REPORT: NHTSA investigating if 2002-05 Ford Explorers/Mercury Mountaineers can slip out of park
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun looking at Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers from the 2002-2005 model years. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, out of some 1.4 million SUVs produced, more than 200 complaints have been filed with the government agency regarding transmission issues: 11 owners have said that the vehicle will go from park to reverse on its own, and 61 have said that the gearshift mechanism has failed when trying to get the SUV into or out of park.
NHTSA's action isn't a full-on investigation, and there is no recall – it is a "preliminary evaluation... to assess the scope, frequency and potential safety consequences of the alleged defect and any relationship of the alleged gearshift lever mechanism failures to the alleged vehicle rollaway incidents." For its part, a Ford spokesman has said, "We do not see a safety risk and we will be fully cooperating with the government with the investigation."
[Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sea Urchin 1:34PM (4/30/2009)
So do they Explode before or after they "slip out of park"?
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npatters78 10:46AM (5/01/2009)
This happened to my car! It is a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The car was in Park, I took the keys out, I was sitting in the passenger seat and my husband had gotten out of the car and I wanted to stay behind for a minute. After I took the keys out, the car started rolling backwards and picking up speed as it did. I was in a parking lot and was nearly hit by another car. I had to reach over from the passenger seat and slam on the brakes - even though the car was in park! It was very scary. I had never heard this was an issue and it had never happened before. I have no idea what prompted the car to randomly do that.
theonlybiker 1:38PM (4/30/2009)
Ford has been having this issue for 30 yrs, going back to the 80's!
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Yikes 11:31AM (5/01/2009)
I seem to remember this being a problem for a lot of Ford products in the 1970s. Those "tree" mounted shifters would drop out of park.
some1 1:50PM (4/30/2009)
sooo were talking about roughly 0.007%
wonder how much money they will spend looking into this...
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Ed 1:51PM (4/30/2009)
OMG FORD IS DEAD!!!11111
In all seriousness, I'm sure this will be all over the news today while far more catastrophic failures tied to imports are completely ignored by the media.
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dave821 1:55PM (4/30/2009)
I guess they forgot that the Lincoln Aviator is built off of the same chassis as well so does that mean that the Aviator is exempt from this?
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Tang 2:45PM (4/30/2009)
I think the Aviator was matched with a six-speed automatic (it had the Marauder's 4.6L with 302 HP), so it's not affected by this issue.
Brian 2:01PM (4/30/2009)
We own a 2002 Explorer and this has never been an issue in the 7 years we've owned the truck. If the first year model didn't have any problems with it, I doubt this is a serious concern.
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Jesus 3:47PM (4/30/2009)
Heck, if you don't have the problem then this must be just a big ole' mistake.
andy 4:26PM (4/30/2009)
yeah i have an '03 and ive never had that problem or heard of it, but i have a habit of always using the parking break.
Judy Zik 6:32PM (4/30/2009)
+1 Andy
Why do people with automatics think it is okay to just put the vehicle in park without the PARKING BRAKE.
Rich 7:21PM (4/30/2009)
I suppose some people call it an "emergency brake" for some odd reason (and in the UK, it's just the "handbrake"), but the point stands: who parks without using the brake?
Shawn 2:10PM (4/30/2009)
That's a major problem if the transmission slips from "Park" to "Reverse." I suspect this is similiar to the sudden acceleration issue where operator error is the main cause. Most likely someone who didn't realize what gear it is in or didn't put it all the way in gear...Let the foot off the brake and suddenly the car is moving.
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amfan12 2:58PM (4/30/2009)
This is why you should ALWAYS use the Parking Brake, even if you are in an automatic, especially on hills. It is not good to have all that weight resting on the little parking prawl pin.
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AKJeeper 3:32PM (4/30/2009)
I second what amfan12 says. It's amazing how many people I know refuse to use the parking brake because their car "is an automatic". The parking pawl isn't exactly a beefy component (in some cases, just a piece of stamped metal), and you really shouldn't depend on it to hold a vehicle in place.
I used to work on a large gov't fleet of Explorers (among other vehicles), and not once was this an issue.
chad.dawkins 3:09PM (4/30/2009)
I agree that this seems more like operator error. Out of over a million SUVs only 11 people have had this issue. Seems like it's some of those, it's always someone elses fault, people.
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JJ 3:15PM (4/30/2009)
My mother recently traded in her ford Explorer and it had a transmission issue where it would shift into overdrive sometimes. but it wasnt really a dangerous issue, more of an annoying one.
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jwzep 4:23PM (4/30/2009)
The shift cables are breaking where they attach to the transmission. I've worked on Fords as a fleet mechanic and have replaced countless shift cables. Ford knows of the problem, just won't admit it.
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Matt 6:55PM (4/30/2009)
That is how Ford handles about everything.
Very dishonest company.