Ford explorer problems ?

[sockmonkeydave]

I am looking at a 2003 model explorer, seems to run fine, plenty of new parts installed.

Is there any thing I should look out for, it seems to be in good shape, runs good.

( price is real good and the wife likes it,

And I know the guy, seems to be good people, he just needs a full size pickup )

[atikovi]

Sucks gas, not particularly roomy, transmission problems. 

[sockmonkeydave]

@atikovi

Too late now, it is mine, wife loved it, seems roomy enough.

Seems to be in good shape, no strange noises, ( but after the fact I did read about tranny probs. )

Any way to prevent this, ie regular fluid change and filter clean ?

Only paid 2500 bucks, and it has lots of new parts, tires, shocks etc.

( it was a guy I know, he decided he wanted a full size pickup, but he put a lot into it )

The girl he got it from thought it had blown a freeze plug.

But it was just a little check valve wizzing antifreeze.

My 27 year old Civic, blew a water pump seal, and over heated on the side of the road.

Replaced the pump, but she still sounds sick, ack, ack, but she runs.

But I don't think I blew a head gasket, I know what that sounds like.

Most people don't know... but I know you do...

The way to make things last forever, is fix it before it breaks

I am an aircraft mechanic, and our job is to find problems, before they become problems.

[legitimate_bidder]

What injun does it have? In either 03 or 04- I forget which, they came out with that variable cam timing, and it could be problematic; in addition to those engines so afflicted having a propensity to drop valves....but I dunno iffin they even put those injuns in the li'l Exploders.

I wouldn't gratuitously change the tranny fluid in an older vehicle like that- sometimes the fluid change initiates lurking problems. Hope it wasn't abused in the past or that it was changed/rebuilt in the near past, and maybe she'll be good.

[victorjunkman55]

I have a 2005 Explorer XLT with under 40K miles on it. It was bought new by my brother and given to me last year. The only problem my brother ever had was a broken spring on drivers side. I think it's great on gas with the 6 cyl it has. This truck has sat a lot and not driven and still has never had a brake job. I plan to sell this in the spring after cleaning it up (My brother was a Ford Worker and would get into this truck very dirty and it shows) Most of these had bad paint on hood edge and Flaked off, Another problem is when rear hatch was slammed shut, Crack would appear in the panel below the glass, near the Ford emblem. Never sold a car on eBay and I'm debating on it.

[legitimate_bidder]

MPG is relative. My Excursion gets 10.5MPG and I think it's great, 'cause that's better than what my F250 gets, and I love and need a large vehicle!

[jr-41ford]

I am half owner of a 2014 Ford Explorer with my daughter, she previously did own a 2004 Explorer. The 2004 had issues with the power window motors, other than that it just sucked gas.

The 2014 Explorer appears to be fine other than daughter losing or breaking her key FOBs.

[legitimate_bidder]

That's the thing I've never understood about the small/mid-size SUVs: They get may 2 or 3 MPG more than a real full-sized SUV which weighs twice as a much and is built on a real truck frame, and has scads of room- so what is the point of having the li'l buggers instead of the full-size ones?

My neighbor had a Honda pilot- the darn little thing got 14MPG. I briefly had a Jeep Grand Chimpanzee with te 6 cyl- got 13.something MPG.  I quickly sold it. If I can drive my V10 Excursion, which drives like a sports car, has room for big shopping trips, is safe and comfortable, and gets 10.5MPG, why on earth would I mess around with the li'l Jeep, for c. 3 more MPGs, which, over the course of a year wouldn't even amount to a savings of $200 in gas?

And imagine how much cheaper the big SUVs would be, iffin the manufacturers didn't make 7 other smaller SUVs, but just made a lot more big'uns?! It would be like years ago, when a full-size half-ton pick-up was one of the cheapest things you could buy.

[ripsmc]

MPG can be a funny thing. My GMC Sonoma with the 4.3 V-6 gets about 22 on the highway.

My heavy Lincoln with the 4.6 DOHC easily gets 27-28 and at times has even hit 30.

On a  side note, an old '59 Corvette I had with a 283 and 4:11 gears under the rear would constantly get 21 at a highway cruise; just one shy of the Sonoma and with a carburetor and contact point distributor to boot.

Even the '72 Monte Carlo with a 350 I had would get 20-21 during a road trip; loaded down and with the A/C on.

Ahhh.....technology....  😉

[mr.elmwood]

I too have been told by mechanics not to mess with trans fluid unless you have to.

I recall a thread, from years back, about the way Ford made the read end. I have no idea what it all means. Something about "zero lash" in the rear end and the gears can make noise, leading to replacement. 

MPG is a fools's game. All a small car is, is smaller. My F150, V8, gets better gas mileage than my 03 GRand Prix, around town.

Happy wife, happy life.

[legitimate_bidder]

@ripsmc

Myeah, I think MPG has more to do with gear ratio AND having an engine big enough not to have to work too hard + aerodynamics (Riding a bicycle makes one quickly realize just how critical aerodynamics are!)= more so than weight; having an itty-bitty injun, or a light vehicle.

What'd them old VW Bugs weigh, like 1600 lbs? And with a little anemic 4-banger, and ya were lucky if they got 25MPG. -while my '92 Town car with the V-8 weighing more than twice as much as the Bug got 23MPGs.

@mr.elmwood

Uh-huh.....and KNOWING THIS, I went and changed the fluid/filter in my F250 (Only because it was BLACK) and of course, now it takes a few seconds (or you have tov rev the injun) for it to "catch" when you put in drive once she's warmed up!!!!

You're right, too- now that ya mention it, I do remember hearing about rear-end problems with them Exploders.

Now all Dave needs are some Firestone tires....and he should be good 🙂

[mr.elmwood]

"Firestone tires"!

I'm dying over here. I forgot that one. I wonder if they got the '04 with original tires?

[legitimate_bidder]

You know, Mr. Elmersgluewood, there just may be a connection between those tires and the rear-ends. Maybe the pinion gear gets welded to the ring gear in the rears in the resultant fire after the tire treads seperate and causes the Exploder go bouncing off the scenery like a Superball.

Now that we've figured that out, maybe we can work on weightier matters, like why ya can never find good replacement workboot laces....

[divwido]

All those new parts....are hiding what?

Just like fresh painted walls in a flood zone, sometimes what looks like good news is just a cover for bad news.

[divwido]

having worked in auto care for ten years, I will say this, they don't call them exploders for no reason.  It's roomy and my wife likes it.  How about your mechanic?  The guy you plan on complaining to for the next several years?  What did he/she have to say about it?