Hello All!

[djyeti88]

Howdy everyone! I'm found y'all through google and have decided to join the forum. I'm starting the dave ramsey plan for debt payoff and the first rule is to get rid of your expensive car and its associated payment in favor of a "cash" car. I just bought a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport. I'm still learning about what it has and what it needs. It does need some work as it has 160k mi on it, but it was only $2200 so I'm thinking I got a pretty decent deal. I'm looking forward to slowly rebuilding it to its former glory and all the satisfaction that comes from doing as much work as I can on my own.

Here are a couple pics. She's going to need a little work on suspension and body, then maybe transmission. It seems to slip a bit if I'm trying to accelerate too quickly.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome and nice sport u got there

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum!

 

[djyeti88]

Thanks very much! It's been good over the past few days. I'm adjusting to driving a vehicle with this many miles. Overall the interior is in excellent condition and the body is actually pretty good. I'm a bit concerned about mechanical. I have been reading threads on here the past few days and I'm trying to figure out what I should be looking at on this vehicle since it has 160k mi on it. I have figured out so far that I am in need of new sway bar bushings and sway bar link bushings and new shocks. There is some cupping on the inside of the front tires, which I think comes from lack of alignment. As far as the engine goes, I'm going to check the fluids a little more in depth than I did when I picked it up. It's due for an oil change in about 400 mi, but I think I'll be doing that next weekend. I'm looking to run high mileage synthetic oil to preserve whatever life she may still have. Also, the transmission shifts a bit rough when under moderate to strong acceleration. I have read that it could be due to several factors: lack of lubrication of parts, transmission issues, alternator, spark plug wires, etc. I have no maintenance records on the vehicle but was told that it was maintained as it was their daughter's vehicle and she used it to drive 100 mi per day one way to college for a couple years, hence the high mileage.

Anyone able to throw out a list of "look at these items" so I can see what needs to be fixed? If it comes down to it, I guess paying a mechanic to look it over wouldn't be a bad idea right? I really don't want to get ripped off. I'm mechanically inclined and I believe that I should be able to repair and perform maintenance on a vehicle if I have a base line of where the vehicle stands. Sorry for the long posts, thanks for the welcomes!

 

[BrooklynBay]

You should replace the fluid & filter in the transmission.

 

[1Aauto]

welcome to the site,looks really clean.