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94 Ford 50000 Miles Need Some Advice

krisnowicki

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May 15, 2006
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City, State
Jacksonville
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 XLS
Question 94 Explorer Limited... FAQ (expert advise please)
i recently bought a 94 explorer with 57000 original miles on it.... I am going top pick itup next week because i bought it at an auction before i pick it up i am allowed an hour with the car to make sure that it is as "advertised" and in perfect mechanical condition .... You guys seem to be the experts on this so i was wondering aside from basic mechanics which i am pretty familiar with is here some things in specific i sbhould be looking for that this model is known for?
 



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Achilles Heel is the A4LD tranny. I would check to make sure the fluid looks good, and that it seems to shift ok.

57k miles is not much for a 94. I would be suspicious that it may have been wrecked and rebuilt at some point. That would account for the low mileage. Look for signs of body repair, mismatched paint fade, etc.
 






Not sure if the 93-94 gauge clusters were changed but my 92 only showed 6 digits. So it would go as high as 99,999.9 before rolling over. Is it possible that it really has 154,000 miles.
 






I'm surprised to see a 94 with supposedly only 54k that made it to an auction. Usually they would be bought up before getting to an auction. Get the VIN ahead of time and run a carfax on it. Look for signs of odometer discrepancies. Also look for flood damage reports. There are a lot flood damaged cars from Katrina last September that being sold throughout the country.

From a mechancial perspective, make sure the trans shifts right away between fwd and rev. This test should be done when the truck is cold if possible. Also look for signs of a blown head gasket.
 






the carfax says it is right the report says it has one owner and was involved in one accident and the total damage to the car wa 900 dollars so nothing sriuos at all.... aside from the transmission is there anything i should look for
 






is the head gasket a common thing to blow on these and are these engines OHV or OHC
 






krisnowicki said:
is the head gasket a common thing to blow on these and are these engines OHV or OHC

I don't know how common head gasket problems are on the 4.0, but trans problems are common. The 94 will be an OHV (pushrod) engine. The SOHC engine wasn't offered until 97.
 






krisnowicki said:
is the head gasket a common thing to blow on these and are these engines OHV or OHC

They have aluminum heads, so if they are run hot they will fail a little more often than otherwise. If you are worried about the head gasket, do all the obvious things--look around the valve cover/head area for coolant, look for white crust deposits that might be dried coolant evidence. Also pull the oil filler cap, see if there is moisture on its underside. And finally see if the oil looks watery, or smells like coolant.

Also check the rear main seal, they've been known to leak on these things.

You didn't say what carfax reported the mileage as. I think your odo *could* be 157,000 and not 57,000. My 94 only shows 5 digits...keep that in mind.
 






at least in my 92 the odometer has 5 digits while my 93 has 6 digits. so it is possible that it still has 50000 miles and not 150000.
 


















I know the Trani was mentioned several times. Put your foot on the brake and put the trani into Drive, see if it response quickly or if there is a hesitation of about 1 second before you feel it drop in. Do the same for reverse.

Use the 4WD and see if it will go into 4WD and then see if it goes into 4Wheel LOW.

In 4 WD listen for banging or clunking at the front Hubs. These Automatic Hubs are not very Robust units. You can do this on hard ground for the minimal amount of testing you will be doing, just don't turn tight in 4WD on hard ground.
Take it out of 4WD and again listen for front End banging and clunking.

Good luck with the new ride
 






Just remember in order to get into 4low you have to be in 4-wheel drive first and then go in to neutral with your foot on the brake.
 






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