Was driving on the highway and felt a sharp jerk/pull to the right. At first thought it was a flat tire so got off on next exit. Wasn't a flat tire but could smell something awful. Made grinding sound and still had bad smell, knew we had to drive it back to the place we are staying at. Had hazard lights on and only drove 10-15 mph because of the sound and because of how scary it was. Knew something bad was happening to our car. Brakes at this point practically went out. Would not have to press brakes to stop vehicle at a red light, the car would just stop. Steering wheel was not even, but more or less 90 degrees to the right. Pulled into the neighborhood and into the driveway and a car leaving the street saw that our vehicle at this point was on fire! extinguish fire (since it was a gas fire) and looked at the damage. Looks like the front driver side wasn't even connected to anything. Do not know how or when fire started but the flames when we noticed were about 1 foot tall and wide by the internal driver side wheel.

- Henderson, NV, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while parking, the shift selector fractured while attempting to shift from drive to park. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.

- Provo, UT, USA

Pulled into a parking space (flat surface) and attempted to put the car into park and the gearshift lever broke off into my hand. The same thing happen about a year ago, and our mechanic replaced the defective parts.

- Mount Gilead, OH, USA

My gear shift broke as I was putting into gear and it just fell into my hands it broke into two half a piece that should not broke and as I was going somewhere the truck just starting going crazy the lights was flashing on and off the alarms was going of the lights flashin, sometimes in the middle of the night the alarm just goes off on it on we see all this happen and no one is by the truck no cats dogs nothing.

- Columbus, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would suddenly hesitate and the speed would decelerate. The contact indicated that the check transmission sensor light and over drive light had iluminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the transmission was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the defect but no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 150,000.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

Driving in rush hour traffic, transmission would not shift into high. I was almost hit by a semi truck on I-94 near I-275.

- Belleville, MI, USA

First of all the transmission is starting to slip. When accelerating the car transmission slips when shifting into third gear. Took to dealer and they said they need to repair the transmission. The second problem is that the airbag light came on. I have not been in a accident or anything. It just came on. I read online that if the light is on and I am in an accident the airbags wont deploy. This seems really dangerous and should be cover under warranty.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Timing chain problems; back chain 'plastic' tensor broke and affected critically entire engine. Many people with the same problem. Transmission solenoid problems; shift rough from 1st to 2nd. Put new solenoid block, problem still there. Ford does not know what the problem is. Many people with the same problem.

- Bayamon, PR, USA

I got my Explorer not too long ago. It was running great then out of no where the O/D light keeps flashing and my transmission starts to slip. A lot of people are having this problem and I think Ford needs to step up and take care of this because I have kids and this is my only car and I am on a fixed income. If Ford does not want to fix these problems or recall them then never will I buy a Ford again.

- Liberty, IN, USA

I was at the school to pick up my kids, I turn on my Ford Explorer 2002 XLT V6 4.0 to drive and then the shift lever broke on neutral position, that was dangerous because, how will I park my car? if it happened on a downhill, how are we going to park it.is that possible to make a recall a Ford company to fix the car.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that there was a noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the rear differential was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The recent vehicle failure was not repaired. The failure mileage was 130,000. The current mileage was 133,000.

- Kenosha, WI, USA

I purchased this vehicle in July 2013 and drove it approximately one month when I began to notice that the transmission was not shifting properly. While driving along there was a sudden decline in my speed while the rpms continued to increase. I slowed to a stop as I pulled to the side of the road. I checked the vehicle for any outward signs of damage having found none I once again attempted to continue my trip. This time the vehicle managed to accelerate to a blistering 5 miles an hour while having to maintain a 4-6 thousand RPM range. I proceeded along the grass of the road until I reached home. It sits now in my yard covered with my "tarp of shame". this piece of worthless crap surely fits it acronym (Ford) found on the road dead....my spelling might not be the best, but it is better than this piece of...at any rate, how much more does the public have to pay Ford. We paid with the bail out millions to their executives to get millions in bonuses to rip us off by not paying for and/or fixing their pieces of junk...enough is too much already! if you at the NHTSA doesn't do something maybe we citizen ought to take out a class action lawsuit on you. How many complaints does it take to constitute a pattern" above 4,500,000....or will it be the deaths of one or more of our children at the hands of these fatcats who laugh at us, with such indifference and unbridled contempt. It does seem that it gives them joy to mock the public and the government this way. Consider, GM recently was found hiding their known defects and now Ford has been doing the same thing for well over a decade. What would ole henry Ford say today" but, what hurts me the most is, I used to like Ford but now give me a Toyota, Honda, Nissan or a skateboard before one of these so called pieces of engineering wonders!! the real wonder is where and with who, will they break down on next!!!!!!!

- Laurinburg, NC, USA

Explorer O/D light blinks and shifts rough from 1st to 2nd.

- Washington, DC, USA

I had to replace transmission and solenoid, costing over $2500.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

The contact owns 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the vehicle came to a complete stop and the engine continued to revved up. The contact stated that as a result of the failure another vehicle rear ended her vehicle. A police report was filed. The driver and passenger sustained whiplash. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the transmission solenoid was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 179,000.

- Detroit, MI, USA

Purchased 2002 Ford Explorer new in April 2002. Had little problems here and there. The real smack in the face came in 2007 when the transmission went bad. Was shocked that a 5 year old car would need a new transmission. Had to pay over $3,000 (three thousand dollars). This should have definitely been a recall and no cost to the consumer. Performed research on the topic and found that many owners of 'turn of the century' Ford, especially Explorer, were experiencing the same problem. When our car was ready for repairs, we had to wait two weeks because there were ten other Explorer owners with the same transmission problem at the dealer who were ahead of us. There was only one transmission technician at the dealer - which is why there was such a long wait. Called around to different dealers in the area. All were having the same problem - many Explorer owners with bad transmissions and not enough knowledgeable technicians on staff to correct the problem. Wow!!!! what a racket!!!! contacted Ford corporate headquarters and did not get any resolution. Although this was some time ago, some type of compensation is warranted. Since the repair was done through a certified Ford dealership, there is a record of this repair. So it should not be difficult to determine who had this repair and how to rectify the problem. Again - this should have definitely been a national recall with no cost to the consumer.

- Cheltenham, PA, USA

Third transmission failure since 2010. Bought a Ford remanufactured trans as this is my second 2002 with a failed trans. The first one I bought failed seven months later. Replaced under warranty at 17,000 miles later. Fast forward to last Saturday. Same failure as the last two. No help from Ford, probably surprised I made it through the warranty.

- Mason, MI, USA

After driving into a parking spot I tried to put the car into park and the gearshift fell. After it fell again I tried once more and it broke completely off. We had to take it to the dealership whom just turned it off and later informed us that they would have to replace the entire steering column which would cost $1700 just because one piece was poorly constructed and made of soft metal. It has been almost a month and now we're being told the part is on back-order so we still have no car. We've read where this has happened to others but yet nothing has been done about this problem by the Ford company.

- La Grange, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the transmission became inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle was unable to shift out of third gear as the rpms increased excessively and beyond 7000. The vehicle was able to be driven to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the torque converter and the shift sensor cluster needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.

- Hobbsville, NC, USA

It is having trouble shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. Engine revs up to and over 4,000rpms and slams into the gears.

- Ringwood , NJ, USA