2003 ford explorer cracked rear hatch

im in. my 2003 explorer now has the crack too. and the paint between my doors is fading alaready. i owned a 1990 explorer which had horrible paint problems too.

I have been trying to help as many people as I can regarding this issue by sending them this TSB in PDF format that corrents this issue. The dealer can do this for free as my dealer did for me using the "slush fund" money they can use for issues like these.

See this link and hope this helps you as it did me with a free repair of the rear cracked hatch.

Danny

http://www.2shared.com/file/4420709/4265a463/ford_tsb_crack.html

Yeah add me to the list!! And A friend of mine as well!! Fricken Ford!! Has anyone heard anything???

Hi – I am new to this forum. I found you all after researching the cracked rear hatch on my 2003 Ford Explorer and now I see that many others have the same problem.
I was driving on the highway before dawn and heard a very loud noise (it was the sound of an explosion). I thought that a tire may have blowout, which was strange since the car has a set of new tires and I did not notice any changes in the driving of the vehicle. I stopped on the side of the highway and checked the car using a flash light. I saw nothing. Later that day when I went to get gasoline, I saw a crack in the panel that contained the Ford logo, about 2 inches to the right of the logo that extended from the top of the panel to the bottom. It was just a clean crack on the panel below the rear window. This happened on a cold night (19 deg. F). Although the cracked panel does not seem to be a safety defect, the distraction caused by the loud bang noise while driving the car in heavy traffic and stopping in the highway at night to determine the cause of the noise clearly put me and my family at risk. Moreover, there is a good chance the rear window panel may separate from the vehicle at speed, being a safety issue for other motorists. Sounds like a safety issue to me. I contacted the NHTSA and filed a complaint for which I received confirmation # from the NHTSA.
Please send me an email if you are planning a class action lawsuit to be filed here in Indiana – I’m not a lawyer.

Yep, add me to the list too. 2003 Explorer with the crack to the left of the Ford emblem. It just happened one cold night in the driveway, found it in the morning. The vehicle is at the dealer as I write this, I'm wondering what they'll say (I think I know actually). The service rep told me he has seen many before.

I went to an automated car wash and half of the panel fell off! Does anyone have any clue regarding cost to replace this?

I have a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer and I also have multiple cracks in the rear panel. Mine became so wide that I had to have them filled with something temporarily at the body shop. These cracks let in water which caused my back windshield wiper not to work. I feel Ford should fix this stuff.

S.

Hi All;
I too have had the Ass Crack on my 2004 Explorer. I was also told "This is not a recall item, and we can fix it at my expense". I didn't give up so easily and found a huge list of Ford Corporate e-mails on the Ford web site. Once I e-mailed my discusst to all the addresses, I received a quick response from a Corporate customer service rep. named Julie. She did say they dealt with this problem on an individual basis. Julie told me "Ford would pay for 1/2 of the cost to replace the Applique" if that was ok with me. I will include her e-mail address below. Good Luck

[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]

Add me to the list. Spontaneous cracking around the Mercury emblem on the rear hatch of my '03 Mountaineer. I'm contacting the dealer today. Thanks to all who posted previous entries regarding this problem.

Yep. Me too. 2003 Ford Explorer. It was fine when I left L.A. When I got to Mammoth it had a multi-line crack on the bottom of the rear window hatch immediately to the right of the logo.

I have a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer and am experiencing the same problem. My mother in law also has a 2003 Ford Explorer with this same problem. I made an extra effort to look at the Fords and Mercurys from these affected years and noticed that more times than not the panel is cracked. This is obviously a manufacturer defect and does warrant a class action lawsuit or a manufacturer's recall. If anyone is putting together a class action lawsuit you have two supporters here who would be interested in joining.

Well, as recommended, I called the Ford 800 service number. I spoke to "Ashley." She acknowledged (on pressing questioning) that they do get calls on this issue. But all she would do is tell me I had to see an authorized dealer who would tell me whether or not it was something Ford would cover. I went to an authorized dealer and spoke to the service manager (Harry Oh at Hollywood Ford). He told me that Ford would not cover the repair because it was out of warranty. It sounds like Ashley just referred me to the dealer so they could tell me what she did not want to - that Ford is trying to weasel out of this. I don't know how you all feel, but the government just gave a bunch of MY tax money to Ford to bail them out. I am ready to sign up for the class action.

I too have the crack...been trying to find a fix just to maintain decent book value. Another post mentioned carbon fiber ...will the Ford paint stick to it???

