At first, about two weeks ago, it was the passenger's door that would not close, then now the driver door lock took a few times to open, then it just didn't pop up, and since explorers door lock thing is inside the door you can't manually open the lock, so I was stuck in the drivers seat unless I slid through the passenger seat and over the armrest console which was a major pain. Could not even get inside my car from the outside even when I used the key to turn the lock, which would not turn open either. Had to take it to a mechanic and spent all day. He removed the part inside so I could buy it. Meanwhile I have to drive with a manual door, which only opens from the inside. Today is Saturday night and I will buy the padrt tomorrow if I can find it to have it fixed,

OK - I actually had the door lock actuator replaced once and it wasn't cheap. Now 4 years later it is happening again. Well I decided to look into this a bit more as I knew what the final bill was going to be. Upon inspection I can see that the actuator was actually replaced because the shop didn't rivet it back in place but used a locking nut which is fine and works well.

My problem was the door would not unlock 95% of the time when using the automatic lock and I could never unlock it manually. Once unlocked if I pressed the lock down I could not get it back up by hand. Now this being the issue I knew the problem wasn't the door lock actuator which I was hoping it would be because I could replace this for less than $100 dollars and I would not even need to drill anything out due to the last professional "repair" of the same issue. In desperation I squirted WD-40 into the locking mechanism into the middle of the door where the door actually locks when you closed it (not at the top next to the window) and low and behold I can now lock and unlock the door manually and of course it works with the actuator as well.

1st time this happened cost about $300 and the car being in the shop for a day.

2nd time this happened cost about 1.5 hours of my time with the solution actually taking about 30 seconds to squirt some WD-40 into the locking mechanism and work the lock up and down.

At first the driver door lock took a few times to open, then it just didn't pop up, and since explorers door lock thing is inside the door you can't manually open the lock, so I was stuck in the drivers seat unless I slid through the passenger seat and over the armrest console which was a major pain. Could not even get inside my car from the outside even when I used the key to turn the lock. Had to take it to a mechanic and spent all day and I think it was like $450 to have it fixed, and now the little square behind my door handle keeps coming undone.

All of a sudden the driver's side door would not unlock. Took it to the Ford dealer to have it replaced which set me back about $300. Which was well worth the door unlocking. Its not easy to crawl over the passenger seat with a skirt on. However, when I got my car back, since they had to replace the entire lock assembly, and they did not re-key the lock, the only way to get into my car is to use the remote. Ford will not fix the problem without charging me. I'm just praying that the remote doesn't break.

I also have the problem with the door handle lock not opening. I had to get the inside door handle repaired because I broke it trying to get the door to unlock. I still do not have the lock fixed. Occasionally it decides to unlock on its own with the remote, but many times I have to crawl through the passenger side to get it unlocked because I am not tall enough to reach from the drivers side back door to unlock the drivers door. My key does not work in the car for some reason and the keyless entry will not work either when it decides not to work. This is really embarrassing and I am always scared someone is going to come up and mug me when I am trying to unlock the drivers door from the passenger side. It is very inconvenient when it is raining. I have read about this complaint on more than one website. What does it take for them to issue a recall and pay for this expensive problem.

Same as the rest. Door wouldn't unlock. Pulled inside handle so hard it broke too. So, if this is happening to you, save some money and fix it before the handle breaks also. I picked up the parts at the local Ford dealer for about $72. The latch was $48 and the handle was $24. I didn't even shop the internet because I wanted to get it over with. The parts guy said he sells a lot of them and always keeps them in stock - which allowed me to fix it in a couple of hours. It was kind of tricky getting all the levers disconnected from the latch, but if you like those puzzle where you try to figure out how two get the two pieces of bent metal apart, you'll love this. The door panel is probably one of the easiest I've ever taken apart. When I replaced the old one I discovered that the latch old latch was catching on itself and wouldn't operate smoothly. I also found a tiny spring in the bottom inside of the door. It's a very complicated mechanism but easily replaced if you have patience and keep track of which levers go where.

It seems that there is a real problem with the drivers side door locking up denying access to the drivers seat. I like the other reports am having trouble with my driver side door. It is now locked and i cannot get in the car at all. It will not unlock no matter what combination of tricks i try. What makes this worse is that the door is in the closed position so you cannot even remove the inner door panel to see what could be causing the problem. I am in agreement with the other Ford Explorer owners that there should be some type of solution to this problem other than $370.00 to a dealership to get this fixed. If nothing else they should inform the owners of the problem and the solution to this problem if they decide to try and fix it. I have a 2001 Ford F250 where i am having trouble with the power locks on it also

I went to town to get Sunday paper. Shut car off. Pushed the Driver side unlock button. All doors except driver door unlocked. Pushed lock button many times (nothing happened). A little panic as I have bad leg and cannot get over the console to get out the passenger side door. Said bad things under my breath. Did not help. Kept hitting lock button, nothing. Then took hold of door handle and pushed button at same time. Oops, it opened. Got home, same thing, can't get out. Blew horn for wife to come out and help, but she's in the shower. Don't hear me. I hit the panic button and then the door lock and door handle. What do you know it opened.

I have an appointment to have it repaired at our local Ford dealer for $200.00 I think Ford should have a recall or at least pay for repair. I have in the past wrote a letter to Ford Motor Company on computer about problem with another Ford car and never even got an answer. Don't really know why I am still driving fords. Fix or repair daily

Good thing car was not on fire or I would not be writing this complaint.

Update from Oct 10, 2007: I took the Explorer in this morning to the local Ford garage. Cost of replacement of door lock and actuator was $201.43. Seems to work okay. Thank you for your effort.

JUST GOT MY TITLE! NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN OUT OF NO WHERE, MY DRIVERS DOOR DECIDES NOT TO UNLOCK. ALL THE OTHER DOORS UNLOCK, THANK GOD! BUT THE DRIVERS DOOR. I TRIED THE KEY, THAT DIDN'T WORK, SO I OPENED THE BACK DOOR AND REACHED UP TO PUSH UNLOCK BUTTON, DIDN'T WORK. WENT ON PASSENGER SIDE & CLIMBED IN, YANKED ON THE DOOR KNOB PRESSING UNLOCK BUTTON. FINALLY I GOT IT OPENED. NOW I CAN'T EVEN OPEN THE DRIVERS DOOR FROM THE INSIDE, BECAUSE MY INSIDE HANDLE IS NOT WORKING. I HAVE TO PUT THE WINDOW DOWN TO OPEN THE DOOR. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!