1996 Explorer 5.0 with 64k miles.... in 2019?!? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1996 Explorer 5.0 with 64k miles.... in 2019?!?

Lionsteel

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Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 Explorer XLT 5.0 AWD
Firstly I was born a GM guy in a GM family, never been fond of Fords... ( hate me yet?). Long story short, been looking for another vehicle and my Dad calls me about his neighbor's Explorer... I have no idea why the hell hes telling me about this Ford, he worked for Performance Chevrolet for 25 years! I had asked my Dad to keep an eye out for a good deal on a Trailblazer SS.

So it turns out this is worth looking at, its a mid sized Suv with a v8 under the hood and awd.... (trailblazer SSish, but a FORD). Well after hearing that it only had 64k miles and doing a little research on these 5.0s i called him back and asked him what the guy wanted for it.... $1k........ $1k?? as in $1,000?, yes. WTF is wrong with it?

So here's whats up; Dad sent me some pictures, i jumped on a flight 3 days later for almost $300 from Portland to Sacramento (not cheap as i am too impatient to wait a month), Paid him before he could change his mind, and drove it back to Oregon the next day.

So here we are. Explorer now has 65k miles after my return drive home. This rig is in extremely nice condition, everything looks brand new. Seats had covers on them, removed the ugly sheepskins to find PERFECT seats??!? Thanks time capsule guy for preserving them for me. Floor mats, BRAND NEW, sitting under weathertechs, carpet same deal, headliner not a scratch. Brand new tires. etc etc etc.

The problem with this brand new 1996 Explorer you ask? Someone had a Firestone freeway blowout on the passenger side rear. The tire shredded and slapped the quarter panel a bit and bent the rear corner up to the body line. I'm guessing the owners got too scared to drive her much after that.

Ive already taken a few BFH's and dollys to it and got it back into shape. Other than some touch up paint and the chrome trim panel that is missing its fixed.

So Ive been DDing this rig for about 2 months now, (its been snowing on and off here in OR), while I'm not ashamed to admit I will always be a Chevy guy... I'm growing attached to this damn Ford lol.

Its a fun truck but I can't leave my vehicles alone. It's a curse a lot of us share, Ford and Chevy guys alike.

So here I am, I want to know what you Blue Oval guys do to improve upon these lil beasts.

Please feel free to share some ideas / tips with me... (chevy guy hates himself for saying this) : IT'S NOT FOR SALE! :)

Steel

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The black area was folded flat into the wheelwell, that is tire rubber.
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work in progress, trim panel will cover what I can't perfect.
 
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Things to research:
Torque Monster Headers
4406 manual t case conversion

Enjoy!
96 AWD with 65K = Gem of a vehicle. Low miles is awesome, but it can also be a bad thing as they do not like to sit. I would go through all the fluids and change all of the filters just for starters
Nice find and Welcome!!
 






Thanks for the reply! I like the idea of swapping full time AWD for a manual transfer case.... sucks not to be able to spin the tires lol. Before i returned to Oregon the next day i went through the stack of receipts and service records, the owner drove it about 1k a year and had been doing regular maintenance at a local "Future Ford" dealership. Checked all fluids, poured some injector cleaner in the tank thinking it would be a good time considering the long drive and few tank fulls of fuel on the way home. So far no issues, starts every morning, runs great, stops great... Really lucky find. My only complaint really would be the horrible mileage (even when not lead footing), gotten between 8 and maybe 10 MPG in city since I've been home. I even sat down at my security camera to see if someone siphoned my damn gas lol. So I'm going to be working on that issue.
 






check tire size and psi make sure they all match and the pressures are good
5.0L AWD explorer is not known for excellent mpg :) The manual t case can help with that
 












Welcome to this forum! It's hard to find anything in that type of condition here. The rust attacks from the bottom up even on vehicles which are not driven.
 






Thanks for the reply! I like the idea of swapping full time AWD for a manual transfer case.... sucks not to be able to spin the tires lol. Before i returned to Oregon the next day i went through the stack of receipts and service records, the owner drove it about 1k a year and had been doing regular maintenance at a local "Future Ford" dealership. Checked all fluids, poured some injector cleaner in the tank thinking it would be a good time considering the long drive and few tank fulls of fuel on the way home. So far no issues, starts every morning, runs great, stops great... Really lucky find. My only complaint really would be the horrible mileage (even when not lead footing), gotten between 8 and maybe 10 MPG in city since I've been home. I even sat down at my security camera to see if someone siphoned my damn gas lol. So I'm going to be working on that issue.


good laugh. i can relate, swear i had a fuel leak when i was at 14 mpg.
good story and welcome.
 






Nice find!

Wow, 8-10? My 98 V8 with the 3" lift, 4406, 4.10's, and 33's still makes 13 mpg.

Even my dad's 96 Eddie V8 AWD stock makes 15 mpg and it has 200k miles on the clock.

Things to look for are: vacuum leaks, clean the MAF, check the the thermostat hasn't failed open, and check the ECT sensor. I would also check for a lower intake gasket leak.
 






The Explorer (no name yet) is in shock moving from Arizona to California and now being brought up here to Oregon in the mid of winter freezing her butt off. Got up the other morning to find my headliner on passenger side soaked. Checked sunroof drains and they are spotless, and the tubes drain just fine to behind front tires. It has to be the windshield, so i grabbed a tube of Permatex flowable silicone. No rust anywhere so my best guess is the change of climate made seals and glue shrink. It hasn't rained yet but I've got fingers crossed.

Truck is still running great. I hate to admit I'm one of those if it ain't broke guys... but I'll be making an exception in this case. Plug wires are stamped "1996 1 - 8" factory original, doubt the plugs have even been changed. I have a (short but complete) stack of all the receipts, recall notices and work sheets from dealerships where they've been completed, every smog check since 2010 @40k, and there's even the window sticker! Other than normal maintenance and tires, the only things I see are fuel pump & fuel gauge (note said vehicle sat for over 1 year and died on freeway ), L&R ball joints, upper arm control L&R.

So I'm going to do plugs, wires, oil, grease, etc. Surprisingly enough I see no arcing on these orig wires, very clean.

Thermostat functioning, no vacuum leaks, coolant gauge works so I assume ECT sensor is ok. Might just be driving it like i stole it too often. I've read these early 96's have the worst of the bad exhaust manifolds, this one is 4/96. Decided that I'm going to buy Torque Monster, not going to bother with the OBX knockoffs, but will have to wait as the TM headers cost almost what I paid for the truck haha.

Steel
 






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