Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1999 Ford Explorer owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was at work on Friday afternoon, 5/16 and received a voicemail at 3:50 pm from the fire marshall stating my 1999 Ford Explorer xlt burned in my driveway and was totaled. I had not driven the Explorer since approximately 7 pm the night before and had taken my other car to work. The Explorer was just sitting in the driveway, outside the garage and started burning. A neighbor 2 houses over smelled the smoke and saw the flames and called the fire department. The fire marshall stated he had seen this type of fire before due to the Ford cruise control recall problems, based on the burn pattern. I was not the original owner and bought it about 8 years ago and have never received any kind of recall notice. …
Started driving down the street and noticed heavy smoke coming from hazord switch, stopped to check once truck was turned off smoke stopped started truck up again and went on my way sevrel miles from home smoke started again, could not lose any more time so I kept on going watching for any fire or sparks. Made it to work, at end of day got home with no issues, my wife drove the truck ( Explorer ) later that evning and she also notice smoke, with in a few days after this happend I noticed it agian and some of the dash lights started flikering, the issue of smoke has been an on going thing but have not seen any fire so I keep driving it and let my wife drive the new car for her safty, my conserns are, the windshield washer fluid for fron window stopped working from the first smokeing issue and then dash lights started shotly after and now I do not know if the air bag is still working and …
My 1999 Ford Explorer was parked, locked, with no key in the ignition. In my garage on January 30, 2005. When we smelled smoke, looked in the garage, and found extreme smoke coming from under the hood of the car... I phoned 911, and the operator advised us to get out of the house and do not attempt to get the car out of the garage. We went outside and waited for the fire dept. 5 fire trucks came and put out the fire..... But the car was burned completely, and also the garage and all of it's contents are a total loss.... My house is also damaged, due to soot, and smoke.... I am 65 years old, living on social security, I am a 44 year type 1 diabetic... This has caused me immense problems.... I would appreciate any help you May afford me..
I have had several problems w/ the multi function switch. First, my wipers would randomly turn on. The dealership fixed the problem. Next, the wipers would not turn on when it was really cold. The dealership could not replicate or fix the problem. Next, the wipers could not reach full speed. At 35,000 miles, we forced the dealership to replace the mfs under warranty. Finally, at 59,000 miles, white smoke started spewing from the mfs. After calling the dealership, I had the car towed and the mfs replaced. When I complained, the dealership referred me to the Ford complaint line. Their response was unacceptable
When I use my turn signal white smoke comes out of the steering column out of the hole for the hazard button. I called my dealer which informed me no recalls on my vehicle for this problem, and agreed most likely it is the multi function switch. I called the Ford hotline listed on campaign id 00v07200 and the customer service person also stated this vehicle has no recall. What is Ford going to do about this? So if the dealership says it will cost $500 for a defective parts & labor that was recalled from a specific batch but not from my batch and it is the same problem is that fair? What is my recourse?
I was driving on a city street when I began to smell something electrical was burning. I pulled over into a store parking lot and turned the engine off. I opened the hood and black smoke was pouring out. I also saw a small red flam so I ran into a dentist office that was located in the parking lot to get a fire extinguisher. When I reopened the hood the entire engine was on fire. The fire was under the car and flames were about 2 feet high. I used the fire extinguisher until an officer came and then the fire department arrived. They then ran there hose on the engine a to ensure the fire was out.
I need to know what causes the electric to go haywire. The overhead lamp clicks on and off the driver door lock doesn't work completely. The driver window does not work correctly. Some of my gauges will decide not to work sometimes and then other times we'll be fine. My radio clock does not work. All happens the same whether I'm driving or not whether I'm parked with the engine running or not. I can't figure out anything it's causing this
Tl*- the contact owns a 1999 Ford Explorer. When arriving home from the store the vehicle was parked and minutes later the vehicle went up in flames. The fire came from under the hood of the vehicle. Two explosions occurred before the fire department came to put out the fire. The fire marshal advised that an electrical issue was the source of the fire. The failure mileage was 89,999, and the current mileage was 90,000.
1999 Ford Explorer. Turn signal "multi-function switch" shorts out, causing smoke to pour out of steering column. When I contacted Ford regarding this $300.00 repair, the service tech said he has seen it before and knew exactly what was wrong. This has happened twice and we are now scheduled to go in for repairs.
While driving down rt.10 in whippany,nj my '99 Ford Explorer caught on fire. Elieve it was an electrical fire - fire was behind the dash board. I saw flames coming from the passenger side on the floor and the car quickly filled up with smoke. I pulled off the road - called 911 - police and fire truck assisted me.
Related recalls
Electrical system › Wiring › Fuses and circuit breakers
Vehicle description: multi-purpose vehicles equipped with 4.0l engines and all-time 4-wheel drive (a4wd) powertrains. The generic electronic module (gem) could experience a condition referred to as "lock-up" in which the gem controlled electronic functions (e.g., front windshield wipers, interior lights, 4x4 system, etc.) could…
Remedy: Dealers will install a resistor in the gem circuit.
Electrical complaints in other Explorer years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 1999 Ford Explorer?
NHTSA has 92 complaints about the electrical system of the 1999 Ford Explorer, 7% of the model year's 1,348 complaints. The component named most often is wiring › interior/under dash (13 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1999 Ford Explorer electrical problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 00V-072 (fuses and circuit breakers, Mar 7, 2000). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 1999 Ford Explorer electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 75,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 17 fires and 1 injury and 2 deaths to electrical system 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.