snaortiz
New Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2009
- Messages
- 0
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- City, State
- Texas
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 V6
Hello Explorer People!
I found this site while looking for information on converting older Explorers to diesel. I have a 1999 V6 4 door with almost 140,000 miles. I am the second owner and we bought it when our first child arrived 7 years ago. We wanted a vehicle that was easy to load and unload the baby's car seat and that could do double duty by carrying home-improvement supplies. I like the boxy shape and can fit most everything I need to in it. I also use it to tow a single axle open utility trailer on occasion.
Drawbacks? Well we needed two transmissions during the first few years of ownership - not sure why, but we did have an extended warranty at that time. No tranny issues since. Also it gets pretty poor mileage - about 16 to 17 mpg. It remained at this level even after a complete tune up where I found the spark plug gap to be too large on the old plugs. And, as I'm sure many owners of this vintage can attest, the drivers side door look failed. Rather than buy a new assembly, I fixed this with a separate spring - a cheap fix that works. I also did this fix on my brother's 1999 V8. The front ball joints needed to be replaced a year and a half ago and since the uppers aren't serviceable this was expensive to have done. But the steering sure felt much lighter afterwards!
About 4 months ago, the check engine light came on and the issue was leaking intake manifold gaskets. So a new set needed to be installed.
Last week, the radiator cracked on top and the needle was pegged on H for about 5 to 7 minutes before I could get off of the tollway to park safely. The mechanic checked the engine for any problems as a result of the overheating and finding none, replaced the radiator and thermostat. The engine seems to be unaffected so far and is running strong.
So as you can see, at 10 years of age, the truck is needing some major attention and money. But I still like it and want to keep it going. Hopefully nothing else major will go wrong for a while!
For the long term, I anticipate that the engine will not last forever. I would also like to get better mileage and do my part for the environment. Being able to burn biodiesel is way to do this. A friend of mine is a Land Cruiser fanatic and this is a popular modification to do on the older Cruisers.
So that's my introduction to the Forum. Looking forward to getting sage advice from some of you out there!
SNA
I found this site while looking for information on converting older Explorers to diesel. I have a 1999 V6 4 door with almost 140,000 miles. I am the second owner and we bought it when our first child arrived 7 years ago. We wanted a vehicle that was easy to load and unload the baby's car seat and that could do double duty by carrying home-improvement supplies. I like the boxy shape and can fit most everything I need to in it. I also use it to tow a single axle open utility trailer on occasion.
Drawbacks? Well we needed two transmissions during the first few years of ownership - not sure why, but we did have an extended warranty at that time. No tranny issues since. Also it gets pretty poor mileage - about 16 to 17 mpg. It remained at this level even after a complete tune up where I found the spark plug gap to be too large on the old plugs. And, as I'm sure many owners of this vintage can attest, the drivers side door look failed. Rather than buy a new assembly, I fixed this with a separate spring - a cheap fix that works. I also did this fix on my brother's 1999 V8. The front ball joints needed to be replaced a year and a half ago and since the uppers aren't serviceable this was expensive to have done. But the steering sure felt much lighter afterwards!
About 4 months ago, the check engine light came on and the issue was leaking intake manifold gaskets. So a new set needed to be installed.
Last week, the radiator cracked on top and the needle was pegged on H for about 5 to 7 minutes before I could get off of the tollway to park safely. The mechanic checked the engine for any problems as a result of the overheating and finding none, replaced the radiator and thermostat. The engine seems to be unaffected so far and is running strong.
So as you can see, at 10 years of age, the truck is needing some major attention and money. But I still like it and want to keep it going. Hopefully nothing else major will go wrong for a while!
For the long term, I anticipate that the engine will not last forever. I would also like to get better mileage and do my part for the environment. Being able to burn biodiesel is way to do this. A friend of mine is a Land Cruiser fanatic and this is a popular modification to do on the older Cruisers.
So that's my introduction to the Forum. Looking forward to getting sage advice from some of you out there!
SNA
