Two problems related to speed control cable have been reported for the 2001 Ford Explorer Sport. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My wife was driving on a residential road around 30 mph when she attempted to break. She was unable to stop the vehicle by breaking. She said the truck was bucking wildly as though it was attempting to maintain it's 30 mph speed. She put it in neutral and pulled over yet the truck continued to idle as though it were driving 30 miles per hour. She turned the vehicle off. I arrived 15 minutes later and without touching the gas pedal turned the vehicle on and it immediately rev'd as she described so I shut it off. I then pumped the gas pedal (with the truck in the off position) assuming it may be stuck then restarted the vehicle. It started and subsequently drove normally. I took it to my mechanic and he discovered nothing. Nothing in the computer history and nothing wrong with the speed system (pedal, cable, throttle, throttle body. . . ) I did some research on-line and discovered an NHTSA report (NHTSA action number : pe05037) of a possible bad speed control cable for this vehicle where the teflon cover could comes off and bind at the gas pedal holding the pedal open and unable to retract. We attempted to locate the replacement cable only to find that Ford no longer makes the original or the replacement which we find utterly unbelievable. No more exist anywhere in the us. I can find parts for my 1992 Ford mustang easier. Not sure why they stopped making the cable which makes this more interesting. My next step is to have my mechanic remove the cable to see if there is a teflon build up near the gas pedal. Note: we have no clear proof that the cable is the issue yet at this point the fact that it cleared when I pumped the gas pedal with the vehicle in the off position leaves suspicion that this could be the same issue noted in the NHTSA pe05037 report.
2001 Explorer Sport cut off four times after I started it. After getting it to start, the vehicle wouldn't accelerate any faster than 20 mph, then it would slow down to almost a complete stop (in traffic!). The accelerator was extremely resistant to the touch. I took it to capital Ford in raleigh, nc and informed them I thought it was the cruise control cable (determined this from research). I was told it was the idle air control valve and there was nothing wrong with the cruise control. Four days went by and the cruise control stopped working altogether. I took the vehicle back to capital Ford to be told it was the cruise control cable. I informed them this was an on-going issue with this make/model and the 2001 Explorer Sport had been recalled to have this part fixed. The staff at capital Ford said Ford had not announced a recall and that the information I gathered was just a "site's" opinion. I need to know if, in fact, this part has been recalled and if I have a claim against Ford to have it repaired/replaced at their cost. Thank you for your help in this matter. It has been very frustrating dealing with capital Ford on this issue. I've spent $689. 70 only to be told I'll now have to spend another $100 (+) to fix what I took the vehicle in for to repair in the first place.
| Cruise Control problems | |
| Vehicle Speed Control problems | |
| Speed Control Cable problems |