Reasons to keep/fix

[Deleted member 352605]

its @ 150k, no rust, v8, needs new o2 sensor, alternator, serpentine belt, aside from that, seems pretty good, havent seen it yert tho, tires 50%

 

[McFudden]

Hey! Still haven’t gotten around to fixing the timing (I will probably over spring break), are there any reasons to fix it or keep it as opposed to selling it? Are there any value benefits? I’m around the LA area now but by summer I will be back on the road again... trying to convince my parents it worth it lol... thanks!

The biggest reason to repair rather than replace is you have no payments. If you finance a new vehicle, you’re gonna have payments. With that said, go through it thoroughly before you repair it. Let me tell you my story of dumbassedry. I noticed a drip from my transfer case. It happens. So I put it on a lift to get a look at it. This is when I noticed my suspension was jacked. Like I had an actual broken coil. My brakes were getting there too, and my ball joints were iffy. I like to play off-road so I figured let’s clean up this transfer case leak (and rebuild it while we have it apart). The front drive shaft on the 4.0s are frikken bulletproof. So no foul there. I rebuilt the suspension and went heavy duty on it... did the brakes, etc etc... basically about 2gs of parts. I love this vehicle. It’s my toy. Yeah, it can’t really be lifted because they put the stupid independent rear suspension through the frame, but I can squeeze 33s on it and that enough to get me over most stuff so the 2G investment was a no brainer. Flash forward about 2 months and a valve went goofy and I spun the bearings out in the desert. I just invested 2gs. I couldn’t even sell it for 1g with spun bearings. So $2300 later I have a new engine in it. The only saving grace is it has a 6 year unlimited mileage warranty. So my rambling point is, replacing the timing chain, (don’t forget to upfit that stupid plastic chain guide) you have to pull the engine. Unless you have the equipment, just getting the engine pulled in the LA area will be like $1200-$1500, so it’s almost better to get a remanufactured engine. (I can recommend a place, they make mistakes, but will come good on their mistakes and keep working on it until it’s perfect). Buuuuuuut with that said don’t do it unless you feel fairly safe the rest of the explorer is solid or you’ll end up upside down and stuck with the vehicle for like 5 years until you’ve earned back the value you put into it.

 

[Deleted member 352605]

I have replaced the rear end gears less than year ago, tranny seems smooth... engine seeems ok... the tech and other stuff doesnt reallybother me if it would to go out...what shop do u reccomend

 

[Deleted member 352605]

i can pretty much do anything myself... unless i have to pull out engine or tranny... other than that, im pretty sure i can do it... did rear end gears myself.. the place where i would have take engine out would be Ricks Automotive in Granada Hills...

 

[Deleted member 352605]

also is there a way to cool the instrument cluster? it stops when it gets hot...also can i reinforce the rear hatch?? thanks so much for everything tho!

 

[McFudden]

i can pretty much do anything myself... unless i have to pull out engine or tranny... other than that, im pretty sure i can do it... did rear end gears myself.. the place where i would have take engine out would be Ricks Automotive in Granada Hills...

I swear by Destroyer Automotive in Riverside. It would be a hike for you, though. Like, they make minor mistakes but will keep taking it back until it’s right. Even with spun bearings my exploder didn’t leak anything. (Except the transfer case). No oil, no coolant, nada! I insisted it be that way when I got it back. Parked it over white paper. Brought it back a few days later and said, “there’s a leak up front, probably near the cam shaft, and there’s a leak on the side and rear, probably the oil pan.” Sure enough, new gasket on the front, but the rear was still leaking. I brought it back again. Oil pan is leaking... still. Brought it back. Had a long chat. I told them this was my toy. I’m not in a rush because it isn’t my daily driver... take their time, don’t rush, do it right... that was last year. Not a drip in my driveway and it runs great. 174K and I go off-road all the time. I mean I’m not setting records on the rubicon trail or anything but it gets me where I need to go. I’ll be honest, if I hadn’t just invested the money in the suspension I’d have moved on. Explorers are a ***** to work on.

 

[McFudden]

As far as your dash heat? Dunno dude. I’ve never had that problem. The only weird quirks I’ve had is if I accelerate hard my after market radio resets (it’s got a damn short) and I have to open my driver’s door to roll down any window. (Another short I haven’t gotten around to.) I chalk it up as “character”.

