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transmission was rebuilt at a cost of $1500 at 57K on my '98 Sport. This vehicle has never been abused since I bought it new, and is well maintained.
My local repair shop has checked the brakes and front end and does not find any problems. Since I am off warranty,the Ford dealer wants $85 an hour to begin to look for the problem with no guarantees of course that they will find anything.
I had hoped to keep it several years but have started to look to replace it - I only have 38,000 miles on my Sport. This all started with the tires - is it possible it is not tire related? Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be and how I should proceed??
I appreciate any suggestions / thoughts!
Rear door-wiper and all the other door-locks works fine.
Any idea's ?
I explained that the radio display was out and was told that they would swap my unit for one they had, not new, I assume. The cost was $265.00 plus $30.00 if they pulled the radio for me. I think I'll put up with the dark display.
If I did not have the CD changer, I would have an aftermarket head unit installed for less than what they want for this replacement. Prior to owning this Explorer, I owned three full size Broncos, so I've been with Ford for quite a while, but this is it with them. Although I basically like the Explorer, there have been way too many things that have gone wrong. In addition to the problems in Post #1407, I had the tach light replaced at a cost of over seventy dollars---for a 79 cent bulb. Then there was the poor factory paint job that neither the dealer nor the "factory rep" would admit was Ford's fault. I was planning on keeping this vehicle for a few more years, but I just don't think that will happen, and no more Fords.
I always thought the >= KILLER TIRES!tm =< were rotten side-sliding stinkers, and they seemed to pack up and spin easier in snow. no complaints at all about the General 600s, they grab and hold. there is absolutely more tire noise on everything except the smoothest of roads due to the tread pattern.
brake squeal is almost certainly another issue entirely, perhaps now that we're in the rainy season instead of the snow season, there is a little more rust on the discs. if they don't squeal like a racer patching out, it's probably normal brake operations. if there is squeal and shuddering on braking, that's probably a warped disc from improper tire mounting and heat; the only repair for that is a new brake disc, but that shows up nicely in a dial runout test.
in short, you're not used to the new tires, they don't whistle in your own key, as I have said for years. I doubt you have serious problems, but if it doesn't feel right, maybe you can get a tire adjustment on somebody else's pulloffs at the dealer or at a local tire store.
I had the same problems with my '00 Explorer's brakes as you have mentioned in your post. My truck had a seized caliper, warped rotors, and worn out brake pads (only 23,000 miles on my truck). The dealer replaced the caliper, turned the rotors, and replaced the pads at no charge. Three weeks and 1,200 miles later the rumbling/groaning noise and shaking returned. The dealer determined that the rotors were machined too thin and out of round. They gave me new rotors at no charge. All is well, no squeaking or groaning/rumbling.
If you are getting a sound when turning the wheel, something is definitely dragging. You may want to have another shop or the dealer check out the brake system. Brakes are very important and $85 is worth it to have them looked at. It wouldn't hurt to ask the Ford dealer how long an inspection would take before you have them look.
It only took my dealer one hour to replace my rotors (that included pulling the wheels, checking my old rotors, determining the problem, installing the new rotors, and road testing).
I have had the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires on my Explorer since the day I purchased the truck new. They were okay when new, but now that they have almost 25,000 miles on them their traction has diminished greatly. They are also not very resistant to road debris. I have already had one repaired by a Goodyear dealer after it picked up 2 nails in the same tire. The sidewalls are also showing wear (the white letters get dirty very quickly and the sidewalls are not pure black any more; they are starting to turn orange/brown) I plan to replace them this winter with Uniroyal Laredo nailguard tires. I have heard good things about them. I may even consider doing it within the next couple of weeks as there is a rebate on a full set right now. That makes the tire very affordable!
You shouldn't let something as easily repairable as brakes and tires prevent you from keeping a vehicle you otherwise have no issues with. Ultimately, new tires and brakes are cheaper than buying a new vehicle (that may ultimately have its own separate set of problems).
Just picked up my 98 stripped down Explorer with the old 4.0L V6 and of coarse the owner's manual is missing. I need to change the oil right away but I don't know what the proper grade of oil is. I am assuming that a 5W-30 is just fine, but I'm not sure.
I heard a noise on the way home that is bothering me. With 4wd engaged, I hear an awful grinding/popping sound when I turn a corner at low speeds. Without 4wd engaged, I don't hear any noise cornering. Bad CV shaft maybe?
