About to buy my first Sport Trac, couple Q's

[jonnyquest]

First let me start off by say HEY ALL!
I've owned about every car/motorcycle made, and looking at buy a used Sport Trac, 2001 w/100k. Don't know who owned it before, but 2 owner vehicle.

I'm a police officer here in Jacksonville, and our patrol cars are Expeditions & Explorers. So i've some very basic knowledge of them.

I'm also aware of some nightmare stories on the trannys, is this a vehicle i should steer clear (no pun intended) of, or if i do buy it what should be the first thing i do to make sure to have as minimal problems as possible? Especially with the transmissions.

Thanks everyone!

 

[ZBlackBeast]

First off, let me be the first to say WELCOME. Youll find alot of useful info here. And i have a couple of q's for you.... do you know which motor... if its the SOHC, make sure the timing chain tensioner was replaced, if not thats a health 1800 bucks, and if so great. I havent really heard of alot of nightmare stores. i owned a 97 ex, with the SOHC and 5r55e tranny, and i it had 143000 miles on it when i sold it for the 5.0, and the tranny was as solid as the day i and the previous owner bought it. just change the fulid and filter every 300000 and youll be good there. Id take it to your local dealer for or trusted mechanic, and get their/his/her expert opinion on the trucks condition. hope everthing works out great for ya!! and again, welcome
Clay

 

[jonnyquest]

Thanks Z,
It is the SOHC. If i had the vin run through the service dept at my local dealership, would the timing chain tensioner be listed (if it was done at a dealer)? And how else would i know if it's been done?

Thanks!

 

[chad551]

I would get an 02 or newer with less mileage.

 

[John_Rock]

Or get one with a manual tranny.

You just never know how the previous owners treated it. Hmmmmmmmmm. Tough decision. I've seen new owners come on here saying they just bought the truck and now the OD light is flashing.

 

[ZBlackBeast]

Yea, it all depends, the two explorers ive owned were/are increadable. They take alot of abuse, just be sure to baby them. i agree with finding a newer one, i mean, do the best you can for your budget, and if you have to, buy the cheaper one to hold money on the side for repairs or mods later down the road. what ever you do, once you buy one, replace ALL the fluids, yes this can run upward of 100-200 dollars, but its worth it in the long run and all your gears and berring will thank you later.

 

[sporttractuner]

if you';e buying and 01 trac, just make sure that it was in the post febuary production...apparrently is took a couple of months to work out the bugs, other than that, you've got the same set up as my 03. Ive got about 170000km right now, and still runs like new...only things I would worry about are the general maininance items, like tranny/diff flushes, and such. maybe check the allignment before you spend any money on tires..