general problems of the 2004 Ford Explorer

While driving the vehicle dash lights start blinking and car stops accelerating, turns on by won't move. Mechanic says engine is not communicating with transmission. Electrical issue seems like. When it rests it will work but then after driving it happens again. It just stops while you are driving, dangerous.

Brake lights came on by themselves, both while driving and at a standstill. I could pull the on the brake peddle but when I shut the door the brake lights would come on. When driving it must have been confusing to people behind me thinking I kept applying the brakes. I took it to a shop to have the brake light switch replace and found that there wasn't a replacement switch available and a different one hd to be wired in at the cost of over $180. 00.

While driving down the street I activated the cruise control feature, but when I deexcellerated using the the steering wheel cruise control buttons down to a speed below 40, the engine shut off and power steering off, while I was still in motion on the street. I had to put the vehicle into park and crank up again (which almost didn't crank back up), to get back running. This is the first time using my cruise control feature and have read other horror stories of their Ford Explorer shutting off mid drive due to using the decel button during cruise control. Must be recalled for highway and interstate safety hazard immediately.

All four seals where leaking including pinion seals. Clunking noise 40 to 50mph when you let go of the gas ,holds back,heater gauge+mph gauge don't work most. Of the time. Paint chipping away all over. Replaced all seals 5 times +yoke cvhalf shaft. Replaced front differential still making the noise. Poor lighting at night. It has a miss fire gave it a tuneup and still is doing it. Radio volume won't turn down it goes louder when turning down.

The throttle would not respond after starting. Electronic throttle control and engine service warning lights lit on dash. Engine would not rev over 1000 rpm. Had to get electronic throttle body replaced at a cost of $875 plus $65 towing. Electronic throttle control failure has been common Fords going back to 2002. Ford has replaced over 1. 6 million units under their consumer satisfaction program. However, there was no recall. Called Ford, and was assigned a case #, however, Ford would not assist with payment. Vehicle out of warranty. 31,155 actual mileage.

Complete engine failure while driving. Service engine soon light appeared 2 days previous but did not yet make it to the mechanic. Computer reading suggested a sensor problem. Engine shut down, lost power steering and all systems. Engine restarted but now idles rough.

Driving down the road at 10:52 pm and with no warning the entire truck shut down/off. All lights inside and out shut off, engine shut off, no power to the entire vehicle. Coasted to a stop, put it in park and turned the key off and then back on - the truck started right up with out a problem.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the service engine and the battery warning lights illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle was jerking and making a loud noise. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who replaced the front left hub and wheel bearing, the rear springs, the three passenger gear calipers, four rear driver calipers, the battery, five rear brake pads and six rear rotors plus an oil change. Three weeks after the repairs, the vehicle stalled without warning. In addition, the brake pedal hesitated to respond. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer, who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,817. Djr.

I was at a stoplight and when the light turned green my car would not move. The car was in drive and it would just rev. The cars behind me started honking. I put it in the lower gears and finally started moving forward and drove it to the dealership. As I was driving to the dealership in the lower gears the car shifted out of gear while in traffic, I put it in neutral and back into 3 and it started moving forward again. This is very dangerous since the car will just shift in and out of gear and stop moving forward. At the dealership the car would not move while in drive or reverse. They told me the transmission needs to be replaced at a cost of $4,200, this is after I just had the throttle body replaced two months ago at a cost of $1,800. Ford need to do a recall in these transmissions it could lead to an accident.

Tl - the contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the indicator on the instrument cluster did not properly specify what gear the vehicle was in. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for a diagnostic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 117,000. The VIN was not available. Dr.

My SUV shuts off, at full speed!!! I've been in contact with Ford's corporate office, dealerships and other mechanics. . . . . It is an issue that tens of thousands of Ford Explorer owners have had. There are thousands of complaints online! it is so common that mechanics know what you're talking about, before you finish a description of the problem. It's alsoi common for individuals to replace motors and continue to have their vehicles shut off on them, at full speed!!!. I am afraid for my child's safety, as well as my own.

On the body the tailgate panel keeps cracking this makes my truck look bad compared to the money I put into it. My engine or transmission acts as if something is wrong it is not shifting gear right. On the electrical tire pressure light keeps coming on and it also keeps leaking water from somewhere. Ford needs to go out of business for selling these pieces of junk. It makes no sense.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact was driving 2 mph in reverse when the back up sensor failed and the contact crashed into another vehicle. The crash caused no injuries and the police were contacted. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection of the failure or repairs. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and the current mileage was 131,000.

After starting vehicle and moving shift lever from park to reverse - rotating shift handle mount broke off- required towing and $1800 repair cost. Have seen similar instances on consumer complaint boards - Ford fails to recognize as being a safety manufacturing defect.

2004 Ford Explorer another bad transmission ! 3000. 00 rebuild over drive light flashing , interior lights stay on , windows don't go down, door open lights on dash are on . . Seems to be alot of these complaints I been reading on the internet ! Ford had to have some fault in all these complaints ????.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while the vehicle was being serviced for routine maintenance at an authorized dealer, he was informed that the blend door motor had failed. The blend door motor was replaced at the owners expense. The failure and current mileages were 88,820.

