2000 Ford Explorer Acceleration Problems

Which parts fail

• Cruise control
  27
• Cables
  7
• Accelerator pedal
  5
• Linkages
  2

Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  12%
• 25k–50k
  512%
• 50k–75k
  1024%
• 75k–100k
  1229%
• 100k–150k
  717%
• 150k+
  615%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Ford Explorer owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the rpms and the tachometer increased, but the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. While attempting to park, the vehicle surged forward and crashed into a pole. On another occasion, while reversing from being parked, the vehicle surged from a low speed to over 40 MPH causing the contact to crash into the rear of another vehicle. A police report was filed. The contact sustained whiplash that did not require medical attention. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 09V399000 (vehicle speed control), 07V336000 (vehicle speed control), and 03V280000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 204,000tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. The contact stated that the rpms and the tachometer increased, but the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. While attempting to park, the vehicle surged forward and crashed into a pole. On another occasion, while reversing from being parked, the vehicle surged from a low speed to over 40 MPH causing the contact to crash into the rear of another vehicle. A police report was filed. The contact sustained whiplash that did not require medical attention. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 09V399000 (vehicle speed control), 07V336000 (vehicle speed control), and 03V280000 (vehicle speed control). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 204,000. Ma 10/15/2015 updated 11/30/2017

In January 2008 I took my 2000 Ford Explorer to courtesy Ford, in altoona, pa to have the recall service performed. They did not have the necessary parts, so they ordered them and disconnected my cruise control to make the car safe to drive. On February 26, I called and was told my part had arrived. When I took it in, they discovered that only one of two required parts had arrived, and they could not repair my cruise control. I left on a business trip the following day. I was to return on March 7, 2008 and my girlfriend and three daughters were driving to the airport to pick me up. About 40 or 50 miles into the trip she noticed the car was losing power because it was not pulling up a hill well and the engine began running roughly. She pulled over to the side of the road. At this point, the Explorer had a little bit of smoke coming from under the hood. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. The contact was driving 60 MPH when the vehicle accelerated to 90 MPH erroneously. The contact applied the brakes and the engine rpms increased excessively. The vehicle would not decelerate and the contact shifted into neutral in order to regain control of the vehicle. The engine was turned off as the failure occurred, causing the steering wheel to seize. The vehicle was driven to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. As the contact started the vehicle to exit the dealer, the vehicle abnormally accelerated and crashed into a tree. There were no injuries and the vehicle was destroyed. The contact's insurance company was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 105,000.

Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in front of the residence, a noise was heard, then fire was noticed coming from under the hood. The contact called the fire department who extinguished the fire and reported the fire as electrical failure from the speed control system. The contact took pictures of the charred vehicle. The insurance company deemed the vehicle a total loss. The dealership was contacted but never returned the call. The manufacturer was also contacted who informed her the vehicle was not included in any recall pertaining to the speed control system due to the VIN. The fire department had not determined what caused the fire, however, the consumer had read about reports where vehicle were catching on fire due to faulty cruise control switches. Updated 12/13/06. Updated 04/03/07.

Tl contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. After being parked for 20 minutes with the engine shut off, the front end of the vehicle burst into flames in the engine compartment. The fire department arrived and assisted in extinguishing the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle is still parked in the contact's driveway. He sent the manufacturer some requested documents. Ford explained that there was a recall on that vehicle for the cruise control, which was the cause of the fire. The contact stated that the recall repair had previously been performed; however, the failure still occurs. The vehicle was destroyed. The NHTSA campaign id number was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 79,000. Updated 11/26/08. Updated 12/01/08.

My 2000 Ford Explorer xlt caught on fire for no apparent reason. My daughter and I were at a friend's house, we were in the process of backing out of the drive when smoke started coming from under the hood. I pulled the car off to the side of the road and put it in park and turned off the engine, the smoke got much worse. My daughter and I got out of the Explorer just as it was catching fire. We called 911, the car was a total loss. The whole incident is unbelievable, we are shocked. My insurance adjuster informed me that it wasn't uncommon and mentioned something about a recall on the cruise control. I bought my Explorer in indiana, but have moved to tennessee. I never received a recall, I'm still waiting on my insurance company to get back with me.

Consumer was driving on the freeway and set the cruise control at 75 MPH. However, the vehicle kept accelerating, although consumer had applied the brakes and the emergency brakes. Vehicle would not slow down. Had to circle the gas station 3 times before the vehicle would stop. The consumer stated that she ran 3 red lights before she could get the vehicle to come to a stop. The consumer slammed the vehicle into park going 50mph. Significant damage was done to the braking system. The consumer was injured. The mechanic told the consumer that the brakes caught fire and she was lucky the fire put itself out.

Tl contact owns a 2000 Ford Explorer. While driving at an unknown speed, smoke appeared from the steering wheel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and they disconnected the vehicle speed control. The dealer never mentioned if the smoke was due to the recall notice the contact received in August of 2007 for the vehicle speed control. He called several dealers during that nine month period, but there are still no parts available. The recall number was unknown. The current mileage was 111,000 and failure mileage was 96,000.

I came home from dropping my son off at his school social. I heard some sparking noise. Unplugged my cell phone charger. I didn't know what it was at first. 1 minute later I saw smoke and flames coming from my hood. I jumped out the car and called fire department. Guys from the neighborhood put fire out. It started around the brake master cylinder. The cord that attaches to it. Later found out it is control deactivation switch. I'm trying to see who's responsible for repairing the vehicle. Wasn't informed about recall.

Related recalls

Acceleration complaints in other Explorer years