How much longer will it live.

[Mr Nelson]

Hi, I have a 1991 2 door Explorer, I am 18 and got fired from my job and dad is threatening to kick me out. anyways My explorer has 242,000 on it and I was wondering how much longer it will last, I try to take very good care of it but here is the current list of problems. motor has a really loud upper end tick even when warm it doesnt go away completely. trans seems to shift good and in all gears, has a weird driveline vibration, u joints are tight so Iam not sure what it is. Doors sag really badly about half an inch. the water pump is covered entirely in oil and the rest of the engine is covered in oil too except the valve covers don't leak a drop. the a4ld trans leaks a little fluid not much. 4x4 sometimes does not always engauge, I have to press the button many times but still works. Since I bought it this year. I have only put about 3k miles on it but so far I have, used amsoil power foam in the intake, amsoil powerflush on the engine. then put a Motorcraft FL1A on it with Mobil One 15w 50. I also put a ford remanufactured starter on it and its allready soaked with oil on the caseing. surprisingly the mobil one has 2500 miles on the oil and the motor hasn't been burning any, just leaking a little. So what should I do to ensure the reliability and how much longer will it last?

 

[marragtop]

The engine tick is probably a lifter which is fairly common on the early model 4.0s as they get older. I wouldn't worry about that. What I would worry about is the oil leak. You need to identify where it is coming from. It may be something simple such as the oil pressure switch, or something major such as an engine seal. In my opinion, the weakest point on the generation 1 Explorers is the trans. It sounds like yours is OK for now.

 

[trollkepr]

Mr Nelsen, My 91 2X4 Explorer has 301,000 miles and it is still running well. It has the ticking you talk about though. That should be ok as long as you don't over-rev the engine. I second finding the oil leak. I wouldn't dismis the valve covers as the leak. I didn't think it was my valve covers either but I had them replaced and now I don't leak a drop.

It sounds like you are at a cross-roads in your life. 18 is a good age to become responsible. Many men don't for many years. Keep dad happy and get a job.

 

[Jason94sport]

No one can say how long a X will last. If you keep it nice & maintained it should last a while. But then again some have & theirs died. If your X seems to be ok except for the small problems you say, It should be fine for a while. The tick is normal, the 4x4 since you say works after pressing the switch a few times is either the switch or the shift motor. Both are easy to fix. The vibration if around the 65mph mark is normal as well. Alot of X's have it. The oil leak, as long as yout not using alot of oil, & you keep on top of it, it doesn't need to be fixed right now. Maybe get a bottle of stop leak for oil & seal leaks & see if that helps it. The weak point is teh tranny, so if anything dies that will first. Since it has really high miles, I'm sure it has been rebuilt maybe more then once.

 

[Rhett]

Like Jason94Sport says I wouldn't worry about the oil leak unless you are really burning or leaking badly. You might consider 10W-40 oil or stop-leak. Sounds like ya got a lot of oil all over in the engine bay; but that could be because it's never been cleaned, and it has or has had some leaks.

I'd want to clean all that oil off and find out where I'm leaking. You might cover up the alternator with tinfoil and then go to a car wash with degreaser and shoot the engine bay (low pressure only) a couple of times. Then in the next few days you can look under there and see where new oil has appeared.

The vibration could be the radius arm bushings being worn out. Very common problem that you can fix or have fixed.

Yeah I would keep your old man happy, do what he wants, if that means get a job then get a job. heheh.

 

[urbanistic]

A4ld is the weakpoint. If the engine is properly maintained, I see no issues near. Seals maybe! My engine runs better than most every stock Ive driven next to. And Ive heard some nasty sounding stocks. I keep oil changes at 2500 and Ive replaced everything boltable to the engine.. so I hope I make it across the 250 line. Im a 157 now and its still runnin NICE.

 

[Mr Nelson]

Hi everyone between a few girls, cars and jobs and a few years, now Iam working a ****ty tech support job for $10 bucks an hour whoo hoo, and a subsidized apartment with a girlfriend, wow the american dream. the explorer has long been sold since 2006 i think i still saw it driving last year. anyways I got another 1991 but got a 2dr sport with the M50D 5 speed, its a great rig doesn't tick as bad as the old one. and ive fixed most of what is wrong with it already. Did they have a big problem with silver paint rusting back then? ive replaced my thermostat and the heater still isn't very warm, its warm but just not like the old explorer, thinking maybe the heater core is clogged? truck runs below or at middle of gauge.

 

[wood1]

Hey man, go back to school, get a good trade or maybe join the military. I joined the air force at your age and it was a blast! Certainly opens you up to many opportunities. Don't settle, live your dream.

I would probably replace the heater core, they are dirt cheap and take about a 1/2 hour to replace.

 

[ricco750]

One can of Engine Restore got rid of my lifter tick.

 

[mr cribb]

I would prob swap out the heater core. $23 and not more than a 20min job.

As far as the military goes, you might be able to get in.... they're doing a lot of cuts across the board. You can check into it if you're interested. I've been in 10 years so far. It has it's ups and downs like every other job.

 

[jd4242]

the tick is normally worn rockers and pushrods.lifters do get stuck though but i would start with rockers

 

[safn1949]

Hi everyone between a few girls, cars and jobs and a few years, now Iam working a ****ty tech support job for $10 bucks an hour whoo hoo, and a subsidized apartment with a girlfriend, wow the american dream. the explorer has long been sold since 2006 i think i still saw it driving last year. anyways I got another 1991 but got a 2dr sport with the M50D 5 speed, its a great rig doesn't tick as bad as the old one. and ive fixed most of what is wrong with it already. Did they have a big problem with silver paint rusting back then? ive replaced my thermostat and the heater still isn't very warm, its warm but just not like the old explorer, thinking maybe the heater core is clogged? truck runs below or at middle of gauge.

Stop whining,I was married with 3 brats that belonged to the wife and made a whopping $10,000 a year.Now no wife and a CDL = $50,000 a year and I don't work that hard.Nobody ever said life was fair,it is what you make it. Good luck.