Latches/locks/linkage Problems of Ford Explorer - part 2

I drive a 1998 Ford Explorer sport. Over the past two years, the locks on both the driver and passenger door have jammed, preventing the occupant from opening the door. The repairs have been very costly (around $800 total), and the faulty/jammed locks have posed significant safety concerns, since the driver or passenger had to climb over the arm rest to get in and out of the vehicle. I would strongly suggest that you address this safety issue with Ford motor CO. Asap. It may be too late for me. However, it will be a help to others who might have an accident and not be able to escape a fire or worse. If this had happened with my mother in the car, it would have been extremely difficult. The friend who had to climb in and out of the vehicle over the arm rest ended up with a sore back. We were out of town when the second incident occurred.

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I own a 1998 Ford Explorer XLT with electric door locks. Both the front driver and passenger door locks do not operate using any of the three available methods for unlocking. The remote key fob operation, the exterior driver door entry pad or the interior locking mechanism do not unlock the doors. This vehicle has the doors set to automatically lock when put in to any other gear than 'park' and the doors can only be opened using the interior handle which is only accessible from the rear door of my 4-door vehicle. This vehicle was purchased today to replace a similar vehicle (1999 Ford Explorer XLT) that had the exact same issue. Thankfully when I totaled the vehicle in an unfortunate accident the door did not stick close with the lock being the culprit.

1999 Ford Explorer - the doors lock become stuck - neither opening with the key manually, key code, or remote from the inside or the outside. The drivers side door and the door in the back on the drivers side just stopped working the door in the rear on the passenger side opens from the outside; the drivers side door does not open at all. In attempt to free myself from the car I broke the internal door handle. This is a common complaint and it is unsafe and expensive for the owners to fix. . Read more...

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2004 Ford Explorer, rear lift hatch failure. The hinge simply broke while the hatch was being closed. There were no injuries but could have been serious issues. The part was ordered and replaced at Ford in annapolis, MD for $150. 00. I note there have been several recalls for prior years and investigations for the 2004 model.

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I noticed my 2004 Ford Explorer has developed a vertical crack in the plastic tailgate attached to the rear window left of the Ford emblem. I took it to the dealership and they recognized it as a common problem with the 2004 Explorer and also warned me the hinges on the rear glass fail often as was the case on my vehicle. Service tech stated there was no recall as yet and I got to pay for the new hinges and holding off on the crack thinking Ford made do the right thing and repair the fault.

Rear hatch hinge pin broke breaking glass.

The contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the rear doors cannot be opened from within the passenger compartment. He assumed that the child safety locks were the cause of the failure. He found several consumers online who were experiencing the same failure. The dealer stated that they never heard of this failure and could not assist. The vehicle will be repaired. The failure and current mileages were 108,000. Updated 06/23/09. The consumer stated the dealer was able to get the doors to work. Updated 06/23/09.

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Door locks are stuck on passenger side of 1998 Ford Explorer. The door will not open at all.

I bought a 2002 Ford Explorer with 19,000 miles on it also thinking what a great deal I have had the truck for 3 years it now has 76,000 miles on it. The check engine light has been coming on and the o/d light will start blinking I tow a boat so I took it to a transmission shop they said it was very common for this to happen with the year of truck that I have. They said the cause was servo piston bore what ever that means they also said that if I dont repair it for $2,400. 00 that the lights will continue to come on and the truck will continue to slip. The other weird thing is I'll be driving and I hear a ding you know the sound you have when you leave your keys in the truck but I'm driving my truck when this happens and the door lock will go off like I'm locking the doors. I really love my truck the body is in excellent shape I still owe on my truck so buying something new isn't an option. The sad thing is I tow a boat every weekend and Im worried that something might happen.

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My SUV was parked in the driveway. I pushed the rear window release button to open the rear window and it exploded. Glass fragments were found up to 12 feet in all directions. The noise it made was loud, like a shot gun had gone off. A professional auto mechanic told me that my rear window regulator must have malfunctioned. Clearly this is a design flaw that Ford should rectify and fear for the safety of anyone owning/using this vehicle. I'm currently searching for replacement parts.

I have a 2003 eddie bauer Ford Explorer. Last night, when my son was attempting to close the rear lift gate glass door, the hinge on the passenger side broke off. The glass liftgate is presently being held up by the other hinge and it won't be long before that one breaks also. I spoke with an andrea at Ford 1-800-392-3673 and she basically told me that I was out of luck, that I would have to pay for the repairs because my vehicle was not included in the recall. I don't understand why, I told her the description of my vehicle. I have a friend who owns a Ford Explorer and he had the same problem, and since his was included in the recall, he didn't encounter any problems in having it repaired. You wonder why so many people buy japanese cars and trucks. Here is one of many reasons. Ford motor company is obviously attempting to save money at the expense of our safety.

