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Tire pressures are also a consideration. But given the larger tires, I don't know if that would be the big concern. My '03 V6 gets about 16-18 mpg on the stock size 16" tire in "mixed" conditions. Some highway driving, mostly city driving. No warm-up in the morning. The front tires are at 30...

+1 on the RockAuto. That's where I ordered mine from for this Explorer and my previous one. I needed everything from the mid-pipe back, and RockAuto had the full kit for a rather reasonable price. And it still arrived on my doorstep within the same week as placing the order.

Bump from the dead...wonder if this could be a sticky since it seems to plague so many of these vehicles. Anyway, I was looking for this thread as I'm going to do my 2nd Explorer this spring. Needed a reminder on the vinyl material...*may* try the repaint route but not sure. I did my first...

If anybody purchased one of the unpainted (Dorman or otherwise) hatch panels for their 3rd gen and did ALL the work of replacing it yourself, what kind of adhesive did you use to secure the new panel onto the hatch frame? I've seen a couple videos that show adhesive strips already on the back...

Well, since using that E85 apparently gives you worse gas mileage than regular gasoline, I'd go with "no" as well. :D

My current 2003 XLT just turned over 170,000 miles. I bought it back in late December with 167,500 on the clock. My previous 2003 XLT had 334,000 miles on it when it was killed by a deer. I bought that with 320K on it, put the extra 14K on it in 13 months, and then hit a deer while going 50...

Nope...unless you've got the Message Center. My dad's 2005 XLT has that and it will beep when it reaches the low fuel mark...but it trips when the estimated remaining range is 50 miles.

I just saw mine come on for the first time today, fuel level related. I was kinda intentionally trying to run the fuel level down to see at what point it would come on because up until now, it never lit even as the fuel gage needle hovered over the "E" mark. I was sitting at a stop light and...

Yup, I'm bringing an oldie back sorta... From the manual, it seems as if the "Check Gage" light comes on when there is low fuel (or empty). But I'm kind of wondering at what point of the "low" measurement the light comes on. I've run my tank down to only having 2 gallons in it and I never...

...well...I just disconnected the battery for about 10 minutes and after reconnecting the cables, it fired right up as if nothing ever happened. W T F.

First, I'll precede this by stating that I replaced the battery in my '03 XLT this weekend. Did it mostly because the one that was in there was the wrong size so now I've got a DieHard Gold in there that is the proper size for this vehicle. We've had snow yesterday and today so I've driven...

I didn't. I let a trusted shop handle it. Find a shop that you can count on and let them handle it. Any halfway decent shop nowadays has the proper tools to diagnose these sort of things. If they don't, they shouldn't be in business.

I had the ABS light pop on in mine not too long ago. It was the tone ring for the ABS in the front wheel bearing. The shop had to replace the wheel bearing to the tune of about $250. But that was just my case. Your's could be slightly different since the 4x4 HIGH is involved as well...

Another little update... I drove my dad's 2005 Explorer XLT last night and tried the various HVAC settings. Fan speed, direction, etc. Mainly wanted to report that the defrost on his is just as powerful as mine on each fan speed setting. So I guess it really isn't a matter of air flow after...

Twice this weekend I've encountered that dreaded "O/D OFF" flashing issue with my '03 XLT. It first happened on Friday as I was on my way home for the evening...I hadn't driven it much that day; maybe put about 30 miles on it and it was flashing on the last 10 minutes of the ride home. On...

Gotcha. I'll give that a whirl. Getting behind that dent isn't the most accessible place for a hammer alone...I'll definitely try a 2x4 or something similar. Thanks again.

I opened up the glove box again this afternoon while it was daylight out still and had another look. This is what I saw: It appears the recirc door is closed to keep the fresh air out in this position, correct? I started the truck up and went through the fan speeds...I did feel air coming...

Cool, thanks. Should I still use just a blunt-point punch, or maybe something that could cover a slight bit more surface area? And still work it out a little at a time?

Heck yeah man, stone's throw away. :) Whereabouts in Gambrills? The link you posted doesn't pose any intimidation at all. In fact, I've read through that thread and just figured it applies to smaller dents/dings like what's shown there. If that procedure can apply to my dent, then I could...

