just bought an 02 Mountaineer

[fusseli]

Ill be honest with you and I mean no offense by this. You got riped off by the dealer. I only paid $5400 for my 02 V8 4X4 with 91K miles. If it was me, I would have been back at the dealer after the check engine light came very shortly after the purchase.

really think so?

My CEL light hasn't been on since I put in a new battery, I'm guessing that was related. Other then that I don't think the mounty was a bad deal. It has all of the wear and tear and stuff that needs replaced that I was expecting, more or less. You probably got a better deal, ya, but that's life *shrug*

 

[mainsource]

I won't go so far as to say you got ripped off, but I think you overpaid by about $1200 considering the "lurking/existing" problems you're experiencing. But you're right, "that's life".

More importantly, keep an eye on that tranny. I have an 03 V8 AWD Explorer. Paid $5900 for it with 106k miles. The transmission started exhibited the exact same behavior as yours. Started with a stutter between 2nd and 3rd gear. Then progressed to acceleration hesitation at 5th gear. All kinds of clunking when manually shifting from park to reverse.

Six months after I bought it, I needed a new transmission. I'd recommend some proactive inspection on that trans of yours. Good luck brother.

 

[fusseli]

I won't go so far as to say you got ripped off, but I think you overpaid by about $1200 considering the "lurking/existing" problems you're experiencing. But you're right, "that's life".

More importantly, keep an eye on that tranny. I have an 03 V8 AWD Explorer. Paid $5900 for it with 106k miles. The transmission started exhibited the exact same behavior as yours. Started with a stutter between 2nd and 3rd gear. Then progressed to acceleration hesitation at 5th gear. All kinds of clunking when manually shifting from park to reverse.

Six months after I bought it, I needed a new transmission. I'd recommend some proactive inspection on that trans of yours. Good luck brother.

what made you decide to replace the tranny? did you try the solenoid block and/or valve body replacements? my shifting issues between 2nd and 3rd and hard down shifts have improved significantly after fresh tranny fluid worked it's way in following a flush. The ill effects are still present, but subtle.

 

[mainsource]

I bought an extended warranty shortly after I bought the truck. At the dealer's recommendation, Ford paid for a complete transmission rebuild.

 

[fusseli]

I bought an extended warranty shortly after I bought the truck. At the dealer's recommendation, Ford paid for a complete transmission rebuild.

Good choice on your part lol. What I meant to ask was, at what point did you decide to have it replaced under warranty? Did you just get tired of the steady decline or did you actually lose any gears?

 

[mainsource]

Good choice on your part lol. What I meant to ask was, at what point did you decide to have it replaced under warranty? Did you just get tired of the steady decline or did you actually lose any gears?

I just got tired of the steady decline. It got to the point where the vehicle shook and stuttered at each gear (although it would eventually shift if I let off the accelerator and then reapplied gas).

So I just continued to drive it until the issue became more conspicuous and the check engine light started to flash.

 

[fusseli]

developed a mild crunching/wobble sound from my brakes. had them inspected today and they found the emergency brake parts falling apart, as per usual with these. having those replaced and hopefully the noise goes away.

 

[NHarris]

no glaring problems at all, have driven several hundred miles in the last week testing it out. there's an occasional hard shift somewhere between 2nd and 4th gear, has maybe happened twice though. the cruise control also seems to "hunt" for gears when going up steep grades, turning o/d off seems to help a bit. i hope the gear searching doesnt indicate it's slipping out of gear... other than that it shifts and rides pretty damn smooth, with all the power i'd expect.

AWD works well so far although i've noticed a single front wheel will spin and the other will not, when given a gnarly approach on an old 4x4 road. can't say for sure on the rears. i thought all these would have limited slip? from a take-off on a flat dirt road and accelerating through corners on dirt, the AWD works like a charm with no wheel spin and the gas pedal to the floor.

where can i check the build date? i have read around a bit on here and it seems like 02s had multiple known issues. anything i should do and/or look into soon? the dealer i bought it from turned the front rotors and changed the oil, nothing else. i'm considering taking it in to get the tranny and differential fluids changed.

thoughts and/or comments?

