There are 1 stored owner reports matching the fuel system leading-label group for the 2001 Ford Explorer Sport in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 1 of 1 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)THIS WAS AN INCIDENT. NO CRASH, AND NO INJURY. THE IAC (IDLE AIR CONTROL) VALVE FAILED DURING START ATTEMPTS ON THE FOLLOWING VEHICLE: 2001 FORD EXPLORER SPORT, 4.0L SOHC ENGINE, MILEAGE = 39,000. THE VALVE FAILURE MODE WAS CLOSED (NO IDLE AIR) SO THE ENGINE WOULD NOT IDLE UNLESS THE PRIMARY INTAKE THROTTLE PLATE WAS HELD OPEN BY MAINTAINING PRESSURE ON THE THROTTLE. FAILURE OF ENGINE TO IDLE DURING A MOVING CONDITION MAY CAUSE LACK OF VACUUM FOR BRAKE BOOST AND UNUSUALLY HIGH BRAKE FORCES, AS THIS VEHICLE HAS A VACUUM BRAKE BOOST. FROM REVIEWING VARIOUS ON-LINE FORUMS, IT APPEARS THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE IAC VALVE, WHICH IS USED ON SEVERAL MODEL/YEAR/ENGINE FAMILY COMBINATIONS. *NM
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 29, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.