More explorer questions

[Antihero]

So i got a chance to look at quite a few explorers yesterday and i have a couple more questions.

Did ford ever make the 91-94 explorer with an automatic transmission and a lever to shift the transfer case? The only lever ones i found were manuals and i would really like an auto.

How reliable are the the push button tranfer cases? Do the buttons/shift motors fail a lot? Or am i just making a big deal out of nothing?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[SVO42]

Yes, you could get a menchanical shift transfer case and an automatic. I saw one on Ebay once.

Do some searching, and you'll see a lot of people asking questions related to the electronic shift motors failing and needing to be replaced.

The A4LD auto trannies usually fail at some point also. I'm very happy with my 5-speed and manual shift TC.

 

[uh60james]

The push buttons will rarely fail, the biggest problem is the transfer case shift motor. It's an easy fix though and should last some time after completing it. I did mine this past weekend took about 30 minutes to pull it off and put it back on (would have been quicker if not for rust) and an hour to take it apart and clean it and replace the bushing that fails. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123542&highlight=shift+motor

 

[DeRocha]

The electronic shift motor used to actuate the T-case 4x4 selector shaft is a source of common complaints from 1st gen ('91-'94) owners.. The good news is the fix is free and just involves removing the shift motor, cleaning it up, and installng a piece of 5/16" fuel hose over the old stop bumper location. Ford realized the problem and a slightly modified shift motor design was available for 2nd gen explorers (this unit is backwards compatible with 1st gen explorers).. Anyway read up on the thread in the above post.. it has lots of good info and pics on cleaning up and reparing the shift motor.

 

[marragtop]

Keep in mind what the first reply said about the 91-94 auto transmissions. They are definitely a weak point and can start to fail around 150k miles. You might want to consider something a bit newer than '94 to avoid the trans issue.