2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Recalls
No NHTSA recalls on record for the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 93 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Complaints by component
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“Drivers side rear brake line developed a hole caused by the emergency brake cable rubbing against it causing all the brake fluid to leak & the brakes failed. Fortunately my husband was driving on our rural road & not out on the main highway. We have not been able to get it repaired yet.”
“The driver was driving down the expressway and her back tire blew out causing her vehicle to spiral out of control and the vehicle then flipped and started rolling downhill, the vehicle airbags did not deploy in the vehicle at all. The driver and her mother are in critical condition. Yes, the…”
“Takata recall .. The smell of fuel inside the cab and outside is really bad. It's making me sick and giving me headaches. The truck doesn't run right and the mileage is awful.”
“We had purchased this vehicle bout a year ago and when we got it we went to get tires and front end alignment and they ended up replacing upper nd lower ball joints, control arm and sway bar on passenger side.this was 6/20/2017. It wasn't making any noise until 1/3/2018. I was going down city…”
“The cab to frame mounting bolt bushings, and steering stabilizer bushings are have and are crumbling. All need to be replaced. I feel ford is aware of this problem and should have to fix it. I just inherited this truck and just found out about this. Thank you.”
“The cab to frame mounting bolt bushings, and steering stabilizer bushings are have and are crumbling. All need to be replaced. I feel ford is aware of this problem and should have to fix it. I just inherited this truck and just found out about this. Thank you.”
“Truck was running fine. Then on several occasions it would slip out of gear while I was coming off of or onto exit ramps. Seemed like as the engine decelerated it would slip into neutral. Sometimes it would eventually find the gear and sometimes I had to come to a complete stop, which was really…”
“I was leaving the store parking lot. I started the car, pressed the break, put the vehicle in drive and the passenger side airbag deployed. This is the second time this has happened since the first incident in september 2014. The vehicle was not hit or bumped in any way. I was not backing out, I…”
Defect investigations
SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD
ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, ODI RECEIVED A PETITION REQUESTING THAT THE AGENCY INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF ENGINE SPARK PLUG EJECTION IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 1997 THROUGH 2004 FORD VEHICLES WITH TRITON V-8 AND V-10 ENGINES.ODI RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 474 NON-DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES WHERE THE COMPLAINANT, OR…
SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD
ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, ODI RECEIVED A PETITION REQUESTING THAT THE AGENCY INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF ENGINE SPARK PLUG EJECTION IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 1997 THROUGH 2004 FORD VEHICLES WITH TRITON V-8 AND V-10 ENGINES.ODI RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 474 NON-DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES WHERE THE COMPLAINANT, OR…
SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD
ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, ODI RECEIVED A PETITION REQUESTING THAT THE AGENCY INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF ENGINE SPARK PLUG EJECTION IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 1997 THROUGH 2004 FORD VEHICLES WITH TRITON V-8 AND V-10 ENGINES.ODI RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 474 NON-DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES WHERE THE COMPLAINANT, OR…
VEHICLE ROLLAWAY ALLEGATIONS
IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST (IR) LETTER SENT BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI), FORD STATED CONSUMER REPORTS OF HIGHER THAN EXPECTED EFFORTS WHEN SHIFTING INTO AND OUT OF PARK COULD BE A RESULT OF A GROOVE BEING WORN INTO THE SWING ARM RAMP OF THE STEERING COLUMN. THE SWING ARM IS A COMPONENT…
VEHICLE ROLLAWAY ALLEGATIONS
IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST (IR) LETTER SENT BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI), FORD STATED CONSUMER REPORTS OF HIGHER THAN EXPECTED EFFORTS WHEN SHIFTING INTO AND OUT OF PARK COULD BE A RESULT OF A GROOVE BEING WORN INTO THE SWING ARM RAMP OF THE STEERING COLUMN. THE SWING ARM IS A COMPONENT…
VEHICLE ROLLAWAY ALLEGATIONS
IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST (IR) LETTER SENT BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI), FORD STATED CONSUMER REPORTS OF HIGHER THAN EXPECTED EFFORTS WHEN SHIFTING INTO AND OUT OF PARK COULD BE A RESULT OF A GROOVE BEING WORN INTO THE SWING ARM RAMP OF THE STEERING COLUMN. THE SWING ARM IS A COMPONENT…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.