Also, I can't get the rear door to lock or glass to unlatch. I try turning the key but I get a lot of resistance. I try to push down the lock and get the same resistance. Is there any trick to freeing up the mechanism?
Thanks for the help.
-Rob
If you want to buy an owner's manual, sometimes you can find them with a google.com search or on eBay. Ditto service manuals.
Otherwise I'm sure the folks in here can help with your questions. Congrats on the new ride.
Steve
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As far as oil goes, 5W-30 is recommended by Ford. However, I recently had an oil change and other minor maintenance done at a local garage. When I picked up my vehicle (a '97 Explorer - same engine as you), I noticed after I drove away they had put in 10W-30. I figured no biggie. Now, this is anything but scientific, but it seems like it's driving a bit smoother with the heavier weight oil. I don't really know.
Now if I can just get the rear door lock unstuck so I can lock it......
I've applied strips of foam insulation (home window type) to almost every part of both passenger doors and am really getting bugged that I can't get rid of the noise.
It's been there forever, but now that I'm on the freeway more and more, it's becoming real annoying.
The dealer said maybe it's from the bug shield or the large mirrors (regular factory installed). I haven't gotten back to him yet to ask why it's not on both sides of the vehicle then, since each door has the same mirror and bug shield.
Does anyone have suggestions as to what I can look at to quiet this condition?
I realize this is minor compared to engine and tire problems, but if there's a solution, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.
as for clackety-bangs from 4 liter OHV engines, you have a problem, friend. that engine is notorious for broken camshaft limiters, as the original design was all nylon, the running change #1 of nylon with steel framing was no better... and it took going back to all-steel limiters and a not-necessarily-loudly-announced recall to get the issue fixed. get thee to a dealer shop pronto and get those fixed, Ford should eat the bill.
squillions of posts on Edmunds about this.
You can use either 5W-30 or 10W-30. I would go with 10W-30.
For your vehicles over-all health assessment go to: www.alldata.com. Follow the links and be sure to click on your Windows Menu Bar: View>Text Sizing>Smaller to get the page to print properly.
Looked at the alldata site, and noticed there is an engine service bulletin for knocking during acceleration, but nothing related to a diesel/clacking sound at idle. My 4.0L OHV doesn't knock during acceleration.
The only official recalls I have received for my particular truck are the seat belts, the revised tire inflation door sticker, and the actual tires (which didn't affect me as my truck came new with Goodyear Wranglers).
The NHTSA site is also a good place to look for recalls and TSB's, although the alldata site is easier and faster to navigate.
PS...Had an oil change, tire rotation, coolant service, fuel filter change, and air filter change done today. Does $210 bucks sound expensive to anyone else or is it just me?
Other issues they worked on (warranty) were a passenger door rattle (they said something was loose) and rear wiper not wiping the middle of the glass (I think they just adjusted the arm).
Thank you to GREGB882 for his comments on the extended warranty. I'm purchasing the Ford Premium, but am still working out the pricing with the dealer.
In my last post I mentioned the recurring transmission vibration during heavy acceleration. They've replaced the trans last year and re-indexed the drive shaft earlier this year, but it still vibrates. Its in the shop again for a laundry list of other problems. The fix for the vibration is a new drive shaft. Turns out, Ford issued a 'note' on this model/year Explorer regarding replacing the drive shaft. Hopefully that fixes it, but I have a question: If the drive shaft was out of balance, wouldn't that have caused some amount of damage to the transmission that might show up later? I am at 35,750 miles, but since the trans was replaced around 18,000 miles, I still have time.
I started having a high pitched squeal from the front end above 20 mph, fortunately it happened again while they had it, I think they said it was the bearing seals, and had them replaced on the front end.
As for the door squeak, they are still road testing it trying to find it and the clunk that happens on the front end occassionaly, has been elusive for them.
Oh yeah and the power seat jammed last week, 250 miles before the warranty was out, whew.
On the tire discussion: the Goodyear's were available right away, but after doing some research I decided I wanted the Michelin X-terrains. Since I was having the transmission replaced, the service manager did me a favor and searched high and low for a set and put them on for me. Needless to say, the Michelins are great.
I still enjoy my exploder. My advise to anyone buying a new or newer car or truck GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY! Its paid for itself.
