1996 Ford Explorer Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe failures that show up on high-mileage, older trucks: seat belts that stop latching, sway bar links that break, throttle and cruise-control problems, and transmission shifting trouble. Many complaints are filed long after purchase, well past 100,000 miles, so these are largely wear-and-age issues rather than early-life failures. Tire complaints also appear frequently, often tied to blowouts and tread separation on the tires supplied with the vehicle.

1. 1
   Vehicle speed control

   Throttle, pedal bracket and cruise control faults

   • 156 complaints (11%)
   • median 139,000 mi at 11.5 yrs old (35 state mileage)
   • 31 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 1996–2020

   Owners describe the accelerator pedal bracket welds breaking so the pedal detaches, a pedal sticking against the floor, and cruise control that cannot be cancelled while speed rises. Some reports involve high engine revs without pedal input. Repairs ranged from reattaching the pedal with bolts to replacing cruise control components at the owner's expense. Reported from about 38,000 up to roughly 180,000 miles, under both city and highway driving.

   Recall 09V399000Recall 97V074000

   What to check: Ask whether the speed control deactivation switch recall work was performed, and have a mechanic check the pedal bracket welds and cruise control shutoff (brake switch) operation.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I was driving 75 on i76 in colorado. I had the speed control set to 75 MPH. All of a sudden, I couldn't cancel speed control and the speed started increasing. I tried everything to cancel it - no luck. I slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a slower speed moving straight before turning the key and engine off - I knew the steering wheel would lock, that's why I straightened the car out on the shoulder before I turned it off.”

   NHTSA complaint #10079236, filed 2004-07, 38,000 miles

   “I was driving my 96 Ford Explorer sport, traveling 65 MPH on a freeway, when the car rpms suddenly went up to 5500 without me doing anything. The cruise control was not on. As the car accelerated I depressed the brakes and was only able to slow down slightly, I then reached down to check if something was contacting the accelerator and I also pulled the floor mat back. The car continued to accelerate past 80 MPH. Pumping the accelerator did not change anything. …”

   NHTSA complaint #10148496, filed 2006-01, 167,325 miles
2. 2
   Seat belts

   Driver seat belt won't latch or releases on its own

   Mentioned in 9 of 60 sampled complaints

   Owners describe the driver-side buckle failing to hold the belt: the release button does not spring back, the belt pops out under light pull, or it simply will not click in at all. In some cases the belt came loose during braking. Owners report buying a replacement buckle or receiver, sometimes from a salvage vehicle, since the dealer charged for the part and labor. Mostly reported between roughly 60,000 and 195,000 miles, on trucks of this age.

   What to check: Buckle and unbuckle each front seat belt several times and tug firmly on the belt to see whether the latch holds. Ask whether either buckle has been replaced.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “I can't latch the driver seat belt buckle. The red buckle release button doesn't spring when inserting the buckle nor when I push it as I would to release a buckle. This occurrence was sudden, with no prior warning of possible failure. Until I can replace (or repair) the failed equipment, I need to latch the drivers seat belt into the front passenger belt latch. This action of pulling my seat belt to the passenger belt latch results in my neck being rubbed by my upper chest belt, which is aggravating.”

   NHTSA complaint #10187873, filed 2007-04, 174,302 miles

   “Dt: the contact stated the driver's side seat belt was not properly latching. It would unlatch while in use. The contact had to slam on the brakes and the force caused the seat belt to come unlatched. The contact hit her head. Now, the seat belt will not latch. When contact's husband bought the new seat belt assembly to install it the sales person claimed he sold multiple of these sets, and they worked well.”

   NHTSA complaint #10147289, filed 2006-01, 12,000 miles

Buying note. A truck this old is largely a question of condition and maintenance history: check seat belt latches, front suspension links and brake lines carefully, and confirm whether the speed control recall work has been completed. A pre-purchase inspection focused on the transmission and front end is worth the cost.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.