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Post by MLB on Sept 29, 2011 8:01:50 GMT -5
What to do with a 10 year old Ford Explorer with 175k miles and a solid powertrain, but soon to be blatant rust issues, squirter malfunction, a radio that quits when the headlights come on, broken backup sensors, a driver side door that won't lock, a loose liftgate latch, one heated mirror, and now a rusted out exhaust flange that makes it sound like a Corvette with low octane gas? A more ambitious person than I would go about fixing all of that stuff. I've managed to repair the more mission critical things that have come up, but finally decided to hand over the newly named "Thunder Bus" to the local Ford dealer.  The new Explorer is much less truck-like (not a good thing). The Limited edition that I picked out (just like the old one) is well appointed and comfortable. It only comes in a V6 these days (you can get an I-4 too!), but the horsepower the 3.5l V6 puts out is about the same as the 4.6l V8 I have now. I noticed that it doesn't seem to have the same launch that the 8 has (torque probably), but it's more than sufficient for what I do with it. I'm a little concerned with the power-everything. There's really no need to have powered side mirror folders, gas/brake pedal positioner, and third row seat folders. Overly complicated and expensive to fix. The central computer console seems to control everything from the climate to the radio. Very "Star Trek", but if Hal decides to go on vacation, MLB will be SOL. Overall I like it though. If only they wouldn't have mushed up the front grill. I think the designers must own a pug. |
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Post by TMan on Sept 29, 2011 8:27:57 GMT -5
Good luck ole buddy. I hope it works out better for you than our new "stainless steel that everybody now has"  kitchen appliances. In nearly 20 years with the old stuff we had only one failure and I fixed that with some new plastic tubing from the hardware store. This stuff has been nothing but trouble. What they get for computers in cars these days is absurd when you have to replace one. I never trusted the HEI on the 75 Buick and carried a spare module in the glove compartment. One day my son had the car over at his friends house, who was an aircraft mechanic. They couldn't figure out what was wrong. I went over, pulled the module out of the glove compartment, installed it and was done in 15 minutes. Nice when you get a little respect from your kids. It sure looks a lot different than my brother's Explorer. Is it build on a truck chassis or on a car one? |
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Post by MLB on Sept 30, 2011 20:58:35 GMT -5
I understand that it's on the same platform as the Taurus, but it's just as large as my old Explorer, the V6 has more horsepower than the V8, and still has 4WD. Just picked it up this afternoon. Still learning all of the gadgetry.
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Post by TMan on Oct 1, 2011 10:29:13 GMT -5
Just had a flashback to the original Vacation movie. Good luck witht he gadgetry. ;D
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Post by 5ontarget on Oct 3, 2011 10:42:50 GMT -5
I just put $400 into my 10yr old Honda. I'll have some more exhaust work in the near future as I can hear a bit of a rattle. I looked and can see were a gasket is starting to leak. I can't complain about that too much, it is still the original exhaust from the catalytic conveter back.
I saw a few Fords with stickers on them that read "Made without taxpayers money" I'd consider Fords over most of the other "US" auto companies. Hope the new Explorer treats you well for at least the next 10yrs.
I have an old Chevy pickup with the small 305 (5L) V8. Stock HP rating was around 150 and 240ftlb torque. The 2012 Civic Si has a 2.4L 4cyl. with 201hp AND 170ftlbs of torque (and gets 31mpg hwy)
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Post by MLB on Oct 3, 2011 11:24:55 GMT -5
That would have been the smart thing for me to do too. Unfortunately, I was star struck by all of the things that don't need fixing on this one.
The turbocharged I-4 that they offer makes 240 horsepower and 270 ft-lbs of torque they say. Incredible.
I noticed that Ford makes the latest software for the computer available online. I've already flashed the operating software via a usb drive. Neat stuff. (The navigation system is still inferior to my 3 year old Garmin portable though.)
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Post by TMan on Oct 3, 2011 16:52:05 GMT -5
Having spend years in programming, and created my share of bugs, I'm impressed and kind of scared that they can update the software. Over the years we had a lot of problems with fixes. Yes the fix would fix one problem, but create other problems.
One of the coolest things I've seen lately is my daughter's washer/dryer. If it has a problem you call an 800 number and put the phone near the washer, and the washer reports its diagnosed problem to the mother ship.
I've been satisfied with our Maytag washer/dryer, but I've never figured out which one makes the socks disappear. I have around half a dozen socks with no matches.
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Post by MLB on Oct 4, 2011 7:40:38 GMT -5
I have a theory that entire socks spontaneously disintegrate occasionally to create the lint in the filter. If only they could upgrade the software to have it zap two matching socks at the same time, it would be an improvement.
The software is "Powered by Microsoft". It's been through quite a few revisions already. Apparently, when it first came out, it was slow, buggy, and prone to locking up. I'm not sure that this should have been a surprise. My first comment to the saleswoman when she was showing me the features was "where can I find the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys?"
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Post by TMan on Oct 4, 2011 10:28:39 GMT -5
Good one!!!
I think I impressed Ed this morning. He told me that his daughter just bought an Explorer and I started rattling off all these facts that I learned from you about the new Explorer. I never bothered to give him the source of my vast knowledge. I was content letting him think that I knew as much about cars as I do about guns (most of which I learned from Professor DoubleAction). ;D
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Post by MLB on Oct 5, 2011 9:08:34 GMT -5
Ooh! I've never been an "unnamed source" before! I'll be adding that to my resume. ;D
I wonder what hardware runs that software. Perhaps it's a Windows CE thing?
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kitchen appliances. In nearly 20 years with the old stuff we had only one failure and I fixed that with some new plastic tubing from the hardware store. This stuff has been nothing but trouble.