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1999 Ford Explorer drivers door lock/latch will not open. Broken spring found inside door, not fixed, expensive to fix. Deathtrap for trapped drivers in accident, very inconvenient feeling trapped inside due to faulty door latch/lock. Not safe, especially with already recall of instant fire at anytime due to recall of cruise control.

One day when I attempted to enter my 1998 Ford Explorer, parked in my garage, the drivers side door would not unlock. Whenever the automatic feature locks the doors when I am driving or I lock the door using my key fob, it will not open from the exterior. I have to reach in from the rear door (or if I am in the drivers seat) and open the door with a very strong pull on the door handle. I have not taken the vehicle in for repair as yet. I have been aware of this situation for about 2 weeks as of today. Tedwards.

I took my 2003 Ford Explorer to Ford dealership and was refuse recall repairs. Was told it would be at my own expense because he could not find recall notice in Ford system. Below is the details of recap. At this time the liftgate hinge is broken and window is about to fall off. Please help. Vehicle make / model: model year(s): Ford / Explorer 2002-2003 Ford / mountaineer 2002-2003 manufacturer: Ford motor company mfr's report date: Sep 09, 2004 NHTSA campaign id number: 04v442000 pe04045 NHTSA action number: pe04045.

1998 Ford Explorer driver side door lock won't open. It won't open if you use the key, remote, or manually try to pull up on it while inside. However, the other doors and tailgate unlock ok. I am forced to enter the car on the passenger side and climb over a console in the middle to get into driver seat. I believe this is a serious safety issue as there is no way to get in or out of the car on the driver side. I am 76 years old and this is extremely difficult to get in over the console on passenger side. There are numerous complaints on internet for this exact problem.

My driver's door keeps getting jammed. I have to sometimes crawl over the seat to get out of the truck. The lock are constantly getting stuck to the point I can't manually even pull them up anymore.

2004 Ford Explorer right rear liftgate glass hatch hinge has failed. Glass hatch did not fall but is hanging by remaining hinge and is unstable or unsafe. Issue same as NHTSA action number: rq08003.

My driver's door was constantly getting jammed. The lock would not move when I hit the power lock button. So now my door opens when it feels like.

Hinge OH rear lift-gate fractured causing lift gate to sag down and break hydraulic lift on that side.

When attempting to shift from drive to park, the gear shift lever broke from the steering column, making it impossible to change gears. The engine remained running with it in drive. I turned the ignition off & it could not be restarted (ie, ignition/interlock system). The steering wheel wouldn't turn either. The entire steering column (not just small broken piece) had to be replaced (cost=$1372, $897 for parts). As of 7/2/08, 61 exactly the same incidents have been reported via complaints filed with NHTSA website. Some vehicles complained about have experienced this part failure twice. These complaints have been filed under the components - steering: column, power train: automatic transmission, power train: automatic transmission: gear position indication (prndl), power train: automatic transmission: lever and linkage: column shift, steering: gear box (other than rack and pinion), steering: gear box: shaft sector, steering: wheel and handle bar, other or unknown this is an obvious design and/or mfg/material defect & it correlates (in many other complaints) with another defect - very difficult shifting of gear lever to or from ?park? & ?reverse?. 61 reported incidents of the parts failure are significant, but there are obviously far more than have been reported via NHTSA complaints. The defective gear shift part poses serious safety concerns. If the gear shift lever breaks while the vehicle is on a street or expressway (but stopped momentarily by necessity), the driver would be unable to change gears or push and/or steer it to safety, thereby creating a dangerous traffic situation with a high potential for bodily injury. Nhtsa has more than adequate data to initiate a defect investigation & should immediately require Ford to provide a full disclosure of the number of steering columns that it has sold as a result of this defect. I have the old steering column (and the broken piece) as well as several pictures of them.

2002 Ford Explorer, o/d light is blinking, check engine soon light stays on continuously. Rear end makes noise, abs light stays on. Truck shifts hard from reverse to forward. Shifts hard and makes cluncking sound from 2nd to 3rd gear and will not go in to over-drive at all.

July of 2007 the rear window on our 2003 Ford Explorer XLT had broken at one of the hinges and the window sagged. After researching on the internet we found out there was a recall, (04v44200). We then contacted Ford and they agreed to fix the problem at no charge. Now 10 months later while the auto was parked in our driveway the window shattered with no one around. There was a neighbor working in the yard who witnessed this happen. Glass was both inside the vehicle and outside the vehicle. After a week of phone calls with no luck, I was finally in touch with a one of the parts guys at Ford who said this is an ongoing problem that he was aware of. He even stated that they only replaced the hinges and not the glass which is known to shatter. After several phone calls, we were notified that the recall was only on the hinges (even though they know the glass is defective as well) and they would not help us out. Well im not paying $1,600 out of my pocket for another product that Ford knows has a problem and doesn't back up there warranties.

