Explorer Newbie

[gramercyjam]

Howdy from San Antonio. Looking at buying a '91 4 door this weekend as a third car for my family.
I have a Suburban and a Corvette but we need something that we can haul the kids around in if the Suburban is otherwise engaged.

It's a little bit of a fixer-upper. The owner says the bad is it has 120K miles, a leaking master cylinder and needs a heater core, and the gas gauge not working. He also says says the good is:


New long block from ford, about 4 years ago or so.
water pump- with long block
power steering pump - with long block
frt brakes incl rotor and bearing and seal, with performance friction pads
Radiator, a couple of times long story
alternator - about a year or so ago
battery - 1 year ago also
Strut rod bushings - 3 years ago
clutch 3 weeks ago less then one tank of gas on it
master cylinder this weekend
Plus normal wear and tear items, a couple sets of plugs, and wires, and tires of course, the tires on it now are in real good shape. the rears are only about 6 months old.


I've seen a few pictures, and it doesn't look too bad in the photos. Looks pretty straight with a couple of dings. Interior seems to be in one piece.

Now what should I look out for that could be a deal breaker on an Explorer? Think it is worth a grand? I am very handy with the wrenches but don't have time for something that will take weeks/hundreds to overhaul.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

--John B

 

[dman726749]

make sure the 4x4 system is in working order if it hs one, the auto tranies are the week point, but i read you said new clutch so it sounds like a 5spd so that is really a plus. i would say a grand is a pretty good deal.

And Welcome, there is tons of info on here just search and you will find the answer to many of your questions

 

[gramercyjam]

It is a 5 speed and a 4X2. Both a plus in my book as there should be less to go wrong. Thanks.

--John B

'96 LT1 Collectors Edition Corvette
'02 Z71 Suburban
'73 Datsun 240Z FP autocross car
'89 Mazda B2200

and soon

'91 Explorer

 

[CodePoet]

When you test drive it see how easily it goes into first from neutral, and reverse from neutral. If they are hard to engauge, the slave cylinder might be on the way out...you can stretch the life of it by bleeding the clutch. Replacing the slave means dropping the tranny so just be on the look out, it happened on my 93 5-speed. And check the fluids. I can't really think of anything else.

Good luck
CP

 

[gramercyjam]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check for it.

--John B

 

[gramercyjam]

Picked it up Sunday for $900. It runs well. Good paint. For the most part, a nice presentable look UTE.

A couple things I noticed -

Center armrest flops around - should be an easy fix.

RABS light on all the time. Researched this - if it isn't an easy/cheap fix, I might just plumb out the antilock brake system.

Battery light on all the time, but seems to be charging OK and battery seems strong. A wiring gremlin?

Drivers door - doesn't latch right every time. Worn Striker?

Rear doors don't open from the inside very well.

No heat - blew out the heater core with compressed air, flushed. Heat works now.

Burned out marker lamps, third brake lamps - replaced.

Leaking master cylinder - replaced it, flushed brake system with new DOT 3 fluid. Discs, pads, drums and shoes all have quite a bit of life left in them.

Minor front and real seal seepage - no more than expected.

Shocks seem weak - will replace in the near future.

No rust. The underbelly is clean. Looks cleaner than most couple of year old cars.

Motor pretty smooth and strong, transmission smooth and shifts easily. Rear end gearing seems to be setup for a land speed record or something like that. Needs to be lower for smoother standing starts. I have a hard time believing that Ford actually put that gear ratio in there.

Drives OK without any major misbehavior, but favors the right side slightly (slight pull to the right), radius arms look to have new poly bushings, tires, tire pressure OK. What else to check?


So far, not too bad.

--John

 

[X~FACTOR]

Originally posted by gramercyjam
So far, not too bad.

LOL... a very optimistic person you are sir. This Explorer will be a great addition to your already great collections of vehicle.