2K Ford Explorer Sport Trac's - III

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Comments

  • dberndtdberndt Member Posts: 45
    Well, it happened to me the other day. I was unlocking the cargo cage and the knob broke off as I pulled straight out. I have the bed mat and the cage is a REAL tight fit because of that mat. Is there something I should to make it not so tight? I say mention of removing some pieces of the cage. What parts are these and will it affect the strength of the cage?
  • lapointerlapointer Member Posts: 18
    The check engine light gave me a scare the other day as I was driving on a long trip.All those dreaded thoughts going through your mind, but I looked at my gages and saw everything was normal. When I went to gas up I noticed the cap had fallen off, and within 5 minutes after making sure it was on good the light was off never to return.
    Dbernndt , just take of the rubber bumpers off the cage, the ones which touch the bed.
    Last but not least I installed my toreador red bugflector II today , it looks great and the tape holds real well so I put the screws provided in the glovebox and hopefully they will never be used.
  • kdaroskdaros Member Posts: 19
    Sounds like the light is doing its job of detecting problems that might go undetected until big problems happen. It might be aggrivating now but money saving in the future. Everything fails from time to time and it is good to catch things early. You can pay now or bigger later. Don't sweet the small stuff. The ST is a great toy so have fun with it when you can. I do.
  • stinhoutxstinhoutx Member Posts: 47
    After I purchased the mat I removed the two rubber bumpers that are on the bottom when the cage is "in" (tailgate up), per the person who posted the tip here earlier.

    To recap, get a Torx bit (I think they said size 25, but I used a 20). Open the tailgate and flip the cage so it is rotated out. Remove the top two Torx screws from one of the "stabilizers" with the rubber bumper on top. That should give you enough play to separate the top (don't lose the screws or the nut) and remove the rubber bumper. Reassemble and do the same to the other. The only thing you are removing is the rubber pieces that were only useful in the closed position, so the strength is not affected.

    At first I though I could just flip them over to have all four bumpers down in the open position, but there are holes in the tubing with corresponding plastic nibs to make sure the stabilizers are positioned correctly and don't slide around.
  • stinhoutxstinhoutx Member Posts: 47
    I installed the Visors and noticed during another long-awaited day of rain that a bit of water is channeled down as it flows down the slope of the front Visors. Most of the water appears to then drip down just in front of where you place the end in between the mirror mount and the felt/seal of the window.

    But it seems that this also increases the chances/amount of water getting into that area inside where the mirror is mounted to the door. It would appear that it is all exterior, but would there be any reason for thinking about it further?
  • jimz2jimz2 Member Posts: 44
    The service department hooked me up with a new processor & my ST is back in action. My processor didn't act up for 50 miles so I'm not sure it would be fair to blame Ford for QC issues in my case. I'm impressed by my dealer's service & enjoying my ST again.
    I'm enjoying it so much that I pushed off eating super until I installed the brush guard & scoped out my stereo install. The base factory head unit with single CD & cassette looks so sweet I may have to incorporate it into the new system. Crutchfield sells an adapter to add my Kenwood 10 disc changer to the base system.
    Decisions Decisions.....
  • spttrcspttrc Member Posts: 14
    I too had the Check Engine light come on. Read the manual and about the one of the causes being the gas cap loose or off. Well, I filled up the tank 4 days prior and assumed that it was not that. The Service Rep. insisted I check the gas cap that they had received several calls on this same subject. If the cap was on correctly, call back. Well, it WAS the gas cap! It was on, but not tightened all the way to the right! Such a simple fix.
  • pennyless2pennyless2 Member Posts: 12
    Has anyone tried their horn yet? Mine sounds sick, starts off low in tone then jumps up in tone to a more traditional honk. Also is it just me or do the headlights not produce much light, my other two vehicles out-shine the ST easily.
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    The purpose of the Check Engine light is a government requirement to continuously monitor the vehicles emission system. The Check Engine light does not report things like low oil pressure or high temperature or things like that. It only comes on for emissions related items like the gas cap being off or loose(causing the pressurized fuel system to lose pressure) or a bad burn in a cylinder, a faulty sensor, a bad EGR valve, or the the processor messing up.
  • gsyounggsyoung Member Posts: 27
    Remember using mine last week, and it worked fine. Has it been raining recently, or maybe someone spraying a water hose on/around your ST? Maybe water got into your horn? Maybe it's just a bad tooter...

    Anyway, you might want to take it in and have it checked out.
  • amadeus00amadeus00 Member Posts: 10
    Well, there all this talk about the gas cap being on incorrectly, which is not my case. There is a seperate light for that. Now wouldn't the "Check Gas Cap" light be on instead of "Check Engine"?

    Well, the dealer called and said my car was ready. The lady on the phone didn't know the specifics of the problem. I guess I'll find out when I go and pick it up later. I hope they fix all the other stuffs I asked for like the steering shimmy and wipers on crooked.

    I like my ST but still slightly disappointed. But I love the looks I'm getting!!!!
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    Page 8 of the owners manual lists what the Check Engine light is for. It says the Check Engine light is part of a system that "protects the envionment by ensuring that your vehicle meets government emissions standards"

    It lists the following examples of when the light would go on:
    1. The vehicle has run out of fuel (causing a misfire)
    2. Poor quality of fuel or water in fuel
    3. The fuel cap may not have been properly installed and securly tightened.

