Hey guys and gals,
New to this forum, the wife and I are looking at buying a used 02' explorer xlt V8 been reading some mixed reviews on the tranny's and wheel bearings seems to be some issues with this year. The truck has 125000kms on it oiled yearly and in very nice shape has everything but heated seats. Anyways was 2002 a good year for these trucks?

Regards,
Scooter

 

i have a 2002 wiht 125k MILES on it. I have changed two wheel bearing hubs. ONe about 80k and another at 85k. Just the luck of the draw, you cant tell how long they will last. Other two are fine... We have the 4 L V6- nice motor, no problems. I have changed the transmission fluid 3 times, about 40k miles between changed. No rpblems with the transmission. I have a rear axle gear whine, not bad, but noticable. Drive down the road at 60 MPH to see if it does that. You can change the oil / viscosity/ oil addatives to lessen the noise sometimes. If its gear mesh noise, it is not hurting anything.

 

From what I understand, the V8s are pretty bullet proof. Is it AWD?

 

I had an 02, First year of the rear independent suspension, excellent fit and finish of interior, and probably the smoothest riding SUV I ever owned. Wife talked me into trading for a new Tahoe unfortunately. After over a dozen times in the shop I sold that junk SUV and my father gave us a Sequoia. Now I have an 02 EB again just to tinker with

 

My '02 has served me well but I have replace all 4 wheel bearings at what I consider to be far to early a mileage. I've got bad upper ball joints up front, just replace an outer tie rod end and the left rear toe link went out about a month back. I've never had any engine issues but the tranny takes about 3 or 4 seconds to engage after you put it in gear. All of this stuff is annoying but the PITA part is that the stuff that breaks must break on every 02-03 out there because you can't find the parts to fix the stuff. There were like 25 rear toe links in the entire country when mine went bad, luckily ther was one about 1 1/2 hours away from me. I've got a cracked EGR pipe now and the dealer has a 2-3 MONTH backorder on it. I ordered at Genuinefordparts.com this morning but am waiting for the phone call saying they don't have it. As far as the ball joints, you can't replace them, you have to replace the whole upper control arm, $180 a pop aftermarket. Like I said maintenance is fine, I can replace hoses, belts, lube chasis, and replace consumables but a lot of this stuff has always been life of the vehicle things on past trucks. I had a ranger with 170k on it that was sold with the origional wheel bearings and ball joints just as tight as the day I bought it, same goes for the clutch. I know this generation of explorer is a different animal than a ranger but I think Ford did some experimenting with the driveline and suspension that didn't turn out to well. You'll find a host of tranny and wheel bearing complaints online with little looking. All said, it's paid for and I'll keep "maintaining" it and hope to get at least 175k when it's all done. I just don't know if it will be driving away titled to a new owner or on a Jer-Dan roll off.
Eric

 

Its 4x4 the owner is a farmer he changes the oil every 2500 miles, flushes the rad, changes the tranny, and diff. fluids as requiered. there is not a spot of rust on it as it is rust proofed every year. Engine is quiet no ticking or leaks from the manifold. Have not test drove it yet as I was in Michigan for skid school for the past two days. Hopefully we will take it out tomorrow and see how it drives. (if he still has it).

Thanks for your comments hopefully it gives us no issues.

 

Well we bought the SUV there are a couple small things I will have to look at like.
Air Bag light is staying on
Oil pressure gauge does not work
and driver door needs new bushings
But all in all drives excellent not hessitation from park to drive and reverse
shifts nice and does drive like a car.
regards,
Nate