Abnormally low miles but interior destroyed.

[sidneyhop]

This is just an observational post but Ive noticed the past few years a bunch of explorers with exceptionally low miles for their age, a 98 with only 130k as an example, and yet the drivers seats are always destroyed along with the console lids and steering wheels. They look as if 250k miles at least are on them.
I know scumbags will switch out the gauges with low miled ones but it seems as if nearly every explorer I see an ad for has this issue. I even went to a car lot to inspect one. He had a car fax and everything for it. Odd.

 

[XLTrunner]

I was at the local U Pull last week and was looking at a '98 Explorer OHV that showed 89K miles on the odometer. You wouldn't know it by looking at the rusty exterior and underside. Interior looked clean, though. Same with a '03 Taurus wagon showing 97K miles. Such is the life of older vehicles up here in the Rust Belt.

 

[koda2000]

If I were considering buying a vehicle (any vehicle) that showed relatively low miles I'd only consider it if the exterior and interior condition matched the mileage. I recently saw a '00 Explorer that showed 129K and every bit of it convinced me that that mileage was accurate, the vehicle had been well taken care of and garaged. Pics below.

 

[boominXplorer]

94-98 Ford's have issues with the odometer quitting. That being said its possible it has way more miles on it. On the other side I've worked at a dealership before and have seen 3-4 year old vehicles trashed and not even have 60k on them yet. Rips, stains, scratches and dings all over. It's all possible.

 

[sidneyhop]

That's interesting you mention different vehicles with different amounts of wear on them. I've noticed with Land Cruisers and Lexus LX and GX 470 s they can have 250k miles from them and only look like they have 50K.
If you know for certain how many miles you have on your Explorer post a picture of the seats along with your odometer so we can provide an accurate representation of what seats should look like with specific amounts of miles.
* I replaced my console lid because it was starting to wear out on top.

 

[Jason94sport]

FL ones seems to be like this. I searched all over FL for mine to replace my 93. All I saw were ones that had 100K, 99K, 75K, & yet the interiors were completely trashed. I was so bummed my 93 was in better share then anything else I saw. Then I found my 02. 96K & everything was in order. I had to drive 250 miles to get it though.

 

[koda2000]

When I bought my '01 Eddie Bauer 5.0L (pictured at left) in Jul 2012 it had 179k on it. It was in super clean condition inside and out. It looked like a much newer/lower mileage vehicle and had obviously been well taken care off by it's previous owner. About the only thing that needed attention was that the driver's leather seat bottom was coming apart at the outside seam. I replaced the seat bottom cover myself with one from theseatshop.com. I paid top dollar for the EB (private party sale), but it was worth every penny IMO. Owning several other vehicles I really haven't put many miles on the EB in the almost 8 years I've owned it (it now has 195k) but other than oil changes, a new 5th shock, front brake pads, ball joints, spark plugs and recent plug wires it's performed flawlessly and still looks like new. Just last week, at the Walmart, an old timer in a wheelchair stopped me to ask about my truck. He asked what year it was, realizing it was an older SUV, but he was quite surprised when I told him it was an '01. He told me "man, you sure take good care of her". I told him I had to cause I can't afford a new one. I fully suspect this may be the last vehicle I ever own.

It's dirty now, because it's been raining in GA for months, but as soon as I can give it a bath I'll take and post some photos.

 

[Larryjb]

I've noticed this too, and I live in an area with relatively low UV compared to FL. Eddie Bauer trims seemed to be really bad. I'm not sure if it's just owners not taking care of the interiors, or if the materials are just really low quality.

Now, our 08 Explorer has black leather, over 250000 km, and the interior actually looks quite nice. The plastic mesh dash has some cracks in it, that's about it. I think ours had a lot of freeway travel as it was exported to the US, then imported back to Canada.

When I was test driving early 2000 Expeditions, many of the Eddie Bauer trim seats had tears in them. Then the first Tahoe I test drove had a really nice interior. It did have some mechanical issues, but those have been easy for me to fix.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

I live in FL and have seen first hand how the Fl sun, especially in the summer time can bake interior parts, especially dash boards and plastics, constant care and protection is a must to maintain the materials. A garage goes a long way to preserving the interior, especially keeping the dashboard from warping and cracking.

