1996 Xlt

[skidoofan]

Hello! New to this forum. I'm looking at the above vehicle for my son. It appears to be in pretty good shape. A little read door rust on inner bottom edge. I've the same issue on my 97 F150. Other than that it's a pretty clean unit. However; it has 176,000 miles on it. Miles have never bothered me that much as long as a vehicle has been taken care of over the lifetime. I've not had an opportunity to speak to the prior owner but will do so when he gets back from holidays. Everything seems to work fine on it. It has the dial/button for 4-wheel drive which seems to work OK. The transmission fluid looks good and doesn't smell burnt. Oil level is good and engine seems to run and idle fine. It does have the CEL on, which I had Advance Auto Parts check it out. There were 3 codes: DTC P0133 O2 Sensor in Bank 1 Sensor 1 - CKT Slow Response; DTC P0153 - O2 Sensor in Bank 2 Sensor 1 - CKT Slow Response; and DTC P0420 - Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold - Bank 1. I see that the O2 sensors run about $50 each. The vehicle is at a satellite dealership which is run out of a farm equipment store. I'll probably purchase, if so, with the intention of taking care of the above issues. My offer would be dependent on those costs.

I've not owned Ford products for a long time until the last few years. I purchased a 99 Cougar for my daughter, just bought a 97 F150 4x4 in November for myself. Now looking for an SUV for my son and spotted this vehicle locally.

Questions: What are thoughts on this vehicle with the kind of miles it has on it? I've read many good reports on the Ford engines in the F150's - 150,000 - 200,000 +. Gauging the miles that my daughter has put on her car - about 20,000 in 3 years, if we could get 200,000 out of it without many problems, would be good.
Are O2 sensors difficult to replace on these? I also wondering if the last code is due to the Bank 1 sensor?? How reliable are the auto 4-wheel drive mechanisms? I had a 96 Jeep GC with the sensor system that took it in and out of 4-wheel drive. I personally didn't like that system. I like to have control over putting it into and out of 4 wheel drive.

Anyway, the vehicle is pretty clean inside and out. New tires and my son is excited about it. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and Merry Christmas!

 

[Rick]

Welcome

You have a lot of good questions. I'll try and answer a few. You shouldn't have any problem getting 200k from your engine if it's running well now.

Go to our Transmission and Transfer Case forum and look for the "Brown Wire Mod" or just use our search function and enter that. The brown wire mod will give you the control of your transfercase that you're after.

Use the search function to try and find others who have brought up the same computer codes. You should be able to find your answers pretty quickly.