jimbocentral
New Member
- Joined
- June 17, 2007
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Wake Forest, North Carolina
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2000
I bought a 2000 Explorer XLT 4x4 3 years ago this past March. When I was looking at this vehicle I noticed that it had an engine rattle coming from the area around the belt tensioner and figured that must be the problem. Other than that the vehicle was in excellent condition, so I bought it. I drove it the first summer without any major problems. The second summer I noticed when it was above 90 degrees it would try to overheat if I ran the a/c. I changed the themostat and the fan clutch and the radiator cap thinking these were all the problem. I tried adding a cooling additive to my water and that didn't work either. Finally last summer I figured out that if I left it on "max' or went to the "hidden" a/c position to the right of off it did ok...go figure
I figured I would sell the vehicle before this summer and not have to worry about it anymore anyway. In October the transmission started acting up, it got to the point where I had to fix it or take a huge loss on the vehicle. I had it fixed last week and the mechanic told me this was a common problem that happens usually between 80 and 100,000 miles. I spent $2000.00 to get it fixed and fix the original problem ( a Ford defect) so I figured the vehicle would last a while now. Now, I have revisited this engine rattle and find that
it is a timing chain rattle and it could ruin my engine if left untreated. Will somebody please advise me what I should do. I already have way more money in this vehicle than I can ever get out of it and really don't want to throw another 1000.00 into it. I also realize that that would still be better than the 4000.00 that it would cost if I ruined my engine! I still don't know if it is going to overheat this year!
And Ford wonders why they are in trouble!
I figured I would sell the vehicle before this summer and not have to worry about it anymore anyway. In October the transmission started acting up, it got to the point where I had to fix it or take a huge loss on the vehicle. I had it fixed last week and the mechanic told me this was a common problem that happens usually between 80 and 100,000 miles. I spent $2000.00 to get it fixed and fix the original problem ( a Ford defect) so I figured the vehicle would last a while now. Now, I have revisited this engine rattle and find that
it is a timing chain rattle and it could ruin my engine if left untreated. Will somebody please advise me what I should do. I already have way more money in this vehicle than I can ever get out of it and really don't want to throw another 1000.00 into it. I also realize that that would still be better than the 4000.00 that it would cost if I ruined my engine! I still don't know if it is going to overheat this year!
And Ford wonders why they are in trouble!
