1998 FORD EXPLORER — Complaint #1557895
Free public-data reference page. Cross-checked against the upstream agency, refreshed as new data lands. Cite PlainCars when you reuse this analysis.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM filed April 15, 2019
NHTSA complaint #1557895 (ODI reference 11196183) concerns a 1998 FORD EXPLORER and was filed on April 15, 2019. The owner reports the failure occurred on April 12, 2019. The vehicle had 134,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD EXPLORER cohort independently describe similar electrical system failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1998 FORD EXPLORER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
MY EXPLORER HAD BEEN PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY FOR WELL OVER 15 HOURS WHEN I HEARD MY NEIGHBOR SCREAMING. THE SUV WAS FULLY IGNITED INTO FLAMES.JUST OUT OF NO WHERE. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE FIRE OUT WITH MY WATER HOSES BEFORE THE GOTTA DEPARTMENT SHOWED UP BUT THE ENTIRE VEHICLE IS RUINED AND HALF MY GARAGE AS WELL. THE FIRE STARTED DOWN BY THE BRAKES AND THE ENTIRE VEHICLE WAS ENGOLFED WITHIN SECONDS. OBVIOUSLY IT WAS ELECTRICAL. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION I BELIEVE IT WAS THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH MALFUNCTION. MY SUV HAD 134,000 MILES ON IT AND KEPT IN IMMACULATE CONDITION. I WILL DOWNLOAD THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS REPORT ONCE TO GET IT. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TT
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1557895 |
| ODI Number | 11196183 |
| Date Filed | April 15, 2019 |
| Failure Date | April 12, 2019 |
Similar ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Complaints for 1998 FORD EXPLORER
MY SEAT BELT ON MY PASSENGER SIDE DOES NOT WORK HALF THE TIME. MY DOOR LOCKS DO NOT WORK RIGHT. I CAN'T GET MY WINDOW ON THE DRIVER SIDE TO GO UP AND DOWN. I HIT A TREE GOING 55 MILES AN HOUR IN MY AI
I WAS DRIVING MY TRUCK AND ONE DAY IT STARTED ACTING WEIRD. MY STEREO STARTED SHUTTING OFF AND COMING IN BY ITSELF. A COUPLE DAYS LATER I WAS DRIVING AND MY STEREO AND INFORMATION CENTER WENT OUT
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 FORD EXPLORER. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE SPEEDOMETER, WINDSHIELD WIPERS, INTERIOR LIGHTS, AND FOUR WHEEL DRIVE FAILED. THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS N
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 1998 FORD EXPLORER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE HESITATED TO START AND SMOKED APPEARED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. IN ADDITION, THE OVERHEAD LIGHTS IN THE VEHICLE DID NOT WOR
ONLY GOT MY SERVICE DOG OUT, THANK GOD I WAS IN A GLASS FRONT RESTRAUNT. CD PLAYER CAUGHT THE DASH ON FIRE AND BURNED THE TRUCK COMPLETELY UP. TRUCK WAS PARKED AND OFF FOR 20 MIN.
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.