2018 XLT review after 42,280 miles

[realscot2]

I bought this with 2460 miles from the dealer. I was looking at and drove a brand new 2018 2.3 ecoboost FWD and I was less than impressed with the ride and feel.

Dealer said you like black and black? and came back with this courtesy vehicle XLT 4WD. Night and day difference in the ride and feel so I negotiated and bought it.

After a few weeks I noticed what seems like a shimmy on acceleration around 15 mph through maybe 30 mph. Dealer couldn't duplicate it. After too much thought and research I believe SOME of this was due to the height of the sidewall on the tires and the wheel width and diameter. I found a set of 4, 20 x 8.5 wheels and tires off a 2015 limited and swapped them. There was still a slight shimmy sensation but not as much as with the factory 18" wheels. I custom machined 20mm wheel spacers to give it a slightly wider stance then the sport and its much better, but still there.

At the same time I noticed the shimmy, I noticed an audible clunk when returning the steering wheel for full lock position either direction, as you would if you were backing out and turning then straightening the wheel to go straight forward. I hear the clunk at about 1-1/2 full turns of the steering wheel. Again the dealer could not duplicate, even though I heard it when their tech was driving the vehicle. Again, with too much thought and research I found out that the steering gear has what Ford says is a non driveability issue with gear lash or gear stack up. To this day it still clunks AND I believe has something to do with the slight amount of shimmy I feel.

The vehicle drives straight down the road, doesn't wander at highway speeds so I've dropped trying to eliminate this short of replacing the XLT steering gear assembly with one from a sport. The sport has a different gear ratio and different EPAS tuning.

I've had the horns replaced twice under warranty, each time only one horn failed. A few weeks ago I lost one horn so I replaced that with a used one.

I did have the PTU fluid changed at 35,000 even though the dealer told me no one had ever asked them to do this AND its lifetime lubricated. They didn't have a service code for this and came back with $217, which I paid. After trying to sneak a flexible 1/4" hose in between the gears in the PTU for a couple hours I gave up. Not to mention you have to refill it through the top vent tube which has an inside diameter of maybe .15. I got lucky and found an almost new water cooled PTU that I will swap out when this one fails. I am in the process of modifying the vent tube to extend it so its easily reachable from the engine compartment. I will also remove the factory hose fitting and replace it with a larger inside diameter so filling the PTU will be quicker.

The only other concern I have is the internal water pump. No external weep hole? what they hell was Ford thinking. From research I've found this happens as early as 60,000 and the only way to tell is by checking your oil level???

 

[imp]

I bought this with 2460 miles from the dealer. I was looking at and drove a brand new 2018 2.3 ecoboost FWD and I was less than impressed with the ride and feel.

Dealer said you like black and black? and came back with this courtesy vehicle XLT 4WD. Night and day difference in the ride and feel so I negotiated and bought it.

After a few weeks I noticed what seems like a shimmy on acceleration around 15 mph through maybe 30 mph. Dealer couldn't duplicate it. After too much thought and research I believe SOME of this was due to the height of the sidewall on the tires and the wheel width and diameter. I found a set of 4, 20 x 8.5 wheels and tires off a 2015 limited and swapped them. There was still a slight shimmy sensation but not as much as with the factory 18" wheels. I custom machined 20mm wheel spacers to give it a slightly wider stance then the sport and its much better, but still there.

At the same time I noticed the shimmy, I noticed an audible clunk when returning the steering wheel for full lock position either direction, as you would if you were backing out and turning then straightening the wheel to go straight forward. I hear the clunk at about 1-1/2 full turns of the steering wheel. Again the dealer could not duplicate, even though I heard it when their tech was driving the vehicle. Again, with too much thought and research I found out that the steering gear has what Ford says is a non driveability issue with gear lash or gear stack up. To this day it still clunks AND I believe has something to do with the slight amount of shimmy I feel.

The vehicle drives straight down the road, doesn't wander at highway speeds so I've dropped trying to eliminate this short of replacing the XLT steering gear assembly with one from a sport. The sport has a different gear ratio and different EPAS tuning.

I've had the horns replaced twice under warranty, each time only one horn failed. A few weeks ago I lost one horn so I replaced that with a used one.

I did have the PTU fluid changed at 35,000 even though the dealer told me no one had ever asked them to do this AND its lifetime lubricated. They didn't have a service code for this and came back with $217, which I paid. After trying to sneak a flexible 1/4" hose in between the gears in the PTU for a couple hours I gave up. Not to mention you have to refill it through the top vent tube which has an inside diameter of maybe .15. I got lucky and found an almost new water cooled PTU that I will swap out when this one fails. I am in the process of modifying the vent tube to extend it so its easily reachable from the engine compartment. I will also remove the factory hose fitting and replace it with a larger inside diameter so filling the PTU will be quicker.

The only other concern I have is the internal water pump. No external weep hole? what they hell was Ford thinking. From research I've found this happens as early as 60,000 and the only way to tell is by checking your oil level???

My Ex is a 2004, purchased used in 2010. Had my share of problems, though nothing major: ABS Module died, TCC Solenoid failed, and Throttle Body failed (drive by wire). 170,000 miles, original shock absorbers, original fuel pump. Outstanding record, there. I will not buy a newer Explorer.