I'm torn - what should I do

[shadowless127]

The Explorer just passed the 122K mark and I've put a lot of money into since I've owned it (got it end of January 2011) and it still needs more work.

Here's what's been done since I purchased it

• Front passenger hub assembly 2/11
• Swapped out transmission for a JY unit with 78K miles (truck had 108K at the time) 5/11
• Front driver hub assembly 4/12
• Coolant flush 5/12
• New Alternator 6/12
• Full transmission service because trans cooler line was leaking from transmission 7/12

Things that still need to be done

• All 5 shocks need replacement
• Steering stabilizer could used to be replaced
• I'm sure the tie rod ends and ball joints could used to be replaced
• Going to need new tires by end of fall
• driver door lock actuator needs replacement
• CEL P0455, P0401, P0402, P1405
• Needs new e-brake pads, hardware kit, and rear left cable
• Rear park assist has been inop since I purchased it

My dilemma is, do I fix all the above stuff and hope nothing else goes wrong (like when my alternator died last month 3 days before I was moving)? Or do I cut my loses, sell it, and pick up another vehicle? In the year and a half I've had this thing I've put more money into it then my 3 mountaineers combined. The vehicles I'd contemplate moving into would be a 99-02 Expedition 5.4, 97-98 Grand Cherokee 5.2L, 99+ RAM 1500 5.9L

I only paid $4200 for it when I got it with 103K miles, and I think I can still get close to that.

 

[colintrax]

Expeditions suck, and the 5.9 is a gas hogging slow poke.
You haven't put that much money into that truck other than the tranny. Don't say "probably needs replaced" if you're short on cash, don't worry about the shocks, steering stabilizer (how'd that get worn out already?), or e-brake.
I'd say fix it up, and have a good truck that you know what's been replaced and with what.

 

[shadowless127]

Expeditions suck, and the 5.9 is a gas hogging slow poke.
You haven't put that much money into that truck other than the tranny. Don't say "probably needs replaced" if you're short on cash, don't worry about the shocks, steering stabilizer (how'd that get worn out already?), or e-brake.
I'd say fix it up, and have a good truck that you know what's been replaced and with what.

My GF's 98 Expedition is in great shape with 163K miles sans a typical leaky exhaust manifold, and my stepdad's old 02 Expedition was in great shape at 146K when he got rid of it except for crappy ford rear park assist, and crappy ford ARC. The 5.9 was in the mix because it's a pickup, and an F150 crew cab is too expensive . The GC's appeal to me, because when my GF's POS '97 GC wasnt acting up it was 1) More comfortable then the Explorer and 2) notably more powerful/fun to drive; with that being said then you are burdened with the 44RE and the NP249.

iirc steering stabilizer should be replaced every 100-120K miles.

 

[colintrax]

Didn't know that about the steering stabilizer, well I'm at 160,x.. and mine is fine with the original. I'm just not a fan of expeditions, not that they are bad vehicles but they look ugly as sin and don't seem as useful as the explorer or excursion. Explorer is small (offroad) and handles good (for being a suv), and the excursion can pull a house down the road. Expedition can tow more than the explorer, but it's also larger. And it can't tow enough to make it a legitimate vehicle to compare to the explorer. Jeeps are very popular where I live (ok everywhere, just noticeable more so here than elsewhere) but they don't seem very reliable. Overheating, cv joints, and leaky head gaskets seem to effect all of em. Buddy's GC is the straight 6 is pretty tough, but it burns oil like crazy with only 225,x.. miles. Overheats pretty frequently to

 

[briwayjones]

Any of the vehicles you've mentioned as a replacement could potentially have a lot of problems. Plus you have to spend money on them to buy them while I'm guessing you're free and clear on the Explorer. I also personally think your Explorer will be more reliable as an old vehicle than any of the Chrysler vehicles you've mentioned.

Some of the things you've mentioned sounds like they could be held off. Like the shocks. Don't replace the tie-rod ends and ball joints unless it needs it. Mine has 139,000 on it and the tie-rod ends and ball joints are fine. It depends on your driving style and so forth.

 

[shadowless127]

Didn't know that about the steering stabilizer, well I'm at 160,x.. and mine is fine with the original. I'm just not a fan of expeditions, not that they are bad vehicles but they look ugly as sin and don't seem as useful as the explorer or excursion. Explorer is small (offroad) and handles good (for being a suv), and the excursion can pull a house down the road. Expedition can tow more than the explorer, but it's also larger. And it can't tow enough to make it a legitimate vehicle to compare to the explorer. Jeeps are very popular where I live (ok everywhere, just noticeable more so here than elsewhere) but they don't seem very reliable. Overheating, cv joints, and leaky head gaskets seem to effect all of em. Buddy's GC is the straight 6 is pretty tough, but it burns oil like crazy with only 225,x.. miles. Overheats pretty frequently to

My GF's GC was purchased in bad shape, but not nearly as bad a shape as anticipated. Put almost $1000 into it (Tires, plugs and wires, cap and rotor, new 02 sensor, new speakers, new radio, steering stabilizer) and then the head gasket blew at 164K. Got 5 months out of the damn thing.

 

[shadowless127]

Thought about it, and looked at the used car market and I've decided to go a different route.

