Newbie with questions

[earnbud]

I got some questions , im in the process of getting a explorer somewhere around a 96 to 99 , anything i should be aware of when looking at these vehicles

I got told by someone that on the explorers that is wasn't built correctly around the timing and he said its happened were it breaks and a rod goes into the engine messing it up

Is that really common , ive never heard of it before and also , what kind of mpg can i assume i would get on these vehicles , im looking at getting a v6 , or what possible modifications can i do to get better mpg

Thanks ,

 

[DEERE6030]

ive never heard of a rod messin up the motor, cus i got a 99 v8 explorer with 153xxx miles on it and so far so good. with my v8 i get about 13mpg, so your v6 should be somewhere around 15 or 16 depending on how u drive. as for up grade if you buy a 3.0L you can find parts but their hard to find, and for the 4.0L i hear as see stuff a lot. i hope this helps

 

[earnbud]

I dont know either , he just said overtime that something with the timing can break and throw a rod or something into your block and then oil drips alot and then the vehicle wont start again , and it was a recall in ford but they stopped the recall 3 or 4 years ago , im going by what this guy is saying because i have never had an explorer

As far as gas mileage , like if i changed out the air cleaner to a cone thats opened or something i heard it helps get better mileage , there was a guy that had great gas mileage for his explorer suv with modifications he did to it , i thought he was on this forum but i cant remember

 

[2000StreetRod]

good fuel economy & dependability

I suggest if you're looking for good fuel economy and decent dependability in the 96 to 99 years you stick with the OHV V6. The SOHC V6 available in 97 and later years has the potential problem your "someone" inaccurately described. The timing chains slip resulting in the valves colliding with the pistons. If you're not mechanically inclined, the cost to pay a mechanic to replace the timing chains before they slip would be at least $1,500. After they slip, it's usually cheaper to replace the engine.

If you want dependability and performance at the expense of fuel economy the V8 is the better choice.

Al Franklin, (aldive), who died this year (rest in peace), is the individual who achieved outstanding fuel economy with modifications to his SOHC V6.

 

[earnbud]

Thats what it was , the timing chain slipping i forgot exactly what it was , so the sohc is the one with the problem with the timing chain but not the ohv , i know this might sound stupid but how would i know the difference of an ohv versus a sohc , does it say it on the intake or something , shopping around at cars so i want to make sure to get the right one

i would rather have better gas mileage that is also in depending on how much performance it robs away from , the gas is my biggest concern , especially even more cause im going from a 94 ranger that was a 4 cylinder to a v6 and the ranger was 20 mpg

Yes that was the guy , wow thats terrible thing that happened with him passing

 

[earnbud]

Well i was just looking at one vehicle , its a 97 explorer v6 but its an all wheel drive , but she didnt know what type of engine she has

but she did say something like she heard a sound coming from the engine like a skipping sound , she said it still runs fine other then that , i didnt know could it be as simple as like a serpentine belt or could it be something involving the timing chain

She also said that 8 months ago she replaced the engine because her old engine blew , so im not sure exactly if she has the exact same type of engine , it only has 30,000 miles on the engine

 

[damo1982]

If its a SOHC it would say it on the plastic bit ontop of the engine '4.0 SOHC' this big black plastic covering

 

[safn1949]

My 2000 5.0 AWD gets 15/17 mpg just so you know.

 

[TOMANDPAT]

Check the VIN. If there's an X in the VIN , you're looking at an OHV, an E indicates the SOHC. But if there's been an engine swap, that may not hold true. Other than that, look for the SOHC verbage on the engine noise isolator (on top of the engine)
Tom

 

[earnbud]

Ok thanks for the info , but any reason for the sound shes describing the skipping sound , if it was like the timing chain going bad or something would it make a similiar sound

Thinking if i found out its an SOHC could that sound be the timing chain going bad , like said in this thread or could it be something more simple , im going to look at the vehicle tomorrow but what should i look for , she said it still runs good other than the skipping sound shes hearing

 

[Khaelbee]

i have a 97 sport xl... 2wd v6 ohv, and mine is manual... if i drive it nicely, i can get up to 20 mpg, 25 highway..... the first offroading trip i took zoe on, i actually got 30 mpg on the freeway on the way out. but i've also gone down to 13 mpg when i'm driving like an a-hole... but yea. my little sport with a manual and only 2wd does me pretty good at the pumps.

