Reliablity of AWD V8?

[IAmTodd]

Are you using US gallons or Imperial gallons to calculate your mileage?

Where in the world do you buy your plugs/brakes. I pay $40/$100 respectively. This is a rather cheap vehicle to maintain. Most areas are good for 100k for the average driver.

 

[99SportX]

As far as the reliability of an awd v8 explorer there is no comparison, I own a 96 5.0 with 104,000 miles on it and no major repairs since I bought the truck used 5years ago, just regular maintanence, tires ect, my fuel milage is fantastic 27 hwy at 69 miles an hour. 18 city regardless of speed , yes it is an expensive truck to maintain for me ,plugs are $65.00 dollars for all eight , brake pads are 210.00 but the reliability is worth it. great in the snow, as far as only being offered in awd or 2 wd that info is wrong you can find them in the xlt models that are 4wd and with stick they are rare but out there. my buddy owns a 2000 xlt 4wd with 5.0 stick nice ride.

The 1996-2001 V8 5.0 explorer/mountaineers were only available in automatic, 2wd and AWD.

If he does indeed have a manual and 4wd, someone has modified it extensively. lol

 

[superrigger666]

AWD to 2WD swap

is it possiable to swap my 1997 5.0L to a 2wd with a tremec T-5 or equivelent taransmission...the auto and all wheel drive were great while it was stock but since then i have added a vortech supercharger,patriot proformance heads and a lunati vodoo cam... and with the xtra power i blew the front end and now i just want a cost effective way to keep my baby on the road any help and links to sites would be greatly apprecieated.

 

[osduck5]

As far as the reliability of an awd v8 explorer there is no comparison, I own a 96 5.0 with 104,000 miles on it and no major repairs since I bought the truck used 5years ago, just regular maintanence, tires ect, my fuel milage is fantastic 27 hwy at 69 miles an hour. 18 city regardless of speed , yes it is an expensive truck to maintain for me ,plugs are $65.00 dollars for all eight , brake pads are 210.00 but the reliability is worth it. great in the snow, as far as only being offered in awd or 2 wd that info is wrong you can find them in the xlt models that are 4wd and with stick they are rare but out there. my buddy owns a 2000 xlt 4wd with 5.0 stick nice ride.

Wow on that fuel mileage. I have a 96 5.0 with 111k and I get 13 city and 18 highway. I have had it almost 10 years and it has never had great gas mileage. Overall it has been a very reliable vehicle. I am beginning to get some tranny vibrations when shifting into overdrive.

 

[johnfutchko]

Wow on that fuel mileage. I have a 96 5.0 with 111k and I get 13 city and 18 highway. I have had it almost 10 years and it has never had great gas mileage. Overall it has been a very reliable vehicle. I am beginning to get some tranny vibrations when shifting into overdrive.

I also had vibration in the tranny which ended up being the torgue converter and 2 clutch bands, these went bad from jiffy lube putting in the wrong fluid which is supposed to be a syntec fluid like just about everyother fluid on the truck, as far as my mileage goes , I do not run the standard 26 psi in my tires that the door lable reads , my bf goodrich call for 50 psi I run 44psi. and the truck handles like a dream. I also run mid grade gas , and a high mileage oil , plus stp or outlaw octane booster. which drastically changed my gas mileage , plus finding the sweet spot also helps mine is 69 mph. just recent trip to philly on I 95 was 27 mpg. US not metric, i do know the difference, I also look for ways to improve or maintain my current gas mileage. so any doubters out there try my recommends plus some of the others another gentleman posted, before you say there is no way to acheive this.

 

[jremington59]

I have a 97 5.0 and I did a tune up and changed to non aggresive tires and synthetic fluids and I get an avg of 15 mpg. And I drive very passive to get that. If you are getting 27, you should contact Ford as I bet they'd be real curious to see how yours is so much different.

 

[johnfutchko]

I have a 97 5.0 and I did a tune up and changed to non aggresive tires and synthetic fluids and I get an avg of 15 mpg. And I drive very passive to get that. If you are getting 27, you should contact Ford as I bet they'd be real curious to see how yours is so much different.

