Complete transmission failure on the 2004 Ford Explorer
2 crashes 2 of the 55 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 complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Ford Explorer report complete transmission failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 97,500 miles, from 48 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 142,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 102,411 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.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41,189 miles | 60,442 miles | 74,846 miles | 97,250 miles | 143,600 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, 2 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 $2,800–$8,000 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 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 125,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 286; the 2004 has 55. 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.
Vehicle traveled at various speeds the transmission failed and as a result vehicle was unable to move and made an idling noise. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs for fourth time this year.*ak *nm
Intermittently the vehicle will surge backwords when placed in reverse. At times when placing the car in reverse the vehicle will delay going in reverse and surge backwards uncontrollably. The dealer claims it needs new transmission parts. 5 week back order because of so many complaints about this. Why isn't there a recall. This is a major safety problem. Manufacturer also claims it is related to transmission oil.*ak
Dt: the contact complained about transmission failure son several occasions. When shifting the vehicle into reverse the transmission locked for a few seconds, making a loud popping sound and then shifting into reverse. The vehicle has been seen by the dealer six times. The dealer was able to duplicate the problem, but could not been able to locate the source of the problem. The following items were replaced on order to fix the transmission, including the rear speed sensor, the solenoid body, and several components were lubricated. None of these replacements seemed to repair the transmission. During the most recent failure the contact's husband was involved accident when the transmission failed. He attempted to back into the driveway during icy conditions. The transmission locked. He shifted the vehicle into drive and stepped on the gas. The transmission immediately engaged and the vehicle crashed into a tree in the yard. The vehicle sustained heavy damage. The police were not contacted because the accident occurred on private property. The vehicle is now in the possession of the insurance company at their impound lot. *ak
Also reported on the 2004 Ford Explorer
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Liftgate, tailgate or trunk failure
Other visibility problem
Cruise control failure
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 55 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 complete transmission failure happen on the 2004 Ford Explorer?
Across 48 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 97,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2004 Ford Explorer?
55 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 318 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