Was sitting at stop sign, most of the dash light came on. Speedometer stopped working, Tachometer doesn't work, temperature gauge stopped working, ABS light stays on. Service Engine Soon light stays on. Brake light stays on. Little wrench light stays on. Check Gauge light stays on. Mileage doesn't update and Trip meter doesn't work. But compass works. Outside Temperature number doesn't show. 4x4 High, 4x4 Low lights flash about every minute.

I've had the vehicle at three different repair shops, including one Ford dealership. Even the Ford dealership couldn't find the problem after supposedly working on for over two hours. 90% of the driving time, all these lights are on. Then suddenly all the lights go off and the speedometer starts working, Tach comes back on, lit lights go off on but the Service Engine Soon light stays on. Then just as suddenly as the dash comes back on, it may go off. The dash seems to work more when the outside temperature is cold. Cruise Control works even when the dash doesn't. I have had the vehicle put on the computer at an ASE Certified repair shop and they found five different codes.

ABS - Ul900 ABC Can Comm Bus Fault BC900 - VIN Mismatch C1805 Mismatchedc PCM or ABS/TCS Mod These three show up when the dash doesn't work along with the next two.

ENG - PO462 Fuel Level Sensor P2106 - TAC System These codes are present when the dash is working.

I stopped at the dealership when this first happened and they did "a flash" of the vehicle. Wouldn't explain what that was. Dash worked for the rest of the day but the next morning, all the lights were back on. The Ford Dealership wanted at least $400.00 to try and figure out what is wrong and keep it all day. They would not give me the list of codes they received when they put it on their computer.

I had a new Alternator put on the vehicle shortly after all this happened. Tire Discounters did that and finally after five trips back to them, they finally got the vehicle to stay running. After the new alternator, I couldn't keep the vehicle running. When I took my foot off the gas pedal, the vehicle would die. Had to keep my foot on the gas even at stop signs and lights or it would stop running. They finally cleaned some sort of valve and it stayed running. I thought that value should of been cleaned when the new alternator was put on but they finally "tried something new" and that problem stopped. But when they had the alternator off and in all the work to try and keep my vehicle running, they had the battery out numerous times. I don't know but they may have had the PCM out of the vehicle because according to the manager, "They honestly didn't know what was wrong after the alternator". So my problems may have been aggravated by this repair.

In order to know how fast I'm driving, I have to set my GPS on my phone and this is getting old. I don't have $1000.00 for the dealership to "try and figure out what is wrong". I"ve been on other Ford repair sites and a number of postings are similar to this and apparently Ford knows about this. But won't do anything about it. I would welcome any ideas for my regular ASE Certified repair shop to try. He doesn't charge $92.00/hour to trouble shoot like the dealership. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our mechanic saved the little piece of wire that was, along with a bundle of wires, allowed to swing free instead of being in a harness and suspended through some sort of frame the way they should have been. This is the picture he painted for me trying to describe what he finally found after multiple visits. He's a great mechanic, but electrical issues are hard to pin down and after he replaced the burnt plug at the computer, another visit showed that the burnt plug was caused by this little wire that had worn and was grounding everything out and causing the motor to stall in the middle of the interstate, in the middle of an intersection, while turning a corner , ... See below:

Sick to death of all the problems. Ford just throws these things off the assembly line and then says "Oh so sorry, it's out of warranty". We actually won a lawsuit regarding a 2002 Explorer. The tailgate window exploded in my hand when trying to shut it. The car dealer knew it was a piece of junk and the judge called his selling it to us "the most egregious case of taking advantage she'd ever seen".

We had to replace the transmission in this 2004 model, replaced the visors and interior overhead console, one back seat belt doesn't work, again a cheap plastic problem, and the electrical/computer problem where a plug next to the computer melted and caused the engine to cut off while driving down the road, well that almost got us all killed. Turns out there is a group of wires near the rear and they were supposed to be suspended in some sort of harness and never were, so over time, the plastic coating rubbed off and caused at least one wire to ground out, which caused the plug near the computer to overheat and slide out of its socket, causing the engine to shut off. Once it cooled, sometimes the motor would start again. This cost us more than one battery, lots of time, being stalled at 2 in the morning with our daughter in the back seat. After $2500 spent in multiple visits trying to fix the electrical issue, and another $2600 for the transmission, and just under $1000 for the interior console and visors, add more $$ for visits to check out the Check Engine light and the ABS light... wonder what I'm leaving out... ? Oh yes, the air conditioning has been blowing hot on once side for quite awhile. The crack in the back window frame on EVERY SINGLE EXPLORER I see reminds me of the Ford Grenada back in the 80s.

Does anybody else remember the Ford Grenada? The gas cap was located behind the license plate and on every single Grenada, the spring on the license plate broke so they all drove around with their license plate facing the ground, wide open.

Owning one of these Explorers is like being in a club with other unfortunate individuals who have found themselves wondering if the $9,000 they've spent on repairs makes it worth keeping the car now. My mechanic calls it the "Ford Exploder".