I got home this evening and decided to check this out. Dropped the glove box and shined a flashlight in there to see whats up. I directed the light towards the grilled area above the blower motor and when looking through, it appears that the door is up. I saw the diagonal plastic lines back...

Thanks for the tip, I'll check mine as well. Sounds like that would be easy enough to check anyway.

I didn't think so either. Does air get pulled in from the cowl area? Wondering if that area could have some kind of blockage...

Thanks...if that's what it is, then so be it. I'd be interested to see what info you can provide, but in all honesty if its going to be that big of a job I'll probably just let a pro handle it ultimately. I can kid myself by saying I'm not looking for an absolute perfect straightening, but...

In my case it certainly seems like an adequate force of air is coming out. When I set the fan speed to 4, it certainly sounded like it was blasting the air out. But I really don't have anything to compare to...maybe it is a weakened flow and I don't realize it. Can the ducts get clogged?

Bleeding brakes is a fairly simple process. You will most likely need to get the vehicle up in the air on jack stand; you may be able to do one end at a time (rear first, then the front). If you're doing it yourself, you can buy a speed bleeder kit from any parts store and follow the...

I thought the blend door issue was temperature related? My hot and cold work just fine...cold comes out cold, hot comes out hot...and the air is being directed properly.

Maybe first have another shop look at the brakes as well. Here are my thoughts regarding the brakes: If they're saying the rotors, pads, cylinders, and shoes are all in good shape then I would start looking at a cable adjustment for the parking brake. For the regular braking, get the system...

Good idea; I'm sure I'll start doing that too once I get some of those side window visors...they're definitely on the list.

So I've noticed. ;) Even using the regular heat or A/C on full blast out the front vents seems pretty weak. And for having to cover such a large space...oh boy. My Mustang's defrost clears fog up pretty quick, but then again, we're talking about a vehicle with a cabin area that's barely half...

I am fairly certain...about 99%...that there was no air coming out of the front vents. Just the ones on top of the dash (I do notice those vents seem rather small...I'd almost expect them to cover more area along the dash).

I just experienced something similar the other night. It was a bit on the colder side, and raining pretty good, so just a minute or two after getting in the Explorer (it had sat for a couple hours) the windows started to fog up. I flipped the defroster on and set the temperature dial all the...

I'm wondering if there's any "home remedy" hope for this dent I have in my tailgate. So far I've tried one of those oversized suction cups (hey, it was cheap enough...figured I'd try it at least) and have taken the interior panel off and tried to bang it out from the inside. It seems that that...

Around this area, I seem to notice a lot of 3rd gens still on the road, and to a slightly lesser extent, the second gens. 4th gens too. Really don't see a whole lot of 1st gens anymore, and haven't noticed many of the newer ones (maybe cuz I'm in denial that the new ones are a "real" Explorer...

I have an XLT and it has the 235/75R16s on it...and everywhere I checked, it showed the 16s as the base "option" for the XLT and the 17s as the upgrade.

Check your tire pressures! That's the absolute first and easiest thing that comes to mind. I monitor my mileage as well in my vehicles and just about every time I've seen a drop in the mileage, it's been because of low tire pressures somewhere. You'd be surprised just how much gas mileage you...

I have a question... Is the trim on the 3rd gens truly black though? Or is it more of a charcoal? I'm planning to repaint the bodyside moldings and such at some point down the road because right now, it's all faded and it's an uneven fading. The bumper might be lighter than the trim around the...

Ended up replacing the negative battery cable connector tonight. Last night as I was leaving my parents' house, I went to fire the truck up but everything completely went out again. Wiggled the negative cable a bit on the battery post a few times and it fired back up. Finally went to buy the...

...and the last of my saga, at least for now...spent a little more than an hour this morning at the DMV getting the permanent tags for it. Got home, put the new sticker on the plate, then went out to get some little accessories that would come in handy to have in the vehicle...tire pressure...

Today the truck got it's alignment done and the reinspection passed. Woot! Gotta go get the permanent registration tomorrow as long as the DMV is open.

Today it's at the shop having the front upper control arms changed, one of the front lower ball joints, and the right front wheel bearing (ABS light came on and the shop found the bearing to be the culprit). Tomorrow is alignment and state reinspection then should be able to get the permanent...