Transmission Problems and Reliability for Sport Trac

[RJ85]

Hi all,

New to the forum's here as I am wanting to buy a new Sport Trac. Love the exterior design and I like the interior features.

Anyway, the only thing that scares me a little bit is the constant banter I hear about transmission and transfer case problems. Horror stories all over the internet about how people did 3 transmission swaps in 20,000 miles. I'm sure you are all too familiar with these stories. Not to mention the nick name "Exploder's"

Basically wanting to know if this is over-hyped? People generally only provide feedback after a bad experience. Are these transmissions junk? Has your Sports trac been a reliable vehicle?

Just need some confidence

Thanks and regards

 

[OffTrac]

Smooth shifting here at 96,000 miles.

Transmissions do need maintenance. I don't think many people realize that until they need to replace them. Look through every brand and make, these problems are common.

 

[2TimingTom]

128,000 miles (although not on a Sport Trac- but it's all basically the same minus a few body panels) on what I assume to be the original transmission.

I have had my transfer case rebuilt though. I got an updated case half- I'm not sure when/if Ford ever incorporated this update into production, that should make it all good.

As far as the term Exploder- that's just a funny nickname. I've never heard of any Explorers exploding. Even the ones that rolled over during the Firestone mess didn't "explode".

 

[ChallengerDave]

First explorer was a Sport 2wd. put almost 30k miles on it while i owned it to 125,000 miles. Never once a trany problem nor any signs of it ever being pulled. Just got my Sport Trac around 4 months ago and have put 5k miles on it so far without a problem at 61,000 miles. I think between the two trucks the only things besides maintenance that I had to fix was a DPFE sensor and lower ball joints. Well at least that was my last truck.

 

[RJ85]

It seems to me whatever car you get if you look after it, drive it nicely with regular maintenance, there's no reason it shouldn't last you a long time. Just that the sport trac forum seems littered with people asking advice on how to fix things :S

 

[ChallengerDave]

Well that's exactly it. If you take care of your car and maintain it, no reason why it shouldn't last. I'm sure just about any car forum gets people looking for advice. Good thing about here is that if you do have a problem, there is a ton of people out there that may just know what the fix is. As far as explorers go, I love them, they at least for me are super comfortable, reliable, and tough. The only reason I got rid of the older Sport was that since it was 2wd, it was always a hassle in the winter time. Never got stuck even when I went through some really nasty weather. But this Sport Trac really is awesome. Leather interior, heated seats, 4wd, 4.10 limited slip, and even have 6 power windows! You can easily get spoiled in one of these. Bring on the snow!

 

[2TimingTom]

Just that the sport trac forum seems littered with people asking advice on how to fix things :S

Most people originally come to forums to seek the answers to a problem they are having.

Like with most things, complainers are usually louder and more heard than those who are satisfied.

 

[Pickupman_69]

Ive had to replace one transmission at 160kmiles, I was the second owner,have no idea about maintenance before I got it,but since then its been fine, and I do some moderate wheeling from time to time.

 

[kaczman]

my 2002 4x4 has 140k on it, original engine and trans. Proper oil changes, transmission flushes, and coolant changes since new (and during my ownership,) and my truck runs, shifts, and drives like a new car.

 

[nquevedo]

I have an 02 sport trac original owner and i had to rebuild the tranny at 100,000 miles but only because my radiator blew up and took my tranny fluid and swapped in some radiator fluid so when i fix the radiator my tranny crashed but other then that truck has been perfect and trust me i'm rough on trucks lots of abuse from me.

 

[JohnnyO]

Most people are not aware that many Ford models require a transmission flush every 30,000 miles. My first Sport Trac and also my Focus company car and the wife's Taurus fall into that category. My '08 Trac calls for a flush at 100k but I had it done at 50k anyway.
Some of the trannys do shift kinda sloppy but a tuner like an XCal or SCT will fix that if you want to drop the money on one. Also there is a TSB from Ford on reprogramming the trannys on some models, I had it done on my '08.
Bottom line, if it has been maintained properly then it is unlikely to have problems. Tauruses are known for having weak trannys but the wife's has 145k on it and the tranny has never been touched except for regular flushes since new.

 

[HerbHall]

2002 ST Trans

I had to replace my Trans a few years ago. Had about 170k on it and doubt the maint had been done. I was putting a new roof on the house and adding an addition at the time, so I was severally over loading the bed and hauling a trailer that was way over the capacity of the truck on a regular basis. I can only say it took allot abuse before it broke, no telling how long it would have lasted without the abuse.

