Its official

[That-Guy]

My 1994 Ford Explorer 4.0 v6 4x4 is the worst truck I have ever driven. It bangs into gear, the fuel pump is failing, Its always a guess if it will start, it sounds like a semi truck inside at 60 mph, its rusted to hell, gets bad gas mileage, and make terrible power, and today the throttle stuck and if it had not been 5 am would have cause some real damage. When I lubed the throttle it was fine, the cable went haywire. Man, I cant wait to sell it.

 

[Foxracin]

Need some cheese?

 

[FROADER]

Sounds like you should have taken better care of it.

 

[siguaw]

wow my 1994 explorer 4.0 v6 is about the best little rig i have ever had. Almost 400,000 miles and the motor runs smooth as new with no hiccups or smoke. Only major repairs it has ever needed where both this year"17 yrs old" first clutch replacement and those auto hubs finally went out. Love the new Warn manuals. Proper maintenance really makes the vehicle driving experience

 

[wood1]

Need some cheese?

BAM!:

 

[Roadrunner777]

It's an enigma, to be sure. I have a lot of maintenance to get done before winter, not the least of which are radius bushings and tracking down a leak in the front dif. And, my fuel pump did die on me 2 weeks ago.

I have owned about 20 vehicles spanning about 30 years. The ones I really enjoyed are few: 1973 Datsun 510, 1973 Sedan DeVille, and a Toyota 4x4 I didn't have very long, forget the year, but it was the classic red pickup. I am very happy to add my Explorer to this list.

Sure, my Explorer has issues, but I understand them, and I'm prepared for them, other than a transmission failure.

This is a fragmented reply, sorry for that, but there is another value to my Explorer that is a little bit hard to quantify. But, it's an excellent learning platform, particularly when paired with the information and people on this forum. Most repairs are not overly difficult, and the parts are cheap.

My advice to the original poster is to sell your Explorer as soon as you can, and I wish you luck in finding something more to your liking. There are a lot of late model GM offerings with 4x4 and they are quite cozy. I wish you well.

 

[FIND]

My 1994 Ford Explorer 4.0 v6 4x4 is the worst truck I have ever driven.

I read this and think, aww, poor guy must have gotten a lemon, then I read the rest and see you just hate performing maintenance, and for whatever reason were hoping for an 18 year old truck that was like new.....

It bangs into gear

Try checking u-joints, they are only a few bucks each, and not hard to replace.

the fuel pump is failing

Well, they are designed to last 10 years, yours is now 17-18 years old, what are you complaining about, replace it.

Its always a guess if it will start

Is this because you have a bad battery, forget to shut off lights, or you have an actual problem that you are neglecting fixing?

it sounds like a semi truck inside at 60 mph

Fix your exhaust or weatherstripping

its rusted to hell

Well, keep it clean and it won't rust as fast, but it is once again, 17-18 years old. Things rust. Do you buy a lot of older vehicles with no rust on them?

gets bad gas mileage

Are you aware of a 4wd truck that doesn't?

and make terrible power

Now, while I wouldn't call an explorer a powerful truck, even a first gen makes enough power for most of what you would normally do with it unless you are into serious off-roading. Or are you complaining because you can't beat your buddy's mustang in a quarter.

and today the throttle stuck and if it had not been 5 am would have cause some real damage.

What caused it to stick?

When I lubed the throttle it was fine, the cable went haywire.

Oh, you did. Lemme guess, you put it back on wrong or used the wrong kind of lubricant.

Man, I cant wait to sell it.

How much do you want for it?

 

[ragajungle]

sounds like a 18 year old truck. and?

 

[2TimingTom]

sounds like you should have taken better care of it.

+1

 

[rustyboltz]

I feel your pain, but I must agree with alot of the people on the forum that has posted a reply that this is a classic example of the product of nomaintenanceitis. it is a very contaigious disease that progresses day by day from the initial disease of lackofwillingness.
I purchased a 93 X in April that the owner had nomaintenanceitis. The doors sagged, it leaked oil, tranny fluid, coolant, hardly ran and the engine would let you hear every bolt in it rattle. By budgeting some money every month and reading and researching everything that this forum has to offer, you can fix your truck up to be a very good piece of transportation. Just a small tip, I have a u pull it located in my area that once every 3 months, they have a saturday that they offer $65 day. If you can carry it for 25 yds, you can purchase it for $65. I have got many of my parts that way, and have carried every one "down the line".

 

[safn1949]

94 XLT with 142,000 and regular maintenance.

Photo taken last fall in Amboy MN,I just had the tranny fail in it but it is 17 years old and gets run hard.:

 

[Roadrunner777]

That is a product of frequent car washing, no small trick in MN. Did that truck ever have the plastic wheel flares and running boards?

