Questions about possibly buying a 05 Mountaineer?

[v0ltag3]

Hey everyone,
My names Jay and this is my first post here at explorer forum, made the account just so I could get some questions answered by those who know these vehicles fairly well...

Anyway long story short- the guy I work for has a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer that he wants to sell and told me he’d take $500 for it, so I’m pretty interested, but it comes with some issues...

The biggest problem it’s got is that it has a exhaust leak at the manifold and is pretty loud, loud enough that my bosses brother (& my coworker) got pulled over on the mass pike by a state trooper who gave a warning for the noise. I was told by a friend who is a mechanic that if the manifold is cracked and needs replacing it will be very expensive and not worth it considering the condition of the suv. I looked at new and used manifolds online and they didn’t seem super expensive but I’m wondering how tough a job its to change them and how costly it can potentially get?

The body is fairly rusty and has 280k I believe, but the engine and tranny were both replaced with new and have around 100k on them. The tires are almost shot and will need to be replaced as well but other than those issues the Mountaineer is a running driving all wheel drive v8 that doesn’t look terrible so I was hoping to hear some thoughts on my possible purchasing it. I’m sorry for the lengthy post but I wanted to get as much info out as I could. Again- 05 Mountaineer premier 4.6 v8 AWD 280k //// 100k on motor and tranny & besides the first 10k my boss has owned it since when he got it for his wife in 2006.

Thanks in advance for reading all that and for any thoughts regarding it!
Cheers!
Jay

 

[Mr. Alligator]

How much rust? Underneath?

Sounds interesting...

 

[v0ltag3]

Well the under side looks pretty decent, Definitely has rust but not any rot. The body is rusted through both rear wheel wells, and the rockers are pretty bad from the rear doors to the fronts where they end and the fenders begin...

The cars been through 15 or so winters here in CT and the salt has done a great job of eating away at the body here and there.

It also just had a full front end job with everything being replaced (I believe that it was fixed because a axle failed and the front passenger wheel came off almost entirely, but don’t quote me on that)

I’d definitely like to hear from someone who has had to replace the manifold on one of these, to tell me how complicated//pita it is to do yourself, and if they had a shop do it- round about how much it was to do?

Appreciate the reply Mr. Alligator, thanks and have a great weekend!

Jay

 

[Rayan]

Welcome Jay!

Generally if there is rust I would stay away from it, but I think it depends on the amount of rust. Exhaust manifolds don't always have to be replaced, they can be repaired with either a manifold putty or bandage. Chrisfix on Youtube has a great video showing this and how to find the leak. (Here's the link to that video: ). It is great that the transmission was replaced, because the stock ones often went out around 50,000 miles or even sooner in some cases. These Mountaineers and Explorers are also plentiful in junkyards, so parts should not be too much of an issue. eBay is also your friend! If you end up purchasing the car I would do an oil change and change the fluid and filter in the transmission and the fluid in the front and rear differentials as well as the transfer case. I don't have any experience replacing the actual exhaust manifold so hopefully someone else can chime in on that!

Good luck!