2008 FORD EXPLORER Complaints

ALL SENSORS & BANDS BROKE INTO SMALL PIECES WHICH WAS CAUSING THE TIRES TO RIP FROM THE INSIDE. IF NOT TAKEN IN FOR NEW TIRES, ALL TIRES WOULD'VE BLOWN OUT & POSSIBLY CAUSED INJURY TO ME & MY TODDLER. WORST PART OF ALL, FORD WOULDN'T COVER THIS DANGEROUS MANUFACTURE DEFECT.

MY 2008 FORD EXPLORER TRANSMISSION STARTED LURCHING WHEN SHIFTING GEARS WHILE DRIVING. ALSO WHEN I WOULD PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE IT WOULD HESITATE AND ROLL BACK A FEW SECONDS AND THEN "SLAM" INTO REVERSE. I EXPECTED TO SEE MY TRANSMISSION LAYING ON THE GROUND. I HAVE ALSO HAD A 2005 FORD EXPLORER AND IT DID THE SAME THING. THIS IS MY ONLY CAR AND I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH FORD. MY LAST EXPLORER ALSO HAD TO HAVE ALL FOUR WHEEL BEARINGS REPLACED UNDER 75,000 MILES AND MY 2008 HAD TO HAVE TWO REPLACED BEFORE IT WAS 2 YRS OLD. THIS IS CRAZY! TOO EXPENSIVE TO HAVE THESE THINGS HAPPEN SO FREQUENTLY!! WILL NOT BE BUYING ANOTHER FORD. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE 4X4 SYSTEM ACTIVATED WITHOUT WARNING AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO LOSE ACCELERATION POWER. THE FAILURE WAS EXPERIENCED SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO ADVISED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 63,283. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

2008 FORD EXPLORER. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO HAVING PROBLEMS FILLING THE GAS TANK. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE PUMP HOSE WOULD CLICK OFF AUTOMATICALLY, AS IF SIGNALING THE TANK WAS FULL, EVEN THOUGH THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. THE CONSUMER STATED IT TOOK APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES TO FILL THE TANK. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED SHORTLY AFTER, IT STARTED HAPPENING, BUT WENT OFF A SHORT WHILE LATER. A FLASHING RED LIGHT AND A WARNING TO SHUT DOWN THE ENGINE OCCURRED. AFTER SHUTTING DOWN THE ENGINE AND RESTARTING IT, THE PROBLEM SEEMED TO GO AWAY. THE RED LIGHT ISSUE OCCURRED TWICE. THE CONSUMER DISCOVERED FORD ISSUED A TSB SEVERAL YEARS AGO, OVER THE PROBLEM, AS IT APPARENTLY OCCURRED FREQUENTLY ENOUGH IN THE MARKET PLACE.

WHILE DRIVING ALONG AT A MEDIUM SPEED IN MARCH 2013, THE DASHBOARD LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE WITH ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS BLINKING FROM THE LOW GAS TO THE CHECK ENGINE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. LUCKILY I WAS NOT IN HEAVY TRAFFIC OR BAD WEATHER BECAUSE THIS SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME WHEN IT OCCURRED. THE ENGINE WAS NOT LABORING AND APPEARED TO BE OPERATING CORRECTLY EXCEPT FOR THE LIGHT SHOW AND AUDIBLE ALARMS GOING OFF IN THE DASHBOARD. THE ALARMS CONTINUED GOING OFF AS I TRIED TO GET THE CAR BACK HOME. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR THE NEXT MORNING TO TAKE IT TO MY MECHANIC, NO ALARMS WERE ACTIVE. THE MECHANIC TOOK A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE THEY FINALLY WERE ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. IN THE END, THEY REPLACED MY ALTERNATOR AND BATTERY AT A COST OF ABOUT $700. EVERYTHING HAS BEEN FIND UNTIL YESTERDAY WHEN THEN WARNING LIGHT SHOW/ALARMS RECURRED. IT'S ONLY BEEN 3 MONTHS SINCE THE FIRST INCIDENT. IT WILL GO BACK TO MY MECHANIC TOMORROW. LUCKILY ITS STILL UNDER THEIR WARRANTY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL FAILED AND HAD TO BE TURNED WITH FORCE. THERE WAS NO WARNING BEFORE THE FAILURE OCCURRED. THE FAILURE WAS EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 99,000 THE CONSUMER STATED A NEW POWER STEERING PUMP AND BELT WAS INSTALLED ON JUNE 20, 2013

