Need Advice 02 Ford Explorer high XLT V6 4.0 L

[Freddie A Riojas]

Hello just bought my first car and glad it's Ford, had 261,000 miles on it , got it for $1,200 tagged running but it didn't pass smog so I had to fix the EGR , then last year on December I took it to the shop for a tune up , motor craft Sparks , new wires , oil, coolant , fuel filter , air filter ,
Early January the car would turn on but shut off after 3 seconds or didn't want to start turns out it was the mass air flow sensor. The SUV in parked and not moving it would shut. Down this was rare but I hope that mass air flow sensor was the issue so far drives good and doesn't shut off. Any recommendations on term's or replacing parts to get it to near good condition long term driving (hopefully) would like a timeline for multiple replacements or even upgrades. Please note I'm a DJ and I put all my DJ equipment in the explorer,

 

[donalds]

Welcome
If you do your own work you will save tons
Best advice I can give is use ford parts as much as you can

 

[MrQ]

Only use synthetic oil and motorcraft filters in that engine and change it regularly ( poor oil changes and aftermarket filters really decrease the lifespan on the timing chain guides and tensioners). Also might want to look at replacing the timing chain tensioners if the engine has not had the timing chains done on it. Again only use motorcraft. Keep the fluid changed out in the rear diff regularly, they are known to go bad in the early models (aluminum housing instead of cast steel). 5r55w is known to have servo bore wear over time causing delayed/no shift. If it was rebuilt hopefully they sleeved the bores.

That's all I can speak too. Also be careful with the shifter, the crappy metal mount they used to attach it to the steering column has a tendency to break.

 

[Littleant]

Agree MrQ nailed it. Looks like a clean vehicle. No rust?

 

[Josef161]

You should work on the explorer on your own, with that many miles it parts will brake down sometimes, so you will save a ton of money (you can get parts from rockauto.com for way way cheaper then mechanics would charge you).
I would recommend to replace all fluids (engine oil+filter, transmission fluid+filter, power steering fluid, coolant, rear diff fluid and brake fluid), that will make your car last way longer.