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2002 Explorer? NICE, was going to buy one friday!
@bloggerX: If you bought it you just would have been able to take it to a dealership for a free patchup job. Not really that big of a deal.
Unless of course, you happen to encounter the worst-case scenario of a fiery death.
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That's going to be a real disappointment when you hit the self-immolation button.
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...good news for dealers holding rejected Cash4Clunkers?
This recall has been going on for years. I have a 2000 ford explorer and had this fixed atleast 5 years ago.
@dohtem: Yeah. And, if I'm not mistaken, the weak roof supports that crush in on you when it rolls over, which I think that model had a tendency to do. It's a real death trap...
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@Con Seannery: I got news for you, nobody's SUV of that Vintage has anything remotely close to protecting you from a rollover. And Explorers really are no more likely to roll over than any other high clearance 4x4 vehicle. Most all of the rollover incidents happened as a result of operator error...even when the crappy Firestone tires failed.
I'm not defending Ford in this regard, I'm just saying that you can't drive around in an SUV or truck expecting its center of gravity to be the same as a Honda Accord. Physics just doesn't work that way. I've had a couple blowouts happen to me (one in my 1992 Ford Explorer) and I wasn't the least bit scared by the blowout and didn't even come close to landing wheels up. I was more worried about some inattentive jackass yakking on the cell-phone creaming me while I put on the spare.
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Forecasts call for a cold winter in the northeast, and the cost of oil is going up. I'd wait until April before taking the old Ford in for that recall.
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Man, Ford has really been on fire lately too.
My 1994 Ford Explorer is too old to melt itself. :| Instead, it's falling apart piece by piece.
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The complaint summaries are interesting and add a human touch to the story! Here are four separate ones...
\"My 1998 Ford Explorer XLT burst into flames with absolutely no warning while parked at my daughter's high school parking lot...\"
\"Vehicle was parked for about 15 minutes when all of a sudden it caught fire on its own. results showed that there was an electrical short with the cruise control switch...\"
\"When the fire was put out, all that was left was a big mess. My truck was gone. The vehicle had been running fine. My cruise control had went out about 1 month prior to the fire...\"
\"What are we as consumers supposed to do when the products we purchase, and for the amount they ask for their product , are lost due to the manufacturers defects? How are we as consumers protected?\"
Also, of the top ten cars \"cashclunked,\" seven were Ford Explorers, Excursions or Windstars, so good widdance to bad wubbish, as this guy used to say. Or is that \"clunkercashed?\"
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At the Chevy dealership where I worked, we referred to Ford's smaller SUV as the \"exploDer\"
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Wait. Isn't this a feature?
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@angryneo: True, it does sound like a kickass security feature... if there was anybody around who wants to jack the car (or strip parts off of it).
Hmmm, just as well my girlfriend's 2002 Ranger doesn't have cruise control.
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Just checked with my parents, their Ranger does not have cruise control so they dodged that bullet.
However, I wonder if my bro has gotten the airbag fixed on his Honda...
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Hehehehehe. I added cruise control to the 2003 Ranger I used to own. Have fun new owners! Ford should give me back the $900 I spent having it done, considering they sold me a fire hazard.
FORD - Fiery Oracle of Reckless Doom!
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Well, seeing as the 4 door and 2 door Explorers were the 1st and 5th most traded in cars for the Cash for Clunkers, there should be less out there to fix.
The down side for those people who want to get them fixed: Waiting. Parts like this are sure to be on back order and if enough people want to get them fixed you might have to wait. Or not. You can just get it disconnected and then not have to worry.
A good friend of mine had his house burned down by their 1999 Mustang. The fire marshal's report showed the source of the fire to be the dash of the car.
It had been parked there, overnight, just like every other night until that point.
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Slow news day? Owner notices on this recall went out in early 2007.
@iMike: This is a new, expanded recall. Of course, you'd have to read all the way to the second sentence of the linked story from Consumer Reports.
As one of those affected by the expanded recall I for one appreciate the news.
This is that same cruise control deactivation switch issue. And might I add this recall only effects GASOLINE Excursions and F Series superduties. The Diesels are not affected.
Some genius engineer at Ford thought it was a good idea to put the cruise control deactivation switch on the brake master cylinder. Not only that he thought it was a good idea to use a cheap membrane switch that was prone to decaying due to contact with the corrosive brake fluid. To top all this off this switch is hot (as in current applied to it) ALL THE TIME, regardless of weather the switch is on or not.
So the cheap switch, which shouldn't be where it is to begin with, let alone constantly hot, arcs with the brake fluid and starts a small fire which then catches all the other wonderfully flammable materials in your car.
No offense to any engineers or designers in the audience, but I can't think of a good reason why this switch was placed where it was and why it should have been hot all the time. What was wrong with locating this switch down on the brake pedal well away from any flammable fluids? None of my other Ford vehicles have the cruise control deactivation switch up on the master cylinder.
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Hmmm, the \"Cruise Control\" and \"Self-Destruct\" stickers for the buttons must be stored in the same container.