1998 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer from North America - Comments

Idol air control valve cleaned by dealer twice. Replace the valve twice after that. It causes the car to die for no reason. Has left me stranded 6 times.

The electronic climate control is a joke. When the heater says 90 its 90 or off. I have to open sunroof in winter with the heat on to vent some hot air out.

The air conditioning works well if you want it on 60' at all times otherwise you are playing freeze out. there is no medium even if it says 72', its not.

The rear wiper does not wipe the entire window. Have replaced glass, motor, blades and arm and none of them helped.

Power antenna quit working completely.

Rattles unbelievably at highway speeds. Very loud inside the car as well.

Replaced spark plug wires twice in less than 30K miles at $156 each time.

The radio display does not work for the first twenty minutes the car is on, then it decides to work.

Would never buy another Ford.

Would not recommend an Eddie Bauer. I was told the top of the line would be better, would hate to see problems of the low end models.

It does have a nice punch from the 5.0L V-83

The keyless touchpad is very handy!

For all of you out there, which have a Ford Explorer, Expedition or Mercury Mountaineer OEM radio, where the display is dead. This is a GENERAL issue with 1998 to 2000 Explorers. There is some help at the site below available.

I did get my radio display fixed by figuring it out myself (just resolder the joints on the powerboard in the upper left corner of the radio). But when the multifunction knob defaulted I settled for a new MP3 radio. Just 97 USD after rebates + 12 USD for the in dash kit. Sound is WAAAAY better. Wouldn't go back to the original radio if I got one as a present.

Here are the relevant links:

http://www.epinions.com/content_113223437956.

http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/

Good luck.

I was amazed to see that the problems I have with my 1998 EB Explorer are the same as identified by the original posting. I still love the vehicle, but these problems do exist.

I also noticed 90% of the problems in the above post. Of primary concern to me were the radio display, the "whirring" noise AFTER hard acceleration, the antenna motor and the spark plug wires.

I just recently purchased a 1998 EB from my local dealership and have noticed the exact same problems listed above. No display on the radio and the rear wiper doesn't clear the entire back window. The AC works fine, but I believe there is a stuck mixing door in the heater. When I turn the "vent" on, very hot air comes out.

It had 148,000 miles on it, but the price was right - 5K and everything else works - moon roof, etc. Still very happy overall with it. I traded my 02' Explorer in (to get out of payments) and to be honest, I'm just as happy with the 98 EB. Ford is getting better.

Ditto... to the first comment mentioned. In March, I bought a '98 EB. I had to replace the radio as the display didn't show. Radio antennae stuck and won't retract. Climate control either cold or hot... nothing in between. Rear wiper cleans half of the window. Cold starts in the morning, the engine lopes up and down, sometimes dying. Runs fine after 5 min. of rough idle. I was told I had a vacuum leak in my intake manifold. I've never had so many problems with any vehicle. It's too much!!