Ten problems related to engine have been reported for the 2003 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Ford Explorer based on all problems reported for the 2003 Explorer.
Car started to accelerate in reverse and struck another vehicle while brake was applied to no avail.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Explorer. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle was hesitant to pick up speed. All warning lights on the dash board illuminated during the failure. The vehicle was towed to the dealer yet they were unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated the failure had occurred two additional times in the same day. The vehicle was not repaired and the VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 40,900.
No noise/warning. The car had billowing black smoke coming from under the hood. On inspection oil was gushing from a valve at the back of the engine and burning, it nearly burst into flames. It was towed to a local mechanic, who found the timing chain had broken, slashing a valve cover and cutting into the back of the engine. It can be fixed for $3,000 plus tax estimate, but the Ford dealership recommends against this and says it needs a new engine /refurbished engine $5,000 plus tax. Ford refuse to accept this is a defect, despite multiple complaints I have seen on the internet. The car was a Ford Explorer 2003 with only 60,720 on the clock. I bought it new and maintained it well. I still have payments on it so am selling it for $2000 to cover the payments. It was a $34,000 car.
I have a 2003 Ford Explorer and has a flex fuel system 4. 0l 114,000 miles at times not all the time once in awhile I will go to turn and slow down the idle jumps up and down you will be able to see the rps go nuts and the engine shuts itself off I almost hit another car not being prepared for the shut down the brakes the steering all got hard to handle. . . Has anyone been looking into this problem at all? I have changed spark plugs the fuel filter air filter and still does this in warm weather as it does in cold weather. . Any clue as to what I can do? vary unsafe. I have never had a car or truck do this more than once.
While driving the 2003 Ford Explorer eddie bauer 4. 0l v6 the engine stops running with no warning. This has happened three times randomly. Two times were on a highway coasting to a toll booth. Each of those times I was able to put the vehicle into neutral and restart the engine. The third time was on a residential street. The engine could not be restarted.
The weather was mild for michigan, mid 40s. The vehicle had been parked for 1 hour after having been driven for about 40 highway miles. The vehicle was then started and driven less than one quarter mile to a stop light. While waiting for the light to change, the vehicle surged ahead. I was able to control the vehicle by stomping on the brake pedal and thowing the gear shift into park.
Vehicle was returned to dealer for bad idle and shut-off condition after placing vehicle in reverse or drive, dealer responded that the vehicle comes from the factory with a less than desirable idle and that there is no fix for. I believe that this should have been divulged. As I would not have bought this vehicle with such a problem.
Engine taps and loud.
I put the date of incident as the date I purchased the vehicle. I put this date as such because ever since I purchased this vehicle, we have had nothing but run arounds by the service providers and constant repairs every 3-7 months since I purchased the vehicle. The first major repair occurred when I had owned the vehicle for 18 months, at 35,998. It had an $1800 transmission job. Subsequent repairs have been focused transmission issues (always something slightly different than previous), engine function, and other mechanical issues. An extended warranty was purchased, but due to the parameters of the warranty, all issues were not fixed because they "were not able to be duplicated", (I. E. An intermittent transmission issue that had been occurring for 30,000 miles). Now that we are out of our warranty vehicle, we have an overpriced vehicle that is still owed on that will continue to need significant repairs. The most recent issue is the heating element, including the actuator and blend door function. This faulty piece will fail in the cold position. This causes a safety issue because you are faced with a repair that you may not be able afford (since they can run up to $1200) and having heat in the winter. With the current auto industry having the issues they are, they need to begin to make quality vehicles that aren't made to break just to get more money out of customers. To have continued customers, a company must have a consistent product that people can trust. The current american auto industry does not have that.
The vehicle lost power while driving, which caused the consumer to pull over. 2003 Ford Explorer lost power while driving, causing the driver to pull over.