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Ford Explorer Mercury Mountaineer 2005 and earlier

3320 messages,  Last post on Oct 26, 2009 at 5:13 PM

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#1956 of 3320 by ANT14 Apr 25, 2004 (6:44 pm)
The V8 and transmissions, both are designed to last 150K (which is what the internal tolerances were designed to withstand), you could easily rack up more without any issues. One tip, keep the vehicle out of O/D, that is ONLY to be used during speeds of 50MPH+, such as in the highway. I constaly see people with O/D on ALL the time, and that will cut tranny life in half.   For your A/C, place it in "MAX A/C" (re-circulation), it'll make the compressor run less and work less since it's taking in already cold air, and cooling it a bit, and spitting it back out. If you use NORM A/C, your taking the VERY hot outside air, cool it, to spit it back at you.   Make sure, everytime your A/C is serviced (have gas added to it) that a can of Recharge Oil is added, prior to having the R-134a gas injected into the system. This will help quite a bit in extending the compressors life. I know someone with 2 20 year old Ford's, with the original compressors (they never changed over to the Eco-friendly gas), and still work perfectly well.   Only things you might have to replace (typical for many vehicles around 90-120K might be things like the starter and alternator) no biggy.   And most importantly, sometimes it's just luck. I run all my cars extremely hard, treat them like $%^*(*, and nothing ever fails in them. NOW, other's I know, baby their vehicles and they have issues with them... I touch them one afternoon, and suddenly, they magically are fixed... go figure....   But if you ask me, is this a car I would choose for the long term, YES very much so. I would choose this over any Honda or Toyota actually because the build tolerances are much higher overall, and if something were to break, the parts are inexpensive, and readily available anywhere, maintenence is cheap and inexpensive (owner costs, etc).
#1957 of 3320 Don't use O/D? by wblake99 Apr 25, 2004 (7:21 pm)
"One tip, keep the vehicle out of O/D, that is ONLY to be used during speeds of 50MPH+, such as in the highway. I constaly see people with O/D on ALL the time, and that will cut tranny life in half."   Please explain this. I have seen your posts before on the O/D usage but no real details. If leaving the trans in O/D will hurt it then why would Ford set it to be on by default? Also, since the newer trannys are computer controlled I would think that they would put something in place to check the speed before engaging the O/D if that was an issue. I also don't recall anything about not using it in the owners manual except related to towing.   There are many times that I am around town running 40-50 with the cruise on and I'm confident that I would loose gas mileage without having O/D engaged.
#1958 of 3320 by ANT14 Apr 26, 2004 (4:32 am)
I would love to draw pictures over how tranny's work, but obviously I can't, so I'll try and explain it as best I can even though I just woke up.   You can refer to the owner's manual where it'll state what they recommend, with the O/D. Overdrive gives you the extra gear which is beneficial for long term cruising and improves gas milage. Although, if your in a situation where the vehicle is constantly shifting from 4th to 5th, 5th to 4th, over and over, your causing for a LONG gear, to constantly work in engaging and disengaging   Being the gear is tall, your requiring the transmission to shift from a relaxed state, into a lower gear to extract more power, then upshift again when the appropiate speed is reached.   1st and 2rd gear's are short, and therefore much stronger since they are essentially to help you take off, 2nd passes you quickly to 3rd if your gentle on the pedal, if not it'll rev high till throw you into 3rd and 4th, which is mostly what it'll run in.   Now, on the V6 model for example. That tranny LOVES to hunt. This occurs when your on 4th or O/D 5th, need power, slam the gas, it shifts to 4th, then maybe 3rd, maybe 2nd to give you the power you need. Hence, LOST time, high stress doing so because it's on O/D. If it were kept in 4th, the tranny computer "reads" your driving habit since the vehicle is reving a bit higher, and therefore might give you an instant 2nd gear shift, instead of hunting gear by gear, for the best one.   So this is why I state it's best to keep O/D off till your in the highway, or in cruising roads which you know you won't be causing it to shift too much.   Now that we have 5 and 6 speed automatics, your dealing with transmission with higher tolerances which might tolerate constant shifting, but refer to the manual as to WHICH gear should be elected. Some of these new 6 speed automatics have 5th and 6th gear as selected overdrives.   You would be amazed at the amount of vehicles 5-8 years old I see with transmission problems because the owner's just DIDN'T know. And moreso on people who are aggresive driver's, since it's even MORE shifting the transmission must do.   Now as to why Ford, and a few other automaker's keep it as the default is mainly a bit of a trick. Since O/D is a very tall gear, you increase your fuel efficiency a bit (But you lose it if it's constantly hunting for a lower gear), so as default it's placed to increase it a bit, so then consumer's wonder "Gee, it doesn't really waste that much gas". And helps Ford achieve decent EPA number's counted towards/against CAFE credits.   While some other car's, have the transmission lever where you place it on O/D or 4th, or 3rd (depending as to the number of gears).   Sidenote example: Corvette (and some other GM trannies) have a "2nd gear start" default. Depending how you press the pedal, and if the computer reads your driving habit... it'll start you off in 2nd gear. This improves fuel efficiency a tad, and it's one less shift it needs to undertake which helps. BUT, this specially on the Corvette because it has the available power, to be able to take off from 2nd gear, without issues. Many other car's NEED 1st gear, therefore such a set up would NOT be beneficial and in fact might waste more gas doing so.
