I'm back, with a 97 Mountaineer

[Metal_Marquis]

97 Mercury Mountaineer, 134k, 5.0L, all wheel drive, leather, sunroof, open recalls, leaks, optional dent, dog hair...

 

[Mbrooks420]

Seen far worse. Welcome to the 5.0 club!

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Thanks.

 

[CDW6212R]

It looks pretty nice, and kind of a cousin to my black 98. As long as it's mechanically sound, they are great buy at any mileage, or dents etc. There are tons in local JYd's, so go hunting now for any needed parts.

How do you dent a hatch like yours and not break the glass, or my roof and the quarter glass survive?

 

[Metal_Marquis]

How do you dent a hatch like yours and not break the glass, or my roof and the quarter glass survive?

No clue how the previous owner did it, but it's mildly impressive.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Or maybe he broke the glass and just replaced it.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Got a couple of parts for it, some more in the trunk too.

 

[CDW6212R]

That multi-function switch is smart to change at this age, those are big weak links. Do the idler pulleys too, and the coolant hoses if they hadn't been done recently. Keep it running, and hammer it regularly. They like that.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

That multi-function switch is smart to change at this age, those are big weak links. ..

It's out of necessity. The wipers don't work currently.

Updates here so I can keep track of maintenance and mods.

Today-
Changed the oil, oil filter ( FL-500 ) and air filter. Topped off the trans fluid.
Performed the 09S09 recall by installing a Fused Universal Jumper Harness.
Pulled the keypad code with the IDS.
Charged the battery.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well, the oil will be cleaner now, that air filter was due.

Now that you have the keyless entry code, add your own choice 5-digit code. Push the hard OEM code, then "1", and then your preferred numbers. That new 2nd code will always remain unless it's changed.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Well, the oil will be cleaner now, that air filter was due.

Now that you have the keyless entry code, add your own choice 5-digit code. Push the hard OEM code, then "1", and then your preferred numbers. That new 2nd code will always remain unless it's changed.

Good to know, thanks.

So when I had the truck on the lift the other day I noticed something about my AWD Mountaineer...

mostly that it's RWD

 

[CDW6212R]

Okay, I hope you don't see much snow there. It'll do fine if you have great tires, stopping is more important anyway.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Yeah, it doesn't snow too much. The most we've gotten so far this season has been an icing and a light dusting of snow. At worst we get a foot of snow at a time, but that hasn't happened in a few years. Will be nice to not have to worry about maintaining a 4wd system.
The truck started out life in Florida so that explains it.

 

[SupaSwope]

Good find. pretty clean. I bought my mountaineer being told it was awd later to find out it was 2wd.will never make the same mistake again lol. Im in the process of 4WD swap though

 

[CDW6212R]

For the V8 it's not hard to make it AWD, the trans has to come out to swap in a 4WD version, and the AWD transfer case. The larger 4WD BW4406 TC is a bit more, and popular, the manual shift version. The fuel tank deal is part of the upgrade on those.

 

[XLTrunner]

Personally, I'd say you lucked out getting a 2WD rather than the potential cost and headaches of maintaining an AWD. Even here in MN, my local trustworthy tranny shop owner (who also rebuilds drivelines) has nothing good to say about costly AWD repairs (except, for the steady stream of business it brings him) once the vehicles get some miles on them.

 

[CDW6212R]

Personally, I'd say you lucked out getting a 2WD rather than the potential cost and headaches of maintaining an AWD. Even here in MN, my local trustworthy tranny shop owner (who also rebuilds drivelines) has nothing good to say about costly AWD repairs (except, for the steady stream of business it brings him) once the vehicles get some miles on them.

I've got three 2nd gens, two AWD and one V6 A4WD. The failure rate is high due to mismatched tires. People do not understand how absolutely critical it is to keep tire diameters virtually identical with those. Having just one tire worn a decent amount more than the others, will kill any AWD TC fast, and the A4WD TC not much slower. People always look for the easy way out, and often that means doing nothing and driving the vehicle until it screams(figuratively) for help. By then the damage is usually bad, and the driver is responsible, not the vehicle or the parts.

