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I have had 3 wheel bearings replaced on my Explorer in the 4 years I have owned it. The last one was more recent, passenger rear. It had about a quarter inch of play in it before it was replaced. (I let it go far too long) Local Ford dealer charged $410 to replace it, along with a new snap...

I use Valvoline conventional motor oil 5w30 as recommended for my 2005 4.0 V6. I also buy Motorcraft FL820S oil filters. I've been doing this since I bought it (around 165,000 miles) every 3,000 miles give or take and I'm over 235,000 miles now. I've had the timing chain rattle for years...

My 2005 4.0 4x4 is almost at 230,000 miles. I change the oil every 3,000 miles with conventional 5w30, and add the little bottle of STP treatment per change and have for about a year or longer when the chain noise was getting worse. Seems to delay the inevitable, along with changing oil every...

I love my 2005 XLT 4x4 4.0. Have had it over 3 years and it has over 222,000 miles now. I’ll have a used engine dropped in it after the current one blows. It handles snow very well even with tires with 54,000 miles on it.

Sounds like it could be rear end suspension. Mine squeaks too, and has for years. It works fine, it’s just noisey depending on weather or conditions. I’ll replace them when they get worse or if a spring breaks like one did in the front haha

My dad and I always used Valvoline for vehicles that called for conventional oil and have never had a bad experience with it so that’s my go-to oil. My dad had a similar issue as you did when switching to synthetic. He uses synthetic in vehicles that always used synthetic, like his ‘97 Viper...

With the number of miles I have, and frequency of oil changes (every 3,000 miles) I don’t think I would benefit from switching to synthetic motor oil.

No problem! I use conventional 5w30 Valvoline motor oil. I'm not certain of compatibility of the STP engine treatment and conventional motor oils. I'm assuming the bottle would say whether or not it is. Walmart and most auto stores carry those bottles.

I noticed my timing chain rattle a few years ago, not certain on mileage. I have 222,000+ miles now, and the chains are loud but no kaboom yet! I change oil every 3,000 miles or less and add STP engine treatment, which I believe has helped postpone the inevitable. 2005 4.0 SOHC Flex

I have an '05 4.0 and it has made bad timing chain noise for a long time now. Some mornings it sounds very bad for a minute or so after a cold start. I wait for the noise to stop, then drive to point B. I can hear it while driving too, the noise is really noticeable next to a guardrail or...

Thanks for the pics. I just liked your FB page, very cool mods. I'm going to inspect my Explorer. I almost never used the rear glass, I 99.9% of the time use the entire lift gate. Just never liked it, feels cheap too, even if it all works. I just inspected the latch, and it feels solid. I also...

Thanks for the advice. How hard is that item to replace, and can it be replaced without removing the panel?

Hi Tom, That's not a bad idea, I can do that, no problem. I'll update this thread with that, and probably will change the title to reflect the changes when it's all finished since it will be more of a how-to at that point. I'd like to have it all done before snow falls this year. I have seen...

Thank you for the write up. I have a 2005 4.0 V6 Flex fuel, and I cannot seem to find my PCV valve, or anything that looks like it. Am I missing something? I have the two hoses in the OPs picture, where one has metallic tape on it, but I don't see the PCV valve where it is in the OP's photo. I...

Thank you! Haha I agree. That's exactly what I needed to know. I'll get some RTV gasket sealer. I have noticed the crack will get larger and smaller dependent on temperature. Sometimes when it's really hot you can barely notice it is cracked, other times when it's colder it sticks out really...

The rear panel under the rear glass finally cracked on my 05, right to the right of the Ford emblem. From my online searches, it appears using a hammer and a putty knife (and taping up the surrounding paint for protection) is the best method for removal of the old broken panel. I bought a...

I bought my 2005 XLT Explorer because it had 4x4, and looked like a nice modern vehicle for the money. I enjoy driving it a lot more than I thought, but I also have to put a lot more work and money into it than I imagined. It's constantly requiring repairs, I can do about half of it myself...

Those look good, I'll give those a go on my next Amazon order, or I'll find them on eBay as I buy more on the latter. Thanks!

No problem. I also had a problem where my dome lights wouldn't turn off. My puddle lights also didn't work. It was that infamous door ajar issue. Fixing a few broken black ground wires in the door cluster fixed that. I didn't even know puddle lights existed until that was fixed. lol

The dimmer switch in the off position for sure kills the puddle lights. Even if they are already on (from opening the door/unlocking) it will kill them as soon as you roll the switch in the downward most position. I verified this tonight. I remember now when I vacuum the Explorer, I usually...

I was not aware of the tail lights blinking. I'm pretty sure my '05 XLT disables the puddle lights with the dimmer off. I'll double-check later on that.

I just installed my cheap Chinese LED eBay reverse lights tonight. I'll report back after some time of using them. They definitely appear to be brighter so far. UPDATE: Drove around at night and tested the reverse lights in really dark condition. I noticed a small improvement. They...

Why not just keep the dimmer switch off?

Did you replace the the "float" on the fuel pump assembly? (Not sure what it's called)

I love my Explorer, but if you don't want to put $2,000 into a $4,000 2005 XLT 4x4 V6 4.0 like I did, I wouldn't get an Explorer. And I didn't even address my timing chains (yet). Mine had many other issues. Big and small.