Ford Explorer V8 95-01. Are they solid?

RX1Cobra

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Weird to see all these 4r70s replaced (I know the 4.0 trans is weaker). I change the fluid on mine every 50K miles and it has an external cooler and filter. But with 195K miles it shifts great and doesn't slip at all.

Maybe that little bit has made the difference? I'm not easy on it and it's seen a decent amount of towing.

Of course we had to bring up the reliability of these... an idler pulley just took a shit. 15 bucks and 30 mins later she's good again.
 

2013GT'ed

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10 in town, 16-17 freeway...with a tailwind? My 1997 Eddie Bauer 5.0 awd made it to 269k miles then went in ditch, got us out then grenaded the motor and diff exactly 2 blocks from home. Had to fix the hot/cold blender door and buy 2 radiators. Think a a.c. compressor too. Otherwise pretty solid and rock solid in the snow and sand.
 

silver03svt

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I get about 11-12 around town, and can see as high as 18-19 on highway.....mind you, mine rarely sees over 3500 RPMs, even when accelerating. Not sure why, but even when the pedal is pushed to the floor, she shifts before 4K RPM.
 

PaxtonShelby

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While the mpg in the Aviator sucks around town it is nice mashing the pedal and letting the 32v scream up over 6200rpm. Smooth as silk. And quiet as can be.

I don't think a V6 Explorer would be much slower than a 5.0. Our's ran pretty well, and the better mileage was worth it to me. If the weaker V6 trans has been rebuilt or well maintained I would lean toward it over the 5.0. The automatic 4x4 mode in the V6 was nice - not always sucking gas in AWD.
 

SID297

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While the mpg in the Aviator sucks around town it is nice mashing the pedal and letting the 32v scream up over 6200rpm. Smooth as silk. And quiet as can be.

I don't think a V6 Explorer would be much slower than a 5.0. Our's ran pretty well, and the better mileage was worth it to me. If the weaker V6 trans has been rebuilt or well maintained I would lean toward it over the 5.0. The automatic 4x4 mode in the V6 was nice - not always sucking gas in AWD.

A 4.0 SOHC is faster and gets better mileage than the 5.0. That's due in large part to less weight and a 5-speed trans instead of a 4-speed.
 

limitedex

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Since we're all sharing ; )

Here's one of my old '96. More here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2538482/2003-ford-explorer/photo-gallery/

25384820011_large.jpg





And the one I should have never let go...

25384820058_large.jpg
 

kevinatfms

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Not a 5.0L but had a 99 Expo with the 4.0L OHV V6 in it. Truck had something like 350k miles when my brother lost control and hit a tree with it. Would still be around if it werent for my brother. Loved that truck.
 

RedVenom48

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Not a 5.0L but had a 99 Expo with the 4.0L OHV V6 in it. Truck had something like 350k miles when my brother lost control and hit a tree with it. Would still be around if it werent for my brother. Loved that truck.

How are these 4.0L engines? Ex gf had a SOHC 4.0L mustang. Gave her nothing but problems. Im certainly open to the idea. Id like one to be able to pull a trailer and my car to the track with it. Certainly why Im leaning more toward the V8 at the moment. Local trailering, more for convenience than anything.
 

kevinatfms

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How are these 4.0L engines? Ex gf had a SOHC 4.0L mustang. Gave her nothing but problems. Im certainly open to the idea. Id like one to be able to pull a trailer and my car to the track with it. Certainly why Im leaning more toward the V8 at the moment. Local trailering, more for convenience than anything.

The OHV engine was rock solid except for the intake gaskets. The SOHC was solid also but had the dreaded timing chain rattle. The big issue with the SOHC timing chains was the one that ran around the back of the engine. It went from crank to head so you have to pull the engine to replace the chain. Ford had a timing chain "cassette" fix that seemed to work which didnt require timing chain removal.

The SOHC had an odd EGR system too. The o-ring where it met the intake manifold would go bad once in a while which would cause some funky LT/ST readings. This and the intake gaskets going bad(very easy fix).

Our 4.0L had the intake gaskets replaced once and that was it. I wasnt ever driving it at the time and i believe it might have been right at the end of its warranty period. After that everything else was solid. I drove the truck from around 180k miles through to when i got my Lightning. When my brother started driving it the last mileage i saw was 350k or so. He drove it for another 3 months before he totalled it.
 

SID297

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The 4.0 is basibally a throwaway engine. If you have a repair for it that cost more than ~$1000 you may as well just yank it and put in a crate motor from Ford. Last I checked a long block was pretty cheap.

Would have been nice if Ford had used these heads on the 4.0:

7.jpg
 

RX1Cobra

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How are these 4.0L engines? Ex gf had a SOHC 4.0L mustang. Gave her nothing but problems. Im certainly open to the idea. Id like one to be able to pull a trailer and my car to the track with it. Certainly why Im leaning more toward the V8 at the moment. Local trailering, more for convenience than anything.
Get the V8. It's a 5.0 so it'll run forever and it has the best trans of the 3. It's decent around town but runs out of steam on the highway.
 

2000GTSTANG

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I let a friend use my Explorer to tow a 1980 or 81 2-door Continental back from PA. Not sure what the total weight was with a U-haul car hauler. Either way, he said it pulled it nicely even with 150k miles or so on the OG trans.
 

NC85

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If you get a 4.0, find one with OHV. I have a 98 4.0 OHV sport manual that's clean and rock solid.
 

NC85

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Indeed few and far between in excellent condition to boot. Had no need whatsoever for it, but it was too clean to pass up when I bought it last year.
 

pwrshft99

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Wanted to add something I remembered from my 5.0 explorer days. There is a severe restriction in the exhaust system that really hurts performance. The explorer got GT40P heads with a different spark plug angle. Traditional 302 headers won't fit and the only bolt on, explorer 5.0 GTP header, made by TorqueMaster I think, runs over $600 for shorties.

I'm really interested in building an Explorer 302 for a project some day. Ditch the factory head for an aluminum aftermarket version but keep OBD2 in place for modern drivability.
 

SID297

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Wanted to add something I remembered from my 5.0 explorer days. There is a severe restriction in the exhaust system that really hurts performance. The explorer got GT40P heads with a different spark plug angle. Traditional 302 headers won't fit and the only bolt on, explorer 5.0 GTP header, made by TorqueMaster I think, runs over $600 for shorties.

I'm really interested in building an Explorer 302 for a project some day. Ditch the factory head for an aluminum aftermarket version but keep OBD2 in place for modern drivability.

I've wanted to use the engine controls from a 5.0 Explorer of a 351 build.
 

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