My new 98 Explorer had no front drive shaft in it, they did have it in the back with the CV gone from it. The tires were mismatched badly, and the PO had driven it as a 2WD for seven years. I restored all of the front drive parts, and found the AWD TC fluid black. I've changed the TC fluid three more times, over 34k miles in two years. The fluid still is kind of dark, thus the TC is wearing too fast still. Bad tires causes the issues. My 98 Mercury has 206k miles, and the AWD TC fluid has been changed about three times, the used fluid not very dark each time. With great tires, the AWD can last a very long time.

 

[koda2000]

Personally, I'd say you lucked out getting a 2WD rather than the potential cost and headaches of maintaining an AWD. Even here in MN, my local trustworthy tranny shop owner (who also rebuilds drivelines) has nothing good to say about costly AWD repairs (except, for the steady stream of business it brings him) once the vehicles get some miles on them.

I agree. I ran into the opposite issue. Bought one thinking it was RWD and it turned out to be an AWD. I still find it hard to believe I missed that. It turned out okay. Over a 5 year period I just had to rebuild the front driveshaft CV, replace the front axle seals and buy tires in sets of 4 twice. The front diff cover was leaking when I sold it, but I just didn't want to go through the hassle of having to remove the entire front diff to seal it. It doesn't snow very often where I live, and I prefer 2WD. The AWD is heavier, gets 1-2 less MPG and is more complex (more to go wrong).

OP- Yours looks pretty good and that's really low miles for a '97. A few leaks and dog hair can be cleaned up easily. As far as the dent it the hatch, my daughter has one almost dead center a fraction of a inch below the glass. She claims that someone with a pickup with 2x4's in the bed backed into her at the Home Depot. IDK that I believe that, but somehow the glass didn't break. Tempered glass can be really hard to break unless you hit it with something pointy.

Congrats on your find and, as said, welcome to the 5.0L club.

 

[1998Exp]

Good to know, thanks.
So when I had the truck on the lift the other day I noticed something about my AWD Mountaineer...
mostly that it's RWD

Great! You can take the engine oil pan off and fix the coolant leak from the timing cover much easier. Just kidding! Hopefully none of that.
And BTW, it seems to have a bit of an oil leak; hopefully just valve covers and not the rear main. Or perhaps from that easy to pull oil pan gasket.

 

[koda2000]

Great! You can take the engine oil pan off and fix the coolant leak from the timing cover much easier. Just kidding! Hopefully none of that.
And BTW, it seems to have a bit of an oil leak; hopefully just valve covers and not the rear main. Or perhaps from that easy to pull oil pan gasket.

All very good points. I have to change the valve cover gaskets on my daughter's 2000 Monty 5.0L 2WD (approaching 250,000 miles) this spring. It's starting to mark its territory on my driveway. Not terrible yet, but it always leaves a nickle size spot wherever it's been parked. With all the miles on this truck I still believe it's the best running and driving of all the 5.0's we've owned. Hard to explain why, but seems to be smoother somehow. Maybe it's the lack of the towing package's HD springs.

In nearly 7 years of ownership and nearly 100,000 miles, it's been very reliable.
2 fuel pumps (first one was an Airtex)
New radiator
Fresh antifreeze (twice)
New A/C clutch
New belt tensioner and idler pulleys
2 new serpentine belts (ruined the first one w/belt dressing)
New front rotors, bearings & seals
3 sets of front brake pads
1 set of rear brake pads
Upper & lower ball joints
2 sets of front sway bar end-links
New bypass hose
2 bottles of K-Seal for timing cover leak (lost first one when bypass hose blew)
1 set of tires
New battery
1 EATC blend door actuator
1 used EATC control panel
7 oil changes to-date (Mobil 1 EP & high mileage oil filters)
3 air filters
2 fuel filters
Had to oil cam synchronizer once due to the 5.0L chirp

Many of these repairs were wear or normal maintenance items and all repairs were made by me. Can't complain and there's probably another 100k left in it.