Five problems related to transmission not engage have been reported for the 2006 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2006 Ford Explorer based on all problems reported for the 2006 Explorer.
The transmission would not engage into the next gear. Then the engine maintenance light came on. Pressed the gas again it would not go forward. Pulled off to the side to park it and put it back in d - drive it still would not go forward. Engine light still on. Turned off the vehicle. 10 minutes later turn on the vehicle and put in d-drive and it engaged but was unable to shift into next gear. Able to make to parking lot and get help. I do agree why did Ford make hard for consumer to add their own transmission fluid if it runs low. No dip stick for it as well to check if it is low.
Transmission disengaged at red light. It started going backwards instead of forward. Had to put into park and then back into drive to get it to drive. Still going on. Now when actually on the road it is getting out of gear when vehicle is at driving speed. Engine revs up to 5000rpms, then down to 1000rpm. Vehicle lunging. Will get hurt I'm sure.
The contact owns a 2006 Ford Explorer. While driving 15 mph, the transmission failed to engage properly and had difficulty shifting gears. The dealer reprogrammed the vehicle, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on three occasions by the end of September. The current and failure mileages were 17,000. Updated 12-12-07. The consumer stated the transmission hesitated on engagement. Updated.
2006 Ford Explorer eddie bauer v8 with six speed auto. Purchase vehicle used with 17k miles. Problems with transmission 1-2 weeks into ownership. The vehicle has issues as to what gear to be in and will lunge forward or clunk into gear. This happens frequently when coming to a stop. Also, when driving the vehicle it sometimes hesitates when shifting into higher gears and will "clunk" into gear. In one instance I tried to pull into traffic and attempted to accelerate and the vehicle would not shift in order to gain speed. The engine revved up but the transmission did not engage. I have had the car to the dealership 2 times for this problem. They have re programmed the computer the first time. The symptoms seemed to disappear. A week later, it came back. The second time, the tech told me that it is a normal condition and that the tranny gets confused as to what gear to be in. The delayed and harsh shifting is dangerous and someone is going to get seriously hurt as a result of it happening. The random shifting into first when coming to a stop should prove real interesting on the ice and snow. . .
When trying to move the gear shift from park to any gear after being parked for any amount of time; the gear shift safety lever will not engage allowing me to change gears.