I noticed there is no mention of the grade of gas / if you have tried an octane booster. or what tire pressure you are running. if you run regular without octane boost and 26 psi in your tires you certainly are going to get 15 mpg with your explorer , I am not the only one on this site who is pulling 20plus miles to the gallon with a 5.0 all wheel drive. look into the site as I have suggested and try what we have found helps improve the gas mileage on your vehicle (then reply) that ford would be curious as to why my truck is doing so well. the dealer who services my explorer now believes since they drove the truck for over 200 miles while they had it last month.

 

[X6StringerX]

Stock 5.0 Explorers are designed to run on 87-octane. If you use a higher octane gas or an octane booster, you're throwing your money away.

 

[jremington59]

I run 87 octane and I run my tires quite hard. I keep them at 32.

I just can't comprehend that type of mileage with a 5.0. They were rated at 16 combined when new and 27 is just shy of double that. I wish mine got that.

 

[johnfutchko]

I run 87 octane and I run my tires quite hard. I keep them at 32.

I just can't comprehend that type of mileage with a 5.0. They were rated at 16 combined when new and 27 is just shy of double that. I wish mine got that.

Okay now do your self a favor if your tires call for 50 psi max run them at 44 , run the 87 octane out of your tank put 89 in it. try it just for one tank, my friend suggested this to me years ago and I did not believe him but you see an instant increase that 26psi sticker was meant for those that did not check their tire pressure on a regular basis and rolled their explorer over thus the lawsuits began. and this is for the gentlemen that says I am wasting money putting octane boost and 89 octane in my truck well that were designed to run on 87 all to true but so are 90 % of the cars on the road that is a suggested rating unless stated otherwise. If I was wasting money. could have fooled me with my mileage. research this site , try the suggestions, then comment.

 

[X6StringerX]

There are plenty of sources backing my stance on octane boosters. Unless you have a higher compression ratio than stock, you ARE wasting your money. I used to fill up with 89 or sometimes even 93 octane until I started educating myself on the subject. I switched back to 87 and my MPG was exactly the same.

You keep suggesting that I read the forum. I suggest you read the forum. Aldive, our resident mileage expert, is pulling 30+ mpg with a 4.0sohc 2wd, but it required FAR more work than what you're stating and the 4.0sohc is more efficient than the 5.0 to begin with. He does run a higher octane, but he has the computer tune to support it.

PS - I run 35psi on my stock 235/75-15s. 44psi will result in premature wear on the middle part of the tread. I just went through this with my parents. They were running about 8lbs. shy of the max PSI rating in their '07 Dodge Nitro and they only managed to get about 20k miles on the last set of tires. The vehicle only has 60k miles on it and it's on its 3rd set of tires. Some people never learn.

 

[johnfutchko]

There are plenty of sources backing my stance on octane boosters. Unless you have a higher compression ratio than stock, you ARE wasting your money. I used to fill up with 89 or sometimes even 93 octane until I started educating myself on the subject. I switched back to 87 and my MPG was exactly the same.

You keep suggesting that I read the forum. I suggest you read the forum. Aldive, our resident mileage expert, is pulling 30+ mpg with a 4.0sohc 2wd, but it required FAR more work than what you're stating and the 4.0sohc is more efficient than the 5.0 to begin with.

PS - I run 35psi on my stock 235/75-15s. 44psi will result in premature wear on the middle part of the tread. I just went through this with my parents. They were running about 8lbs. shy of the max PSI rating in their '07 Dodge Nitro and they only managed to get about 20k miles on the last set of tires. The vehicle only has 60k miles on it and it's on its 3rd set of tires. Some people never learn.

Now I will tell you exactly what was done to the truck, one new shocks rancho 5500S new bf goodrich tires that i absolutely hate. goodyear gsa were the best for me, 45,ooo miles at 44 pounds of pressure 5 years wear , K&n cold air filter, and oil , syntec fluid in transfer case diff and tranny , castrol high mileage oil. autolite fine line spark plugs since that is the only plug my motor is supposed to have in them. standard maintenance of replacing gas filters , brakes , new egr valve. and rebuild on the tranny because I left jiffy lube get their hands on the truck , just put on torgue master headers and dual cat back exhuast on monday, which is the only upgrade its has had. also duralast cmax gold disc brakes all around, new rotors and calipers. hoses and lines, on a trace of the vin# this is the GT 40 motor, please don't take offense I was not directing my suggestion totally to you, but I did my research I know my truck and I know what works for me. so I did learn.

