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Ford Explorer Mercury Mountaineer 2005 and earlier

3348 messages,  Last post on Oct 31, 2011 at 3:14 PM

You are in the Ford Explorer Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Explorer, Mercury Mountaineer, SUV

Messages Page 220 of 336

#2186 of 3348 More Happy Ownership by jrc346

Jan 06, 2005 (8:30 am)

1996 Explorer Sport. Sold in 2002 92,000 Miles. Needed a fuel pump, new shocks, and a door lock actuator.
2000 Explorer XLT 2 year lease. 4.0L SOHC motor had to have the timing chain tensioner fixed. Gave back to dealer with close to 30,000 miles on it.
2000 Limited with the 4.0L SOHC that my wife currently drives. Has needed 2 lower ball joints and a thermostat. She is currently at 76,000 miles. I also mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was getting a lot of front suspension noise. Turned out to be the front stabilizer bar end links. I took off the bolt for each and installed 3 washers on each end link to pull it tighter together. It worked beautifully! A 29 cents fix! For the horrible roads we live on, the Explorer still remains to be very tight and quiet.
 
I am a Ford guy, but I am not trying to sweeten a sour grape. I am reporting all problems I recall having, and am lead to believe these are very good trucks.

#2187 of 3348 Help - smell from heating system! by fsv

Jan 06, 2005 (12:34 pm)

When I turn heat on, there is some sort of smell coming into the car for 10-15 minutes. It smells and feels like pulverised coal, or something similar. At times could be unbearable. Then it disappears. Sometimes I turn heat on, and - miracle - works just fine. What could it be? 2004 MM, V6, 12,500 miles, perfectly maintained. Wents position is windshield/floor.

#2188 of 3348 by nvbanker

Jan 07, 2005 (1:02 am)

Pulverized coal, you say......that's a new one on me... I'm not sure I made it to class in Chem lab the day we did that chapter. Is that what this new yellow coolant smells like hot now? No more sweet jello smell? What else could it be though? You gotta have a leak in the core somewhere, probably a pinhole. I'd make the dealer tear into it and find out. Does it do it enough to make them smell it reliably?

#2189 of 3348 by ANT14

Jan 07, 2005 (1:16 am)

Fsv,
 
Is it the same transitioning smell as a house A/C system, when you first switch it to heat, from months of cooling? My guess it's probably the coating from the heatcore, and might take awhile for it to dissipate.

#2190 of 3348 Or..... by nvbanker

Jan 07, 2005 (3:17 am)

It could be what ANT just said......and you could be hyper-sensitive.

#2191 of 3348 you could be hyper-sensitive by fsv

Jan 07, 2005 (7:39 am)

Could be. But the other six in the car say the same.
 
coating from the heatcore - could be. I'll give it some time. Appointment at the dealer is on the 4th of February, anyway.

#2192 of 3348 Re: you could be hyper-sensitive [fsv] by emtpjimd

Jan 07, 2005 (2:22 pm)

Replying to: fsv (Jan 07, 2005 7:39 am)
I have a similar problem - my '03 XLT has a pipe tobacco smoke odor come from the heat when it is first turned on - but ONLY when it is damp or raining out. It goes away after a couple of minutes. Before I try and have it looked at, any ideas on that one? Never a scent with the A/C on or on a dry day. I've owned it since new, and I don't smoke!

#2193 of 3348 by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Jan 08, 2005 (11:47 am)

It won't fix the problem but a half ounce of fresh ground coffee tossed on the carpet will mask odors for a few weeks, and doesn't outgas formaldehyde like those hanging trees.
 
Avoid if you're sensitive to coffee odors.
 
Steve, Host

#2194 of 3348 Mountaineer - poor milage by hademall

Jan 08, 2005 (9:37 pm)

I have a 4.0 2003 M. Mountaineer that was avg. 15 - 16 mpg; I brought it into the dealer for new tires. They said there was an upgrade to the computer - since then my mpg has fallen to approx. 12.5. The car seems to run fine other than that. I spoke with the shop and they said they can't remove the upgrade to the computer - Any thoughts would be appreciated.

#2195 of 3348 Re: Mountaineer - poor milage [hademall] by chuck1

Jan 09, 2005 (5:44 pm)

Replying to: hademall (Jan 08, 2005 9:37 pm)
You need to talk to the Service Manager about the "reflash" they did on your computer. Whatever it is, unless you drive pretty crazy-12.5 mpg is WAY TOO LOW. The minimum you should get is around 14 MPG in town. BTW...I would never buy tires from the dealer. There are several "national chains" where if you buy their tires-they will do free rotation and rebalance for the life of those tires. Generally, the dealers don't do this. And if they do-is it really that convenient to take the SUV to the dealer for rotation and re balances? I don't think so!
GOOD LUCK!

Messages Page 220 of 336

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