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One of my customers son's is selling a white Ford Aerostar, looks to have been more of a fleet vehicle (white in color, no side windows). Dont have any info as he was out of town. I was thinking about adding it to our fleet. We currently have two e350 SD cut aways (2002 and 2012, both 5.4s with 345k and 220k respectively) and a '94 e150 with a 4.9 I6
Not being familiar with these, are there any things to avoid or keep an eye on when looking at one of these?
From personal experience, the Aerostars have weak automatic transmissions. I would check the fluid to see if there are signs of burning. To help reduce clutch wear, you can install a valve body reprogram kit to make shifts more immediate, and replace the boost valve with an aftermarket version:
I'm in the process of replacing my automatic with a manual, to avoid all the problems.
The other problem is their brakes are way too small, and there is no fix for that. You can get heavy duty directional brake rotors and pads, but the rotors will overheat and warp if they're used much at all.
Thanks, i got some more information, it's a '93 with a 3.0
Customer sent me this about it:
~79k milesNew rack and pinion -1k miles agoNew tires -1k miles agoNew ball joints and shocks -10k miles agoRegular oil changes and engine tune-upsNew battery -15k miles agoPurchased from state at auction where it was used minimally on the grounds of a hospital.
Thanks, i got some more information, it's a '93 with a 3.0
Customer sent me this about it:
~79k milesNew rack and pinion -1k miles agoNew tires -1k miles agoNew ball joints and shocks -10k miles agoRegular oil changes and engine tune-upsNew battery -15k miles agoPurchased from state at auction where it was used minimally on the grounds of a hospital.
balljoints worn out at 79 thousand?79 thousand is a great mileage if its correct.look for oil in the radiator and water in the oil.my 3.0 has a blown head gasket but has many more miles.if you buy it concider installing a transmission cooler.these use many ranger parts so getting parts isn't a problem.
Finally got a chance to go see the van today and test drive, all the fluids looked new or clean except the brake fluid. The coolant was low but I didn't see any bubbles while it was running. Transmission shifted fine is an OD tranny. Not a rust bucket either, only thing it needs are bumper or bumper covers, not familiar with.
The twisted metal at the front is the bumper, and is welded to the frame so you can't replace it unless you cut it off and weld on a new one. Then you can dress it up with the plastic cover.
The rear bumper is a plastic box-like structure with cross-bracing inside. This van appears to be an extended length version, so the bumper will be 3 pieces; the center one that bolts to the rear of the frame and two side cover pieces that bolt to the center piece at the rear and slide into pegs in the body at the front.
Be aware that these parts may be very difficult to get.
One of the old members of this list made his own steel replacements for the covers and the bumpers for more strength. Otherwise, the stock bumpers are rated to take only 2.5 mph bumps without major damage.
it is a "Work Aerostar", no side glass. The version with side glass is called a "7 Passenger".
Also in the Work van there is no rear Hatch but two opening doors on the back.
finding the bumper covers will be almost impossible. Those are no longer made new and used ones are always damaged.
you will have to fabricate something or try to adapt bumper covers from other vehicles. Or keep checking eBay.
The front bumper cover will be the same as with any Aerostar, but the rear bumper cover is specific to the Work Van.
Actually, any "passenger" van will have seats, and more importantly, seat anchor cleats, and are called "wagons". There were models with windows but no seats that they called "window vans". I think the "van" versions that had no seat anchor cleats in the back.
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