jseabolt
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- July 12, 2009
- Messages
- 232
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Kingsport, Tennessee
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 Explorer Limted V8
I've been gone for a couple of years. Well I'm back with a 2006 Explorer Limited.
I sold (well ended up giving) my 96 XLT to my stepson because he didn't have anything to drive. I missed my old Explorer despite the fact it seemed I was having to tinker with it a lot.
About the same time I bought a 2008 Mustang GT in May of 2011. I always wanted a GT and liked the car but because of all my other collector cars, I prefer to drive in the summer, the car did not get driven that much. I bet I didn't put 2000 miles on the car since I bought it.
Several reasons for trading it in on an Explorer:
1) The wife couldn't (wouldn't) drive it because it was a stick shift.
2) She didn't want to put our 1 year old daughter in the back seat because it was a 2 door.
3) The car would not go in the snow. I never actually attempted to drive the car in the snow simply because when we do get snow the #1 car abandoned in the middle of the road or nose pointed down in a median is a Mustang. Either they don't go that good in snow or it's the people driving them. Case in point:
4) Can't haul anything in them. I could not fit a safe in the trunk and had to haul it in the front passenger seat.
5) Can't tow with them. According to people on the Mustang forum they said I would be stupid to try and haul a 2000 lb car with a stang despite having 100 more HP than my old 96 XLT.
6) Paying $440 a month on a car I seldom drive especially in the winter for fear we might get a snowstorm and I couldn't make it home and have to abandon it along side the road and create a hazzard like all these other idiots I complain about. Also back to #4.
7) Wife's Buick or 370Z would not go in the snow.
8) Did not want to give up my 2003 Subaru Baja. Too rare a car and has been good to me, will go anywhere and is useful at hauling stuff you would not want inside a car like gasoline and garbage.
So after weighing the options I figured another Explorer would meet my needs better than the Mustang. I missed my 96 XLT.
So I found a 2006 Limited V8. It has more miles on it and is 2 years older but is in good condition. V8 with towing package. Hopefully I selected a good one.
This link will probably be gone eventually but here it is:
http://www.courtesykingsport.com/Ve..."_WB_4.6L_Limited_4WD-Kingsport-TN/1895480713
I do not like the new Explorers. Sorry but they have not grown on me as of yet. Maybe one of these days they will. I actually prefer the body style of my 96 best of all but either my stepson as been a bit rough on my old Explorer or it's just getting old but he seems to be having a lot of issues out of it. The other day the serpentine belt broke. He says the steering rack is hard to turn when cold.
My last two repairs was a cracked PS exhaust manifold and a coked up EGR valve at 100,000 miles. I believe the car has 140,000 miles on it now.
Anyway I do have a question ot two. The rear doors on my 2006 do not appear to be sagging but the trim piece on the doors are rubbing the paint off the running boards on both sides.
What is the fix for this? Unbolt the running boards and install some longer bolts and use some flat washers as shims between the body and boards to drop them enough to provide clearance?
Also while I am at it. I was suspicious that something might be up with the transmission. I normally do not select automatics for myself for a couple of reasons. One is they are not as fun to drive as stick shifts but Ford does not make stick shift Explorers anymore so really not much of a choice on that one. Also nobody doesn't seem to make "good" automatics anymore. Wife's Buick's transmission crapped out at 70K miles. Luckily it was covered under warranty. Dad's old 96 Plymouth Voyager went through 3 transmissions before finally going to the junkyard.
Below 40 mph, my Explorer feels like it has a missfire. But the check engine light does not kick on. I try to observe the tachometer at the same time. I'll notice it drop a bit when this happens.
If I take the transmission out of overdrive it seems to run smoother. It seems at highway speeds (55 to 70 mph) it doesn't do this. Just when puttering around town below 50 mph. Like the transmission is constantly shifting between 3rd to 4th gear (assuming OD is 4th, or is this now 5th)? Anyone ever noticed this?
I sold (well ended up giving) my 96 XLT to my stepson because he didn't have anything to drive. I missed my old Explorer despite the fact it seemed I was having to tinker with it a lot.
About the same time I bought a 2008 Mustang GT in May of 2011. I always wanted a GT and liked the car but because of all my other collector cars, I prefer to drive in the summer, the car did not get driven that much. I bet I didn't put 2000 miles on the car since I bought it.
Several reasons for trading it in on an Explorer:
1) The wife couldn't (wouldn't) drive it because it was a stick shift.
2) She didn't want to put our 1 year old daughter in the back seat because it was a 2 door.
3) The car would not go in the snow. I never actually attempted to drive the car in the snow simply because when we do get snow the #1 car abandoned in the middle of the road or nose pointed down in a median is a Mustang. Either they don't go that good in snow or it's the people driving them. Case in point:
4) Can't haul anything in them. I could not fit a safe in the trunk and had to haul it in the front passenger seat.
5) Can't tow with them. According to people on the Mustang forum they said I would be stupid to try and haul a 2000 lb car with a stang despite having 100 more HP than my old 96 XLT.
6) Paying $440 a month on a car I seldom drive especially in the winter for fear we might get a snowstorm and I couldn't make it home and have to abandon it along side the road and create a hazzard like all these other idiots I complain about. Also back to #4.
7) Wife's Buick or 370Z would not go in the snow.
8) Did not want to give up my 2003 Subaru Baja. Too rare a car and has been good to me, will go anywhere and is useful at hauling stuff you would not want inside a car like gasoline and garbage.
So after weighing the options I figured another Explorer would meet my needs better than the Mustang. I missed my 96 XLT.
So I found a 2006 Limited V8. It has more miles on it and is 2 years older but is in good condition. V8 with towing package. Hopefully I selected a good one.
This link will probably be gone eventually but here it is:
http://www.courtesykingsport.com/Ve..."_WB_4.6L_Limited_4WD-Kingsport-TN/1895480713
I do not like the new Explorers. Sorry but they have not grown on me as of yet. Maybe one of these days they will. I actually prefer the body style of my 96 best of all but either my stepson as been a bit rough on my old Explorer or it's just getting old but he seems to be having a lot of issues out of it. The other day the serpentine belt broke. He says the steering rack is hard to turn when cold.
My last two repairs was a cracked PS exhaust manifold and a coked up EGR valve at 100,000 miles. I believe the car has 140,000 miles on it now.
Anyway I do have a question ot two. The rear doors on my 2006 do not appear to be sagging but the trim piece on the doors are rubbing the paint off the running boards on both sides.
What is the fix for this? Unbolt the running boards and install some longer bolts and use some flat washers as shims between the body and boards to drop them enough to provide clearance?
Also while I am at it. I was suspicious that something might be up with the transmission. I normally do not select automatics for myself for a couple of reasons. One is they are not as fun to drive as stick shifts but Ford does not make stick shift Explorers anymore so really not much of a choice on that one. Also nobody doesn't seem to make "good" automatics anymore. Wife's Buick's transmission crapped out at 70K miles. Luckily it was covered under warranty. Dad's old 96 Plymouth Voyager went through 3 transmissions before finally going to the junkyard.
Below 40 mph, my Explorer feels like it has a missfire. But the check engine light does not kick on. I try to observe the tachometer at the same time. I'll notice it drop a bit when this happens.
If I take the transmission out of overdrive it seems to run smoother. It seems at highway speeds (55 to 70 mph) it doesn't do this. Just when puttering around town below 50 mph. Like the transmission is constantly shifting between 3rd to 4th gear (assuming OD is 4th, or is this now 5th)? Anyone ever noticed this?