 

[sidneyhop]

These seats look really good relatively speaking for 400K miles!

 

[koda2000]

From my experience the interiors in the Gen 2 Explorers hold up very well in GA. The cloth seats actually seem to hold up better than the leather seats. The rear leather seats always seem to look like new on used Explorers on CL and it's usually the driver's leather seat's outer bolster that's the most torn up (for obvious reasons). The center armrests are typically all torn up, but I've never seen a cracked dash or sagging headliner, which are very common on GM and Chrysler vehicles of the same age.

Leather will last a long time if cared for, but when a vehicle reaches a certain age their owners typically don't lavage much love on them and it's usually the stitching that will go first. Our '00 Mountaineer's leather interior was quite nice when I first bought it back in 2012. The only thing that needed attention was the center arm rest cover. Since then it has never been garaged and the leather has never been maintained (no protectants, no leather conditioning applied). Both the front seats are dry and cracked and the driver's seat tore well over a year ago (I just recovered it last week). Still the dash, rear seat, carpet, door cards and headliner are in great shape. I'm sure a FL vehicle would suffer more interior damage from the heat, but I think the privacy glass's dark tint has helped to protect the rear of the vehicle. My '01 Eddie Bauer has been garaged all its life and I condition the leather seats at least twice a year. Other than replacing the driver's seat bottom leather when I first bought it 8 years ago, the interior is absolutely mint.

 

[Godzilla2y]

One thing to note about the odometers for junkyard cars. If you press the trip reset button while moving, it'll blow up the little worm gear in the cluster, preventing it from racking up any more miles. I learned this the hard way driving to Rochester NY and back.

 

[J_C]

^ ?? I press the trip reset button on my '98 while moving, every time I forget to do it before pulling out of a gas station from refueling... have done so for many years and no damage yet.

Damaged console lids don't surprise me, mine cracked almost in two because every time I got in, I put my weight on it with my right arm, and the vinyl cover had shrunk and pulled out.

I took the vinyl cover off, reinforced the plastic frame with wire and epoxy and restretched the cover over it (heat from a hair dryer works great for that!) and it looked great. The next time I got in, I put my weight on it again and (facepalm moment) heard it crack. Fortunately it was only a little of the epoxy letting loose, it still feels solid and I learned not to put weight on it getting in any longer.

 

[koda2000]

^ ?? I press the trip reset button while moving, every time I forget to do it before pulling out of a gas station from refueling... have done so for many years and no damage yet.

I was thinking the same thing. I've been doing it as long as there have been reset-able trip meters and I've never never hurt anything.

 

[Godzilla2y]

I was thinking the same thing. I've been doing it as long as there have been reset-able trip meters and I've never never hurt anything.

I'm basing this off of personal experience and other posts on this forum:

Almost at exactly 150,000k, my odometer and trip counter stopped working.
I could hear a clicking noise in the dash.

Did some research on the board, and it turns out the worm gears tend to break.

Its near impossible to find just the gear, and when you do can be more than $40!
And I didn't want a new cluster because I wanted to retain as close to my original mileage as possible.

So while going through the junk yard a few weeks ago, I found a cluster that someone had removed already. I pulled the center section with the speedo in it and got it for $6.00

When I got home I took it apart and could see the worm gear was intact.

I removed my cluster (it wasnt hard)

On the kitchen table...here is what I did.

1 - I took the lens off and removed the gauges on the right (oil pressure and voltage).

This section will just pull straight out with no screws once the lens is removed.

Now you should be able to see the in though the side and check out the worm gear. Its probably broken.

2 - I removed the odometer motor from the junk yard unit

On each side of the motor here you can see the clear plastic clip that holds it in. The motor has tabs on it that when you twist it, go under the plastic tabs. So to get the motor out, you have to push down on it and twist to get it out.

3 - Now comes the more difficult part.
Turn your original cluster over and you'll see its covered in a circuit board.
the bulbs have to come out to be able to lift the circuit board.
I didn't want to take it all off, so I removed the following pieces only and was able to gently fold back the flexible board to see the back of the odometer.

Bulbs just twist out.

The hardest pieces to get out were the connections to which the oil pressure and voltage gauges push into. But they are just springy, using needle nose pliers I was able to squeeze them on the front and pull them out of the back, then the circuit board could be lifted.