    After three (3) driving cycles (consisting of a cold engine start up follwed by mixed city/highway driving) the light will turn off if the problem has been fixed, i.e. gas cap tightened, better fuel installed, etc. If the light does not go off then it means it is an emissions sensor or the processor is bad.

    The check engine light will NOT go on because of low oil pressure, or coolant or something not emissions related, the Check Gage light goes on under those circumstances.
  • kenhrikenhri Member Posts: 3
    First of all I want to thank everyone on this list for all of their valuable imput about the Sport Trac, this helped me a lot when I was looking around for one.
    I had been looking at the Sport Trac since I first heard that Ford was coming out with it. I checked out just about every Ford dealer in MA, NH with no luck finding one the way I wanted it. I was going to order one about a week and a half ago when on my way to work I saw a couple of Sport Tracs at Waltham Ford in Waltham, MA. I stopped to look at them and I was amazed to find a black Sport trac with EVERY option but the limited slip axle. I thought for sure it already ordered for someone. I called the dealer from work and found out that it had been specially ordered for someone but that they had cancelled the order. Lucky me! I went right over and put a deposit on it!
    I have put on about 700 miles so far in the past week or so. My Sport Trac was built August 7th (which was my birthday) and it doesn't have any of the problems that I had read about in earlier posts.
    The leather seats feel so much better them the leather seats that were in my 98 Explorer Sport. I am a little disappointed however in the bass from the 6-CD stereo as it's not what I expected from a six speaker, subwoofer system that peaks at 290 watts.

    Ken
  • stnewbiestnewbie Member Posts: 11
    Saw your post that your st will be in Oct 2, when did you order? I ordered a silver on July 28 but have no word from my dealer yet on when to be expecting it.
  • jlurksactojlurksacto Member Posts: 17
    For those interested in knowing all the
    in's and out's of their sprt trac, here
    is the url for buying a shop manual.http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.asp?Style=&mscsid=WXECCVL2J1SR2MLQ00A3HVE053DSEDV2
    Jim
  • jlurksactojlurksacto Member Posts: 17
    Lets go with a simple one:

    http://www.helminc.com
  • paul512001paul512001 Member Posts: 10
    I ordered my ST on Aug. 19, dealer placed order on Aug. 21. Talked to dealer this past Monday, Sales Manager to be specific, and she said Ford gave them an ETA of Oct. 2nd. She told me that would mean the week of Oct. 2. I will believe it when I get a call that it is here.

    I have seen several silver ST's on dealer lots here in Atlanta, so obviously the silver ST's are being produced.
  • almanalman Member Posts: 1
    I first heard of the ST when in development and it caught my interest back then. I've been reading this site for nearly 4 months to get a feel for this vehicle's quality, ride, etc. I bought a red ST 4x4 labor day. Got it $50 over invoice at carpoint. I was amazed at the deal as this is a popular vehicle. They had four on the lot (baltimore) and found one I liked right away. I didn't get fancy.

    It came with the cage, single CD and I ordered the T cover. They are making them colored to my surprise. The dealer is telling me it will be here in 2 weeks. Paid $645 installed which they tell me is there cost. I challenged them (more than once) on the amount of time to get delivery and they were confident in it delivery time. We'll see.

    The ST had the gas door rub but I told them I would not take delivery until that was fixed. The next day it was done. No problem as I bought the ST at 8pm at night. All the doors underpanels were painted and the rear window rolls down evenly.

    I got 15 mph the first tank and 18 mph the second. (Funny story, as I first read the dollar amount as the number of gallons and freaked out that I only got a calculated 13 mpg. Then I noticed the error and it calculated at 18 mpg).

    The ride is a bit stiff but I expect that for a pickup with its hauling/towing capability. The cloth seats are very comfortable and snug. It's extremely roomy, the kids love it (especially the heat/radio controls in the back seat) and I do get lots of looks. I am amazed at the smoothness of the transmission. I didn'nt think that this was one of Fords strong suits but I guess they figured it out. The step-up in the vehicle is higher than I thought, but then that makes it even more "manly" :-). Sorry ladies. I will probably get the bed mat eventually, no hurry though. So far I am extremely impressed with the quality of the vehicle and do not have a single complaint. I dropped the family off in front of the restaurant last night and got a ton of looks and comments.

    I'll keep everyone up to date. Thx for all the posts
  • tractiontraction Member Posts: 141
    Glad you are enjoying your new ST. I agree with your assessment on the smoothness of the auto transmisisons. This is definitely one of the best transmissions I have ever driven. The fact that it is also a 5-speed auto is all the better, giving better gearing off the line performance and lower rpms at cruise. Kudos to the transmission engineers.
  • meredithmeredith Member Posts: 575
    For purposes of efficiency,....

    this topic is being "frozen." Please continue these discussions in Topic 2311, 2K Ford Explorer Sport Trac's - IV. Thanks!

    Front Porch Philosopher
    SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host
This discussion has been closed.

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