200K km maintenance

[alex101]

How to Maintain High Mileage Ford Explorer

Hi Guys,

Our Ford Explorer 2014 is reaching 200,000 km (125K miles).
We properly maintained it with Ford dealer, here in Surrey (BC).
We have a very tight budget right now and looking for ways to save some cost.
I was wondering if we could maintain our car ourselves?
Are there any trainings or books that can teach us how to perform regular maintenance for Ford Explorer?
What should we plan to do at 200,000 km (125K miles) ?
What parts of our car will need to be replaced during next 50K ?
Is this ok to keep driving our car after 200K km ? What is the max this car can go?

 

[alex101]

Our Ford dealer is asking us to do 200K km maintenance which cost $1398.
Can you check if this is reasonable?
We feel it is too expensive.
Can you recommend any good mechanic in Surrey / Cloverdale / Langley BC ?

 

[Odrapnew]

1. Oil change can be done much cheaper than that(like 1/2)
1. How old is the battery? Do you notice weak starting? Pop the hood and check the terminals for corrosion. Seems like a lot of money for them to clean the terminals...especially if they aren't corroded.
2. Filters(engine, cabin, A/C seats), absolutely do these yourself if you have even a little mechanical aptitude. That $260 worth of filters and labor should be well below $100 if you use quality parts store filters for the engine and cabin. Not sure on the seat filters, but those should be just as easy.
3. Spark plugs - I assume you have the V6 based on their labor. The intake manifold has to be removed to get to the rear 3 cylinders, that's why there's so much labor and the intake manifold gasket. If you can do it yourself, you can save the labor, but it takes a bit of work(as indicated by the 2hrs of labor).
4. Replace PCV valve. Never heard of that one. Should inquire as to why they want/need to replace it.
5. Transmission fluid. If it's never been changed, there a theory that flushing the trans can dislodge stuff which could get caught in other places.

 

[Sixonemale]

So you roughly have 124,270 miles on your car for those of used to the mileage metric. There is a lot of nickel and diming on the list no doubt, but the one thing I would want to make sure of, is that they are taking advantage of economies-of- scale in regard to the labor being charged. More specifically, if you look at the cost to replace the PCV valve of around $200 labor, which I’m not sure of its location on the engine, but I have seen several PCV valves and they aren't complicated, would it be easier to replace the valve while they are changing the spark plugs with the intake manifold off? Make sure they are not charging you for labor on individual jobs at book time since the same labor hours might be required for another job (spark plugs and PCV valve) or can make the other job a lot easier because certain things are removed, etc.

With the above said, what about the internal water pump? If that was going to replaced, the engine may have to be pulled, etc., then replacing the spark plugs would be extremely easy and probably the same for the PCV valve, etc.

 

[peterk9]

Have you checked your Owner's Manual recommendations for what is required Alex? It doesn't list a 200k service. It shows service intervals at 160k and 240k kms.
Also, looking at my invoice, oil and filter was $24.69 and labour $22.95. Multipoint checks and reports are always free as well as the alignment check. I don't have any other comparisons as I always change leases every 3 years or so and don't accumulate the mileage most people do.
One thing that would be helpful is to update your profile to show the now "Required" trim level (Base, XLT, etc.) since that would let the members know which Explorer you have. Thanks.

Peter

 

[alex101]

1. Oil change can be done much cheaper than that(like 1/2)
1. How old is the battery? Do you notice weak starting? Pop the hood and check the terminals for corrosion. Seems like a lot of money for them to clean the terminals...especially if they aren't corroded.
2. Filters(engine, cabin, A/C seats), absolutely do these yourself if you have even a little mechanical aptitude. That $260 worth of filters and labor should be well below $100 if you use quality parts store filters for the engine and cabin. Not sure on the seat filters, but those should be just as easy.
3. Spark plugs - I assume you have the V6 based on their labor. The intake manifold has to be removed to get to the rear 3 cylinders, that's why there's so much labor and the intake manifold gasket. If you can do it yourself, you can save the labor, but it takes a bit of work(as indicated by the 2hrs of labor).
4. Replace PCV valve. Never heard of that one. Should inquire as to why they want/need to replace it.
5. Transmission fluid. If it's never been changed, there a theory that flushing the trans can dislodge stuff which could get caught in other places.

Hello,
Thank you for your reply.
The battery is about 1 year old. There is no issue with starting. Terminals look good.
Can I change engine filter by myself? Do I need any hydraulics to lift up my car to do that? Is there any tutorial on how to change filters?
For spark plugs, I need to find a local mechanic who can help. I understand it is not a simple thing, but I've got a few quotes that this can be done 2 times cheaper.
Regarding PVC valve. The dealer explained to me why they need to do that. But it sounded as foreign language and did not make much sense to me. This seems to be very suspicious. I heard that dealers regularly advice to replace that valve but it is not clear is it really necessary.
Transmission fluid. The dealer told me that Ford recommends to change it every 48K km and the last time we change it at 150K.

What else would you typically do at 200K?
I read some people talk about replacing the water pump. Should I wait until it fails or replace it in advance?

 

[alex101]

Have you checked your Owner's Manual recommendations for what is required Alex? It doesn't list a 200k service. It shows service intervals at 160k and 240k kms.
Also, looking at my invoice, oil and filter was $24.69 and labour $22.95. Multipoint checks and reports are always free as well as the alignment check. I don't have any other comparisons as I always change leases every 3 years or so and don't accumulate the mileage most people do.
One thing that would be helpful is to update your profile to show the now "Required" trim level (Base, XLT, etc.) since that would let the members know which Explorer you have. Thanks.

Peter

Thank you.
I added information about our car - Ford Explorer 2014 XLT
I will check Owner's Manual to see what needs to be done.
I was always relying on Dealer to recommend me what needs to be done.
It's time to learn to do this stuff myself.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks Alex. That will help. You are right in the middle of the 2 service intervals that Ford recommends. Check page 425 of the Manual if you have the 4th print edition.
As for the water pump, that is a difficult question to answer. It could hang in for months, years or quit tomorrow. No way of really telling. There are a few members with high mileage that haven't had any issues yet there are those with relatively low mileage that have problems. The problem of waiting until it goes is a bit of a gamble because if you don't catch it in time it could ruin the engine. Water pump failure leads to dead engine If you plan to keep the Explorer for a long time, it might be worthwhile to discuss this with your dealer or mechanic in regards to combining some of the labour costs. If you go that route, have the timing chain checked out as well. Good luck.

Peter