I own a 2004 Ford Explorer 4x4 XLT. I opened the top portion of the hatch and 100+ lbs. Came crashing on my head. (the weight is from more than just glass. ) I am pregnant and almost passed out on my concrete drive. The left hinge broke off and obviously did not support the weight anymore. I was told there was not a recall and was given a $500. 00 bill. I still believe this is a safety issue and there was nothing I could have done to warrant it falling on my head. I guess my question is, "when does a safety issue become a recall?".

Driver's side door will no longer lock automatically. I have to physically push the button down and sometimes it won't unlock.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact received a recall notice for the vehicle speed control. Ever since the vehicle was purchased approximately 1. 5 years ago, she has had to tape the rear passenger side door shut to keep it from opening while driving. The failure occurs at speeds of 35 mph or lower. The dealer claimed that they would repair the door at the time of purchase. The recall number was unknown. The failure mileage was 120,000.

The driver side door lock has stopped working. The door will not lock at all at this point. I hope to god that no one steals my car! one occasion it decided to work and if I didn't have keyless entry, my kids would have been locked in the car with the car running. I have not attempted to have it fix. This is a huge problem, along with all the other problems that I am having.

I have a Ford Explorer sport 1999, the door locks won't unlock with the keys (both side doors, the hatch works fine) or the keypad, when they lock after starting, the drivers door won't unlock with the handle or the unlock button. It does however if you hit the unlock button, pushing the unlock button several times while pulling up on the lock - which is hard to get a hold of, or the handle (for now) I believe this is a safety issue. If I happened to get in an accident, the door would not open if needed.

Driver power locking door will not unlock from the outside.

Drivers side door is permanantly locked. . . . A small spring fell out of door. It started about 7 months when the handle was getting a little difficult to pull. You could feel the pressure between the door and handle. . . About 3 weeks later the panel around the handle fell out and I found a small spring on the trucks floor. . . . For a while after that I was able to open the door from the outside but not the inside. Very scary thought to know that if you were in accident you wouldn't be able to get out from the inside however, 2 weeks after that the door wont open at all (from the outside or inside!). Its such a pain to have to crawl through the vehicle to get in and out and im pretty sure this very unsafe in case of an emergency. I know it cant be something I did to the vehicle because it was perfectly fine when I drove off the lot 2 years ago. I've researched this situation online and have found that there are tons of other people with the same problem, yet no solutions has been made. . . Any ideas on this matter would be greatly appreciated, seeing how im still making payments on this vehicle and am literally "stuck" in it till its paid off.

For the last couple of years during the coldest part of the winter, the doors on my vehicle refuse to latch. I have tried warming the car up longer, spraying the insides of the door with solution that is supposed to unfrozen windshields and locks (even though there never is ice or water seen) & nothing works. Last year, it even refused to latch after letting my daughter off at school, even though it had latched when we left the house a mile earlier. When I turned the corner out of the school parking lot, the door flew open & almost took out a mailbox. I have called Ford regarding this concern, & they say there is nothing they will do since it has 119,000 miles on it & the warranty is over, even though I believe it is a huge safety concern! as it is getting colder here, I am very worried about driving this vehicle, as my daughter and young grandson are using this vehicle at this time. I spoke with someone who actually works at the Ford factory & he said this problem is due to the doors not being fitted correctly & in the winter the seal is.

My driver's side door lock gets stuck in the locked position randomly. This occurs both while driving and parked. It also effects the child safety locks. This has been happening for about a year now. It is driving me crazy. I have to crawl over the passenger seat and wiggle the handle while trying to pull up the lock manually. I will eventually break the handle. After a little research I found 100's if not 1,000's or more people on the internet that have the same experience. Many are calling for a recall. . Read more...

The contact owns a 1997 Ford Explorer. The driver side door will not open from inside the passenger compartment. The lock sticks and will only open from outside the vehicle. The door lock itself is not working and when the contact pushes the unlock control on the door panel, it fails to unlock the door. She is concerned that she may not be able to open the door in case of an emergency. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 168,299 and failure mileage was 167,299.

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While opening the rear liftgate of our 2004 Explorer and reaching the max extension of the left strut, the strut became lock and wouldn't retrieve causing the left hinge to come off and the entire liftgate to hang from the right hinge. The dealer looked at the strut and tried to repair it. I requested a new one to be installed since I had serious concerns about the same problem happening again. The dealer agreed and my extended warranty covered the expense. However, my deductible applied.

: the contact stated the rear liftgate latch, and the front and rear passenger doors kept jamming closed. Each door required excessive force to open. The vehicle was taken to a private repair shop, who determined the latches were faulty, and the parts were ordered. Updated 11/21/2006 -.

: the contact stated the keyless entry was intermittently inoperable, then completely failed. Afterwards, the locks on the driver side door failed, and the driver side door no longer unlocks and cannot be opened. An independent repair shop determined the entire lock assembly on the driver side door needed to be replaced. Updated 09/15/06.