Considering a 2000 Explorer-need opinions

[marragtop]

I'm considering buying a 2000 Eddie Bauer Explorer, 6cyl 4.0L 4X4 110,000 miles. I'd appreciate some thoughts as to what I should be looking for in terms of problems. Does this year have any timing chain or intake gasket issues? All comments are appreciated. thanks.

 

[Blueraven]

I bought a 99 Sport with 128K that is in good condition about a month ago and last week the transmission went out.

I knew there were problems with the transmissions on these vehicles and I suspected that something wasn't quite right with this one when I bought the vehicle so I went into the deal knowing that a big repair bill might be in order.

There are certainly people who have thousands of miles on these that have had no transmission problems, so I think it's a hit and miss kind of thing.

I paid $2K, which I is about $2,200 under the KBB "private party" value and $3,700 under "suggested retail".

Seeing that I plan on owning this vehicle for a number of years, I'm OK with putting a few dollars in it.

I don't know if you can have the transmission checked out, but I would recommend at least taking it to a trusted mechanic to have the whole vehicle gone over.

Good luck,
Blueraven

 

[celly]

I had the timing chain issue on my old '00 Sport w/ SOHC V6 (fixed under warranty) so the EB you're looking at is susceptible for sure. Do a warranty background check on it before you buy. I wouldn't buy any SOHC equipped second gen that hadn't got the work, but that's just me.

 

[marragtop]

Are most of the Gen IIs 4.0s SOHC, or were there also the 4.0 OHV? The owner doesn't know what he has.

 

[Blueraven]

Ask him to lift the hood and on top of the injectors in the center, the plastic cover should read 4.0 SOHC on it, at least mine does.

 

[marragtop]

I'm also going to check the vin. I found this on another site which hopefully is correct:

Explorer/Ranger/Bronco 8th digit:
C 2.5L 4 cylinder Engine
P 5.0L V8
A 2.3L 4 cylinder
E 4.0L 6 cylinder SOHC
S 2.8L 4 cylinder
T 2.9L 6 cylinder
U 3.0L 6 cylinder
X 4.0L 6 cylinder OHV

 

[shadowless127]

The SOHC was an option from 97-00. In 2001 they dropped the 4.0 OHV and made the SOHC the only available 6cyl. A quick search of cars.com shows that the SOHC was std on the Eddie Bauer.

 

[marragtop]

Yeah, unfortunately it looks like all the Eddie Bauers had the SOHC. Is the timing chain an issue on all the SOHCs, or did Ford fix the design at some point? If so, what year?

Also, how much work is it to fix the timing chain problem?

 

[shadowless127]

Yeah, unfortunately it looks like all the Eddie Bauers had the SOHC. Is the timing chain an issue on all the SOHCs, or did Ford fix the design at some point? If so, what year?

Also, how much work is it to fix the timing chain problem?

not sure about when the issue was fixed, haven't heard a lot of 00-01 SOHC owners complaining about them.

Fixing it, iirc, requires quite a lot of work though.

 

[celly]

In 2000, the EB was only available in 4.0
SOHC or 5.O.

If it's a V6, you have SOHC.
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