Just purchased 1993 Ford Explorer, any maintenance I should do on it/things to be aware of?

[CDW6212R]

I use both of these. The red one is great for pulling the oil out, and the white one screws onto the top of a quart or gallon jug so you can pull straight from it to fill an axle.

They make fancier, more expensive options, but these will work for what you're trying to do.

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That top one for pumping fluid through the two hoses are good, but try not to pump gasoline with them. They have poor internal seals, after pumping gas they won't work well the nest time. After a couple of times(with gasoline) they won't pump at all. They are a great choice for pumping gas though, just plan for them to be one time use only. I've bought three of them so far.

I parted out my 93 Limited with 112,622 miles on it, to rebuild my 99. I still have that cluster, the engine and transmission.

 

[92exp4x4]

That top one for pumping fluid through the two hoses are good, but try not to pump gasoline with them. They have poor internal seals, after pumping gas they won't work well the nest time. After a couple of times(with gasoline) they won't pump at all. They are a great choice for pumping gas though, just plan for them to be one time use only. I've bought three of them so far.

I parted out my 93 Limited with 112,622 miles on it, to rebuild my 99. I still have that cluster, the engine and transmission.

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Yeah, I tried that as well. The pump didn't like it! I'm on my third one as well. For a cheap transfer pump, it works pretty well. The bottle pump is great. When you're under a vehicle, you only need to hold the output hose. The bottle holds itself to the ground when you push down on the plunger. Unless you push on it in a non linear fashion... and it goes sideways.

For bigger jobs, I bought a pressure tank for servicing transmissions. It's like a fancy yard sprayer. It works great for vehicles designed to be filled through the drain plug. Sounds crazy but actually makes sense.

 

[Josh P]

If the power steering pump and transmission have factory fluid in them, both will probably fail soon after the fluid is changed.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Yeah, I tried that as well. The pump didn't like it! I'm on my third one as well. For a cheap transfer pump, it works pretty well. The bottle pump is great. When you're under a vehicle, you only need to hold the output hose. The bottle holds itself to the ground when you push down on the plunger. Unless you push on it in a non linear fashion... and it goes sideways.

You can unscrew the body of those cheap fluid pumps, and find an o-ring on a plunger. ACE hardware here had the o-ring. 50 cent o-ring, and reattaching the intake and output hoses, and you have a ”like new” cheap pump.

Good luck.

 

[92exp4x4]

You can unscrew the body of those cheap fluid pumps, and find an o-ring on a plunger. ACE hardware here had the o-ring. 50 cent o-ring, and reattaching the intake and output hoses, and you have a ”like new” cheap pump.

Good luck.

The one I had was heat welded together. The gas softened the rubbery plastic ends and completely ruined it. Even oil over time will ruin them. The second one sat in my service truck with a bit of trans fluid in it. After about a year, it fell apart too. It was about $4 at AutoZone. It's definitely not an option for those who will use it for the long term. I know which ones you're talking about they are much better quality.

 

[CDW6212R]

I would work on the A4LD transmission more than anything else early on. Those are the big weak link, and replacing the wear items that affect shifting are the most important. I did that with both my 91 and 93 truck when I got them. The TransGo valve body kit helps the VB, and there are a few items Sonnax has for that VB which are good to have. The solenoids and accumulators are wear items which need R&R'd with old age. A trans rebuild changes the parts except for the VB kit and VB parts, usually those are left stock, they just clean the VB etc, and test it. If it fails a test, they'll try to sell you a rebuild VB.

If your trans already functions fairly well, do all of the VB parts and others I mentioned, with new fluid, best fluid you can get. That will give the trans the best chance to last as long as possible. If it fails it was going to anyway, new fluid doesn't hurt anything(if the trans was clogged with debris in various places, that was already a critical problem and new fluid isn't a fault/cause of any failure). I don't buy that myth, which I call an excuse to choose to neglect a transmission.

If you will ever tow at all with that A4LD, you better install a much bigger trans cooler too.

 

[Nadams01]

I've just purchased a 1993 Explorer, Automatic tranny 4 door XLT with automatic hub 4x4 and 185,000 miles. Been running great, just did an oil change and threw an additive in the fuel to help clean out the system(it had no gas cap upon purchase.) Also planning to flush both coolant and power steering fluid. Is there any other maintenance I should do with it or problems it would be worth looking into?

Atf condition if bad replace filter clean magnet drain the aux cooler if equiped