Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (seat frames, recliners, heated seats and seat tracks).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1996 Ford Explorer owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
My family drove to a store (6/21/04) and left our 1996 Ford Explorer in the parking lot for approximately one hour. When we returned the front of the cab was filled with smoke. We started trying to find what smelled so bad, and what was smoking. My husband realized the smoke was coming from under the drivers seat. He was able to move the seat up (electronic) and after burning his finger he was able to unplug the six way seat adjustment motor. When we called Ford they would not do anything, but did say they would charge us $72 to diagnose what was wrong. It is evident the electronic motor had caught fire and has a hole burned through the side of it. If we had not returned to our SUV we would now have ashes, as the electric power is a constant feed. I contacted Ford, in michigan, with this matter. …
Drivers seatback failure. The drivers seat in our 1996 Ford Explorer collapsed. The upper portion of our seat suddenly flew backwards only stopping when it struck the rear seat. Luckily this failure occurred in our driveway. My wife was hurled backwards her feet flying upwards and striking the underside of the dashboard. Her hands came off the steering wheel and she was left prone staring at the ceiling of the vehicle. This should be a great concern to NHTSA since any driver experiencing such a failure while driving would be in grave danger. After removing the seat and researching issues with Explorer seats I found the 1998 Explorer recall that exactly described our seat failure. The same exact bolt in the 1998 recall was the cause of our seat collapse. …
While driving in "d" in first to second it has had a problem shifting between the 1st and 2nd gears when accelerating and will rev high rpms and sometimes do absolutley nothing when drying to move forward unless I de accelerate and then try to accelerate agine then finally it will catch and go in to 2nd and proceed to 3rd and then 4th and then 5th ,4th and 5th when accelerating sounds very rough when accelerating like it's trying to hard to drive, lately it just the other day I had trouble getting it to go in to d to 1st 2nd 3rd automatic transmission shifting was not wanting to catch had t OK try 3-6 times de accelerating and accelerating to try to get it to go finalt it caught and I was able to drive it so I stopped at the parts store had them do a scan and the only code that came up was p1701 they looked it up and it said something to do with trouble in reverse witch in reverse has …
Tl contact owns a 1996 Ford Explorer. While sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle, the seat spontaneously collapsed backwards. The contact called a dealer and a technician stated that he would have to replace either the recliner bolts or the seat assembly at his expense. The manufacturer stated that there was a recall for the recliner bolts, but his vehicle was not included because it was manufactured at a different plant. The vehicle has not been repaired because it was a recall for the same model. The recall number was unknown. The failure mileage was 130,000.
Drivers side seat belt receiver does not clasp seat belt. We are taking the vehicle to a local shop to replace the receiver at $100 for the part plus labor. A seat belt receiver should be built to last normal driving conditions. This vehicle has not been in any kind of accident. The driver's side seat collapsed in the recline position on 8/24/2011, fortunately this occurred when the vehicle was not in motion. The recline mechanism does not work, and the seat does not stay upright. These two items are definitely safety issues.
Noticed that the recliner handle was bent on the drivers side. The next time I went to recline the seat the handle broke off at the rivet point. Common problem according to the dealer. The part can only be bought from Ford and the cost is $100. There was a service bulletin for this problem for a later year Explorer. Dealer said the new part is more heavy duty and made to replace the stock version that was light duty. No recall was issued and they have stopped making the part.
Dt: the driver's seats broke from the metal part by where one adjusts seat forward and backward. Was sitting in the seat and the bolt that holds seat in place broke. A mechanic that installs the seats in the Ford Explorer come looked at it and said it should have never of happened. Was injected into the back seat, and then got out. Then husband got in and moved vehicle , injected him forward . Also, it blew all the electrical fuses , bought new fuses and now it works.
Seatback in my 1996 Ford Explorer ([redacted]) broke without warning while driving on the interstate. Cause is a fractured bolt in the reclining seatback latch.
A bolt that holds the driver's seat back upright broke, causing the seat to fully recline backwards immediately. This is the second time this seat bolt has failed. The original failure was in July, 1999 (NHTSA report #708738).
I have a 1996 Ford Explorer that just had it's front seat assembly fail and had to be replaced at a cost of over $300. I notice that Ford has issued a recall notice but it was not for 1996 but 1998 - 01 year explorers. I spoke to the dealer that made the repair and them stated that there is not much difference between the 1996 and 1998 versions of this vehicle. They pointed me back to Ford. I believe that Ford is limiting this recall to save money. They should have included the 1996 model as well as other year models as evident by the problem my vehicle just experienced. The recall notice is below for reference. Thank you. . Make : Ford model : Explorer year : 1998 NHTSA campaign id number : 03V281000 recall date : aug 04, 2003 component: seats:front assembly:recliner potential number of units affected : 1552880
Seat complaints in other Explorer years
Frequently asked questions
How common are seat problems on the 1996 Ford Explorer?
NHTSA has 29 complaints about the seats of the 1996 Ford Explorer, 2% of the model year's 1,450 complaints. The component named most often is front assembly › recliner (11 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1996 Ford Explorer seat problems?
No. NHTSA lists no seats recall for the 1996 Ford Explorer, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1996 Ford Explorer seat problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 130,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 1 fire and 3 injuries to seats problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.