I'm going to keep it, and for each thing that needs to be done I'm going to upgrade. This means AAL, Shackles, and a TT to fit bigger tires, new upgraded shocks, class III hitch, and a new exhaust. Figure if a buy a piece or two each paycheck I can get this all done by thanksgiving.

Also a little OT, but what's a good HID kit for these?

 

[Jstcruz]

Ive been picking at my 97 for 3 years and it is just now becoming a new vehicle. Once you do all the work to make it reliable, I dont see a point in selling it. Also, milage is nothing if the upkeep is good. I took apart a 95 4.0 engine that had 200,000 + on it, the cylender walls still had crosshatch marks on them from machining. And, it is very nice to not have a car payment!

 

[shadowless127]

Ive been picking at my 97 for 3 years and it is just now becoming a new vehicle. Once you do all the work to make it reliable, I dont see a point in selling it. Also, milage is nothing if the upkeep is good. I took apart a 95 4.0 engine that had 200,000 + on it, the cylender walls still had crosshatch marks on them from machining. And, it is very nice to not have a car payment!

My concern was "What else is going to break?" With the alternator and transmission issues within less then a month of each other, as well as the other nagging issues I just got worried I'd keep the car and the damned thing would turn into a money pit.

The only vehicle in my price range that I liked was a 97 GC Limited with only 80,700 miles on it and it needed typical jeep work (exhaust rusted out, bad rear o2 sensor due to exhaust rusting out) but I have a rule against buying 97 model years. My last mountaineer was a 97 and my GF's old GC was a 97 and both were pieces of ****.

 

[crunchie_frog]

While I have been running nothing but Fords for 20 yrs, sometimes you just have to fix them. That is the nice thing about them. Parts are everywhere (junkyards), you have really nice resources for repair (like this forum) and whatever you get, they eventually (or sometimes immediately) need repair. Think long term, your experience with repair of what you have now will pay off in the future, you have the confidence you can fix whatever happens, and you will have a vehicle you can count on. Love what you have and it will pay off for you. Okay, you can't just blindly say fix whatever you have, but as a rule of thumb, I would stick with what you have, your problems above sound pretty minor.

 

[derek_redneck91]

I'm gonna tell ya something coming from a broke ass college student. Keep the truck. Last year i got rid of my old explorer (94) bc the tranny was dinked and I regret it a fair amount even though I love my new truck(99 sport). Second gen explorers are awesome. But the amount of money I have spent on the new explorer is quadruple what the old one needed to get fixed

Anyways, I bought a new explorer. Paid 1000 for it, spent 700 to safety it. Since then, I have done the following to the new explorer:

• Engine swap (did it myself...saved a sh*t ton of money that way)
• New front and rear tensioners on the new engine
• Brand new exhaust (did it myself to save more money)
• Spent 1000 bucks to fix the truck after a fender bender. (new hood, grille, rad, tranny rad, headlight support, fan shroud, bumper all replaced myself)
• New front brakes
• Rear axle seal
• Changed rear dif oil, tranny oil and filter
• Putting in new oil pan gasket and tranny pan gasket tomorrow
• new washer fluid pump
• New drivers seat

I'm the king of "what can go wrong next". There's still more that needs to be done now, only body work but that's the expesnsive part. If you can do the work yourself do it. I probably saved myself 5 grand in the work i've done myself. On rockauto.com shocks are upwards of 50 bucks a piece, and easy to replace. I picked up a door lock actuator for 30 bucks at the wreckers, you can get used tires for like 100 bucks a piece, and unless you use your ebrake all the time, it will be screwed again in 3 months so don't bother with it. Keep the truck. You'll thank all of us in the long run. Vehicles are money pits in the first place anyways!

 

[alohamonte]

everything listed is normal repairs for this vehicle. tuneup, shocks, front end rebuild, brakes, etc. I've done all of that and more and I'm at 172k.

It's hard when it piles up like that. I like to take care of the maintenance as a problem comes up. hit the things that will get you stuck and are safety issues first. do related parts together to save on labor and time.

 

[koda2000]

It's always cheaper-to-keep-her. Even with the things you believe need doing, if you get rid of it a purchase another used vehicle there's always something that will need to be repaired and most time you just end up with someone elses problems. For goodness sake, do yourself a huge favor and stay away from Jeeps (worst vehicle I ever owned and I've owned a lot of vehcles).

 

[Jstcruz]

I took a freind of mine to pick up his brand new Ford pick-up that was like 100 miles away only to give him a ride back home. He got in his new $27,000 truck to see a big red "Check Engine" light on. The truck had 34 miles on it.

 

[oharris]

There's a steering stabilizer and 5 shocks?

Personally, I've owned 3 Explorers/Mountaineers and they have all been great long lasting vehicles. The '97 Mounty and '00 Explorer have 207k miles and the '94 Explorer I had made it to 329k. I have found that the repairs are minor and easy to fix, especially with the help of this forum. I'd keep it if it were me.

 

[Sedition]

It won't cost that much if you do your brakes, ball joints and shocks yourself, and it's easy enough. There are plenty of American parts around that are dirt cheap for Explorers. Your CEL codes are related to leaky vacuum hoses so you may as well swap them all out at the same time while your in their, again another cheap and easy fix. You have already done your tranny and it's not likely that you will have any major issues with the 5.0L. So I say keep it...

Also. If you can hear the ball joints knocking as you drive down the road, that means their shot, change them.