referenced NHTSA campaign number 00v422000 (vehicle speed control). The current and failure mileages were 37,000.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. The contact received recall notice # 06v286000 (vehicle speed control). She called the dealer to schedule an appointment for the repair and the dealer asked if any failures had occurred. The contact stated that the engine and abs warning light indicators had illuminated. The dealer then stated that there would be a service charge of $100. When the dealer was told to only service the vehicle for the recall, they stated that the $100 service fee would still apply. The mileage information was unknown.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While driving in reverse with a trailer attached, the vehicle accelerated at full speed. The contact stated that there were recalls for this year, make, and model, however he was never contacted about the recall. The manufacturer offered to sale him another vehicle. The vehicle's entire rear end is damaged, the trailer is completely destroyed, and the boat that was parked in his yard now has a hole. The current and failure mileages were 110,000.

: the contact stated while parked in a driveway, flames erupted from the under the front of the hood. There were no warning signals prior to the incident. The fire department was contacted and extinguished the fire. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified, but the contact planned to do so after filing a complaint with the NHTSA. The contact noticed on the internet that there were NHTSA recalls #06v286000, #00v422000, and #99v062001 which pertained to the vehicle speed control. A recall letter was never received and pictures were available. The vehicle was deemed totaled.

My car caught on fire while sitting in my driveway. It was not running and it had not been driven in over 3 hours.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford Explorer. While parked at the contact's job, the vehicle began smoking and then caught fire under the hood. Everything under the hood was melted. The contact did not know if the vehicle was destroyed. When he called the dealer, he was informed that there was no safety recall pertaining to his VIN; therefore, he would be responsible for the repair costs. Nhtsa campaign id number 00v422000 (vehicle speed control) was referenced. The correct incident date was unavailable. The current and failure mileages were 149,382.

When pressing on the brake pedal, the vehicle surged forward. This caused the consumer's vehicle to rear-end another vehicle. The consumer rear-ended a harley davidson motorcycle.

Vehicle accelerated in full throttle when brakes was released. As a result, vehicle was involved in a frontal crash. No report of airbag deployment. Dealer could not duplicate the problem.

While pulling inside of a parking space. Without prior warning the vehicle jump forward and accelerated and hit a palm tree. Please provide additional information. Dealer is aware of the problem. Ts.

Car excelerated to wide open at stop light, both feet were on brake, could not stop. Car went through intersection, luckily no one was hurt. Dt.

When at a complete stop vehicle will start to accelerate without consumer pressing on gas. Contacted dealer.

Recall 00 v 422 000/throttle: vehicle would run rough when starting up in morning and stalled intermittently. Dealer and manufacturer were notified, and informed consumer that this vehicle was not covered under recall due to VIN. Feel free to provide any further information concerning this matter.

Vehicle stalled after exiting highway. I stopped at exit and vehicle stalled when accelerating, vehicle restarted but would stall when put into gear. After sitting for several hours vehicle restarted with no record of any error codes. High potential for accident because I was pulling out into traffic when vehicle failed, I was able to put the vehicle into neutral and coast into a nearby parking lot with no powering steering or brakes. I had been driving on the highway for approx 4 hours. Took vehicle to Ford service center and they were unable to identify the problem, no repair was done. This was the third time the vehicle had stalled on acceleration, but the first time it would not restart.

Engine goes dead on acceleration. Vehicle will completely shut down and must be restarted. It is often long periods of time between repair visit and next failure. To date this is still occurrina and is a very dangerous condition. The potential of casing a serious accident is very likely. This has happened numerous times when pulling out into the traffic flow. This has been reported numerous times and I have documentation were the problem has been worked on since 8-26-99. Failures are sporadic and to date they have been unable to duplicate the problem and unable to repair. The dealer has been cooperative however that have not been able to repair. They have replaced intake manifolds, checked fuel pumps, timing chain tensioner and many other things but have not been able to correct the problemt.

No summary listed for above vehicle. (dot number: ? tiresize: ?).