 

[earnbud]

Looking at a vehicle right now that has 148,000 miles on it and its an sohc engine and supposedly runs good , if it hasent happened yet with the timing chain tensioner issue with that many miles , is it still very possible that it might happen or less likely to happen considering how many miles they have put on it

 

[2000StreetRod]

guide breakage

In my opinion the greater the mileage the greater the possibility the rear guide will break. Some members with the old style guides have had timing chain issues as early as 40,000 miles and some members have no issues after 200,000 miles. My rear guide probably broke around 150,000 miles. You can find some real bargains on SOHC V6 vehicles with timing chain issues that can be repaired if you have tools, time, and a place to work.

 

[earnbud]

Well the guy was gonna sell me the vehicle for $500 , because it has some other body work issues , as far as i know there isnt a problem with the vehicle yet , but like some on here said that it probably will happen

Well the thing is the guy got into an accident with this vehicle and already got the money from his insurance , so he is just trying to get something out of this vehicle , but so if i replaced the part before a problem how involved and how expensive is it

Is it just the timing chain tensioner thats the actual issue , because i think i can still work with him if i mention the issues but i want to make sure im not spending to much on the vehicle if it needs work to fix the issues , is it just the front and rear tensioners that go bad , and if i replaced them is the new products that work gonna permanently fix the issues or what

 

[earnbud]

Im pretty handy myself and i know a mechanic that if i help him we can work out a cheap price , but how much in just parts is it and are some parts better then others like lasting longer or something

 

[earnbud]

Im just trying to figure out what do to , he might go down in price more , so if the parts that needs to be replaced arent that bad then i might still try getting the vehicle

But i wanted to make sure i dont have a problem , so obviously rather fix it before it goes bad , so if you know how much the parts are and were is best to get them at that would be very helpful in decided to go ahead and buy the vehicle or walk away

 

[earnbud]

And when you mean the guide is the issue , i was hearing something about the tensoner , so is it just the guides that needs replacing and im trying to find them online but no luck , unless im searching the wrong names

 

[earnbud]

Please if someone on here knows , i need to find out how much money it will cost in just parts then i can figure out the labor portion , its a really nice vehicle for the price but i want to make sure nothing goes wrong

 

[Rudy602]

There's no guarantee about what could go wrong with an explorer, no matter what engine but 2000StreetRod knows as much about them as anyone so his is good advice. I have an OHV and a SOHC. The OHV is better on gas but it's a dog. The SOHC is a pig on gas, but it moves - so life is a compromise. I'd take the SOHC with all it's timing issues but they both like constant attention about something. It's a great vehicle if you enjoy working on them. If you have to pay someone, I hope you have a good job. Check out some threads dealing with the timing issue and familiarize yourself with the parts involved and how much they cost. Basically, there are timing chains with curved "plastic" guides that have hydraulic tensioners pushing against them. If you check out the threads, things will make more sense. Do some homework and it will pay off. As with most repairs, the big cost is labor - which brings us back to whether you are doing it or someone else. Chances are if the ex is an awd, it's a v8 even if it's been replaced. I don't think a v6 will bolt up.

 

[Maverick265]

I have the 4.0 SOHC. I had the timing chaing replaced at 90k miles or so along with various other things the total was around $3,000.00. The parts were about $1900 or so. If I can find the bill I will give you the number. They had the car for almost a month fixing the various things wrong with it but I hardly ever drive it as it its my spare car.

I have 22" rims with low profile tires and get about 13city/17highway when I do drive it. Other than that one issue never had a problem with the car since then.