Engine knock or bearing noise on the 2002 Ford Explorer
When engine knock or bearing noise gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Ford Explorer report engine knock or bearing noise at a median of 80,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles, from 18 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 110,000 miles. It is the 30th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 62,654 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
6% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40,000 miles | 67,554 miles | 80,000 miles | 88,839 miles | 102,654 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $2,500–$9,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 80,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Multiple wheel bearing failure on 2002 ford explorer 4x4, 42,000 miles. Loud noise prompted action before complete failure. Complete failure may have resulted in wheel lock-up and possible crash. Despite complaint and resquest for the repair to be covered given limited mileage, no assistance from ford motor company. Dealer did replace one unit at no charge. Ford provided no assistance. Personal knowledge of another owner with similar problem, had to replace all four wheel bearings. This is certain to become a major safety problem as these cars age if ford is not held responsible for the defect and forced to take preimptive action to save lives.*ak
Multiple wheel bearing failure on 2002 ford explorer 4x4, 42,000 miles. Loud noise prompted action before complete failure. Complete failure may have resulted in wheel lock-up and possible crash. Despite complaint and resquest for the repair to be covered given limited mileage, no assistance from ford motor company. Dealer did replace one unit at no charge. Ford provided no assistance. Personal knowledge of another owner with similar problem, had to replace all four wheel bearings. This is certain to become a major safety problem as these cars age if ford is not held responsible for the defect and forced to take preimptive action to save lives.*ak
2002 ford explorer wheel bearing failure with under 80,000 miles on the vehicle. I have replaced the front wheel bearing and now both rear wheel bearings due to failure. The first was a rear hub assembly in 06 then a front in 07 and now the driver side rear in 08. I was told by a ford dealer this is a common problem with a tsb addressing it. The dealer told me if not caught soon enough the tires could actually come off the vehicle while traveling. While this has not happened in my case there is the potential for an accident. Also this vehicle has a known defect in the transmission which ford has done nothing about. I have had to replace my transmission at under 70,000 miles and many others have had the same problems I have had with my vehicle as found by searching the web for these problems. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 Ford Explorer
Other powertrain problem
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Complete transmission failure
Differential or transfer case failure
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 25 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does engine knock or bearing noise happen on the 2002 Ford Explorer?
Across 18 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 80,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 90,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is engine knock or bearing noise on the 2002 Ford Explorer?
25 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed