NHTSA Complaint #10133202 — 2003 FORD EXPLORER

ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO, MY EXPLORER BEGAN OCCASIONALLY EXPERIENCED DRAMATIC, RANDOM ENGINE ACCELERATION. WHILE DRIVING, THE RPMS WOULD SHOOT UP FOR NO APPARENT REASON. 2 MONTHS AGO, IT WAS TAKEN TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP IN MILLINGTON, TN. THEY FOUND NO PROBLEMS AND HINTED IT WAS "DRIVER ERROR". A WEEK LATER, I MADE AN 800 MILE DRIVE TO VISIT MY NEWLY HOSPITILIZED FATHER. THE SUDDEN, DRASTIC INCREASE IN RPM' STARTED OUT HAPPENING 1 - 2 TIMES IN THE FIRST 30 MINUTES. THE FREQUENCY RAPIDLY INCREASED, AND 4 HOURS INTO THE TRIP, THE SUDDEN ACCELERATION WAS OCCURRING AT LEAST 1 TIME EVERY 5 MINUTES OR SO. AFTER ARRIVING IN PITTSBURGH, THE EXPLORER WAS AGAIN TAKEN TO A FORD DEALERSHIP. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE CO2 DETECTOR HAD GONE BAD. THIS WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, BUT SINCE I WAS DRIVING WITH A BAD DETECTOR, THE EGR SENSOR WAS CAUSED TO MALFUNCTION. I WAS INFORMED THAT THIS WAS NOT COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY SINCE IT WAS A RESULT OF MY CONTINUING TO DRIVE IT WITH A BAD CO2 DETECTOR. THE EGR SENSOR COST ME $300 TO GET REPLACED. A WEEK AFTER THIS "REPAIR" WAS MADE, I BEGAN THE TRIP BACK TO TN. 2 HOURS INTO THE TRIP, THE SUDDEN, DRASTIC ACCLERATION STARTED AGAIN, AND SOON WAS OCCURING SEVERAL TIMES EVERY 30 MINUTES. ON REACHING TN., I ONCE AGAIN TOOK THE EXPLORER TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP IN MILLINGTON. THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND ANY PROBLEM. SO, NOT ONLY DID I PAY FOR A REPAIR THAT 1) WAS CAUSED BY THE DEALERSHIP'S INABILITY TO FIND A PROBLEM, IT 2) SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY. THEN IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE "REPAIR" DID NOT EVEN FIX THE PROBLEM. TO THIS DAY, THE RANDOM ACCELERATION IS A PROBLEM.*AK