I'VE JUST BOUGHT MY FIRST EXPLORER !!!

[marcus.avis]

Its a mild spring day, I'm out with the girlfriend car hunting, with young son in tow,. Across the used car lot stands a beautiful green metallic Goddess of a 4x4. The over enthusiastic saleswomen quickly precures me the keys. she growls into action. All 4 litres of her, shes all women, my kind of women. To cut a long story short I'M IMPRESSED. Or am I easily pleased ?. I drove my new car back home from Wales (U.K) to Plymouth some 145 miles at a steady 70 - 75 mph on £30 worth of fuel ($45?) is that good?. Also I'm not sure how the cruise control works can anyone help? Many thanx Marcus

 

[Stephen]

Welcome to the site Marcus! Congratulations on your Explorer.

The cruise control is very simple, all you do is hit the "ON" button on the left of the steering wheel, then reach the speed you want, then press the "SET ACCEL" button on the right side of the steering wheel. To increase speed press the "SET ACCEL", to decrease press "COAST". If you hit the brakes the system suspends, hit "RSM" to go back to the original set speed.

 

[Howard]

Welcome to the world of X ownership.

I too am a British x owner and I get on avarage 19.5 MPG which for a vehicle of this size I consider to be good. (range rover 14-15, jeep 15 ish). Lets see some pics.....

I've had mine for nearly a year now and I am still very happy with her. Does everthing that I require of a 4x4. The dog is happy too .

The cruise control is fairly standard just press the on and then the set button at the desired speed. It will only work at speeds over 50mph.

Check out my home page for pics of mine.

 

[TAS98xlt]

Congrats! And welcome, hope you injoy your stay. Any plans for your new ride yet?

Ted

 

[Mike_H]

According to my math and the conversion of 3.78 litres a gallon that a little over 18mpg, that is about right. Good luck and nice choice with the X, show her some love and she will treat you good!

 

[marcus.avis]

THANKS FOR REPLYING !!

Thanks to everyone who posted such a quick reply. I'll have a play with the cruise control tomorrow. No plans for any mods just yet though, I need to get a proper feel of her first if know what i mean. In the U.K. the motoring press gives the X a hard time is this justified in anyway ?. Is it the same in the U.S.A ? MARCUS

 

[Mike_H]

The press and chevy lovers put them down over here, but look at the sales numbers, they tell the truth, #1 selling SUV! And that speaks for it's self!

 

[blackcrowe]

Originally posted by Stephen
Welcome to the site Marcus! Congratulations on your Explorer.

The cruise control is very simple, all you do is hit the "ON" button on the left of the steering wheel, then reach the speed you want, then press the "SET ACCEL" button on the right side of the steering wheel. To increase speed press the "SET ACCEL", to decrease press "COAST". If you hit the brakes the system suspends, hit "RSM" to go back to the original set speed.

I couldnt have said it better myself. Whoever invented cruise control should have gotten the nobell prize!!!

Wellcome to the site bro!

 

[MONMIX]

Welcome to the site and kudos on creative writting!!!!!

No, these Ex's are not perfect, and yes they can be problematic from time, but we all seem to love 'em here.
Fear not, when you do have a problem we will all be here to help walk you through it.

 

[Crankcase]

Welcome to the site

An addition to the explanation Steven gave of the cruise control though:

HOLD down the Coast button until the desired slower speed is reached, then release it.....

 

[Howard]

Marcus.

Mine is wonderful. Only problem I've had so far is to change all the discs (poor maintenance by previous owner) other than that just normal servicing and away you go.......

 

[Stephen]

The rotors warping is a big problem on the Explorer because Ford uses rotors that are way too thin for the weight of the Explorer. I turned and replaced mine a couple times and then bought some slotted rotors from www.performanceproducts.com to dissipate the heat.

If you're going to replace the rotors, replace them with these so they'll last.

 

[Bashman]

Welcome to the site. Yes our Ex's are given a hard time both here in Canada and the U.S.A. and no, it's not justified. They are not perfect by any means but they won't roll over all of a sudden for no reason either. I love my truck and enjoy driving her, hope you will too.

 

[Majisto]

Originally posted by Stephen
The rotors warping is a big problem on the Explorer because Ford uses rotors that are way too thin for the weight of the Explorer. I turned and replaced mine a couple times and then bought some slotted rotors from www.performanceproducts.com to dissipate the heat.

If you're going to replace the rotors, replace them with these so they'll last.

Rotors don't warp Stephen. It's caused by improper bedding of the pads. Rotors can crack, burn or other things, but do not ever warp. If you start to hear grinding, replace the pads quickly! You've probably already killed the rotor, but you may be able to machine it.