 

[shadowless127]

The 2wd trucks are better, awd is for sissies and rally cars

I like a) not getting stuck in snow b) being able to corner way better then an SUV should .

I got 2 AWDs and my 93 with 2wd/4hi/4lo and when in 2wd it corners drastically ****tier then the AWDs.

Stock 5.0 Explorers are designed to run on 87-octane. If you use a higher octane gas or an octane booster, you're throwing your money away.

My 98 gets better gas mileage using 93. I've tried different brands of gas, different stations, etc. and it gets a solid 2-3mpg better on high grade compared to 87 octane.

 

[jremington59]

The max rated pressure for my tires is 32 pounds. I think it's foolish to run those at 44 pds. I ran a tank of 91 octane and I really didn't notice a difference either.

 

[GCDMD]

I run 35 in my 255s, w/ normal 87 and I usually get around 15ish city and 20 hwy- to me, this is outrageously great mileage for a V8 w/AWD. I used to have a SUHC....uh, I mean SOHC and I, on ONE occasion in which I was going mostly downhill managed to get 26.8 mpg. The trip back, was a much different story. I have serious reservations about believing that a 5.0L that is, for all intents and purposes, stock can attain that kind of mileage. You may want to check your speedometer for its accuracy, that can make a huge difference. Once I calibrated my old beater 92 X, my mileage went from an astounding 19/23 to 15/19, the latter of course being the more accurate due to calibration.
I have tried higher octane w/out any benefits, but it was only one tank so that's not really a fair assessment, I just doubt that higher octane and a little more air in the tires will double mileage on a heavy, high-displacement, AWD vehicle.
The V8 is a tremendous drivetrain w/ incredible reliability, but thrifty and fuel sipping it is not.

 

[96turbo_nut]

my 98 5.0 awd seams to run better with 89-93 anything less i get a spark knock.

 

[moga]

Wow on that fuel mileage. I have a 96 5.0 with 111k and I get 13 city and 18 highway. I have had it almost 10 years and it has never had great gas mileage. Overall it has been a very reliable vehicle. I am beginning to get some tranny vibrations when shifting into overdrive.

Same reaction when I read that post. How can I get some of that??? I get 12/18 city/hwy and I drive very aggressively. I do use 89 octane though. 98 w/131k.

To the OP: I would BUY a '01 w/ 77k in a heartbeat. AWD V8s are great trucks and I'm sure I'll get another one if this one goes anytime soon. Had her for four great years and have many great memories in this vehicle. I'm sold on 2nd gens.

 

[410Fortune]

s far as only being offered in awd or 2 wd that info is wrong you can find them in the xlt models that are 4wd and with stick they are rare but out there. my buddy owns a 2000 xlt 4wd with 5.0 stick nice ride.

impossible all 5.0L explorer's form Ford were automatic

IN CO I run 85 octane all the time, putting 87 or 91 in is wasting $$$, there is not enough oxygen in the air here to make the increased octane necessary

 

[techieman33]

Stock 5.0 Explorers are designed to run on 87-octane. If you use a higher octane gas or an octane booster, you're throwing your money away.

Agreed, running higher octane than recommended is a waste of money, unless A)something is wrong with the motor, then the higher octane maybe help to "cover it up"
B)you have an aftermarket computer tune that takes advantage of the higher octane.

I like a) not getting stuck in snow b) being able to corner way better then an SUV should .

I got 2 AWDs and my 93 with 2wd/4hi/4lo and when in 2wd it corners drastically ****tier then the AWDs.



My 98 gets better gas mileage using 93. I've tried different brands of gas, different stations, etc. and it gets a solid 2-3mpg better on high grade compared to 87 octane.

Your comparing first gen to 2nd gen there, so that doesn't count much for me. Doing nothing to mine other than removing the front driveshaft got rid of a lot of understeer, and with the l/s it would snap around a corner. It's also lowered, has bigger rear sway bar, and fat tires, so that helps as well.


And I'm not even going to try and reply to johnfutchko, there is just to much false info there, I could spend all day correcting it.

 

[Tom G]

my 98 5.0 awd seams to run better with 89-93 anything less i get a spark knock.

One word for ya- Seafoam