Ours does this same thing. when going from D to P, it always stops at R. You have to pause a sec and shift it into P. If you shift it REALLY slow from D to P it will usually go in the first time, but you are basically pausing for a sec in each gear on the way to P. Is there an easy fix for this? Like I said earlier, I have done nothing to the trans and it now has 120k on the mileage.

 

ive had my 03 since 05 and couldnt be happier, its 2wd and i havent had any tranny probs. actually besides the thermostat..and the rear end problem, that was fixed under esp. thats it, i love mine.

 

There are a few other things I don't like about mine. It has to do with the all wheel drive. The front end seems to clunk a lot. If you back out of the driveway fast it will clunk. Actually, it always clunks when my wife takes off after she backs out of the driveway. The other problem is that the transfer case does not engage smoothly in the auto setting. On dry pavement at WOT, the acceleration pulsates because the power keeps getting shifted too and from the front wheels. I pulled a fuse so the transfer case couldn't energize and the pulsating went away and the wide open throttle pull was much smoother.

It is definitely great in the wet weather though. I am not sure I would want the wife in a 2wd version on the slippery roads with a 3.73 limited slip rearend and decent power. It is nice to be able to pull out from a stop at WOT in the rain without getting totally sideways.

 

the 2wd do get a little loose in the rain,not so much on mine now with the wider tires.

 

Been a week now and happy with it so far. 16-19mpg. Comfy inside and the kids love it. Wifey is happy it came just in time before the baby is born. No more climbing in and out of the Excursion.

Only have five grips that don't really matter;
1- I thought it would be a little softer in the suspension though.
2- Found the gas struts for the rear glass chatter when you open and close it.
3- A tire got a nail in it and when I went to change it found all the lugs were 250lbs and one broke off!
4- The rear back up sensors worked the first day then the off light stays on.
5- The homelink transmitters show they learn the code but won't open the garage.

Thanks to everyone for sharing their opinions and first hand experience.

 

I drive two 2005 Explorers. One is a 4x4 that's mine and the other is a 4x2 that's a work truck. I bought the 4x4 about 1.5 years ago when it had 55k on it. It has 76k on it now. Though well maintained by the previous owner, it has been nothing but trouble for the last 20k miles. Here's the list:

• Inadvertent 4WD engagement. Took three dealers to figure out that required a PCM reload.
• Engine shuts off at 30 mph or below when cruise is engaged. PCM reload fixed that.
• Front axle leak. (Maybe engaging 4wd every time I turned 90 degrees helped cause that.)
• Harmonic balancer (crank pulley) came apart. Had to use an after-market pulley because Ford had a 45 day backorder. While trying to figure out that the harmonic balancer was slowly failing I replaced the belt tensioner, the idler pulley and the alternator.
• Shift solenoid. I couldn't diagnose, so paid the dealer $925 for the repair. No transmission dipstick or I would have changed tranny fluid and screen a long time ago myself. Ford's change interval is 150k on Explorer tranny fluid. Nonsense. I should have bought the fill tool and changed the fluid every 30k just like I have on all my other Fords. Would probably have saved myself $900 if I had.
• Upper ball joint boots shredded. (They shredded on the 4x2 as well before 50k miles.) I replaced those myself with after market ball joints that have grease fittings.
• Rear wheel bearings. Had to pay the dealer to replace those. They had to send one out to a machine shop to get it pressed out it was corroded so badly. I had felt heat coming off the right rear at the hub when the other three wheels were cool but had no obvious noise.

My opinion is that the 2002-2006 Explorers are very badly designed. I have never had this many problems with any car. Everything on my list above was also experienced by someone else in the FTE forums or on some other website. In other words, I am not alone with these problems. I've had a '58 Custom 300, a '63 Galaxy 500, an '87 Bronco II, a '95 Explorer 4x4, and currently have the two 2005 Explorers and a 2000 Expedition. I've also owned five non-Ford vehicles. The 2000 Expedition has 186k miles on it and has had no where near the problems of the 2005 Explorer. None of those vehicles listed has had the number of problems that 2005 Explorer has had and certainly not before 75k miles. My advice - take a pass on the 2002-2006 Explorers. Not sure if the 2007+ are any better. I may buy another Expedition but will never buy an Explorer again.

Gumbel
_________
'58 Custom 300
'63 Galaxy 500
'87 Bronco II
'95 Explorer 4WD
'00 Expedition 4WD
'05 Explorer 4WD
'05 Explorer 2WD