If the truck feels like it's bucking and rough while braking, take the car upto 60 and press the brakes in hard enough to stop quickly, but not for the ABS to kick in. Do this about 8 times until you start to smell the pads, and then stop and let them cool. You have now bedded the pad with the rotor and they will wear evenly onto the rotor instead of leaving deposits of varying depth and causing that shutter.

If your brake pad is mushy, stop riding your brakes so dang hard and boiling the brake fluid. Sheesh. Just bleed the air out caused by the boiling and you'll be fine. Remember, over time brake fluid picks up moisture (Unless it's DOT5 which is non-hydroscopic) and the boiling point is lowered, so flush it once a year.

These brakes tips brought to you by the guy who just spent $500 getting a brake job because he toasted his rotors because of his laziness to replace the pads. Heh...

 

[mick 1836]

Marcus,

Welcome to the site, I bought my :exp: about 1 year ago,within a couple of months had it converted to LPG, not cheap but when you can get LPG for 30 pence per litre?
To get your convertion money back you need to own the car I would say for at least 4 years,when that time comes I will immediatly go out and buy another one.

You also need to get the correct system fitted buy a good company, if not you risk a back fire which will shatter the plastic inlet manifold.

If you need anymore information let me know.



P.S. Thanks to the site modulator? for the

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by Majisto
Rotors don't warp Stephen. It's caused by improper bedding of the pads. Rotors can crack, burn or other things, but do not ever warp....

Uh, rotors do warp. When you feel the brake pedal pulsing when you are braking (NOT the ABS pulse) that's a warped rotor. It's quite common in the X's due to the thin rotors used, as Stephen said. It's also becoming more common across the board as the automotive manufacturers try to save money and weight by making the components lighter.

What causes the rotors to warp is uneven heating and cooling of the rotor. As you heat the rotors up, the metal expands. This is normal, but if the rotor is too thin or too small, it can't diffuse the heat quickly enough, and they heat up past the elastic range and into the plastic range. At this point, the shape of the rotors is permanantly changed. If the heat flow in the rotor is uneven, or the pressure applied to the rotor is uneven when the metal is in the plastic zone, it will cause the rotors to warp.

BTW, welcome to the site Mick. I have some friends down south from you in St. Albans, UK

 

[Howard]

Marcus

Relax the only reason that I had to change my discs was because the previous owner had let cement dust accumulate and the pistons were sticking causing drag. This had also turned the discs a nice shade of blue. Other than that if I had to choose again I would definately get another one.

I know that several British owners have done the LPG conversion but as I have no local garage that has LPG and I don't want to move the spare tyre I'll stick with good old petrol. As I understand the only LPG kit that is suitable is a multi-point system costing from £1800 to £2500 and as has been stated it takes a while to recover the costs.

All the best.

 

[SilverX]

I'm getting mine today ( I hope) or within the next few days. I cant wait

 

[Stig]

I have had my 'X' Sport for about 2 months now... It was a new no miles '02 on the '03 lot.... 5 speed manual, 3.73 rear gear... pretty basic package I suppose... took it in for some weird Cruise control prob... and a small rattle that they never found.. But I did.
And I must say all of the bad press that the Sports get, had me questioning the purchase thoughts I had... but it was such a good deal I had to test drive it... and like others have said its not perfect, but they are great trucks... plenty of power and alot to be found... with not too bad of a ride, and very usable, practical.. And to flip one is to drive like a maniac.5.. I am very impressed with mine, I am glad you are too.

 

[Majisto]

Originally posted by JDraper


Uh, rotors do warp. When you feel the brake pedal pulsing when you are braking (NOT the ABS pulse) that's a warped rotor. It's quite common in the X's due to the thin rotors used, as Stephen said. It's also becoming more common across the board as the automotive manufacturers try to save money and weight by making the components lighter.

What causes the rotors to warp is uneven heating and cooling of the rotor. As you heat the rotors up, the metal expands. This is normal, but if the rotor is too thin or too small, it can't diffuse the heat quickly enough, and they heat up past the elastic range and into the plastic range. At this point, the shape of the rotors is permanantly changed. If the heat flow in the rotor is uneven, or the pressure applied to the rotor is uneven when the metal is in the plastic zone, it will cause the rotors to warp.

BTW, welcome to the site Mick. I have some friends down south from you in St. Albans, UK

Well unless the article I read was wrong, the pulsing you feel is because of improper pad wear on the rotor. Did you read my post? Also what can happens is that a metal called cementite will form on your rotors when they heat up to about 1200* and the cast iron changes elemental composition. The cementite is invisible to the naked eye, but it is a VERY hard metal and a poor heat sink. When cementite begins to form, you have to machine it off or get a new rotor. This can cause the "warping" feeling.