general problems of the 2003 Ford Explorer

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and crashed into a ditch. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact and four bystanders pushed the vehicle into a residential driveway. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 108,412.

While driving home from work this evening the o/d off light began steadily blinking and the transmission took way too long to shift (rpm almost red line) and wouldn't shift into 5th gear. I was driving on a city street and first noticed the truck not shifting and within 3 minutes of driving the o/d off light began flashing. If you turn the truck off then back on the o/d off light turns off but the truck still won't shift correctly and the light starts to blink again. My truck only has 133,000 miles. I googled this problem and discovered that the vast majority of 2003 Ford Explorer owners have this same problem.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the door ajar warning light illuminated, which caused the dome light to remain illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 188,000.

Adjusted hvac temperature from cold to hot. Approximately 5 seconds later, a loud and repetitive popping sound came from the defroster vents. I was startled and immediately stopped the car (on a 2 lane highway) to investigate. The blend door actuator is failing. This condition will cause a loss of climate control in the cabin. It can get stuck on hot or cold or anywhere in between. If it gets stuck in the cold setting, the windshield defroster will not work which could cause an accident due to loss of visibility. If it gets stuck on the hot setting, heat-sensitive passengers may be injured by heatstroke in the summer months since air will always flow through the vents when the vehicle is moving.

I purchased my 03 Ford Explorer back in 2/15. It looked like I purchased a very very good used vehicle. Everything has been fine with it up until 2 weeks ago. My door ajar light keeps coming on when everything is closed, the od light is blinking non stop and the trunk window opens by itself when I am driving. When im driving it feels like the car is trying to "catch up". Like it knows I'm trying to do a certain speed but its way below and after a min. Or so, then it will go the correct speed. I had it hooked up to a diagnostic tool and its giving me the code of p7032 (something like that). Something about 2nd gear of trans? ive been told that this is a known issue with this make, model and year. . Ive also ready 100s of reviews and complaints on these issues. What I don't seem to understand is why isn't Ford doing anything about this???? if you are a manufacturer and see all these complaints and reviews (which I'm sure they do) then why aren't these vehicles getting recalled? I'm not rich in any way fashion or form. I'm a single mother of 4 who works full time and receives no gov't assistance. If I would have known that this is a "known" issue I would never have spent my hard earned money. . . . Does anyone know if anything is being done about this??.

The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the key fob failed to unlock or lock the doors. The vehicle stalled and failed to start. The contact mentioned that a chime sounded after the failures occurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.

I was driving on a curve and the engine shut off , I was able to stop ,and turn the car on again, that was the third time that that happened , the other two times the car was at low speed , around 30 mph .

The transmission light, 4ã¿4 and the od light came on. It does shift gear from 1 to 2 until 3000 rpm.

Truck jerks when trying to pick up speed picks up speed very slow sometimes doesn't want to go in drive.

My 2003 Ford Explorer has some serious electrical issues. My right front passenger window will not roll down. It gets very hot in my truck out in the heat. It stopped working all of a sudden and the a/c in the car does not blow. (I didn't break any of these things) my door ajar light is always on on the dash. . . My driver's door sensor went out for some reason and now my vehicle thinks that the door is always open, which drains my battery and my lights will not turn off at times. I have to manually turn them on/off. I dislike doing that because I'll forget sometimes. My rear lift-gate cracked one day too. I believe its from the cheap plastic. It's dangerous and my glass can fall out any day now. I also pinched two blood clots in my hand from opening this cracked rear hatch and had to see a doctor for it. Please help me get these things fixed. Thanks in advance.

When I started my truck, the interior dome lamp would not go off and door ajar indicator was chiming as if there was a door open. I got out of my vehicle and walked around the car opening and closing all the doors as well as the liftgate and rear hatch glass. I got back in the car and it was still going off. After I started driving and got above 10mph the light and indicator went off. I did a search on the web and found out that its a common problem for Ford Explorer owners regardless of the year it was manufactured. All of the wires that run from the driver's side door and into the body of the vehicle become brittle over time which eventually leads to cracks and breaks in the wires thus resulting in a electrical short. Ford should have addressed this issue given that its a common problem for Explorers manufactured between 2001 and 2009. For those who are electrical savvy, you can run new wires yourself. For those of us who are not, we have to rely that some mechanic isn't gonna rape our pockets and charge some ridiculous price to fix it. Thanks Ford motor company!!.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the air conditioner and defroster would not operate when activated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who advised that both the air conditioning/heater switch and the blower motor would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the defect. The approximate failure 130,000. Kmj.

