Parts nightmare for 2005 Sport Trac

[arturo.c]

Hello everyone,

I am still struggling with sourcing parts in the UK for my 2005 Sport Trac. This time I spotted a leak from the rear left axle oil seal, and took apart the axle from the diff in order to get to the leaky seal and remove it. Now I am stumped because I can't find a replacement oil seal and the cross pin bolt in the diff which has to be replaced anytime it is taken out.

I was wondering whether the oil seals and cross pin bolts used in the Explorer models sold in the UK would fit, and tried to ask the local Ford dealerships to no avail. They won't sell you any part until you provide the OEM part no., and obviously the American ones seem to differ from those in the UK parts catalog.

Has anyone of you had the same issue? I know I could order the parts from Rockauto.com or on eBay, but the shipping cost from the US is ten times higher than the price of the parts themselves...

 

[kevin p]

.

 

[janolsson]

My ford dealership could bring up the picks and let me point to the part. Also if I had a USPart no then he could cross reference it for me.
Have a look on simply bearings.co.UK for the seal if you know the size

 

[janolsson]

I am lucky that I have a bearings and seal place near me that would be able to match the seal and bolt for me. Might be worth a look locally

 

[arturo.c]

Thanks for the tips, Jan. I did contact Simply Bearings, but they couldn't find a suitable replacement

I tried my local Ford dealership this morning, and the result was disappointing as well. They said that their parts ordering system will only work with a correct VIN or Ford UK parts no., and - needless to say - neither my car's VIN number or the OEM part numbers that I had did come up in their system.

I was suggested to find a VIN number for a Ford Explorer sold in the UK (possibly of the same or near model year as my one) since most drivetrain components could be interchangeable, or find a FINIS code (Ford International Numeric Identification System) for the part I need.

I will try to e-mail Ford Customer Service in the US and see if they can help me, otherwise my Sport Trac will have to sit on jackstands in the garage for some more time...

 

[Howard]

Rock auto list the seal part as Motorcraft BRS40 or E3TZ-1S177A
The cross bolt is listed as USA Standard Gear USA33067
Hope that helps.

According to what I can find they are the same as the Explorer 1997-2001 with the 8.8 solid rear axle.

 

[arturo.c]

My nightmare appears to be finally over, thanks to a very insightful remark from my wife who, witnessing my growing frustration, suggested that I widen my search beyond the UK and US websites and look somewhere in the continent to see if I could find any specialist website where I could find what I needed.

And indeed there it is: "Ricambi Americani" (which means "American Spare Parts" in Italian) seems to have a huge selection of parts and accessories, mostly targeted to Ford Mustang owners in the continent, but has also many parts that fit Ford Explorer models. I had absolutely no problem to find the ones I needed:

Rear axle oil seal
Differential cross pinion bolt
Differential cover gasket

I have yet to make an order, and have to ask about shipping costs and delivery times. Their prices look very reasonable, also taking into account the GBP to Euro exchange rate, so I hope that this will sort the problem once and for all.

I will keep you posted about the outcome. Cheers,
Arturo.

 

[SmokeGrinder]

Have you still got it?

[MENTION=10461]Howard[/MENTION], have you still got your 98?:exp:

 

[arturo.c]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here is the final chapter of my quest for the elusive rear axle oil seal. And it has a happy ending too.

As soon as I got the estimates for the Ford USA parts from Italy, I was gutted. Not only the shipping cost to the UK was higher than the price of the parts, there was an average wait of 14 workdays to get them.

So I went back to the idea of sourcing the part locally, and thanks to an useful tip I got from another forum, I discovered a website with the parts lists of every Ford model sold in Europe, including the Explorer models sold in the UK from 1992 to 2000.

So I was finally able to find the FINIS code for the oil seal (3511657), and promptly placed an order on-line for it at FordPartsUK.com, and this morning (just 48 hours later) the part arrived to my doorstep in a registered mail envelope.

Needless to say, the seal fits my car to a tee. And I spent just £ 8.00 plus postage (£ 3.50) and VAT (£ 2.30) = £ 13.80.