No Explorer Yet

[pugulis]

Hi, I'm new here and this is kind of strange. I don't own an explorer yet. But, I've already decided that it will be my next truck. I'm looking to get a 95-99 and thought this would be a great place to get advice about what to look for and what to look out for. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[rhauf]

welcome.

my opinion (others may differ) would be to avoid the overhead cam engines. they have chain guide issues and seem to be more problematic in general the the push-rod (ohv) engines. so look for a 4.0 OHV v6, or for a little more power at the expense of a little more fuel, a 5.0 V8. both the OHV 4.0 v6, and the 5.0 V8 are very reliable engines.

If you go 5.0 v8, you may want to look for one with the 4r70w transmission.. as it's better then the 4r55e/5r55e trans.... although i have no personal experience with those transmissions, that's just my understanding. you'll find all that good info on here though if you look around.

another consideration which may impact choice, is how you'll be using it.... do you need 4x4, will you use it off road much, or will it just be street driven? will you tow with it?

 

[pugulis]

Since I don't seem to be able to ask a question in the tech forum yet, I'll ask it here. I was looking at an explorer on ebay that say's it has a tranny problem. From my discussions with the seller, The tranny won't shift from 1st to 2nd and so on unless you take your foot off the gas (its an automatic) Now I normally would stay away from a vehicle with a tranny problem, but this seems to be something simple. I was thinking something as simple as flushing the fluid or a sensor. I can't check the truck ahead of time because it's 100 miles away. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[rhauf]

sounds like it could be a modulator or kick-down issue (massively out of adjustment) but who knows... i'm not a transmission expert. i would (just to be safe) assume the trans could be dead and expect (as stated) $850 or so for a replacement (depending on which trans it is, do some google searching for rebuilt transmissions online, they're cheap), and $300 to have it installed somewhere (unless you do it yourself)

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! The modulator & kick down cable were used on the A4LD, but not on the 4R55E or 5R55E transmissions.