I am looking at buying an '03 Explorer XLT, it has ~95k miles, V8 and AWD. The guy wants $5900/bo. It has some light hail damage. I was just wondering if there is anything in particular I should know about with this truck? Anything I should really check out when I look at it? I'm a pretty competent backyard mechanic but have never owned any Ford vehicles before.
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looking at buying an '03 Explorer but have questions
- Thread starter mtmer
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bender
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- '08 Limited
Others will chime in as well but a few to start off:
- rear coil springs are known to break
- wheel bearing failure
- rear differential whine
we have an 03 v6 4x4 with 87k and are real happy. in my market your vehicle (without hail damage) would probably go private party for $6500-7500
- rear coil springs are known to break
- wheel bearing failure
- rear differential whine
we have an 03 v6 4x4 with 87k and are real happy. in my market your vehicle (without hail damage) would probably go private party for $6500-7500
lrm
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- 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
Things to check -
electrical ground wire broke in drivers door in mine and strange electrical things happened. Turn on rear defrost and make sure there isn't any beep - 'door ajar' light, windows all wind up and down from every door and drivers, master door lock switch works on all doors.
Check engine coolant (easy to flush yourself). I drop lower radiator hose, fill with water, run, do 3 times, Then drain it for an hour. Fill with radiator fluid from the coolant reservoir. Once required amount of radiator fluid is used, continue with water until it's full. This may require you to check after driving it.
Listen for rumbling or grinding while driving. It's a pretty quiet vehicle so noises should be checked out. Good repair shops will check wheel bearings for you. Worth the investment to have it looked over. I paid $290 for a rear bearing replacement.
Engine shakes - should run smooth. If there are any vacuum leaks or bad plugs it will cause it to run rough. This would show in very poor gas mileage and bad engine performance. If you pull the spark plugs you'll be able to see if there is oil on them, not on the tip of the spark but on the connector end, it leaks into the plug hole under the coil over pack. If there is oil on it it will be dark and crusted on it and the spark is most likely arcing and not firing the plug. A valve cover gasket may be the culprit and need replacing.
Ask if there's been any transmission work. The solenoid pack is suspect on these. Make sure the shifts feel smooth and the engine doesn't free rev when you push on the gas.
This is not a complete list but simple things to check. It's a good vehicle and things that wear out need to be replaced like on any vehicle. When maintained will last a long time.
electrical ground wire broke in drivers door in mine and strange electrical things happened. Turn on rear defrost and make sure there isn't any beep - 'door ajar' light, windows all wind up and down from every door and drivers, master door lock switch works on all doors.
Check engine coolant (easy to flush yourself). I drop lower radiator hose, fill with water, run, do 3 times, Then drain it for an hour. Fill with radiator fluid from the coolant reservoir. Once required amount of radiator fluid is used, continue with water until it's full. This may require you to check after driving it.
Listen for rumbling or grinding while driving. It's a pretty quiet vehicle so noises should be checked out. Good repair shops will check wheel bearings for you. Worth the investment to have it looked over. I paid $290 for a rear bearing replacement.
Engine shakes - should run smooth. If there are any vacuum leaks or bad plugs it will cause it to run rough. This would show in very poor gas mileage and bad engine performance. If you pull the spark plugs you'll be able to see if there is oil on them, not on the tip of the spark but on the connector end, it leaks into the plug hole under the coil over pack. If there is oil on it it will be dark and crusted on it and the spark is most likely arcing and not firing the plug. A valve cover gasket may be the culprit and need replacing.
Ask if there's been any transmission work. The solenoid pack is suspect on these. Make sure the shifts feel smooth and the engine doesn't free rev when you push on the gas.
This is not a complete list but simple things to check. It's a good vehicle and things that wear out need to be replaced like on any vehicle. When maintained will last a long time.
ericautopart
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- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 XLT 5.0L AWD
The list of TSB's for that year is a mile long. I'm sure there's some good ones out there but I'd step back to an 01 or step up to an 06.
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