Need advice on my 2002 Explore XLT

mlrtme17 · June 17, 2014

I'm the original owner of my 2002 explorer XLT, and it has 208K miles on it. It had been running great, and I've put next to nothing in it besides routine maintenance at oil changes suggested by dealer the past 2 years. Over the last 4 months I had a coolant leak which required a new thermostat housing (upper and lower) which was $750 after everything.

I was driving home a few days ago and lost all power while on the interstate. I had to get over to the shoulder, luckily I made it... alternator went out, and I replaced the battery. $540 this go around.

My transmission seems to be slipping now above 3k rpm. It had not been slipping before this, could I have damaged it when I lost power and had to coast it over to the shoulder?

I have a short list of things recommended by the dealer that needs to be done, but I'm really not wanting to drop more money in her, just to have something else crap out 2 months from now. Here is what I need to have done:

Rear Shocks
Front Springs
Rear coil springs

Those 3 items are the pricey ones that I really don't want to do.

Power steering fluid exchange $99.95
Transfer case fluid service $149.95
Brake system fluid exchange $99.95

What would you recommend me having done, if anything? Would flushing the transmission fluid help it?

Would really appreciate any advice on this.

Ryan

Exproblems · June 18, 2014

mlrtme17 said:
I'm the original owner of my 2002 explorer XLT, and it has 208K miles on it. Over the last 4 months I had a coolant leak which required a new thermostat housing (upper and lower) which was $750 after everything.

luckily I made it... alternator went out, and I replaced the battery. $540 this go around.

My transmission seems to be slipping now above 3k rpm. It had not been slipping before this, could I have damaged it when I lost power and had to coast it over to the shoulder?

Here is what I need to have done:

Rear Shocks
Front Springs
Rear coil springs

Those 3 items are the pricey ones that I really don't want to do.

Power steering fluid exchange $99.95
Transfer case fluid service $149.95
Brake system fluid exchange $99.95

What would you recommend me having done, if anything? Would flushing the transmission fluid help it?

Would really appreciate any advice on this.

Ryan

Not sure which engine you have, the V-6 0r V-8, but you were ripped off "paying $750" for the t-stat housing and coolant repair. The parts and coolant for that job can be bought at a parts store for a little over $100 or so and the repair is fairly easy to do. Stay away from Dealerships for repairs unless the repair is a Dealership only type of fix.

You shouldn't have had to pay labor charges to have the battery installed, they usually install those for free at most anywhere.

On the transmission, I would have a "transmission tune-up" done at a reputable transmission shop, where they will drop down the tranny pan cover, change the filter inside of there, and add roughly 7 quarts of new fluid to top off the transmission. Do not have the entire transmission and torque converter flushed and filled, just the pan fluid and filter change. The whole system holds 12 + quarts of fluid. Make sure the shop "properly" refills the transmission by running the engine as they shift thru each gear as they add additional fluid to fully fill the transmission. If the shop tells you they only need to fill the tranny pan back up with the engine off to fully fill the transmission, they are full of $hit! ***** The engine needs to run to bring the fluid up to operating temperature and by shifting thru the gears, this allows the tranny solenoids to open up and accept more tranny fluid to fully fill the transmission or top off the transmission. You should be able to get a tranny tune up done for approx. $150 as I did. Prices may vary depending on where you live.

The prices for power steering, transfer case and brake fluid flushes are high considering the actual cost of the replacement fluids themselves and if you did these changes yourself. The transfer case only holds 1-2 quarts of tranny fluid ($10-$12 for fluid) and it is fairly easy to access, and has a separate drain plug/hole and refill plug/hole. If you can't do these fluid changes yourself, you are at their mercy. If the coil springs aren't broken and the struts/shocks aren't leaking fluid, then don't worry about them for now. It appears to me they are trying get you to do all these changes based off of your high mileage on the vehicle. I would only do the "immediate" need repairs(tranny) and base everything you repair off of how much longer do you plan on keeping your Explorer.

mlrtme17 · June 18, 2014

Thanks for the reply. I have the v-6 engine.

My coil spring is broken, and has been broken for a while. The guy at the dealership told me a while back that as long as I wasn't off-roading or hopping curbs, it would be fine, since it's compressed.

My rear shocks are leaking fluid... does this need immediate repair?

Exproblems · June 18, 2014

mlrtme17 said:
Thanks for the reply. I have the v-6 engine.

My coil spring is broken, and has been broken for a while. The guy at the dealership told me a while back that as long as I wasn't off-roading or hopping curbs, it would be fine, since it's compressed.

My rear shocks are leaking fluid... does this need immediate repair?

I'm surprised the guy at the dealership would tell you that a broken spring would be okay. Dealerships salivate

: $$$ signs when they see something like that. I would think the broken spring and leaking shock would cause some kind of handling issues. If it were my Explorer, I would get them fixed soon, but definitely NOT at a dealership. primechoiceautoparts.com has Strut Tek brand spring/strut assemblies (all one unit, easier to replace the whole unit as one piece) at a much lower cost than the Monroe brand and many in here have used that brand and like them. Roughly $75 each, part only. There are also plenty of past posts in here on how to change those out. Good luck!

BigRondo · June 18, 2014

Welcome aboard!! :salute:

I agree with rocco.

Both my rear springs were broken & my front struts were leaking when I bought my Ex in Feb 2010.

Now I'm running the StrutTEK's on all four corners and have nothing but good things to say about them! The ride is awesome and the price is right. I can't compare them to the original struts since they were FUBAR when I bought my Ex.

The rears were installed on 11/29/2010 & the fronts were installed on 2/20/2012.

I love them. The ride is still great.

Click here to find out more about the StrutTEK Struts.

Need advice on my 2002 Explore XLT

mlrtme17

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Exproblems

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mlrtme17

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Exproblems

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BigRondo

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