 

[safn1949]

That is a product of frequent car washing, no small trick in MN. Did that truck ever have the plastic wheel flares and running boards?

Yes and they rotted a huge hole in the dogleg,so they had to go.Also when I took it to Moab the running boards would have got torn off,I removed all that crap prior to that trip in 09.Here is a photo of the damage.

fixed to the tune of $1100

It will need to go back to the bodyshop in the next year as the wheel arch is bubbling up,mind you I have right at $4000 in repairs and maintenance on the truck,but it was a gift from an estate.:

The black is POR-15.It will not be repainted after repairs,it will be Herculined up to the body molding.Also it will get blasted with Amsoil on the bottom before winter.I only drive it 3000 miles a year.

 

[That-Guy]

In reply to everybody:
I take as good care of it as I can. I'm just a guy who fixes stuff, not a mechanic. I too live in Minnesota and the salt really took it to this truck. I wash it when I can, but I'm not the first owner, I'm the third. My favorite truck has to be a 1994 Chevy Blazer. My dad had one. He towed everything (including this explorer) with it. The last time he drove it He pulled 7000 lbs of scrap and made a ton of money from it. It always ran good, and never got under 22mpg (much better than the explorers 15-17) and was a 4x4 6 cylinder. One day he parked it due to financial reasons and just a few months ago (after 2 years; it rusted bad) he sold it with 300,000 miles. I got the explorer because he never liked it (and he gave up trying to fix miss, it ran on 5 cylinders for 50,000 miles). He has fixed his cars and truck for 30 years. He IS a mechanic, just not in the business sense.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

ill take it off your hands if you want, especially if it has all the duff giblets on it i think it does

im serious btw

Edit, crap half read your name, then the location clicked and i realized that your truck was definately not worth what i thought it was....

 

[FIND]

Funny, my explorer gets upward of 22 mpg, has just as much power as an equivalent blazer, and works better on things that are not pavement than any blazer ever will. Plus, you are comparing a blazer that was at the time newer than your explorer is now, and probably better taken care of. Though, I will admit, Blazers are nicer to drive on the road than a 1st gen explorer, which is probably why they suck so hard off road.

He can't have been a very good mechanic if he couldn't fix a miss for 50k miles... I wouldn't have hired him.

Anyways, if you want a blazer, by all means. Depending on what part of Minnesota you are from, maybe someone will spot decent blazer for a good price for you, but I'm gonna tell you, if you don't fix it, it will end up just the same as your Explorer. I'm from Southeastern South Dakota, so I won't be a lot of help, but this is a big forum.

Anyways, for what it is worth, I'm sorry you have had so much trouble with your explorer. This is an absolutely wonderful platform and usually king of reliability. I'm sorry to hear that your bad experience has turned you off of Explorers. If you still have it at the end of the month and aren't too far off, I'd come take it off your hands.

 

[That-Guy]

He can't have been a very good mechanic if he couldn't fix a miss for 50k miles... I wouldn't have hired him.

Its just that he got tired of all the stuff that went wrong with it, as I am now (sorry if I ever came off as rude to anyone, I don't mean to) At the time our family had a chevy car, the explorer, and the blazer. He needs a truck to haul things, and basically the blazer beat the explorer in every way, so he cut the insurance to it and parked it, a while later I needed a vehicle and heard good things about explorers, so I fixed it. The thing is I am still fixing what I can, but i don't have the money, and ultimately, the patience. I might just not be keen on fords. I'm used to something going wrong and fixing it and that being that (or it wont run). With the explorer it has been just a barrage of little things from speaker crackle (it came from the factory this way) to check engine/abs lights, and every couple of months I loose oil pressure, or half the steering column rips off, or it wont start. Basically It needs 1 of everything. All that would be left are the headlights the seats and the name tag. The 1 thing I will give Ford, is that they will run even when broke. That's my story, I just wanted to voice my opinion.

 

[69Explorer69]

man if you will meet me half way i will take it off your hands and i will give you a LITTLE cash for it

 

[That-Guy]

No offers please, I'll sell it when I save up some cash, and sell it as a winter beater (the 4x4 works)

 

[Bos_explorer_91]

I'm with you on that.

wow my 1994 explorer 4.0 v6 is about the best little rig i have ever had. Almost 400,000 miles and the motor runs smooth as new with no hiccups or smoke. Only major repairs it has ever needed where both this year"17 yrs old" first clutch replacement and those auto hubs finally went out. Love the new Warn manuals. Proper maintenance really makes the vehicle driving experience

Never had any issues with my 99 xls. Just have to know how to maintain it. People drive around like idiots, or rarely change the oil or check for rust or any of that, and they they b*tch and moan about it later saying how Explorers suck.