There are 7 stored owner reports matching the electrical system leading-label group for the 2002 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 7 of 7 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)BRAKE LIGHTS AND TURN SIGNALS STOPPED WORKING. PROBLEM TRACED TO TILT STEERING AND MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH WIRING HARNESS. BROKEN RETAINER CLIP ALLOWS WIRES TO BE PULLED FROM CONNECTOR BREAKING CONNECTION FOR BRAKE LIGHT AND TURN SIGNAL. ONCE TILT STEERING IS ENGAGED CONNECTION IS BROKEN AND WIRES DO NOT STAY CONNECTED AND LOSS OF BRAKE LIGHTS AND TURN SIGNAL IS THE RESULT. THIS COULD LEAD TO ACCIDENT, INJURY AND OR LOSS OF LIFE DUE TO POOR DESIGN. THE BRAKE LIGHT PROBLEM HAD ELUDED ME UNTIL I DID A GOOGLE SEARCH ON THE INTERNET WHICH RESULTED IN HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF PEOPLE ALL EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM. CALLING THE FORD DEALER AND PROVIDING THE PART NUMBER (E6DB14489DA) ON THE CONNECTOR PROVED FUTILE IN HAVING THEM EVEN IDENTIFY THE PART YET I WAS ABLE TO FIND THE PART ON THE INTERNET JUST BE A GOOGLE SEARCH. AT THIS POINT, I AM UNABLE TO LOCATE A REPLACEMENT PART SO I AM FORCED TO HOT GLUE THE WIRES INTO THE BROKEN CONNECTOR IN ORDER TO DRIVE MY VEHICLE. *TR
LEADING UP TO THE EVENT OF THE FIRE, OCCASIONALLY THE "DOOR AJAR" BUTTON WOULD FLASH DURING DRIVING, THE ALARM WOULD RANDOMLY GO OFF, AND THE LIGHTS INSIDE THE VEHICLE WOULD FLASH AT RANDOM TIMES. THIS WAS NEVER A PATTERN, AND THE CAR WENT PERIODS OF TIME WITH NOTHING HAPPENING TO IT. ONE MORNING, I OPENED THE CAR DOOR AND FOUND THE ENTIRE INSIDE TO BE BURNED OUT. THE FIRST STARTED IN THE MIDDLE CONSOLE. *TR
WAS USING THE 4 WHEEL DRIVE IN WHEN THE ENGINE STARTED SMOKING AND THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT CAUGHT ON FIRE, THEN THE CAB STARTED BURNING AND THEN THE WHOLE CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE AND EXPLODED.
I WAS DRIVING WHEN MY CAR START SMOKING, WHEN I STOPPED IT CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE CAR IS TOTALED. THE FIRE ORIGINATED AT THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT NEAR THE SPARK PLUGS. *JB
AFTER ADJUSTING STEERING WHEAL UP AND DOWN THE HARNESS WAS BROKEN DUE TO SHORT HARNESS UNDER DASH I DIDN'T NOTICE IT UNTIL THE ELECTRICAL SYS FAILED
THE CONSUMER'S 2002 FORD EXPLORER WAS PARKED IN A PARKING LOT WHEN IT CAUGHT ON FIRE. *NM *JB
FORD EXPLORER 2002 CAUGHT FIRE WHILE PARKED. *BF *JB
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.