The hardest vehicle to work on...

[megasupermagnum]

The worse oil/filter change I ever had to do was on my wifes 2017 Expedition with the 3.5 ecoboost. From them on it went to the dealers. Took me 30 minutes of searching and looking online just to find out where the filter was.

My dad has I think a 2017 F150 with 3.5 non-ecoboost. Just the standard V6. I don't like horizontal oil filters, but it isn't THAT bad of a location. It's better than the 5.4 Triton, and I've worked on others that were worse.

[MaryB]

This is not true. The 1998 Ford Explorer could be had with a 4.0 OHV V6, 4.0 SOHC V6, or the 302 V8. The V6 could be had with a 5 speed manual, the M5OD-R1, or a 5 speed automatic, the 5R55E. The 302 was only available with a 4 speed automatic, the 4R70W, AKA the AOD.

The 5 speed manual has a fill hole to check fluid level. Both of those automatics had a dipstick up on the passenger side, near the fire wall. All three transmissions are plenty capable for the job, and there is no good excuse why they would be going bad as soon as he is saying without severe abuse. I have a 1993 explorer with the 5 speed manual, and it had 230,000 miles on it when I started to take the whole thing apart to work on it. My 1994 Mazda B4000 has the 5 speed manual, and it made it around 280,000 miles of regular towing 2000 pounds before wearing out. I rebuilt it, and it is now about to cross 325,000 miles (45,000 miles on transmission) with no issues at all. Not an explorer, but we had a 1995 F150 with the AOD, and it went 260,000 miles before it was sold. We had a 2000 explorer 4.0 OHV with the 5R55E, and it went around 240,000 miles before it was sold. I also still have a 1994 Ford explorer with the older, and less durable A4LD, and that had 225,000 miles on it. It would still run and drive, but I now use it for parts.

The 5R55E is not a strong transmission by any means, but it is perfectly capable of lasting a long time doing normal stuff an explorer should do, towing up to 4000ish pounds. If you never change the fluid, and do burnouts in the parking lot every week, sure you are going to tear them up. Change the fluid every 30,000 miles, just drop the pan, change the filter screen, and fill them back up. An inline filter in the cooler line wouldn't hurt. Also make sure you actually do have a cooler. The stock radiator should have a tranny cooler core in it. And yes, they have a dipstick.

The AOD has been a ford standard for decades. There's not much I have to say about this one. They work, they last. Maintain as I said above. These also have a dipstick.

The M5OD-R1 is a lighter duty manual transmission. They last just fine, and are not that hard to rebuild. You don't have to do anything except change the fluid often, 30,000 miles or so with a good Mercon ATF. I change mine even more frequent, as I tow a lot, and there is no filter on these. Drive them like a truck, don't bangshift them everywhere you go, or you will wear out the syncro's. The one big fault of these is not even the tranny, it is the fact they use an internal slave cylinder. If you ever replace one, you will see lots of recommendations to go with a Motorcraft. My experience is that Motorcraft is ok, but I hate the clutch hose connector. Instead, I prefer the one from O'Reiallys, which uses a bulletproof clip.

Any questions on 1990's Fords, especially Explorers/Rangers, just ask.

I may be off on the model year... he has 4 Explorers... one year range came with that sealed transmission(automatic) that has no dip stick. They were extremely prone to failure and that year range a used Explorer with an auto is hard to sell around here... junk yards have no transmissions either. Either scrap when they came in or bought up to be rebuilt...

[megasupermagnum]

I suppose it could be Ford did a one off thing. They do stupid stuff from time to time. I've worked on a bunch of explorers, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2002 that I can remember for sure. Most of the work I've done has been on 1993 and 1994. 1993 is my preference. That is the year before they went heavy on emissions. No EGR, or any other emissions junk. Even for the early 90's it is surprising how simple they were. 1993 also saw the upgraded head castings.

I do know every one that had an auto transmission, has had a dipstick. I can find no reference to a sealed transmission explorer online, but again, I've seen some one off things on explorers that it very well could be the case. Unless the sealed version was significantly different, there still is no reason 5R55E transmission should not be lasting. I would never take another tranny back to that rebuild shop, they clearly don't know how to fix them. I don't either, I don't work on auto trannys.