 

[McFudden]

If it’s the rear timing chain (it probably is) you’re going to have to pull the engine. Destroyer auto will get you a remanufactured engine with a 6 year unlimited mileage warranty and install for $2300

 

[donalds]

If it’s the rear timing chain (it probably is) you’re going to have to pull the engine. Destroyer auto will get you a remanufactured engine with a 6 year unlimited mileage warranty and install for $2300

That was my move and love it and don't regret it

 

[Deleted member 352605]

Its the front chain... 99% sure... how much will they charge for front chain and guides tensioners etc

 

[McFudden]

To be honest I’m not sure how much they would charge for the chain replacement or if they would even do it, the pretty much focus on replacing engines and transmissions with remanufactured engines and transmissions. They have a warehouse FULL of rebuilt engines and transmissions. They take your old core and rebuild it and stick it in the warehouse for the next guy.

 

[Deleted member 352605]

thx... ill have to see... i dont have 2300 tho... lmao

 

[McFudden]

I also thought it was the front chain. The exploder’s common failure point is usually the rear. They made the rear chain guide out of plastic. It cracks and falls apart. If you get the oil pan off and find little flakes of plastic, there’s your animal. That’s the first thing Destroyer does is replace that rear chain guard. It’s such a ****ty design. There’s an upfit for it, though.

 

[Deleted member 352605]

hekk... ill see about having somepone pull the engine becauyse from there, ill try to fix it because im broke lol

 

[Deleted member 352605]

or maybe ill just take it to ricks because they said 1800 for the front (or the rear because theyre the same cost) just hoping theyre not both broken because that would cost 3600 lol... ill have to decide if i have the cash and if its worth it because some people said it would still be ok...

 

[McFudden]

There’s a place in Burbank that will pull and remanufacture for $1900, but they cut corners and do crap work and only warranty the work for 50,000 miles.

 

[McFudden]

When I get home I’ll get their name, but I cannot stress enough how much I don’t recommend them.

 

[Deleted member 352605]

wont go to them lol... ill either take it ro destroyer or ricks... debating wether to get done 1st time and pay more or save and take back multiple tikmes... thanks tho

 

[firefly1246]

With 300k you better do both front and rear if you decide to do the timing chains as you are on borrowed time. No point going halfway. I did mine at 250k when mine failed, both my front and rear ones failed. The front one was louder then the rear. I Got lucky the front one the broken piece wedged itself between the pivot point and provided some tension to prevent destroying the motor.

I paid ~ $200 for the OTC alignment kit used on eBay and then resold on eBay when I finished. I bought the Cloyes timing chain kit, $250. Then I had a couple items that I replaced that broke while removing the motor: Heater valve, some egr thing, and the intake bolts rounded the heads off due to the rubber seal at the ends of them being hard as a rock. While I was there and had the motor out I also replaced the front main seal, rear main seal, oil filter housing seal, upper and lower oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, all the vacuum hoses, and all the coolant hoses. I wish I replaced the bearings while I was in there for peace or mind. My engine leaked a bit.

If you get a newer lower mileage take out engine out of a newer ranger, explorer, mustang you probably don’t need to do any extra stuff. If you get an older engine then you will probably want to do the timing stuff and all the gaskets/seals do you don’t have leaks.

It took me all sat and Sunday to take my motor out then everyday after work I did all the stuff to the motor. Then got it all back it by Saturday evening. Only delay I had was getting out the intake manifold bolts that rounded off and I had to get different kinds of easy outs to remove them and order replacement bolts. The dorman ones are better then oem, oem uses torx head cap screws and are fairly small, which the dorman uses a larger hex head.


if you are planning to pay someone, then I would start looking at another vehicle. Not worth paying $2000 to $3000 to do timing chains on the vehicle.

-Scott

 

[McFudden]

If you aren’t in a hurry, take your time. Save your money. I didn’t have $2300 when I spun the bearings. The exploder sat at the end of my driveway with a new suspension and transfer case, mocking me. I saw it everyday when I left for work and it was waiting for me when I got home, just being all smug with it’s spun bearings as I saved up money.