Wanted Opinions please.

As some of you may be Aerostar people I have a question for you. My '94 Aerostar XL (I think?) Two wheel drive, long bed (yeah, I use it for a work truck, so it has a long bed lol)
I am at an impasse with it. Should I sink money into it and keep it going a few more years, or take the $1000 buy out (I live in the bay area of Northern California. Running vehicles older than 20 years they try to buy for a grand to get them off the road.)
I would want to have the manifold gasket replaced and anything else on top that may go bad and cause a smog fail. New serpentine belt. Some other things I'm sure to think of. And a new drivers seat. The right side of mine seems to be broken and it leans back making me sit weird.
I don't know that I can find a good replacement for her under $4000 around here.

Hmm. A newer one would be nice, maybe, but I can get a full sheet of anything in mine. It has a 4+ X 8 foot bed.

If it has the 4.0 and will still pass smog, I'd keep it!

I'd say keep it. I use mine like a 1 ton truck.

is it even possible to change the 4.0 intake gasket without lowering the engine?

You can change the lower intake gasket with the engine in place. once the upper intake is removed it clears up a lot of room to work. Disconnecting the wiring and hoses is the most difficult part of the job.

Don't get rid of it so fast. I don't know of any other vehicle that's similar to it as far as interior room vs height vs weight capacity. A lot of new vehicles are FWD. Try to replace belts on one of those, and you will see the difference compared to a RWD even though the engine bay is cramped. It shouldn't cost $1K to repair if you do it yourself. New vehicles have a lot more electronics which makes it harder & more costly to repair.

I wish I had a place to do it myself. I would take the adventure no problem. Even looking into having a shop do it, it would still be cheaper than another vehicle. This Aerostar has been such a good work/camping vehicle.
The tranny's rear seal has already blown, so that's been taken care of. Only other issue was the mounts for the windshield wiper motor broke. That was a weird one. Wild storm, rain and wind. Too much for it I guess.

You sure you have a LOWER intake problem? I thought you had an upper intake coolant leak? don-ohio

don-ohio said:

You sure you have a LOWER intake problem? I thought you had an upper intake coolant leak? don-ohio

Click to expand...

I don't know if it is upper or lower? The leak was near one of the mounting bolts for the AC bracket. It is on top.

Here is the leak location. Or was.

Looks like upper intake to me. don-ohio

I need to find an exploded view of the engine. lol This is the first used vehicle I have ever had that I did not go out and buy a book for as soon as I bought it.

Jim it is the lower intake. The only thing that goes through the upper intake is air. You can still get the factory service manuals used on ebay. I'd also get a evtm cd too. that covers all the wiring and engine related items. I have an engine out of the last van I owned so I can take pictures of anything you need.

Awesome. Thanks!!