PURCHASED this car used in March of 2013 at right at 101k miles and only 30,000 miles later I'm being told that I may haft to purchase a whole new transmission. Look online for cost of repairs only to find that obviously this is a common problem for other Ford Explorer owners of cars manufactured between 2000 and 2004. I love my car but may have to trade it in do to the defect. Too afraid that further repairs of the transmission won't resolve the issue and I may just end up spending more out of pocket to fix the car then I have left in payments. Such a shame!!! I love this car = (

I have had 3 Ford Explorers 2001/2002 and now 2004. Every single one has had the cracked tailgate for starters. Then I had the wheel bearings replaced in the 2002 and now the 2004 is needing the same damn thing.

The transmission just shifts so damn hard. There are times with the 2002 and now the 2004 that I put the car in reverse and it just sits there. It won't move. Then I put it in park and drive again several times and the car sits there and then it sounds like something drops and it goes into gear. WTH!!!!!! I really like the Explorer other then the same problems that FORD will not fix. It is a known problem yet it just gets swept under the rug per say and nothing is done. Well, no one has been killed, YET, but damn they know that transmission is faulty and that the car sometimes shifts while driving down the road. I hope I don't become the statistic that has to make FORD face the music. Sooner or later they will have to do something.

After what I paid for the cars you would think that they would make sure the customer was happy. I have relatives that work at FORD in KC and they just say, yah we heard there's a problem with those. WHAT!!!!!! I just really am disappointed in the attention they haven't paid to this issue. Yet, I have a recall on my 2003 F150 for a faulty CLIP in the gas tank. WTH. I truly believe a faulty transmission is quite a bit more important for safety then a faulty clip. Really. Just totally disappointed. I will buy some other brand of car next time. I'm done with FORD's put off.

After moderate braking, push accelerator, revs go up. After a pause the transmission kicks in with a thump. Now the transmission has started slipping especially changing into top under power. Flashes the O/D off light going uphill.

Update from Nov 29, 2014: complete rebuild with new solenoids etc.

Update from Sep 12, 2017: Rebuild failed after 20,000 miles. AAMCO put in a replacement rebuilt transmission. Now at 173,000, no further issues.

Update from May 7, 2018: At 177,000 miles, O/D off flashing and hard shifting. Not paying for another rebuild.

GEEZ, WHEN PEOPLE SAID THAT THIS WAS THE LEMON OF THE FORD EXPLORERS THEY WEREN'T KIDDING. I'VE HAD TO REPLACE MY BLEND DOOR MOTORS. FIRST MY FRONTS WENT, THEN AFTER I REPLACED THEM LOW AND BEHOLD MY BACK ONE WENT UP. I DIDN'T REPLACE THE BACK ONE BUT NOT LONG AFTER I REPLACED MY FRONTS AGAIN....THEY BURNT UP AGAIN.

EVER SINCE I HAD GOTTEN THE RECALL NOTICE ABOUT AN ADDITIVE NEEDED IN THE TRANSMISSION FLUID I TOOK IT TO FORD AND THEY PUT IN THE ADDITIVE AND FROM THEN ON MY TRANSMISSION STARTED TO SLIP. A TEMPORARY FIX WAS TO DRAIN THE FLUID AND REDOING THE TRANSMISSION FLUIDS. I WENT CLOSE TO 100,000 MILES BEFORE MY BACK WINDOW PANEL DECIDED TO CRACK AROUND THE FORD EMBLEM. ALSO I NOTICED THAT A RUST POCKET STARTED UP JUST UNDER THE FUEL DOOR.

I just had the flywheel replaced in May of 2014 which was not cheap and I noticed when I put my car in reverse it would make an awful sound, well now my car is whining so loud it is embarrassing! It also sounds like it is about to snap! My cousin who works on cars all the time sat in it last week for a ride around the block and he said yep that's the transmission! I don't have the money to fix it at the moment but I can not continue to drive it! Why we keep buying fords is beyond me! I had junked my 2001 Windstar because the axle snapped and it was before the recall of that and went to this POS next!

Ok, So I have a 2004 Ford Explorer, it has 116K miles. I bought it 105K or so anyways. Last week the O/D light started flashing. I noticed this high pitched belt noise coming from the Transmission assembly. I drove it home, this morning I tried putting it in reverse, there was complete engagement failure.

I finally got it to shift into gear slowly made it to a road to test drive it. Well, 1st and 2nd gear were OK, then it stopped shifting, shot up to 4000 rpm. Then just slipped out completely. Ford dealership is near where I live (2miles). I slowly took it down there. I was hoping they would tell me if I need to change the transmission control solenoid, but after they charged me $110, the diagnosis was internal transmission failure. They want me to change out the transmission, $3800+!! Craziness. Anyway, any ideas?

I bought my 2004 explorer in 2008 when it only had barely 34,000 miles. A birthday present to me, so I thought. Boy, have I been fleeced! I have a lemon! First the ball joints went after I had this piece of crap for two months. Then, wheel bearings went on the driver's side. Thermostat housing blew up. I've had this car maintained routinely. Exhaust baffle broke loose and mass air flow sensor went, together that was almost $1,000 repair! Tire sensors in this vehicle totally annoying. Goes off all the time whether tires properly inflated or not. At the beginning of this month - shortly after paying this damn car off (of course) -- now my CHECK TRANSMISSION light goes on! I called my regular mechanic's shop who won't touch this type of transmission. He referred me to a transmission shop. I'm taking it in this morning for an estimate (say tata to numerous paychecks)! DO NOT PURCHASE THESE VEHICLES! OR, IF YOU DO, GET RID OF IT AFTER YOUR ODOMETER READS 60,000 MILES OR SO - IF THE VEHICLE MAKES IT TO THAT POINT. FixOftenRepairDaily is so true! (Ford) is the only winner for these vehicles. Oh, and the car dealership that I purchased this piece of crap from closed within four months of my purchase. They saw me coming. Henry Ford is probably turning over in his grave.

Purchased the 04 Explorer in mid June as a second vehicle for my wife to drive and so we could tow our pop up camper. Thought it would be good for our growing family, easier to get the kids in and out vs the 08 Avenger we traded in. The Explorer was in terrific shape, clean, no rust, underside was immaculate. Did my research, unfortunately didn't see this site and wish I had, and seemed to be a decent vehicle. I only expected to get 3-4 years of low mileage driving out of it. Well 1 week after purchasing the transmission started banging when shifting into reverse but only when the vehicle was warmed up. Sounded like the Explorer was going to break in half.

I took it to a transmission repair shop and said it was somewhat common for this vintage of Explorers. Replaced the shift solenoid, valve body and computer for $1500. Was working great but two weeks later started to do the same thing. After reading numerous similar and even worse stories on this site decided it was better to "cut ties" and eat the nearly $4000 I lost on the Explorer and trade it in for something else. Figured it was better then having my wife and 2 kids stranded and being afraid to drive it anywhere and trying to avoid reversing. I have never been under so much stress over a stupid car!

I realize it was a 10 year old vehicle but with that low of KM's it shouldn't be having major transmission issues, no wonder why Ford didn't need a bailout they never bothered to recall and fix their crappy transmissions! I will need to think long and hard before considering another Ford product. I guess that acronym is true FORD: Fix Or Repair Daily!