4 - Once the circuit board is lifted and gently folded back you should be able to see the existing motor through a round hole.
From the front side, disconnect the wiring of the motor.
now on the back side, push and twist to unlock the existing motor. It should come out. Turn the unit over and the remnants of the worm gear will fall out.

Once you get it out, you have this

6 - Reverse the procedure to put the new motor with good worm gear back in. it took me some time to get it to go in with the gear lined up enough so that I could lock it in place.

7 - On the front connect the wiring for the motor

8 - re-install the bulbs, push in and twist.
also the gauge connections, they just push straight in.

9 - push the oil pressure and voltage gauge set back into the front.

10 - assemble the lens and gauges and re-install in the truck.

Works perfectly!

The worm gears break. Maybe it happens once you're above a certain speed. Maybe it's because they use a cheapo plastic piece that's almost 25 years old at this point.

 

[BKennedy]

When I went junk yard hunting for Explorer seats a few years ago, I rediscovered that people are pigs. I looked at a few dozen Explorers of nearly every generation, and the common issue was the seats / interior were filthy and trashed. I mean, no way was it every going to clean up, nasty crust of thick whatever ground into the seats. The only good seats I found were out of a 2008 or 2009 Limited that looked like it was very well maintained, but involved in a total damage collision. Seats were perfect, but the JY sold the driver seat while I was on the way down to look. I wanted all 3 seats to retrofit into my 1994. Worked out better because I covered my worn front seats and got a like-new cloth rear seat out of a owned by a grampa type donor when my dash melted.

The day was not wasted because I discovered that nearly all Ford Explorer, Ranger, Expedition and F-150 front seats are about the same overall size. The frames and mounts were all different, of course, but nothing that could not be modified.

My center console arm rest cracked a long time ago. I rebuilt it with epoxy and drywall seam mesh tape, and its been fine every since. I used 5 minute epoxy, liberally coated over the inside of a crack in the plastic. When it starts to set, I press in the mesh drywall tape for flexible support. Works great. Just did that with the front door panels where they were starting to crack, but then added duct tape over the top of the mesh tape, sealing it all together.

 

[sidneyhop]

The day was not wasted because I discovered that nearly all Ford Explorer, Ranger, Expedition and F-150 front seats are about the same overall size. The frames and mounts were all different, of course, but nothing that could not be modified.

This is interesting. What type of modification is necessary to use those seats? Will a gen 3 work in a gen 2?

 

[Spudhut]

I see this all the time too...including the carpets which look like someone threw up a grease or mud pit all over them. The seat conditions are a shame, but it does say alot on the type of materials used like the leather which is prone to drying up and cracking badly. Foam falls apart easily from normal wear and tear. From what I can see, passenger and driver side, bottom, seat foams look similar an can be swapped.

It would be nice to find some of the original leather for repairs - especially the tan color like in my Mountaineer. Im getting stress cracks (not bad yet) but its a matter of time.

 

[BKennedy]

This is interesting. What type of modification is necessary to use those seats? Will a gen 3 work in a gen 2?

1st and 2nd Gen seats are interchangeable. After that, the floor is different so it would require modification to the base to make them fit. You can do anything with some cut off wheels, a welder and lots of free time.

I see this all the time too...including the carpets which look like someone threw up a grease or mud pit all over them. The seat conditions are a shame, but it does say alot on the type of materials used like the leather which is prone to drying up and cracking badly. Foam falls apart easily from normal wear and tear. From what I can see, passenger and driver side, bottom, seat foams look similar an can be swapped.

It would be nice to find some of the original leather for repairs - especially the tan color like in my Mountaineer. Im getting stress cracks (not bad yet) but its a matter of time.

I ended covering up my front seats and console arm rest with some heavy indoor/outdoor off-roady type material because I like the 7 way adjustable driver and passenger seats. Its hard to find a passenger seat that is electric in anything but a 1st Gen. This was custom covers by a local I know for $150.00. That was after I got a quote of over a thousand to recover the front seats in vinyl.

 

[sidneyhop]

This is what a 382,000 mile seat looks like. If you see someone selling with a seat like this and an advertised miles of "only 130,000 miles" then you know theyre full of it and switched out the gauge cluster.