Other speed control problem on the 2003 Ford Explorer
3 crashes 3 of the 15 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other speed control problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Ford Explorer report other speed control problem at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 20th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 600 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 122,871 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.
27% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 609 miles | 26,275 miles | 83,547 miles | 119,000 miles | 123,480 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
Of these reports, 3 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 25 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2025, at a median of 400 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 1998 carries the most reports, with 206; the 2003 has 15. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
Engine cut off while running, when I turned on high beams. Engine rpms and engine accelerated, when I turned on high beams loss control of acceleration, when fog lights were turned on. Message center flashed "check transmission", o/d off (overdrive off) flashed, when fog light were turned on. *nm
On 9/4/08, driving in town, I was at a red light, proceeded to accelerate, then prepared to brake, I noticed that when I took my foot off the accelerator, the vehicle's speed kept accelerating. I had to ride my brakes to keep my car from going any faster. When I let off the brake, the accelerator took off again on its own at a fast rate! I pulled over to turn off my car, waited for at least 30 minutes and proceeded again. After driving 5 miles it started up again, I rode on my brakes the rest of the way home and then had my husband follow me to the dealership to have it looked at, where it is right now. *tr
I have a 2003 ford explorer manufactured in 01/03. It is not included in the current 'voluntary' recall of ford vehicles due to a defective speed control deactivation switch. However, the vehicle exhibits the symptoms of the vehicles with a defective speed control switch (see faq below from ford.com): q. Are there any early warning signs or symptoms I would notice that would indicate a problem? A. If the system malfunctions, a customer may notice vehicle symptoms such as; the speed control may become inoperable, the vehicle may not shift out of park, the rear brake lamps may not work, brake fluid may leak at the switch, the battery may drain or go dead, the ABS warning light may flash or a fuse in the system may open. My vehicle has an inoperable speed control. It started as an intermittent problem, but is now inoperable. The vehicle frequently does not shift out of park, and the ABS lamp frequently illuminates. I have contacted ford, and the dealer to request the vehicle be included in the recall and have the problem corrected at no cost. Both have refused. *tr
Also reported on the 2003 Ford Explorer
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Differential or transfer case failure
Other engine problem
Complete transmission failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 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 other speed control problem happen on the 2003 Ford Explorer?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 25,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other speed control problem on the 2003 Ford Explorer?
15 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