Clearcoat finish is wearing off.
Front and rear bumpers, severe surface rust.
Rocker panels are completely rotted.
Valve cover gaskets failed.
Transmission leak.
Driver's seat foam breakdown & track broke.
Radiator tanks leaked at the seal.
Engine cooling fan cracked (no accident, from stress).
Terrible handling over rough surfaces. Ultra high performance shocks ($100 ea) helped make it liveable with.
Far too sensitive to tire balance. Chassis harmonics cause all sorts of shakes and vibrations.
Paint failure and rust are so common on these vehicles they are not worth buying if out of warranty.
Stay away from the 5 speed models.
My 1991 Explorer XL 4x4 has 182,000 miles. Bought it 2 years ago for $3500 with 165,000.
There is some question in my mind about mileage though, because the tires are 235/70R-15 and the door post calls for 225's.
I replaced the rocker arms right away, and haven't noticed any problems with valve cover gasket leakage before or since.
The XL didn't have clearcoat, it's in great shape except the rockers & rear wheel well edges. MN uses salt on the roads.
No problems with the 5 speed or auto 4x4, except for the front hubs. I took 'em apart, cleaned, sparingly used synthetic wheel bearing grease and they still wouldn't fully disengage. So I bought new manual hubs ($160 pair + $20 for an install kit) and the autos have worked fine ever since.
Armrest is broken.
Converted the A/C to R134a for $42 (K-Mart).
Gas mileage is pretty bad - I'm used to a Honda, but if you have some tools and mechanical curiosity, I think there will be a lot of these on the cheap market soon.
Thanks for reading, Ray.
I bought a 1991 Ford Explorer, it now has over 200000 miles on it and it runs great. The only problem is rust under the doors. But it is a very dependable. I wish I had a newer, but it will work for a old car.
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