What to look for on used 02 4.0 Ex Sport?

[fac]

Hello,

I was a lurker a long time ago when I owned a 95 Explorer. Now my son has grown up and we are looking at first cars. One candidate is an auto, 4x4 02 Explorer Sport. It has 143K miles. SInce I have been out of this for a while what are some of the things that I should be looking for. Also, I was reading the timing chain stick and that got me to wondering if these engines have a replacement interval on the chain(s) and the tensioners?

Thanks in advance

 

[vipersinu2]

Hello,

I was a lurker a long time ago when I owned a 95 Explorer. Now my son has grown up and we are looking at first cars. One candidate is an auto, 4x4 02 Explorer Sport. It has 143K miles. SInce I have been out of this for a while what are some of the things that I should be looking for. Also, I was reading the timing chain stick and that got me to wondering if these engines have a replacement interval on the chain(s) and the tensioners?

Thanks in advance

advice dont buy a 02-05 any version. get an 96-01 ohv 6 cyclinder or 06-10 8 cyclinder. if in budget. that's it in a nut shell.

 

[rickybobby]

at that mileage if the timing chain isnt noisy then it should be good to go for a long time

 

[briwayjones]

After '00 the timing chain isn't as big of an issue. Really after that the biggest issue is making sure the transmission is ok. And make sure it will go into 4wd low range, and that the 4wd is good.

 

[boominXplorer]

The big issues with those are........ Body mounts or bushing rot out always, Timing chain noise usually after 150k mi and Transmission (make sure torque converter locks up and you have all gears. They commonly also have a 2-3 shift flare)

 

[vipersinu2]

don't forget wine in rear's or rear wheel bearings, thats a real ***** to replace. recirculating fresh door, blend actuator for cool and heat blend, had to remove dash to replace. blend actuator for rear ac, had to remove the rear evaporator core. front wheel bearing, not a bad job to do but at least 400 bucks. upper ball joints. oh ya if you have trans problems and you go to remove the cross member the bolts break off in frame. thats a real nice one.
rear tail gate hinges crack and glass falls out, plastic on rear tail gate cracks.
list goes on and on and on. just read all the stickeys in this form

 

[Thub]

The above post is pretty much useless since he is asking about a sport model which is built on the previous generations frame with the solid rear axle. No need to worry about diff whine or wheel bearings near as bad. Your rear lift gate is completely different and I bet everything under the dash is carried over from the previous generation so no need to worry about the blend door.

 

[vipersinu2]

good catch thub,

 

[Thub]

Yah, the only thing to watch on the sport models are the transmission, and rust. Those gen 2 frames are known to rot pretty bad. I wouldn't worry to much about the timing chain unless you can hear it rattle at start or cold acceleration from 2200rpm to 3000rpm.