 

[a351fan]

I have 120k on my trans, never had problems but, I do the regular maint. and added a 5k trans cooler. I have had the truck from 40k and have 32" tires, tow a trailer with a bunch of stuff in the bed, sometimes a quad also. I have always heard that if you keep the trans cool it will last a very long time.

 

[Pjibs]

My tranny took a nice dump at 103k miles. What seemed to be the issue though was that I was running cruise control for a good 10hours straight. No real idea though what exactly happened/why it happened; just got it rebuilt and runs great 3k miles later.

 

[CdnGhost]

Hope to get mine sorted out soon....

 

[thumper63]

Hi all,

New to the forum's here as I am wanting to buy a new Sport Trac. Love the exterior design and I like the interior features.

Anyway, the only thing that scares me a little bit is the constant banter I hear about transmission and transfer case problems. Horror stories all over the internet about how people did 3 transmission swaps in 20,000 miles. I'm sure you are all too familiar with these stories. Not to mention the nick name "Exploder's"

Basically wanting to know if this is over-hyped? People generally only provide feedback after a bad experience. Are these transmissions junk? Has your Sports trac been a reliable vehicle?

Just need some confidence

Thanks and regards

I bought a 2002 sport trac with 150.000 miles on it still driving it today after 2 years i just love. You will here alot of stories from people abour other cars they dont like. Very reliable hope this helps

 

[Mbrooks420]

This person hasn’t been online in 12 years since this was posted. “Very reliable” isn’t usually something that’s mentioned about these 5r55e’s.

 

[lincolnlocker]

Hi all,

New to the forum's here as I am wanting to buy a new Sport Trac. Love the exterior design and I like the interior features.

Anyway, the only thing that scares me a little bit is the constant banter I hear about transmission and transfer case problems. Horror stories all over the internet about how people did 3 transmission swaps in 20,000 miles. I'm sure you are all too familiar with these stories. Not to mention the nick name "Exploder's"

Basically wanting to know if this is over-hyped? People generally only provide feedback after a bad experience. Are these transmissions junk? Has your Sports trac been a reliable vehicle?

Just need some confidence

Thanks and regards

I am on trac to pay off my student debt in about a month. I have been paying super aggressively for the last 2.5 years. $1000 per month minimum, and $2000 per month these last 2 months. I am super excited to be rid of it. So I wanted to celebrate. Currently my stable consists of a 1999 Toyota Solara, with the 1mz-fe. It’s get 203k miles. I have had that one for 3 years. I have also a 1991 Toyota Previa, which I use for camping/road trips only. I am not looking to get rid of the Previa, but looking to swap the Solara for a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, specifically an older one with a manual transmission. To me the Sport Trac is the ideal vehicle. A truck that can seat 5 comfortably, and it is a compact truck that can fit easily in a garage. And it is also a manual transmission, which I am a die hard fan of. This will be the nicest car I have ever purchased. The most I have ever spent on a vehicle was $2700 for the Previa. The reasons I am considering buying a Sport Trac are: Easier to transport bikes, outdoors stuff. I love the outdooors, camping, snowboarding, etc. but the Solara is inconvenient for this. A truck lets me put all the dirty stuff in the bed. I am not using the Previa for that because, frankly it can be too big, and I don’t want to spend the extra $500 per month on insurance when a truck-like vehicle would serve just fine most times. So my only question is reliability. Would I seriously be downgrading in reliability going from a 1999 Toyota Solara with the 1mz-fe with203k miles going to a Sport Trac with maybe 150k miles? I mean I saw a Sport Trac with 270k and it was the original drive train (automatic though). Anyone have experience with these?

 

[410Fortune]

I had 7 sport tracs here at the property, 6 now I crushed one
The 02-05 tracs regularly get 200-250k miles before engine or trans let go, I know because that’s where I come in, I buy them broken and re hab them. We use them as our personal rigs, we love sport tracs, they are the best of the ranger based vehicles.

With good oil changes they can go further
The key is change the oil for the sohc engine and run full synthetic with a factory filter
Change the trans fluid and filter every 60-90k miles and they will last!!!

They may not go as long as a Toyota solara but the Toyota is not 4wd and cannot haul things in the bed

 

[oklagp1200r]

My 2001 explorer sport trac 4x4 which I bought new in September 2001 had the typical 2-3 flare up at around 60,000 miles so it was rebuilt! 20,000 miles later the torque converter took a dump so rebuilt once again. Now with 215,000 miles and still going strong!