First Congrats on buying your mountaineer.
The build date if anyone hasn't said appears to be May 2001. Its on the top left corner (refer to picture above in quote). They wont post the day because it would be too expensive to. Get the diffrential and transmission flushed...good to have a starting point.
My 05 Explorer's transmission has that hard shift, I call it a transmission bump.

 

[fusseli]

First Congrats on buying your mountaineer.
The build date if anyone hasn't said appears to be May 2001. Its on the top left corner (refer to picture above in quote). They wont post the day because it would be too expensive to. Get the diffrential and transmission flushed...good to have a starting point.
My 05 Explorer's transmission has that hard shift, I call it a transmission bump.

Already had the tranny fluid changed, the continuos fill type where they pump in fresh fluid until the stuff coming out runs clear. That seemed to clean up the shifting a good amount, but didn't cure it. I'm pondering trying some Lucas transmission fix, maybe part of the problem is a gummed up valve body. Also had the t-case drained and filled at the same time.

Haven't yet had the differential oil changed, but they're on my list. I think my front end is noisier than it was when I bought it (5k ago)... upper ball joints look ok, not sure what else to check.

Oh and put in 6qts of full synthetic 10W20 last weekend, the 4.6 ate almost a quart in the 5k I've put on it. 116k on the ticker as of now.

 

[NHarris]

...I think my front end is noisier than it was when I bought it (5k ago)... upper ball joints look ok, not sure what else to check.

My front end on my 4.0 is annoying. Every speed bump, or dip makes the front end squeak like none-other... I'm about ready to go to costco and buy a 20 pack of WD-40 and spend a sunday morning wd-40-ing the front end lol

 

[fusseli]

My front end on my 4.0 is annoying. Every speed bump, or dip makes the front end squeak like none-other... I'm about ready to go to costco and buy a 20 pack of WD-40 and spend a sunday morning wd-40-ing the front end lol

ya... mine does the exact same thing, among other random humms and such.

 

[NHarris]

fusseli...
On your instrument cluster...is there a "theft" light on it. And does it flash. Because my 05 X, seems to have no "theft" light flashing.

And I don't hear those hums on my 05. Maybe its just the V8 that does it, or my X is too low of mileage.
My alternator on my 98 hums nice and loud.

 

[fusseli]

fusseli...
On your instrument cluster...is there a "theft" light on it. And does it flash. Because my 05 X, seems to have no "theft" light flashing.

And I don't hear those hums on my 05. Maybe its just the V8 that does it, or my X is too low of mileage.
My alternator on my 98 hums nice and loud.

ya I have a theft light, went crazy back when my battery was about dead. Haven't seen it on much since.

My noises seem pretty related to turning and going over bumps. I also have a shake in the sterring wheel when going over pretty rough terrain... any ideas what that might be?

 

[NHarris]

I think going over rought terrain would cause the steering wheel to shake a bit. I hate my rims...the tires don't seem to form a bead on it properly

 

[EasyRhino]

My front end on my 4.0 is annoying. Every speed bump, or dip makes the front end squeak like none-other... I'm about ready to go to costco and buy a 20 pack of WD-40 and spend a sunday morning wd-40-ing the front end lol

Some people replace the front sway bar bushings. I just spray mine down with WD-40 every few months. Easy either way.

 

[NHarris]

Some people replace the front sway bar bushings. I just spray mine down with WD-40 every few months. Easy either way.

I'll have to get bottle of wd-40, see if that helps out. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[fusseli]

I'll lube up the sway bar bushings as well. I really hate the squeek.

I think going over rought terrain would cause the steering wheel to shake a bit

what am i, an idiot? it's more like the wheel goes loose with a clunking feeling through the steering column.

 

[NHarris]

...I also have a shake in the sterring wheel when going over pretty rough terrain... any ideas what that might be?

How am I supposed to have any idea of what you mean by a shake in the steering wheel.

what am i, an idiot? it's more like the wheel goes loose with a clunking feeling through the steering column.

Did I Say you were an idiot? Nope. You didn't go in to detail on your shaky steering wheel. You tell me how am I supposed to give you any possible help just by saying...I got a shake in the steering wheel.
Now you said the details on it. So maybe now others have an idea of what it may be, now hearing the details, I have no idea what the problem could be.