Automatic Transmission problems of the 2002 Ford Explorer - part 1

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the shifter handle fractured while attempting to exit a parking lot. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 187,000. Updated 03/05/lj updated 03/06/12.

4x4 module now the transmission is shifting into 2 gear hard.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that she was unable to shift the vehicle into reverse. The dealer inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that she needed to replace the transmission. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. No repairs were performed. The current and failure mileages were 131,000.

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer that has 120,000 miles on it. I was recently driving back home from a trip in san francisco, California to sacramento, California. Two days after having my car fully serviced and my over drive light came on and as soon as that happened my car started telling me I need to get my transmission checked. I sat there thinking to myself how can this be happening I just spent 800 dollars to have all of my fluids flushed, brakes checked, everything. I took my car back to the auto repair store and they told me I needed a new transmission and after labor it would be around 5000 (I think I was quoted that price because I'm a young female, I was looking online and most people were quoted around 3000). I'm a full time college student paying for my classes with student loans and grants. I don't have a few thousand dollars sitting around at my disposal to fix my car. I also can't have my car in the shop for a long period of time due to the fact if I miss more than 3 classes most of my professors will drop me. I have researched this issue and many other consumers not just myself have had this incident happen to them, I believe Ford is in the wrong for having faulty manufacturing, they have made it so any transmission work has to be done by the dealer, you can't even check your own transmission fluid. I feel as if Ford needs to issue a recall on their transmissions or offer some kind of help to pay for these unacceptable incidents.

I own a 2002 xplorer, recently the o. D light began blinking and the truck started jerking violently. I did some research and found out there are thousands of people with the same transmission problem. I have an eight year old who was in the truck with me at the time. This is a major safety issue with Ford and should definately be looked into.

Transmision has gone out at 85,300 miles, must have it rebuilt.

When shifting from reverse to park the shift lever broke off in my hand. . Read more...

My 2002 Ford Explorer's transmission completely stopped working while stopped at a traffick light. That is a major safety hazard and could have caused a major accident. I have read numerous complaints about the transmission in these model and year vehicles. There needs to be som recall for this.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the odometer began to flash and the vehicle began to jerk abnormally. The vehicle was taken home and parked. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were 84,000.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated the gear selector lever fractured when shifting from park into drive. There was no prior warning. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for diagnosis and repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 108,000.

Transmission has had problems since car was bought. Have had work down on it and finall y had to replace it in may 2011, cost $5000.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact was driving approximately 45 mph when the overdrive warning indicator illuminated until the engine was turned off. The transmission also exhibited severe hesitation. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for inspection where the technician detected that the failure was related to the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 114,071.

My transmission on my 2002 Ford Explorer XLT wont shift into 3rd gear.

I am another victim of the 2002 Ford Explorer and its transmission woes. Alerted by a flashing od yellow warning light, after a trip to the garage and research on the internet, I discover this is a sign that I will need a $3000 transmission rebuild on a vehicle with only 99k miles that was carefully used and dealer serviced. This is a known problem by Ford and have done nothing to rectify if with consumers.

At 105k miles, our 2002 Ford Explorer started shaking as it shifted through the gears. We took it to a Ford dealer who charged $2,000 for "fixing" the problem. Driving away from the dealer, the problem continued. We took it back to the dealer who said there was another error code that cost us $30. The problem continued, and today Ford said that the transmission needed to be completely replaced. At just over 100k miles, there is no reason that the transmission should completely go out. We are now left with a vehicle that we can't sell and can't drive. Looking at several other descriptions on this website, it is apparent that Ford continues to ignore this transmission issue.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the gear shift selector detached from the hinge while the contact was attempting to change gears. The contact was able to shut off the vehicle but the key would not come out of the ignition. The vehicle was repaired once but the failure recurred. The dealer was contacted and told the contact that there were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 74,797 and the current mileage is 75,846. Updated 07/27/lj.

The transmission on our 2002 Ford Explorer needed to be rebuilt at 36,000 miles and is now needing to be rebuilt again at 74,000 miles. The first repair was done at a Ford dealership and after much complaining we were able to have some of the cost absorbed by purchasing an extended warranty. The car started shifting rough again a few weeks ago and then quickly progressed to fully skipping 3rd gear. We are now facing rebuilding it again. We have read up on the problem and have discovered that it is very common for the earlier built 2002 Ford Explorers. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph the overdrive and service warning lights illuminated as the vehicle began to lose power. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility where the transmission converter body was rebuilt. In addition, repairs were made to the overdrive piston, overdrive speed sensor, overdrive band, carrier planter, and reverse board bushing. The mechanic also replaced the transmission fluid. The manufacturer was contacted and advised that there were no recalls for the failure and would not provide any assistance. The failure mileage was 61,411 and the current mileage was 61,445. Updated 2/28/11 updated 06/03/jb.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph the vehicle stalled and would not shift into third gear. The contact noticed a recall for the power train transmission. Due to the VIN the vehicle was not a part of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer should extend the recall to more vehicle identification numbers since this was a known safety issue. The failure mileage was 190,000.

Transmission problems. This is the second time this has happened and the transmission was rebuilt in 2005. We've only averaged about 10,000 miles per year since the rebuild.

