I just bought a 2010 Black on Tan Eddie Bauer with the 4.6L and trailer towing package. The truck is very mint with less than 20,000 miles and it looks and drives like new. What are the look outs or should do's for this type of Explorer. I should be honest and say that I have owned 6 other ones previous, but this is the first time with the V8 and all the bells and whistles on a jammed Eddie Bauer. I want to own this one for years, so want to do things right from the beginning.

Thanks for your inputs,

Eric

 

Bump. Plus some generic recommendations that I've employed over the years. I do this all myself so the cost is cheap (not including my time). Whenever I get a car/truck, I plan to keep it forever so I want it to last as long as it can. If you pay someone else, the cost can add up. You'll have to decide what's best for you.

Fluid changes. The extended oil change intervals recommended by manufacturers are a bad deal if you don't get your engine nice and warm every time you drive it. Your engine needs to be at the normal operating temperature to get rid of water (from blowby) that can accumulate in the oil and cause high acid numbers and that mayonnaise-type stuff that can clog up parts of your engine.

Change power steering fluid every couple of years. There's a very small volume and it lives a pretty hard life.

Brake fluid every couple of years. It likes to absorb water and this can cause problems. I've never had a wheel cylinder or caliper fail since I started flushing my brakes every 2-3 years.

Thermostat: consider this a maintenance item and change it before it fails. The consequences can be severe, especially with aluminum heads. I've had aftermarket (not the el cheapo variety, either) thermostats fail in under 2 years and the OEM thermostat fail at about 6 years. Lucky for me they both failed open. I change my thermostats when I changed out the antifreeze. I change antifreeze every 2-4 years. I don't believe in "lifetime" coolant that is good for 100k miles but has to be changed more frequently after that. If it can't last another 100k miles the second time, then it can't last 100k miles the first time. That's just good enough to get you past the warranty and it looks good on the manufacturers cost of ownership for the first 100k miles (which is all they get rated on).

I do a drain and fill on my transmissions every 1-3 years. If you do a flush where all the fluid is changed out, you could go longer. Same for if you use a synthetic. For a part-time transfer case, I'll change fluid at 50k miles or less, depending on use.

I don't let differentials go longer than 60k miles before a change. However, the interval recommended for everything I own is 100k miles. If the axle is submerged, change it right away.

Sure, there will be some guy who has never changed any fluid and claimed that his Explorer has gone 350k miles, but that's not typical.

 

good list Mike... I do similar when i buy a vehicle. Always change all the fluids right off the bat to start new.

 

Thank you. Thats great advice. I will replace the fluids with good quality synthetics when changing them. I was concerned about the transfer case as it will need to handle more torque from the 8 versus the 6.

Now confession time, I am one of those guys who never changed the fluids in his previous Explorers and went well over 150,000 miles on each of them. What did bite me a couple of times were wheel bearings in the front going. My 2006 lost one front wheel bearing and one rear wheel bearing at different times. This happened at about 120,000 miles and in both cases required the changing of the hub carrier as well. At the dealership this resulted in a charge of over a grand each time.

The other weird thing was that on my last one, the plastic water neck ruptured and dumped a lot of coolant before I could get it slowed down and stopped on the freeway. I was wondering if anyone else had seen these types of issues or if there were any other watch out fors.

All of my previous Exploreres were company trucks. This will be the first one I have owned myself. I think its a great platform so I want to keep it around for a while.

Thanks,

Eric

 

I run all synthetics, Walmart sells the oil much cheaper, which I replace every 10,000 miles, filter every 5,000 miles. The tranny....flush every 75,000 miles. I repack front wheel bearings at 75,000 miles as well. The PS and brakes I use a turkey baster to pull out what I can twice a year.
No internal engine issues ever, keeping costs low, I do my own work.
210,000 miles so far.