general problems of the 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

The dash cluster don't work cant see your rpms,speed,the fuel gauge gos up and down can't see milage or trip meter if you hit the dash it will work but go out going down the road and I researched it and its a common issue and I cant aford a new dash cluster I got a speeding ticket yesterday because I couldn't see my speed and there was no one in front of me to go off of I was going 15 over.

As I was driving to work one morning suddenly my headlights and all interior lights, such as the dashboard, suddenly went out without any warning and nothing electrical would work such as the radio and the windows and all the gauges in the dash dropped to zero or the needle fell all the way to the left. This has become an ongoing problem and I never know when it's going to go out or come back on for that matter and sometimes when it's acting crazy my speedometer will just jump all over the place. I believe this is a safety issue not only for myself but for other drivers on the road as my lights may suddenly go out as I am driving to work at 4:00 a. M. When it is dark. It is also a safety issue because when this happens I have no idea what speed I am driving or how much gas I have left or if my vehicle is starting to get hot. I have not taken the vehicle to the dealer or anywhere else for fear of it costing an arm and a leg to fix the problem, as every single Ford that I have ever owned seems to have had some type of electrical issue. I do have video of my gauges going crazy as I am driving on the highway; however looking ahead in this form it looks as if I can only submit photos and not a video.

My 2005 Explorer Sport Trac had a check engine light come on and when it does, my instrument cluster stops working. My tachometer, speedometer, temp, and fuel gauges stop working. Here lately, my radio and power windows have stopped working. My daughter was driving and reported to me that the vehicle starts shaking and shuts off as well. Not really sure what is going on with it, but when everything stops working, I sit there and hit the dash to get the lights and windows to start working again. I used to be able to hit the dash with my hand and get the check engine light to go off and the gauges start working. When I called my local Ford store and talked to them in service, they quoted me like $400 for a part and just as much for labor, like they have been having these problems and they knew what it was to fix. I don't feel safe driving, but with the odometer not registering miles for the past 6 months, I now have a vehicle that is considered salvage title because it is unknown miles.

The driver seat back kept falling into the back seat while driving, now the seat back doesn't move. The passenger is doing the same just not as bad. The heated seats come on whenever they want, but the heated driver's seat has stopped working all together. The seat belts randomly lock and barely retract.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The contact was unable to activate the hazard lights because the entire electrical system had failed. The contact managed to merge over to the emergency lane. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for a diagnosis. The technician was able to restart the vehicle but was unable to diagnose the problem. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.

The speedometer gets stuck at different speed and the rpm gauge does the same. This is very dangerous, you could be driving faster than you think. The engine check light also comes on. I can sometime reset using the trip counter reset button. This problem seem to be getting worst. My speedometer seem to be getting stuck more often now and it seem to be getting harder to reset.

The contact stated while vehicle was parked for two hours a it caught on fire. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed by the insurance company, no reports have been filed . The cause of fire was unknown, and the manufacturer has not been contacted.