Problems you have had with your Trac...

[mbautodesign]

Well iv had my 2002 Explorer Sport Trac for about 1 1/2 years now and have come upon quite a few problems with it, was curious as to what you guys have had go wrong?
Keep in mind yes i have wheeled it pretty hard a few times and some of that made these things go wrong.

1. Rear pinion failure
fix- Rebuild rear end, new ring and pinion gears, new bearings, new carrier

2. Rear pinion failure
fix-Ford warranty on previous rebuild at no cost

3. Front Left wheel bearing failure
fix- wheel bearing replacement from ford

4. Front Right wheel bearing failure
fix- wheel bearing replacement from ford

5. Front pinion seal failure
fix- replacement from ford

6. Overdrive button failure
fix- not fixed yet, doesnt work

7. Fog light switch failure
fix- clean fog light relays every time i go through a puddle...annoying

8. Fan switch non working in position 4
fix- no idea

9. Starter stays engaged to long
fix- assume mud in starter, not yet fixed

So after all that ive decided to make my truck the boat tower and nice truck to cruise in and no longer offroad. Took me 6 hours of buffing and polishing to get all the scratches out of my truck (professional body shop tech aka me)

i wanna keep the wheels, probably put some smaller bfg's on them

 

[John_Rock]

I had her 8 1/2 years and about 90k miles and she's still perfect as the day I bought her.

I think I will go outside and give her a hug.

 

[brianjwilson]

Owned mine for about a year and a half. Only has 38k miles on it now. No problems really...
One of the door locks occasionally does not go down with the others (1 out of 20 times or so), Ford wouldn't fix it under warranty because it didn't happen EVERY time.
Had a bad front pinion seal, but it was a differential that I bought used so I can't complain about it.


My ranger (sold with 140k miles);
Balljoints (upper and lower)
Tie rod ends (mostly outer)
Cruise control stopped working
Pinging occasionally with 87 octane (used 89)
Auto hubs (replaced with manual)
Some times the transfer case was really slow to engage or disengage
Idle air control valve
Door ajar lights (wd-40 always fixed that)
Clutch and hydraulic problems (fixed after a few trips back to the shop)


97 Explorer;
Bad EGR vavle
Bad IAC valve
Bad intake manifold gaskets

That's all I can think of. Mostly been fairly trouble free from what I can remember.

 

[Project_Sparta]

After a year and a half of driving, nothing so far. Well that i know of... Except my possesed 4wd module. So glad it worked today, had some snow and ice. Still getting some popping when i turn hard. not sure if thats too big of a deal.

 

[John_Rock]

I had her 8 1/2 years and about 90k miles and she's still perfect as the day I bought her.

Ok, I've had some problems. Pictures speak louder than words.

http://www.explorerforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=3679

 

[Project_Sparta]

man i bet when your hub broke it scared the sh** out of you!

 

[John_Rock]

man i bet when your hub broke it scared the sh** out of you!

I was really lucky and happy that it happened when no one else was around.

 

[a351fan]

My rear windows won't go down. Dealer won't fix because as he said," Have you seen how dirty it is in the door panels?" I forgot when cleaning my truck I need to remove to door panels to clean behind them, like everyone else. Besides that I have had no problems in 2 years.

 

[TwoX]

the only problem i have had really is my cd player messed up and wont play cd's and the console lid broke (i have the one with the bag under it)

 

[bdmaash]

scared to drive the truck right now
the transmission decides to slip randomly - almost like it's in neutral

 

[JohnnyO]

Had my '05 Gen 1 (lease) for three years and 45,000 not always easy miles. Only problems were one wheel bearing and one ball joint that failed before I thought they should and a rattle in one of the passenger side doors that went away on its own after a year.
I'd call it the second-most trouble-free vehicle I've ever owned although the '08 is giving it a run for the money so far. Maybe I'm just lucky.

 

[Squirrelmaster]

I've had my '04 for 16 months so far, and other than replacing the pathetic stock shocks which were pretty much completely gone at 25,000 miles, I haven't had any issues with it at all.

Tom

 

[Diesel Scout]

2003 with 82000 on it. I haven't had anything that needed to be fixed, just maintenance, the largest of which being the front brake pads. I replaced the rear passenger door window when someone broke into it, but other then that nothing but maintenance.

While we are on the subject DO NOT left Jiffy Lube touch your truck!! Before my GF and I were dating she had the oil changed at JL and when I wen to do it the last time, they had stripped the oil plug on re-installation. It was cross threaded and ran in with an impact wrench. Fortunatly the threads on the pan were fine a new plug was easily obtained at a local parts store, but it makes me question all the other work they did to the rig. This summer I am going over the truck stem to stern to see if there is anything else they screwed up.

 

[bdmaash]

While we are on the subject DO NOT left Jiffy Lube touch your truck!!

don't you mean to say "I need to start a ***** about Jiffy Lube"

 

[Diesel Scout]

don't you mean to say "I need to start a ***** about Jiffy Lube"

I suppose and I suppose it's all been said before. It just irks me, changing the oil in a rig is simple, yet someone manages to screw it up. It baffles me.

 

[bdmaash]

After doing oil changes for a while it seems simple.

I remember in high school doing one on a VW (first fwd car I saw), drained the transmission instead of the engine. <learned something that day.

A quick oil change place's only requirements are a heartbeat. Sometimes you will get someone that's got experience doing lots of vehicles, and sometimes you will get someone learning on your vehicle.

Take it to a dealership, if you want to better your odds. Dealerships also seem to hire on the quick oil change place policies.

ANYWAYS:
this thread is about problems/failures with the TRAC.
I got my truck at 206k KMs
- injectors were leaky :flooded truck, and caused hard (hot engine) start condition
- tonneau cover locks, and tailgate lock didn't work well :lubricated cables and locks
- drivers door lock mechanism broken :would not lock/unlock with Remote/key ($0.15 cent fix - read thread regarding door latch)
- random hesitation (rarely occurred) :fuel pump
- random transmission slipping : haven't looked at this yet, truck is parked, will tighten bands, but will need to take it in for overhaul ($2k ish)

 

[Flounder]

Had a 2004 since 1/2004. Other than (on my own, for my own preference) changing out the shocks, tires, sway bars, etc., I've had no problems.

Knock on wood, of course, and keeping in mind I put less than 10K/year on it.