possible buyer...

[Mandy]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking at buying a 1st gen explorer sport trac, and thought I would sign up here to see what I could find in terms of common problems with these trucks. I currently own a '99 mercury cougar, and wish that I had done some more research before buying that car. So my question to all of you sporttrac owners is, are there any common problems with these trucks either major or minor? I've heard some bad things about the transmissions in them?

Thanks

Also, do these trucks come in standard? I haven't seen one yet so I don't think they do, and one last question, and its kind of a 'general' one, but overall, how easy are these trucks to work on?

 

[John_Rock]

The two major issues in my eyes are:

1. Transmission 2-3 Flare.
2-3 Flare explained: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174202
You can fix the 2-3 Flare issue during a Valve Body Rebuild: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140987

2. Timing Chain Rattle. Which can be really expensive to repair because the passenger side of the engine timing chain is on the back side of the engine.

Both of these issues are common to a 2nd Gen based Explorer with the v6 4.0L SOHC engine with an auto transmission. 1st Gen Sport Tracs are based on the 2nd Gen Explorers.

 

[John_Rock]

And yes, manual transmission Sport Tracs do exist. But are hard to find.
User Clusterpup on here has one.

 

[brianjwilson]

The transmission flare and timing chain rattles are definitely the most common problems.
Ball joints and front wheel bearings tend to wear out fairly quickly. Replacement isn't difficult but it something to look at when searching for a truck. Make sure the heater and a/c works on all settings, there is a blend door (blends heat/cold) problem that happens on some trucks where they will only blow hot air.
There are some manual transmissions out there, but they are super hard to find unfortunately. The manual transmissions are not without their own problems anyway. The manual transmission is pretty weak internally, the clutch is very small, and they regularly have problems with the slave cylinders, which are inside the bell-housing. As much as I dislike automatics, the 5r55e auto is probably more durable than the manual transmission in the long run.

 

[Mandy]

thanks a lot for the feedback, I did some reading on the transmission flare issue, and I was wondering what the difference is between 5R55 and the 5r55W is?? I've also been doing some searching and reading on the difference between the v6 and v8, and I think I'm going to go with the v8, because from what I've heard, it seems to be less problematic, with just about the same fuel economy, and more power.

 

[John_Rock]

There's no v8 in the 1st Gen Sport Tracs unless you drop one in yourself.
You will have to buy a 2nd Gen Sport Trac to get the 4.6L v8.

I do love my 2000 4 door Explorer Limited AWD with the 5.0L v8. I wish the my Sport Trac had that drive train. And it's easy to convert the AWD to 4WD.