1998 Ford Explorer XLT review from North America

5.0 exhaust manifolds poorly designed and manufactured. They crack very easily.

Radio display disappeared.

Front sway bar bushings missing.

All front end parts showexcessive signs of wear.

Rear window and hatchback open mechanisms sometimes do not unlock electrically or manually rendering the back of the vehical unusable.

Blood curdling screetching sound coming from serpentine belt and or pulley system.

Overall assembly of the vehicle is better than its domestic competition, but unfortunately inferior to Asian brands. I bought this truck for the venerable 5.0 engine underneath the hood, its power and towing capabilities. I am still sorting ou the bugs, but these are the problems experinced so far. Welded tube exhaust manifolds were cracked on both sides. This is a well documented problem with the v8 explorers and underscored the haste to which ford shoe horned this engine in the explorer and slapped together some tight clearence exhaust manifolds. I had to loosen the engine mounts jack the engine up to remove the old manifolds and install a set of aftermarket headers that are built much better than factory and give better mpg and power. My radio display doesn't work most of the time, but that seems to be a common problem with this type car so I am going to try to ignore it. My rear hatch sometimes will not unlock so then I'm stuck with throwing stuff over the back seat, a real pain! The drivers seat recline lever was broke. Ford wanted $220 installed or $120 for the part. I went to the junkyard purchased one for $2. Terrible squeeling from the serpentine belt system. I've replaced the belt, but no joy. Trying now to carefully listen with a stethoscope to pinpoint. Once again, this seems to be a common problem. All front end components of this 2wd explorer (that's never been off road) show unusually large amounts of wear. I replaced the sway bar bushings yeaterday and know the upper and lower ball joints will be needed soon. From what I've seen and read on this sight, these components are under engineered for the weight of the vehicle. I'm a ASE certified mechanic and own a 400,000 mile ranger, 100,000 mile expedition, miata and this explorer. I've never had front end parts wear as quickly as this explorer has. Overall, nitpicky problems, but the basic engine trans package is a sweetie, especially with the after market exhaust headers. It really woke the sleepy v8 up and gave me better mpg to boot.