I have a 2004 Ford Explorer which while driving last year I was told that my hub assembly on my driver's side was bad and that I needed to replace it. I replaced it with a hub assembly from advance auto parts in Jan 2010. I just had to replace this part again in Dec 2010. I lost breaks. I also have a horrible jerking when I am backing up from a tight spot and the wheels are turned sharply. My door ajar light and all interior lights do not go off when the door is opened or the vehicle is cranked unless I turn the interior light switch to the off position and back to the on when the doors open position. I have had the electrical issue reviewed twice in the past. I have had the jerking looked at with no reason given more than once. I had my vehicle inspected on Nov 30th and nothing was mentioned about the terrible condition the hub assembly was in nor the bearings that a mobile mechanic showed me were terribly worn. I am replacing them soon. It seems to me that Ford must know about all of these problems and it should be something that they are willing to help the consumer in fixing since most Ford buyers are diehard Ford owners like myself.

2004 Ford Explorer xls, 41,000 miles on multiple occasions my car has shut off, loosing power for the brakes and steering. It usually happens when decelerating at a stoplight, or even decelerating off the highway onto an exit ramp. It has occurred at least four of five times and I've been very lucky each time to be able to pull over, put my car in neutral, and restart it. The car has no trouble starting back up. I've researched on the internet about this problem and have found that my experience is not unique. This is a very dangerous situation and the 2004 Ford Explorer can be very unsafe if there is some sort of failure. Please help me.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. In 2007, the contact stated that the instrumental panel lights constantly flashed and lost power. The dealer replaced a hose, which corrected the failure for approximately ten months. On November 2, 2008, the vehicle lost power and shut off. The contact had to wait several minutes to restart the vehicle. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 45,000 and current mileage was 55,000.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the vehicle jerks at any speed and then stalls. The vehicle must be parked on the side of the road in order to restart. He took the vehicle to the dealer approximately eight times and they were able to duplicate the failure; however, the diagnostic is not providing a proper dtc on what needs to be repaired and reprogrammed. The computer indicated what parts needed to be replaced, but all repairs was unsuccessful. The contact stated that the failure was a big safety hazard. The failure mileage was 76,000 and current mileage was 81,000. Updated 2/23/09 the consumer stated he lost power on the vehicle. The consumer no longer owns the vehicle. Updated 02/25/09.

I have a 2004 Ford Explorer with 57,000 that started stalling while driving about 3 month ago. It shuts off like someone turned the key. The occurrence is very random and there is never anything common between occurrences except it typically happens when I am braking. It's as if it's running out of gas. It took about 10 minutes each time before it would restart. All 4 times, even though it died like the key was turned off, it acted like it was out of gas when I was trying to restart it and then all of the sudden it would start like normal. Since then the following has been done: fuel filter replaced, maf sensor cleaned and the iac valve inspected. The service shop where it is taken says there is never an error code in the system when I bring it in. The vehicle is currently unsafe to drive with this condition.

Approximately in September 2007, my lighter went out and I took it to the dealer, carl gregory on box road in columbus, GA. They charged me $35. 00 for a fuse and now it won't work again this year. The fuses are fine but the lighter just isn't working. I need the lighter to charge my phone. Is this still covered under warranty. My vehicle is a 2004 Ford Explorer with only 73600 miles.

Cruise control is intermittent, sometimes accelerates unexpectedly especially when pushing the button to turn it off. So far have been able to stop car, but it is a scary situation. Also, rear warning indicator works only occasionally. Could run over or into someone if depending on it.

I have 2 issues that I would like addressed. 1. I believe that I have an electrical short or something because my radio keeps going out on the drivers side. This has been happening for about a year or so now. Not sure how to go about correcting the issue because I don't know if it is covered under warranty or not. 2. My hatchback has a crack in it and I am wondering if it is on recall to be replaced since I see alot of the same crack on other Explorers.

2004 Explorer has stalled two times without any warning. Restarts fine. Seems to be with cruise on and going down hill at speeds between 30 and 40. Has been to dealership and they say they can't duplicate. See several of same complaints on your site. Very dangerous. Has happened numerous times don't know what to put for incident date.

The issue I am encountering with my Ford 2004 is on several occasion while driving the fail safe indicator came on and shuts the entire vehicle down. Well after these incidents I decided to report the matter to one off the dealerã‚s, after a week of holding on to it the report came back that they could fine nothing wrong with the vehicle and there is nothing that they can do to help. Well after shutting down in the middle of the road while driving, something is definitely wrong.

My car won't shift in to gear any more.

We have experienced multiple problems with the electrical systems of our 2004 Ford Explorer along with other miscellaneous problems. The electrical problems have not been corrected to date. In November 2006, the rear window of the liftgate broke off the hinge. We were told there were no recalls for this problem and had to pay for this repair out of our pocket. Today, January 16, 2007 the frame of the rear liftgate cracked in the middle.

The consumer experienced a problem with the cruise control. The consumer would set the cruise control and then it will shut down by itself. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer who as of today, was unable to find a defect. The failure resulted in a life threatening situation when the vehicle reached speeds in excess of 100 mph on it's own while hitting the resume button in cruise control. The vehicle had been in to the dealer for the repair of the braking and tire pressure gauges, throttle control, transmission slippage, cruise control, traction control default, general computer defaults and the rear trim piece at the liftgate opening was distorted.