VISORS FELL APART AND MIRROR FELL OUT. TRANSMISSION CLUNKS INTO REVERSE AND SKIPS GEARS WHEN SHIFTING. *TR

PARKED VEHICLE. TURNED OFF IGNITION. KEY WOULD NOT RELEASE FROM THE IGNITION. CYCLED THE AUTO SHIFT LEVER TO MAKE SURE IN PARK. AT THIS POINT NOTED THAT I COULD SHIFT OUT OF PARK WITHOUT MY FOOT BEING ON THE BRAKE. VERY DANGEROUS. I WAS ABLE TO REMOVE THE KEY BY PULLING THE IGNITION FUSE. I PULLED THE FUSE AND REMOVED THE KEY. REINSTALLED THE FUSE. WAS STILL ABLE TO SHIFT OUT OF PARK WITHOUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. I LEFT THE CAR SITTING FOR A WHILE AND NOTED THAT THE BATTERY HAD COMPLETELY DRAINED DOWN. I WAS ABLE TO JUMP THE CAR OFF TO START IT. IF I LEAVE THE IGNITION FUSE IN, THE BATTERY WILL COMPLETELY DRAIN DOWN AGAIN. *TR

MY VEHICLE, A 2008 FORD EXPLORER WITH A 4.6L 3V V8 ENGINE, WENT INTO VEHICLE SAFE MODE WHILE IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON A MAJOR INTERSTATE (I-83). THE VEHICLE WAS EXPERIENCING PERIODIC MISFIRE, WHICH TRIGGERED A LOSS OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE TRANSMISSION COMPUTER MODULE (TCM). THE VEHICLE ENGINE BEGAN SHUDDERING, ALL THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS LIT UP WITH A WARNING TO SERVICE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY AND VEHICLE SPEED WOULD NOT EXCEED 20MPH. I WAS IN HEAVY STOP & GO TRAFFIC IN THE PASSING LANE AT TIME OF INCIDENT. I SHUT DOWN THE VEHICLE & ATTEMPTED TO TROUBLESHOOT THE PROBLEM WITH A CODE READER. I RECEIVED TWO CODES, MISFIRE ON CYL 8 AND LOSS OF COMM WITH TCM. I PULLED THE TCM FUSE TO RESET THE TCM AND CONTINUED ON MY WAY WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I IMMEDIATELY REPLACED ALL THE COP'S & THEN TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A FORD DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THE SPARKPLUGS REPLACED. I WAS AWARE OF THE ISSUE WITH THIS PARTICULAR MODEL FORD ENGINE AND THE 2-PIECE SPARKPLUG/CYLINDER HEAD ISSUE AND SUSPECTED THE PLUGS TO BE THE CULPRIT. I PAID THE FORD DEALERSHIP $420 TO REPLACE THE EIGHT SPARKPLUGS IN MY VEHICLE. ONLY TWO PLUGS BROKE DURING THE EXTRACTION AND THE CYLINDER HEAD DID NOT HAVE TO BE REMOVED. FORD IS WELL AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AS THEY REPLACED THE POORLY DESIGNED 3V ENGINE MIDYEAR. THEY ALSO PRODUCED A 13-PAGE TSB, SPECIAL EXTRACTION TOOL TO REPLACE SPARKPLUGS. FORD REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE A DESIGN FLAW & INSTEAD BLAMES MECHANIC ERROR FOR BROKEN PLUGS. FORD MECHANICS BROKE TWO OF MY PLUGS, YET I STILL HAD TO PAY FOR THEIR ERROR! THE VEHICLE RUNS LIKE NEW AGAIN BUT WILL BE PUT UP FOR SALE SHORTLY. THIS WAS MY FIRST AND LAST FORD AS I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH FORD'S RESPONSE TO THIS OBVIOUSLY POOR DESIGN FLAW. MOST IMPORTANTLY, CONTRARY TO FORD'S LAME RESPONSE, IT IS A SAFETY ISSUE WHEN YOUR VEHICLE SUDDENLY GOES INTO EMERGENCE SAFE MODE ON A 65MPH INTERSTATE! *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE BOLTS THAT CONNECTED THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD TO THE ENGINE BECAME FRACTURED AT THE CONNECTION POINT. AS A RESULT, THE EXHAUST WAS CAUSING A LEAK ONTO THE WHEEL BASE. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND WAS ADVISED THAT THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD NEEDED TO BE RE-BOLTED BACK ONTO THE ENGINE. THE CONTACT DID NOT HAVE THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD RE-BOLTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 85,000.