We noticed our 2003 Ford Explorer hatch cracked to the right of the Ford emblem, all the way from the glass to the bottom. My husband blamed our teenager, as he was the last to drive the car. I was in the car with him when he drove and knew he did not do anything wrong. My husband said that perhaps we "slammed the hatch to hard". I am disgusted that Ford is aware of the problem and has not corrected this...but relieved at the same time that we did not do the damage.

My 03 Mountaineer is the same way and has been for 3 years now and is getting worse. I contacted Ford 3 years ago and they wanted me to pay a 100.00 diagnosis fee that would not be reimbursed and there would be no guarantee that they would fix it. Now that I see so many cars like that I called back and they had the nerve to tell me the same thing. I did read somewhere that it could be caused by the structure that is holding the glass in. I have found large bolts in the back of my car and we cant find where they go. Apparently some cars have lost the bolts that hold their rear glass in. Sometimes I have to slam my hatch to shut it because it wont catch like something is off track in there so maybe it is all tied together. All I know is that I am keeping notes on all of it.

I have a 2004 Explorer XLT with the crack also. Evidently, they didn't fix the problem from 2001 - 2005. They just kept producing them with the same problem. You would think in all that time, they would have been able to resolve the cracking problem. I feel like putting a sign on mine that says

"This is my Ford butt-crack, do you have one too?"

I love my Explorer, except for this problem. We have had many issues, but all have been resolved and now the warranty has expired. Wouldn't you know it??? Please keep me updated on the issue and any class action suit. - Or any resolvement. Thanks

Hi, I too have a crack on the rear tailgate. I have a 2002 Explorer and it has been cracked for about 3 years now. Let me know if there is a class action suit. Ford should step up and take care of this known problem and fix for free. One thing is certain if they don't. My next car is a Chevy.

I too have the crack. On a hot day like today it looked pretty good (tight). I sent an email off to Ford Customer Service.

I also have the rear end noise. When it rains, it pours... :banghead:

We too have a crack on the rear hatch panel that runs from top to bottom past the Ford emblem (2002 Ford Explorer XLS). Has anyone had any luck getting a free repair from Ford? The crack happened on a fall day, temperature in the mid 50's. We loaded her up with recycleables, went to the recycling center (5 minute drive) and returned home to discover the crack. I'm worried that when the weather turns wet and cold it will get worse. A repair shop told us it would cost $800 to fix. Any suggestions?

Picture of crack: http://www.filebox.com/9poc20t2zfmk

We have the 2002 Explorer and the back hatch cracked in '05. The Dealership said it was a "geographical problem" having to do with heat & humidity.

After finding this site and several others, we can clearly see that we were lied to and this is a design flaw that Ford refuses to take responsibility for. I am filing a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. I would like to make this a Class Action Suit.

If you would like to join this suit, you need to do 2 things:

1) Contact Ford Motor Company and file a complaint. Call 1-800-392-3673. Get the employee's name and employee #. WRITE IT DOWN!

2) File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Call 1-877-382-4357. Get the employee's name and a reference # for your complaint. WRITE IT DOWN! They will also mail you a hard copy of the complaint.

After you have done this, contact me at [email protected]

I have contacted Attorney General Jim Hood (my state is Mississippi) about a Class Action Suit.

I have a 2002 explorer with the same problem. I have removed my panel since half of it blew away after it cracked.
Does anyone have a part number for a replacement? I can't find it anywhere.
It seems that everyone is trying to sell me a whole new piece of glass with all the parts on it. Very expensive. All I want is a new plastic panel.
Thanks.

Replacing the entire assembly was what was originally called for. There is an updated TSB that details replacing just the applique.

TSB 05-24-2
12/12/05
BODY - LIFTGATE GLASS APPLIQUE
DAMAGED/CRACKED - SERVICE PROCEDURE

FORD:
2002-2005 EXPLORER

LINCOLN:
2003-2005 AVIATOR

MERCURY:
2002-2005 MOUNTAINEER

This article supersedes TSB 04-8-5 to update the vehicle model year coverage.
ISSUE
Some 2002-2005 Explorer/Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Aviator vehicles may exhibit a damaged/cracked plastic applique without liftgate glass damage.

ACTION
Replace the applique as necessary. It is no longer necessary to replace the entire liftgate glass assembly to correct this condition. Refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

According to the TSB the part numbers for the appliques are:
Explorer: 1L2Z-78402A30-CAPTM
Aviator: 4C5Z-78402A30-BAPTM
Mountaineer: 1L2Z-78402A30-DAPTM

-Rod

This has gone long enough. The answer is in the post. I am going to close the post. If anyone feels they need to start another thread, please feel free to do so. Thanks way2old