10 years ago, before the Obama implosion of the used car market, especially with cash for clunkers, you could find explorers everywhere for cheap. It was a very common, and desirable to swap in a M5OD-R1 manual transmission. Bonus points if you could locate an M5OD-R1 HD. It was fairly straight forward, bolt on a flywheel and clutch, bolt on the tranny with clutch slave cylinder, change the petal assembly, install a clutch master, and connect. As far as I can remember, the length was close enough, you didn't even need to change the driveshaft. The transfer case bolts right on. You might not have even needed to cut a hole for the shifter, they might have had a cover you take off. Don't quote me on that.

Now I'm not so sure that is the case. Junk yards don't have those years, because they were all sold to china for scrap steel. They are that hard to sell for the reason they are getting up there in years, and are not a particularly desirable combo. Us Explorer/Ranger enthusiasts left go after the gold standard M5OD-R1 manual and 4.0 OHV combo. If you prefer an auto, everyone looks for the V8. Nobody wants a V6 with auto tranny, and everyone avoids the 4.0 SOHC like the plague. I've got what I consider the pinnacle of Explorers, a 1993, M50D-R1 manual, 4.0 OHV, and manual shift transfer case. All the first gens had manual locking hubs too. If your friend ever has issues with his auto locking hubs, tell him to swap to the first gen manual locking hubs.

[Idaho45guy]

The 4th Gen Ford Explorers, `06-`10, had the sealed transmissions...

[megasupermagnum]

The 4th Gen Ford Explorers, `06-`10, had the sealed transmissions...

Sounds about right. It leaves an acid taste in my mouth to call anything post 2003 an... cough... explorer. What are you going to explore with one, the city?

[woodbutcher]

This thread makes me smile.Makes me smile even more about my 84 F 150 with the 300 ci inline 6 and the C6 transmission.Finally after appx 450K,a year ago Feb or March,finally had to have some internal work done on the tranny.Changed out the electronic carb and the TFI ignition for the DS2 ingition system,and a non electronic carb when I got the truck about18 or so years ago.
Cost?Free except for my labor.Direct plug and play.Earlier carb was a direct bolt on.Only expense was a carb kit($20.00).
Gooid luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[MaryB]

Sounds about right. It leaves an acid taste in my mouth to call anything post 2003 an... cough... explorer. What are you going to explore with one, the city?

Looked it up and asked him, it was a 2003 with a 5r55W trans. The aluminum valve body wears where the OD solenoid seals causing all sorts of problems. The valve body is just aluminum so soft... very very common issue... I just read they now have a kit that lets you drill out that port, add a brass sleeve that seals better and lasts a heck of a lot longer. This affects 2nd gear and over drive. Hard to find in a junkyard... and the junkyard trans will have the same issues most likely!

[Idaho45guy]

Looked it up and asked him, it was a 2003 with a 5r55W trans. The aluminum valve body wears where the OD solenoid seals causing all sorts of problems. The valve body is just aluminum so soft... very very common issue... I just read they now have a kit that lets you drill out that port, add a brass sleeve that seals better and lasts a heck of a lot longer. This affects 2nd gear and over drive. Hard to find in a junkyard... and the junkyard trans will have the same issues most likely!

Chevy had a similar issues with the transfer cases in the 2000's era SUVs and pickups. Bushing would wear a hole in the transfer case housing, leaking out all of the fluid and ruining it if you didn't notice.

[Rapier]

Imagine my surprise when I had a left headlight go out on my 2009 GMC 1/2 ton HD PU and the parts store said we will sell you the headlights, but will not put in the left one......what, why? You have to take the front fender and body insulation blanket off or you have to pull the entire front grill, bumper, etc., to get to the headlight...... I go down to the local mechanics shop, not to worry, we figured out another way to do that job, the bill was $15, what did you do, we built a tool to snake in and pull the bulb and insert the new bulb.
Then the infamous gas fume sensor on top of the gas tank the causes the check engine warning light to come on, does nothing, costs $24 but $458 in labor to change, because you need to pull the bed off the truck to change that ***. A small access plate would just be too much to ask. The truck was a great truck, just some aggravating minor stuff.
The 2018 GMC is a totally different story, ride is awful far any kind of distance, terrible seats, a screwed up suspension and short sidewall tires pressured up to near 40 psi. Took that rascal to the tire company, only thing we can do with those new trucks is pull the entire suspension, replace those narrow sidewall tires and order custom seats. Geez. GM threw common sense out the window and built them to a gas milage standard, nor work or comfort, stupid, stupid, stupid..... But it gets more aggravating every time I drive it.