new 96 EB owner..some Q's

[utmustang88]

hi everybody! i just bought a 96 eb 4x4 with 69k on the ticker for $7,500 and it's in very nice shape. the guy just bought a new navigator for his personal business so he wanted to dump the explorer(i hope). it was never used to tow just drive back and forth to work. the tranny shifts fine at the moment and the fluid was changed 9months ago. what are some tests that i can preform to see if i am in for some trouble tranny wise? also if i dont red line the X the tranny should be ok, no?
Q#1: should i be expecting the explorer to fail tranny wise? i live up here in ohio where the temps really never get to hot(92*F) and only go to about 5*F. did i just sign my own death warrent by buying this? there have been millions of explorers sold over the course of 91 till now... what im getting at: are there some good X's that last and do not have these trannies woes?
Q#2: does the 96 EB's come with tranny coolers? i see a cooler of some sort right under my front bumper.

ill probably be looking at this website everyday to gain information from you more experienced fellows. thanks for all your knowledge thus far; i have learned more about exploers in the last week than i has in many years!

 

[cmayna]

I also just bought a 96 EB 3 weeks ago with 79k on it. So far, I'm very happy with it but who knows what to expect. Just replaced the plugs and wires since I don't know if this had been done recently. Let me know what type of gas mileage are you getting. I"m averaging about 15+ for city usage.

 

[Nick C.]

Don't jinx yourself. I never say the word tranny and problem in the same sentence.

I forget who it was on the forum that said either treat your tranny like your favorite son or your stepson you don't like. And since you have no idea how the guy before you cared for it them you better treat it like your stepson.

 

[Geoff123]

I have a 96 Limited mine has 52,000 miles and makes funny tranny noises. I beleive that as long as you take good care of the tranny, it will take good care of you. Just change the filter and fluid when needed. Some of the X owners get external tranny filters and coolers just to give it an extra degree of protection. Something to think abouta and I cannot imagine they are too expensive or hard to install.

Geoff

 

[SaleenEXP]

If you have the OHV V6, it's not a good tranny at all as some have replaced theirs 2 or more times before 100,000 miles. The 5.0 Explorers/Mounty's come with a basically bullet proof tranny.

However, my 94' has over 100,000 miles and it's my sisters now. I used to flog the hell outta that truck, go off-road, tow things it wasn't made to tow - 27ft Fountain, constantly towed our waverunners and jet boat back and forth to our Lakehouse and I'm still on the original tranny. Maybe I got lucky but there are a few others with this tranny that are around 150,000 with no problems, not sure why so many people have problems with it.

 

[TPLYNCH]

I believe if the truck came w/ the factory towing package, there was a cooler added, but don't quote me. The tranny s/b fine as long as regular flush/filter changes were performed. If you still can, you may want to verify whether the tranny has ever been flushed out. The normal service (drop the pan and change the filter) only changes ~4qts of fluid. There is still ~ 8 qts left in the torque converter. The only way to get it all out is to have it flushed.

 

[utmustang88]

thanks guy i always appreciate comments! keep em coming if you have any advice about a 96 eb. cmayna, keep in close touch seeing how we have the same auto with close to the same odometer reading. so long