So on a whim I called a different dealer in the area, didn't explain my situation, just asked for a price quote, they quoted me the same price??? So does the dealer set the price, or was I quoted the going rate? If that is the going rate, then my dealer is yanking my chain about the 'deal'.
smily1: How does the extended warranty pay for itself? The reason I am asking is you probably paid between $1250-$1500 for the warranty when you purchased the vehicle. How much was the A/C work? If the total work is equal to the cost of the warranty then you broke even. But still the insurance company that underwrites the warranty had 3 years to invest your money. But this is another argument.
dtownfb: I have had other warranty repairs and have kept track of the approximate cost of repairs. Those approximate figures exceed the warranty cost. Im not anal enough to calculate the investment income from the 18 months that Ford has had my money. Based on Fords investment, given my situation, they have probably lost money.
AC work is not done yet so I dont know the cost of repair. I may know today. My father-in-law is a ford tech at the dealership and is the one assigned to my truck so I will get all the details posted.
Also, most dealers are now shying away from "Factory" extended warranties because they are too strict, delaying and limiting repairs significantly. Both of my recent Ford products used "outside" vendors to supply warranties which meant I could service the vehicle anywhere. Even my Honda extended warranty is provided by an outside vendor. I have never had a problem with something being covered on my Explorer products by the extended warranty. On my '91 and '95 Explorers and '99 Mountaineer, the warranties more than paid for themselves by 50K miles. Oil leak after oil leak and throttle body after throttle body... I'm just glad I had the warranty. Even with the new Pilot, I think it is a wise decision, if you plan to keep your vehicle into higher mileage.
There are many different ways to negotiate an extended warranty. Fact: You can always get a good deal if you do some research and some negotiation. Fact: The dealership is still going to make money off you.
You can buy the warranty later down the road. I bought my ESP at 35600 miles. It was not worth spending $1300 for three years without being able to use it anyway. If it was negotiated at the time of purchase I would have paid more for the purchase price. If the dealership included it without raising the price that just means I had more room to negotiate or didnt negotiate the best price in the first place.
I agree with ssminton, you should have an extended warranty on any new car now days. Its just too expensive otherwise.
It depends on your situation. You can get a warranty at the time of purchase or later down the road. You can get a good deal either way. It just depends on your situation. Just worked out better for me to buy it later.
Thanks a lot!
Hope this helps.
I went through some Ford dealer in Iowa at:
http://www.fordwarrantycentral.com/
At the time, they had a far lower price than any dealer ever quoted me.
I've used the warranty frequently. I've had just about every moving part in the front end replaced. I have to run it in soon to get the driver's power door lock and rear wiper motor replaced since I'm at 96,000 miles.
Other than one round of plugs and wires, the only thing I've ever paid for beyond fluid changes, filters, tires, and brake pads was a set of Bilstein shocks. I'd recommend the Bilstein's to anybody. Far better than the factory shocks... especially if you tow with the car.
Lately, I've noticed a 'clicking' type noise coming from the engine ( I guess ) while my AC is running. The 'clicking' noise can only be observed when the car is idle and clicks about once every minute or so. The AC seems run fine after replacing the thermostat. Has anyone come across this problem before?
I have a 98 EB 4x4.
Thanks!!
Geoff's link has the same warranty for under $1200, but with only a $50 deductible!!! I will keep shopping the net, but maybe I can see what I can squeeze out of the local guy if I throw this price at him.
> I've owned 3 Explorers and a Taurus since 1990.
That's like having a "kick me" sign on your back, isn't it? ;-)
I've owned two Exploder variants so far. A 1992 Mazda Navajo (2dr Explorer Sport) and a 98 V8 AWD Mountaineer. I put ~140,000 miles on the Navajo and I have just shy of 100K on the Mountaineer. I can't imagine owning one of these without having a 100K bumper-to-bumper extended warranty. My Mountaineer got so unreliable at 80,000 miles that I went out and bought a VW GTI to use as a commuter car.
That said, I'm pretty sure I'll be replacing my SUV with yet another Explorer. I tow 5,000 pounds of boat and I'm 6'4". That rules out most of the interesting alternatives.
I would caution others to be careful
of the lower outside door edges, where the door comes to a point, on ALL doors when entering and exiting the vehicle.......possible OUCH !