1997 Ford Explorer Sport problems
Owners have filed 44 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Ford Explorer Sport. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 18% of complaints. After that come seats (11%) and brakes (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 44 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 21 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 21 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 100,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 4 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Ford Explorer Sport with enough data (7 complaints in that window).
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.
1997 ford explorer traveling east bound on I-16 when left rear tire tread came off a cooper futura tire causing driver to lose control vehicle flipped several times then right front tire came off completely causing another flip this time tail over nose cause all 4 kids to be thrown out killing one on impact and another died 2 days later from injuries in hospital.
On february 16, 2004 at approximately 2:30 pm I was pulling my wife's 1997 ford explorer sport into a diagonal parking stall. I had almost come to a complete stop when the engine began to roar and the car began to accelerate against my braking. I pressed as hard as I could on the brake pedal but the car continued to move forward until it struck a car opposite my parking stall. I pushed the gear shift into neutral and turned off the engine.
To best describe my problem is that the camshaft broke off right at timing pulley.this break cause the serpentine belt to wrap around all the other components. I was traveling along the express way at 65 MPH, when I loss of power steering, and a loss control of the vehicle for a period of time until I regain control.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 ford explorer sport. The windshield wipers at any speed other than high didn't operate normally. When the rain was heavy or light the windshield wipers only operated on higher speeds. The failure mileage was 116000 ,and the current mileage was 126000.
The crankshaft broke off and went into the fan shield. The ford mechanic says he has not seen this before and it looks like a defect in the metal. It was good that I was going only 30MPH at the time or it would have gone throught the fan its self. It could have had many consequences.