Door adjar sensor fails in 2003 Ford Explorer its all over internet.

93,000 miles and abs light and loud grinding noise (in addition to applique crack in rear). Need to replace both rear hub bearings, brake pad rotors, and parking brake shoes. Search the web on these problems, and over 3 hundred complaints seen on just one site for 2003 Explorers alone.

There have been multiple problems with my 2003 Ford Explorer since I bought it brand new in August of 2003. But ironically they have all appeared after the warranty had expired. In September 2007 the air conditioning unit no longer worked. It cost me $2000 and a week without a car, to get it fixed. In August 2009 the passenger door window would no longer work. In September 2009 my SUV started making a clicking sound when turning on the heater. Since we lived in a warm climate this did not concern us much, as the heat had worked even with the clicking sound. But we moved to a colder climate and the heater went out in March 2010. In April 2010 the service engine light came on. After speaking with the mechanic, he said it was a transmission problem that occurred when the car shifted from 1st to 2nd gear and from 4th to 5th gear. He could not give me any more information and was not willing to fix my transmission problem (he suggested I go elsewhere because he was not an expert in transmissions). In may 2010 the o/d light started flashing off. After speaking to mechanic again, he said it was related to the transmission problem. In August 2010 the door ajar light started coming on randomly, even when the door is not open. And in September 2010, I noticed my abs light will come on randomly. It does not appear to be triggered by any specific reason, and does not always come on.

I have experienced all of the warnings the NHTSA listed for Ford drivers regarding possible imminent fires including getting the vehicle out of park mode. My problem is the recall only includes 1995-2002 Explorers and I have a 2003 Explorer. The manufacture date is 02/03. Is it possible the plant still had the texas instrument cruise control deactivation switch in stock from 2002 and installed it in my vehicle? approximate incident date is the most recent date and the vehicle would not get out of the park mode on that particular date (8/27/2009). The antilock braking system warning has been an on and off problem for at least the last 2 years. Brake light warning on dashboard only a couple of times. The malfunctioning cruise control last happened about 8 months ago and may have happened again but don't remember when for sure. The only item I had checked out was the antilock braking system light on the dashboard. November 21, 2008 they replaced the differential speed sensor, I have yet to find out if that is related to the recalled switch. It fixed the antilock brake dashboard light from coming on mostly. It has come on after that, but only a couple of times and only for a short time.

The door ajar light intermittently illuminates as the overhead lights come on. I had this occur once in the past and the dealer replaced a switch / relay but now it is occurring again. . . Much more frequently . . . In fact, it is illuminated more then not now.

Door ajar light comes on and turns on interior light which makes driving difficulty. Interior light come on with no warning. Vehicle has no damage and periods of extended wet weather causes sensor to malfunction.

I payed 18,000 for my 2003 Ford Explorer XLT with the flex fuel in 2006. Its a very nice looking SUV but I only drove it for 2 years before the transmission started to fail. I beleave a transmission should last more than 2 years. My concearn is that its defective all around the transmission and I could still drive it if I wasnt in fear for my life. I have had it to Ford dealership and they could not diagnose the problem, they wanted me to pay them to taket out the tranny and wanted way to much for any parts,so I had it looked at by a transmission place that been around a long time and he had no idea what was wrong. Replaced the selenoid for like 900 and my it ran fine for like 2 weeks until I put in 4 w/d than my o/d light started bliking again and the transmission slipped, the o/d light eluminated the first time my transmission ever slipped. And if I went and drove it right now it would cause an accident and some people might still depend on there defective Explorer to get somewhere. It accelerates by its self it sometimes dosnt want to go in gear and if this is electrical someones vehicle could stop in the middle of a highway with no warning but a blinking o/d light. And worst thing is, if Ford would reconize this problem with out selling new transmissions that will eventually have the same problem with I could have it fixed but no one but Ford knows what is wrong and they obviously dont know how to fix it or know if they admit their mistake it was a design flaw I want my money back. I bet you they wouldnt even take my Explorer on a trade in. And if you just google Ford Explorer anything from 1999 to 2007 I think. . . . Its going to have like thousands of people with the same problem as mine and probaly like from 40,000 miles up, way to early for transmission replacement.

