My wife and I are looking at a used Explorer Eddie Bauer AWD V8 and I'm starting to do a little bit of leg work on the web to determine what types of things I need to be looking for...

The price on this vehicle is right according to NADA and KBB but, naturally, I want to make an informed decision...

With that in mind, what can you folks who own them or know them recommend to me? What are the common problems? What's the story on this V8?

I plan on contacting the previous owner tomorrow to inquire further as the vehicle only has about 7,000 on the ticker.

Can anyone point me towards a good Explorer forum?

THANKS FOLKS!!!!

RP

 

Rear ends are a common problem...a bunch of them got bad sets of ring and pinions from the factory, listen for gear whine on acceleration or tip in at 50 mph and faster.

Some of them have delayed reverse and forward gear engagement issues...usually fixed by revised solenoid valve bodies.

'02+ Exploders and Mountaineers are pretty stout vehicles otherwise.

Oh yeah, some of the 4x4s have weird vibration issues, typically fixed with a revised driveshaft or transfer case I think. If you remember, get the VIN and I can do a little checking for you.

 

Thanks Quintin!


VIN: 1FMZU84W24UB21681




RP

 

See udder post, dood.

 

Rockpick, my wife was driving a 2002 XLT 4x4 and we never had any problems with it. We recently traded it in for a 2004 EB 4x4. Both had the V8. Great vehicles. I love driving it. I would see if it has the tow package if for nothing but the tranny cooler.

 

Thanks SB. Have you had it in for any warranty work? Any vibrations to report? It does have the tow package... the only thing it doesn't have that we'd like to have is the moonroof but, we both can live there.

Thanks again Quintin!



RP

 

Nope, no vibrations of any kind. We didn't really want the moonroof just because we have 2 younger kids and it's kind of pointless to have it because the kids catch all the wind, but when I drive it alone, I do like having it. We traded in the 2002 because my wife;who doesn't drink much, decided to do 12 shots of tequila and 3 hot damn shots for her 30 Bday at a friends house. Needless to say after carrying her to the Explorer with a plastic bag to puke in she dropped the bag full of vomit on the passenger side floor. Of course we could never get the smell out.
Man, I would hate to be the person who bought that Exp. next summer when it gets hot. LOL

 

Wait a minute... it was an 02 right? Not an 04? LOL! I just want to make sure I'm not looking at the same Exploder.

RP

 

My sister is driving an 01 that she lucked into last year (great deal) and she absolutely loves it. An XLT but loaded with leather and all the power doodads (even has the puddle lamps). The only thing I don't like is how it rides like a floor jack with the OEM shocks. My b-i-l and I are going to put some Monroe Reflex on it soon though. If our experience with the F150 and Rangers are any indications, it should smooth the ride out nicely.

 

Hmm...

I've rented several Explorers over the past year and can't recall them riding exceedingly rough. Maybe that's just because I wasn't paying any attention since it wasn't mine (it was probably Budget or Enterprise's).

I'll pay close attention to the ride quality when we drive it... maybe tomorrow if all goes well.

RP

 

I got the carfax... further, I had them run another Oasis on it. The Oasis reports jive with the information that Quintin provided (thanks again!!).

The story on this one is that it was a purchased vehicle in West Virginia. Somewhere along the line, the purchaser went defunct on the loan and thus, FoMoCo Credit sent Dog over to retrieve it. Yes, it was repo'd.

One click later, according the the Carfax, it's sitting at an auction which brings us to where it's sitting now... in the garage.

I haven't bought it yet but, we're hanging on to it for the night/day tomorrow.

I've logged around 45 miles on it since snagging it this afternoon at the dealership and it's seemingly flawless. The V8 is VERY impressive in this thing and the shifting is baby-butt smooth.

While I have this thing in my possesion, can anyone point me towards anything specific that I need to further investigate?

THANKS!!!


RP

 

As Quintin said the rear end and trans engagement concerns are about the only repetitive issues we see on Explorers and Mountaineers at the dealership. The a/c part that was replaced was a problem in the 02 model year, we were having customers complain of a hooting noise when the clutch engaged and finally almost 2 years later Ford revised the clutch and hub assy, but it did take care of the hooting noise that really was not that noticable.

The transmission engagements have to do with the solenoid valve and valve body in the transmission as well as an updated calibration for the PCM. Be sure to have the dealer do the 04b22 trans fluid additive recall just for added measure as well.

A long time friend of mine has been asking me for advice on his 1st SUV purchase for his new bride, they ended up with a nice 02 Explorer themselves. They are VERY happy with theirs! I'm in the thinking stage of buying my wife a new Mountaineer soon myself.

 

JJ,

Thanks a bunch man!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond with some real world data from your experiences at the dealership. Your help is MUCH appreciated!!!!

RP

 

The handle in the center of the third row seat back to fold the seats can break sometimes. Flimsy material + Over-zealous soccer mom wrestling 2.3 kids = Broken handle.

Take a good hard look at the rear hatch alignment...the upper glass portion that opens with the little button next to the handle that opens the entire liftgate. Sometimes, the bolts for the glass hinges can loosen up, letting the liftgate shift a little bit, causing rattles. Make sure everything's dress right dress there, might want to give the bolts a little umph (just real slight now, we aren't torquing head bolts), do this while the glass hatch is closed, BTW, ie. with the full hatch open. It's a T27 Torx.

Smash into some bumpy roads. I don't remember if it applies to the 4x4s, but I know for certain that some 2WDs go creak/pop when driven over rough roads or turning into an incline, like pulling into a driveway. Retorquing the bolts for the #1B crossmember fixes this, there's a service message on it.

Some of them tend to be hard on front brakes; I know this is more dependent on the driver than anything, but I've seen them go through front brakes relatively quickly, say 20-30K miles or so.

Old school special service message, some may experience a rattle from the steering column when driving over bumpy roads, old fix was to replace the entire steering column, new fix is to replace only the rattly brake shift interlock actuator. Some may have difficult inserting and removing the ignition key from the lock cylinder, a revised lock cylinder fixes this.

I'm not dissauding you, am I? A lot of these are old messages or some pertain to 2WDs only, but that's all little junk.

 

Quintin, you must be a technician!!

I almost forgot about the 3rd row handle, we have replaced a few of those over the years.

I tell ya as far as midsized SUV's its hard to beat an Explorer or Mountaineer.

RP, not a problem, I don't mind giving my views when it comes to consumers and buying! I'm upfront and honest when it comes to cars!