1997 Ford Aerostar problems
The 1997 Ford Aerostar has 83 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns electrical system. After that come cruise control (12%) and brakes (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 83 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 8
- Injuries and deaths
- 8 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 14 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 14 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 100,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 8 complaints mention a fire; 8 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Ford Aerostar with enough data (51 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Vehicle was slowing down going 35-45MPH in the right slow lane. When brakes were applied, vehicle picked up more speed, causing consumer to lose control. Vehicle ran into one of the beams under underpass of the highway. Upon impact, front driver's air bag didn't deploy. Consumer's face hit steering. Consumer had 16 stiches in bottom lip. Consumer had a case, and was not allowed to contact dealer at this time.
Ford recommends incorrect adjustment of rear brakes, which causes overheating of drums and eventual failure of axle seals, axle bearings, and tire on the rim attached to the brake drum. Ford stipulates that brake shoes are to be touching drum when brakes are adjusted. This results in frictional heat build-up, and is likely to be a contributor to tire failures reported with the ford explorer. The ford explorer, aerostar, and ranger all share power train and drive train components.
Consumer noticed that rear driver's side rim spokes are cracked. Vehicle did not hit anything. Four spokes were cracked completely threw. Any more and consumer faced loss of wheel from the vehicle. Consumer had the spare put on and rim replaced. Consumer learned a particular dealership sells one or more to other customers with the same problem. One particular customer went to the dealership with three defective rims.
When accelerating consumer had to depress the gas pedal several times to get the vehicle to move. When the vehicle moved the throttle got stuck, and revved very high. Dealer informed the consumer that the throttle linkage had a sticking problem.