#1959 of 3320 Opinions on O/D by jrc346 Apr 26, 2004 (6:07 am)
There are only certain times that I know that I need to turn off the Overdrive. However, I never need to turn it off in either my wife's Explorer or my Expedition. It only sometimes needs to be turned off in my sons 96 T-bird, because at around 40MPH it will start hunting and clunking. I think that in most cases the transmission selects the right gear for the proper speed. If you take it out of O/D and forget, you will let significant heat build up if run at higher speeds (shortening its life). Plus, it is obnoxious to have to pay attention to turning it on and off. While it is up in the air, I think that you might be better off with just leaving the O/D function up to the computer, unless you sense hunting. Hehe, now you have to pick between My and ANTS opinion. On a side note, the T-bird now has 130,000K on it, and while the trans can be slightly fussy 5% of the time, it still seems to be strong.
#1960 of 3320 by ANT14 Apr 26, 2004 (9:41 am)
"in my sons 96 T-bird, because at around 40MPH it will start hunting and clunking."   That "hunt and clunk" is exactly what occurs from years of leaving it on O/D. My friend has the same condition with his 86 Cougar, between 40-50MPH when it's cold if it's selected, so he avoids it altogether by selecting regular D, and leaving O/D for 60MPH+.   Hunt and clunk is a clear indicator that it should not be turned on, too early to turn it on, too slow to be turning it on. And once you get hunt and clunk, you'll never be able to fix it till you redo your transmission (worst case senario) or just the overdrive gear (best case senario). At least with RWD, service center's will charge a bit less for transmission work, oppose to FWD for example.
#1961 of 3320 Ok, point taken...but by jrc346 Apr 26, 2004 (9:56 am)
other than that small percentage of the time, it wont do it, and other than the noise the transmission still works great. I guess MY point is, that Fords should not have to be switched out of overdrive, just because the button is there. With modern vehicles, isn't it all electronically controlled for optimum shift times? You shouldn't have to monitor the speed constantly and then put your car in and out of O/D as needed. That is reason enough to buy a different brand of vehicle. I have 100,000 miles on my Expedition and my wife has 62,000 on her 00 Explorer. Neither have transmission noises or any other kind of problems, so I consider my son's car the exception rather than the rule. I guess what I am say is, that I have seen more evidence for leaving the O/D on unless you are towing or notice gear hunting.   Ant- I'm not trying to ignite an argument, I just have a different experience and opinion thats all. In fact, I consider you one of the most informative people on this site
#1962 of 3320 by ANT14 Apr 26, 2004 (12:39 pm)
"With modern vehicles, isn't it all electronically controlled for optimum shift times"   Depending upon the circumstances. Most tranny computer's have a pre-set shift algorithum based upon vehicle loads, speed, pressure on pedal, etc. Some other's flunctuate constantly, at rates up to 1000's of times a second, taking all the above into consideration.   The button is supplied to prevent O/D from kicking on, since it's something useful for long term cruising in the highway.   Here's a common senario...Your doing 60MPH on a 2 lane highway and need to pass a vehicle. If you leave the O/D on, you press the accelerator (pray in some 4cylinder cars) and you will notice it'll shift you to a lower gear slowly, AND at a lower RPM, then watch it rev up at a slower pace. That itself, takes quite a bit of time and valuble seconds.   Now, same situation, but before passing, remove the O/D. Your now reving a bit higher, you sent the computer the HINT that you will need some speedy results. Slam the gas to pass (if needed, it'll shift down and much quicker) it'll rev possible to redline, upshift, your done. Turn O/D back on if need be.   That's what the button (or lever in some vehicles) is for. Same as traction control, we all need it, but we need a defeat switch for special circumstances (peeling out, startup from a slick surface, etc).   Oh I'm not arguing against the point at all, nor upset by it. More opinions, the better...I'm just talking about an engineering point of view. Real world experience is definately another.
#1963 of 3320 by cmartin411 Apr 27, 2004 (4:52 am)
If I wanted a car that I have to worry about revs and shifting all the time, I would buy a manual.
#1964 of 3320 oil by fsv Apr 27, 2004 (10:15 am)
how many quarts of Mobil 1 do I need for my V6 2004 Mountaineer?
#1965 of 3320 fsv by akangl Apr 27, 2004 (10:29 am)
If you read your owner's manual under specifications it will tell you how many quarts you need. I don't know off hand, have only done one oil change on my 04 Explorer.

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