JJS93Arstr3L
New Member
- Joined
- April 29, 2013
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
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- City, State
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1993 Ford Aerostar
I "inherited" my 93 Aerostar through a member of the Vietnam veteran's group in northern California. Back in 1993, my friend and brother vet purchased this Aerostar from a dealership, brand new.
While going through a divorce in 1996, he went through a pretty rough time financially and being that he was not mechancially inclined, I repaired and performed major maintenance on the van, ranging from brakes, water pump, power steering pump, accelerator cable, speedometer cable, and replacement of ignition & wiring sets as required. I worked on his van more than I did my own vehicles. To his credit, my friend was obsessive about changing the oil every 3,000 miles (without fail) - despite my advising that 5,000 mile intervals would be fine for the usage it received.
And after the dealer replaced his heater core twice within the 3rd year & refused to replace it the third time it failed in the 4th year, I replaced the heater core, which still only lasted about 5 years before requiring another replacement. I just replaced the 4th heater core in the van last winter. This has been the weakest link that I've noted in this van - aside from electrical problems such as air bag, horn and lighting - which was repairable. Last summer I was totally blindsided when the shift selector (column mounted) just suddenly broke. (I pulled the emergency handbrake, crawled under the van and "manually" selected between 'Drive' and 'Reverse' to get the van home to replace the shift lever) a real treat.
Ironically, after my own marriage ended in divorce in 2008, I was left pretty financially strapped and without a vehicle of my own. Since my friend had by then purchased another vehicle, he offered me the loan of the van, which I gratefully accepted. After several months, I offered to pay rent for usage of the van and my friend insisted that I accept the van as a gift, for all the years I worked on his van. which I reluctantly agreed.
I feel that I have to say two things about this van. I considered this van substandard and "cheap" and when my friend first consulted me about which model van he should purchase in 1993, I told him "buy a Toyota Previa - new or a couple years old - whatever you do, don't buy the Aerostar; buy a Caravan or Astro van before you buy the Aerostar. " To my own chagrin, here it is 20+ years old! I can't believe it. Original tranny, original heads and short block! I'll also tell you the short end of a very long story, but it also survived being hit 8 times with 9mm (copper jacked hollow points) requiring some body patching and replacement of some hoses and wiring harness - but it's still running.
The 1993 Aerostar was available with a 3.0 liter V6 - it's hard pressed to get that van for prolonged periods over 70 mph without it pitching a fit with "Check Engine" and starting to miss (slightly) in protest. It has the absolute worse turning radius of any consumer vehicle I've ever driven and it can't get out of it's own way. But if kept at steady 67mph and not "whipping" it, it runs just like a Seiko watch, and gets a pretty consistent 22MPG. (Not bad for an Aerostar.)
While going through a divorce in 1996, he went through a pretty rough time financially and being that he was not mechancially inclined, I repaired and performed major maintenance on the van, ranging from brakes, water pump, power steering pump, accelerator cable, speedometer cable, and replacement of ignition & wiring sets as required. I worked on his van more than I did my own vehicles. To his credit, my friend was obsessive about changing the oil every 3,000 miles (without fail) - despite my advising that 5,000 mile intervals would be fine for the usage it received.
And after the dealer replaced his heater core twice within the 3rd year & refused to replace it the third time it failed in the 4th year, I replaced the heater core, which still only lasted about 5 years before requiring another replacement. I just replaced the 4th heater core in the van last winter. This has been the weakest link that I've noted in this van - aside from electrical problems such as air bag, horn and lighting - which was repairable. Last summer I was totally blindsided when the shift selector (column mounted) just suddenly broke. (I pulled the emergency handbrake, crawled under the van and "manually" selected between 'Drive' and 'Reverse' to get the van home to replace the shift lever) a real treat.
Ironically, after my own marriage ended in divorce in 2008, I was left pretty financially strapped and without a vehicle of my own. Since my friend had by then purchased another vehicle, he offered me the loan of the van, which I gratefully accepted. After several months, I offered to pay rent for usage of the van and my friend insisted that I accept the van as a gift, for all the years I worked on his van. which I reluctantly agreed.
I feel that I have to say two things about this van. I considered this van substandard and "cheap" and when my friend first consulted me about which model van he should purchase in 1993, I told him "buy a Toyota Previa - new or a couple years old - whatever you do, don't buy the Aerostar; buy a Caravan or Astro van before you buy the Aerostar. " To my own chagrin, here it is 20+ years old! I can't believe it. Original tranny, original heads and short block! I'll also tell you the short end of a very long story, but it also survived being hit 8 times with 9mm (copper jacked hollow points) requiring some body patching and replacement of some hoses and wiring harness - but it's still running.
The 1993 Aerostar was available with a 3.0 liter V6 - it's hard pressed to get that van for prolonged periods over 70 mph without it pitching a fit with "Check Engine" and starting to miss (slightly) in protest. It has the absolute worse turning radius of any consumer vehicle I've ever driven and it can't get out of it's own way. But if kept at steady 67mph and not "whipping" it, it runs just like a Seiko watch, and gets a pretty consistent 22MPG. (Not bad for an Aerostar.)