The message center on 2003 Ford Explorer can't be seen in daylight causing a very dangerous situation while driving and trying to read the compass , mileage, miles /gal, any readout of the auto. Almost caused my wife and I to run off the road while trying to read the compass. Night reading is fine, but daylight is terrible. . This situation should be fixed by Ford before someone gets killed trying to read the message center in daylight.

The passenger side airbag warning light comes on intermittently for no reason (has since I bought it used in 2006). The door ajar warning light comes on and won't allow me to lock/set my alarm on my vehicle plus it leaves the interior lights on for a while (started about 6 months ago). I am now experiencing a banging sound under the hood when I change the temperature (heat or air conditioning)(started in last 4 months). I have to turn the fan on high to get it to stop. It will do it even if the temp is off sometimes. It also will not lock into gear when put into park on an incline (my driveway). . . Without rocking backwards into gear(started in the last 6 months).

Engine cut off while running, when I turned on high beams. Engine rpms and engine accelerated, when I turned on high beams loss control of acceleration, when fog lights were turned on. Message center flashed "check transmission", o/d off (overdrive off) flashed, when fog light were turned on.

Vehicle was parked for approximately 2 hours and the owner drove across the street to the shell gas station, owner parked the vehicle on the side of the gas station, and got some cash from the atm machine. Owner walked back to the vehicle and it ignited. Fire department was notified and extinguished the fire. The entire truck was burned. The fire marshall said that they thought it was an electrical fire.

Engine cut off, when high beams were switched on.

The vehicle was brand new and there was rusting around the windshield, the power doors and the seats were not working , there was a problem with the cruise control as well. Five windshields had been replaced due to constant leaking including the moon roof and the headliner. The power doors did not work. When it would rain, many electrical problems would be present.

While driving at any speed, all of the indicator lights illuminated on the dashboard. As a result, the steering locked. Please provide additional information.

2003, Ford, Explorer XLT 4x4 - engine just stopped, no warning, no sign of any problem, and would not restart, computer processor failed. No brakes ,no power steering.

While driving 35 mph vehicle stalled. Consumer took vehicle to dealer four times. The first time mechanic replaced an air bypass valve. The second time mechanic reset computer module. The third and fourth times mechanic was not able to duplicate the problem. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle stalled. The driver took the vehicle to the dealer for analysis. The mechanic can not duplicate the problem.

Multiple issues with my 2003 Ford Explorer which include the electronic mother board having been replaced twice (under warranty), cracked liftgage (not under warranty cost $300), transmission rebuild approx 90,000 ($3000), dome lights do not turn off, door ajar lights, electric rear windows do not open, o/d light flashes and now the final problem after having replaced my transmission in July 2011 is a drive train or drive line issue. At approximately 45 mph after dropping from a higher speed, a thumping happens. Diagnosis for this issue has been 3 days still with no final determination.

Right side rear passenger window would jitter and bottom out when you open and close window. This problem was continuous since day one. I originally thought it was just off its track. So I didnt worry about it to much and I waited (which is my fault as to why I had to pay for it) until something more worth while going in for came up. When I took my truck in to have them look at the door ajar light from my deer accident, they said that the rear passenger window was doing what it was due to a bad electric motor. I think Ford needs to be more thorough when testing the vehical for quality assurance. The window was only used three time to date. I didnt mind paying for the repair as I am sure Ford would of honored the warrenty if I would of delt with it then. But its just the fact of the matter that they put a faulty electric motor in the SUV that should of been caught when it came off the assembly line.