Trouble removing vehicle from park on incline over few week period. Transmission changing gears in rough manner over a few day period. Od light flashing during highway driving and then odor of something burning on October 10, 2010. Diagnosed as "fried transmission" by dealer. Cost to replace $3887 plus $125 for diagnosis. Not yet repaired - deciding our next action. Vehicle purchased new, always maintained according to dealer recommendations. Vehicle never abused, only towed very light utility and snowmobile trailers.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving various speeds the vehicle would lunge forward at times, stall, and shifting would be difficult. The vehicle was not inspected by the dealer nor been was it repaired. The manufacturer advised her that the transmission might need to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

Got a transmission overheated error and o/d was off. Looks like its a common occurrence on my Explorer.

Transmission doesn't shift from 2nd to 3rd gear - entire transmission needed to be replaced.

2002 Ford Explorer XLT v-6: overdrive off (o/d off) light blinking rapidly. Transmission is suddenly shifting very erratically which makes vehicle difficult to control. I understand that there have been numerous complaints regarding this issue on this vehicle -- please exert your authority to require Ford to address this serious problem.

Failure of transmission in 2002 Ford Explorer - known problem of many vehicles made my Ford especially this model/year. But no recalls or help in fixing this problem. Had to replace mine costing $2600 in parts and labor.

2nd gear out of transmission. It occurs everytime you drive it. The od light blinks and the engine light comes on as a result. The transmission has to be replaced, the old transmission is available at this time, but won't be for long.

I have a 02 Ford Explorer driving on the road when the od light flashing lost power it hard to shift in gear am not the only 1 wit this problem there thousand of Ford owner wit this same problem why cant u guys make Ford recall this problem Toyota make they recall they manup to their problem why cant Ford do that.

O/d and check engine light goes on every time I drive my SUV everytime I drive it as soon as the lights go on the SUV tans starts acting up and slip called Ford dealer and they said this is a common problem but, has not been recalled so it will cost 2,300. 00 plus labor. I am a single mother of 4 . Why is it there are so many complaints about this year Ford but, yet nothing is being done about it ! I just bought this car in Feb of this year and now I am having this problem ! I pulled out from a green light the other day and almost got in an accident because the trans slipped had all 4 children in the car with me ! maybe I should not be driving this but,this is my only vehicle and I need to drive ! and I sure don't have the money to replace this problems that everyone is having besides me ! Ford needs to fix there problem before someone ends up in a really bad accident or ends up worse dead !!.

1. Was driving in town Explorer shifted into 2nd hard and then 3rd gear slowed the car down then shifted like a hard jerk 2. Was occurring seems when car get warmed up the transmission shifts hard and the od light blinks and now even cold the od light blinks all the time now took to transmission shop told me I need a new transmission just bought it 4 months ago 3 called Ford dealership they told me to that there was no recall this is how I will correct the problem with my complaint so we can all get fix by Ford.

Just bought the truck recently the previous owner took very good care of it looks just like new even the engine and inside parts look like new. But recently the truck wouldn't reverse we took it to the dealer and the estimate scared us it was ridiculous. We took it to another mechanic and he just changed the oil and filter but he told us that the transmission had some damaged already. After we brought it back from the mechanic it worked fine for two days then the same problem happened again and the yellow light keeps on blinking. We haven's used it since the problem doesn't happen all the time but we're afraid of it happening while driving it or in a parking lot or something.

1. Transmission problems when I stopped fast 2. Transmission goes into neutral and takes about 10 seconds to pop back into gear. 3. Took to dealership where I was told they could replace a $1,000 part.

I have owned my 2002 Ford Explorer now for 3 years, within this 3 years I have had to make 2 major repairs and am now facing my 3rd. The transmission in my car needed to be fixed with 6 month of owning my car and now a year and half later I am facing more transmission issues. The car continuously kicked hard when shifting gears. Also if I were to put into park it would still roll or if I put it into reverse it would roll forward as if it were in reverse. Now it is using up to 5/6 rams to shift gears. I took it to a transmission shop and it missing all of its 3rd gear. I have found over 280 complaint about this same issue on the same make and model and that's just on one website. I believe this is very dangerous and as a new mother am wondering with all the complaints is this car safe? I don't believe it is. The transmission in this car needs to be recalled. This is not just one instance of bad luck. This is happening repeatedly with the same vehicle! I hope it doesn't take someone getting hurt for something to be done about this. Thank you for looking into this matter.

2002 4 x 4 Ford Explorer, while driving in rush hour traffic the timing chains went on this truck. Of course the engine stopped working and I had the huge problem of pushing it off this 3 lane busy highway. Did get it off and now waiting to raise enough money for replacement engine. Yes the oil was changed every 3200 - 3400 miles, default with the Ford engines, plastic sprocks. So I am without a truck until money is raised or Ford does a recall. I know! there was no sign other than a slight noise starting and called the garage and never got there. My truck is in great shape, no rust, no accidents and I love to drive it! the gas is not bad at all if you don't horse it!.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. While driving at approximately 75 mph, the vehicle stopped moving forward. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop where the transmission was replaced. The failure had not occurred since the repair. The contact also stated that while attempting to shift the vehicle into park, the gear shifter broke off of the steering column. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop where the contact was informed this was a known problem with that model. The vehicle was in the process of having the steering column replaced. The failure mileage was 113,997. The current mileage was unavailable.