124 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 1999 Ford Explorer cite power train, 8% of all 1,465 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 1 recall on this component.
“The transmission stopped going in reverse for no apparent reason. All other gears work fine. There’s no lagging when driving and no other signs. I went to put it in reverse to back out of my driveway and when I pushed the gas it just reved the engine up and floated backwards causing me to apply the brakes quickly so I wouldn’t hit my house. There was smoke coming up from the transmission fluid container.The smoke continues to this day and there’s the proper amount/ plenty of transmission fluid in the transmission container.”
“TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING. NEUTRAL IS ACTUALLY REVERSE OVER DRIVE IS NEUTRAL 2ND IS OD 1ST IS 2ND PAST 1ST IS 1ST GEAR. WHEN I MOVE POWER LAMP TO OFF MY HEADLIGHTS TURN OFF. ALL OF THIS HAOPENED WHEN I TURNED MY VEHICLE ON OR WHEN I WAS DRIVING.”
“I ALMOST TURNED ON A ONE WAY STREET AND NEEDED TO BACK UP SO I PUT IT IN REVERSE AND SOMETHING GAVE AND MY SON AND I WERE STUCK WITH CARS COMING AT US . WE HAD TO PUSH THE CAR BACK IN HEAVY TRAFFIC . SO WHEN I GOT HOME AND TROUBLESHOOT THE PROBLEM I SEE ALOT OF THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. I BELIEVE THIS FORD EXPLORER TRANSMISSION IS A DEFECT AND NEEDS TO BE RECALLED. *TR”
“JUST LIKE COUNTLESS OTHER FORD EXPLORER OWNERS I AM EXPERIENCING OVERDRIVE MALFUNCTION AND SLIPPING BETWEEN 2ND AND 3RD GEAR. IT SEEMS THAT ALL YEARS OF EXPLORERS ARE AFFECTED BY THIS FLAW. THERE ARE NUMEROUS STORIES OF SERVICE ADVISERS AT DEALERSHIPS ADMITTING THERE IS A DESIGN FLAW WITH THESE TRANSMISSIONS. THERE NUMEROUS INCIDENTS OF PEOPLE PAYING $3000 TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT, ONLY YTO HAVE IT RECUR DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS LATER. EVERYONE OF US HAS THE SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS AS WELL AS THE COMPLETELY RANDOM ONSET OF THE ISSUE. FORD NEEDS TO RECALL THESE CARS AND DO RIGHT BY THEIR CUSTOMERS. *TR”
“WENT TO BACK OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY AND NOTHING. I CAN GO INTO DRIVE BUT I AM RUNNING AT 3000-4000 RPM WHILE DOING 20-30MPH. SEEN THE OTHER THOUSANDS OF FORD EXPLORER OWNERS WITH THE SAME ISSUES. *TR”
“MY FORD EXPLORER "O/D OFF" LIGHT FLASHES AND IT HAS PROBLEMS SHIFTING INTO 2ND AND 5TH GEAR. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND MY TRANSMISSION COULD GO OUT AT ANY MINUTE, COSTING THOUSANDS TO REPAIR. IF I AM DRIVING ON A CROWDED HIGHWAY OR MERGING THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS. I HAVE READ COUNTLESS COMPLAINTS ON OTHER WEBSITES. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AND FORD NEEDS TO RECALL THESE TRANSMISSIONS BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED *TR”
Showing 6 of 124 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 3.27 OR 3.55 AXLE RATION. THE SUBJECT VEHICLES HAVE A POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE THAT COULD ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO EXCEED THE DESIGN INTENT TOP SPEED. AT THESE EXTREME SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE COULD BE CAPABLE OF EXCEEDING THE SPEED RATING OF THE TIRE.
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.