a4ld... to buy or not to buy...

[knightpitt]

Hey guys... I'm hoping for some good advice from folks that seem to know these vehicles... I've been trolling around the forum for a while, and I am genuinely impressed at the knowledge-base around here.

Anyhow, I got offered a deal on a Ford Explorer through a friend that left the country. He has a '94, Limited that he just wants to get rid of. It's got 111k miles and the OHV 4.0L V6, automatic tranny and push-button 4x4. Aside from some rocker panel rust, it's in pretty good shape.

Well, except for the fact that the tranny is leaking slightly and shifts terribly. It seems that the A4LD tranny in general is well, to put it delicately, fairly weak. Engine sounds good and runs strong, 4x4 works, and nothing else is broken as far as I can tell.

He's getting offered $500 from a dealership and offered it to me at the same price. I've been wanting something (cheap) for a while that I could tow with in the future and use in the winter and haul other stuff with, but I certainly don't want it to be a moneypit and I don't want to be underneath it working on it all of the time.

So... what do you think? Opinions? Experience?
Also, does anyone have a source (and price) for a good rebuilt tranny in the Pittsburgh area?

 

[LBarr2002]

$500 for a "low-milage" first gen isn't bad. I'd probably take it. Just keep in mind that with an already hurting tranny towing isn't gonna help it.

 

[techieman33]

You can count on that tranny having to be rebuilt or replaced soon. Your probably looking at $2000 to have a shop rebuild it and put it back in. And if you want to do the work yourself and just buy a rebuilt tranny it would probably cost around $1000.

 

[Rhett]

Anyhow, I got offered a deal on a Ford Explorer through a friend that left the country. He has a '94, Limited that he just wants to get rid of. It's got 111k miles and the OHV 4.0L V6, automatic tranny and push-button 4x4. Aside from some rocker panel rust, it's in pretty good shape.

How many places can you buy a working 4x4 for $500? I would go $500 on it, as long as it ran decently. You probably will have to have something done to the transmission, but it will probably not be $2000 worth, in my opinion.

From the sound of it, if you tow much with than trans, it will go out completely. But $500 for a working 4x4 is worth it in my opinion.

And 111,000 miles on the 4.0 OHV is "just breaking it in". That's nothing for that engine.

 

[LBarr2002]

I paid $250 for my '92 that had been sitting 2 years with "something broke" in the motor. I had it back together and running for about $300...total in it after 1 1/2 years of driving it is about $2000 including $450 in tires. My point is if you start off cheap enough (which $500 is), you can put money in to a vehicle and still be better off than buying one in perfect shape.

 

[knightpitt]

I'd definitely be doing the work myself, as I have pulled plenty of trannies.... mostly import FWD stuff, some RWD BMW's, and an ungodly amount of Dodge Caravans... I've never done a 4x4 vehicle before, but I'm sure that it's within my capabilities...

From what I've read in this forum and other places, the rebuilds done on the a4ld's are not typically of particularly high quality. 20k-30k miles is what I've read to expect, which sounds terrible. I'm not interested in rebuilding the tranny myself, either, (even with the **awesome** tranny rebuild diary here... wow), just because I'd rather devote my garage space and time to helping friends out with their cars than rebuilding my tranny... certainly no offense towards anyone who does, though - I admire the patience, mechanical skills, and dilligance!

I actually have nothing to tow with the explorer right now, but I'd like to eventually (2-3 year plan) like to have an e30 or e36 track car... but that's a different matter. For right now, I'd use it more for hauling supplies to fix my house and for driving around in winter weather.

 

[Jason94sport]

An explorer of that year is not up to towing a car around. With that in mind, $500 is a good deal. A rebuilt tranny should also last alot longer then 20-30K miles. Removing the tranny is like most cars, just with the 4x4 alot more has to come out.
I'd get it, spend a little $$ getting it to drive good(maybe live with the tranny for now) use it for what you need the next 2 or so years then see what the plan is.
At the very least you could sell the X for $500-$1K at that time.

 

[sn0border88]

check glacier991's a4ld rebuild thread. Its probably in my future to attempt my own, for around 800 But, if done right the thing should be damn near bullet proof.

 

[Christobal65]

You can count on that tranny having to be rebuilt or replaced soon. Your probably looking at $2000 to have a shop rebuild it and put it back in. And if you want to do the work yourself and just buy a rebuilt tranny it would probably cost around $1000.

I got my Trany rebuilt buy a AAA approved shop for $1300 including removal and install

 

[CDW6212R]

Rebuilt tranny's will last as long as an original, only if they aren't burned up to start with. If the trans is fixed before it starts destroying hard parts, it can be expected to last as long as any new model, etc.

Don't drive an automatic until it quits moving. If you know that something isn't right, as in seriously wrong, stop driving it. Don't drive it even a mile. The time between when it can be as good as new, and burned up, can easily be just 30 seconds. That extra 30 seconds, or mile, or 50 miles, isn't worth the risk of ending up with a six month tranny.

That Limited is the same as my 93 Limited with 113K on it. Take good care of it, fix the trans, and don't tow anything really heavy. I have my entire 93 4x4 chassis available. I intend on rebuilding the A4LD for my 91 though, which has a leaking front seal. Good luck,

 

[knightpitt]

Well, I got some shop quotes... $1k-1.4k from one shop with 18 month 18k mile warranty, and $1.4k-1.8k with 12 month 12k mile warranty. Both shops came recommended from friends locally. Also, they said that they typically do the pull themselves, which kind of surprised me. I guess I had been expecting to pull the transmission myself. The one shop said that they do the work because people don't have the appropriate equipment to flush the transmission cooler or to set the tolerence between the torque converter and the "pump". I understand the flushing of the cooler issue, but the tolerence thing sounds fishy to me... but, what do I know?

Does all of this sound about right? I know there's plenty of folks here who have pulled their own and replaced it. For what it's worth, even junkyard transmissions run around $500 at the very least...