When all else fails....

[gadget73]

There for awhile the Explorers had some serious problems including transmission failures. I don't dought it can be hard to find parts.
I knew someone that had one and the transmission failed with less than 50K miles on it.

The V6 and V8 ones used a different transmission, and depending on the year there were I think 2 different trans behind the V6. The early was the A4LD which was not awesome. Later was something else which I honestly know nothing about. V8 models got a 4R70w, same thing used in pickup trucks and Crown Vics. It was fairly tough.

Mostly they don't exist around here because they are 25+ years old and rotted away, or just abused to death. They only got a 5.0 from 96-01, and it was way less common than the V6 engine.

 

[Lavane]

California cars don't rot. I still see a lot of old vehicles on the road. Yesterday I saw a 70's Datsun pickup still chugging along. Kind of beat up, but still running. Old Ford Aerostar vans are still pretty common to see on the road here too. I put a little over 300K miles on an Aerostar. Then my son drove it to a little over 400K miles before limping it off to the crusher.

 

[0b11011001]

California cars don't rot. I still see a lot of old vehicles on the road. Yesterday I saw a 70's Datsun pickup still chugging along. Kind of beat up, but still running. Old Ford Aerostar vans are still pretty common to see on the road here too. I put a little over 300K miles on an Aerostar. Then my son drove it to a little over 400K miles before limping it off to the crusher.

But drive that Aerostar where road salt is used, and it will be rusty, as most vehicles will be. The Ford Windstar became known as the Ruststar, due to corrosion issues involving the axle and subframes. This led to a recall.

 

[Lavane]

But drive that Aerostar where road salt is used, and it will be rusty, as most vehicles will be. The Ford Windstar became known as the Ruststar, due to corrosion issues involving the axle and subframes. This led to a recall.

Very true. One of the very few reason to live in Cali these days is that vehicles won't rot out on you unless you live on the coast with the salt air.
I was still messing with and building 60's and 70's muscle cars well into the 90's. None I found were rusted out. The funny thing is how many people got suckered into buying extra under coating from the dealership when they bought there cars in the 60's and 70's here in Cali. It was just a waist of money unless you lived on the coast.

 

[krautmaster]

There for awhile the Explorers had some serious problems including transmission failures. I don't dought it can be hard to find parts.
I knew someone that had one and the transmission failed with less than 50K miles on it. As far as modern engines I do really like the Chrystler Pentastar V6. I had a 2012 Jeep Wranger 4door that had one, and a 2014 Charger with one. That variable valve timing worked very slick. It was peppy too.
In the Charger I got great mileage out of it if I kept my foot out of it.
At the time I lived in the mountains. I drove from my home to my sons home up in Susanville about a two hour drive. I stayed in the hills the whole way there and back. I got just over 30mpg. Ya there are stretches of down hill driving, but a lot of up hill too. But it is a more complicated engine with more to go wrong. I miss being able to diagnose problems myself with a multi meter, timing light, and stethoscope.

The Pentastar is an excellent running engine but some do have issues with the needle bearings in the rocker arms going bad which will eventually eat the lobes on the camshafts. This issue seems to primarily effect Jeeps with the engines that were made in Mexico. Choice of motor oil and change interval is also a factor in the failure, so don't take your car to jiffy lube and let them use regular old "Dino" oil. They need good quality full synthetic that is changed according to the manuals "severe" duty schedule (if you read it thoroughly, "severe" can be stop & go city traffic !) If your get a lifter tick that doesn't stop within 10 seconds or so, you need to get the lifters changed ASAP.

 

[grey]

The Pentastar is an excellent running engine but some do have issues with the needle bearings in the rocker arms going bad which will eventually eat the lobes on the camshafts. This issue seems to primarily effect Jeeps with the engines that were made in Mexico. Choice of motor oil and change interval is also a factor in the failure, so don't take your car to jiffy lube and let them use regular old "Dino" oil. They need good quality full synthetic that is changed according to the manuals "severe" duty schedule (if you read it thoroughly, "severe" can be stop & go city traffic !) If your get a lifter tick that doesn't stop within 10 seconds or so, you need to get the lifters changed ASAP.

This issue left my friend stranded in a 2013 wrangler. Still under warranty and the dealer denied the claim while others were being covered.

A new oem crate engine was acquired with the latest revision "C" heads. This revision reportedly fixed these issues?

 

[krautmaster]

This issue left my friend stranded in a 2013 wrangler. Still under warranty and the dealer denied the claim while others were being covered.

A new oem crate engine was acquired with the latest revision "C" heads. This revision reportedly fixed these issues?

The issue with a very few of the early Pentastar engines was some of the cylinder heads were cast too thin on the #2 cylinder (center of drivers side) causing that cylinder to get too hot and dropping a valve seat. The new head design fixed the issue and Chrysler extended the affected cars warranty out to 10years/150,000 miles.

There is an issue with the Pentastar engine used specifically in the Chrysler Pacifica van where the rear cylinder head (motor sits transversely) overheats and causes a head gasket leak. If you just keep filling up the coolant tank eventually the leak will get bad enough and hydro lock the engine. This doesn't happen on any of the other cars/trucks, just the Pacifica... it could be worse, you could have one of the Chevy 6.2 V-8 hand grenade motors, or one of the Toyota V-8's that is full of debris left over from the machining processes that grinds the bearings to dust then grenades the motor... it just seems like EVERY company is having trouble with their engines

The rocker arms were revised in 2018 (?) to use larger needle bearings but you still need to use good quality oil.

 

[Lavane]

This issue left my friend stranded in a 2013 wrangler. Still under warranty and the dealer denied the claim while others were being covered.

A new oem crate engine was acquired with the latest revision "C" heads. This revision reportedly fixed these issues?

I had a 2012 Wrangler Unlimited. I got a letter from Chrystler saying they were extending the engine warranty for 100K miles. Something about the wrong valves could have been used in the left bank head. I had other recall issues including the whole dash failing. I got rid of that Jeep 4 years later.
I never really liked it anyway. It was my wife's choice for her car.
I had Zero issues with the 2014 Charger with the Pentastar 6cyl.
Hopefully they did fix that rocker arm issue. I did really liked that engine.
In 2012 I ordered a Dodge Ram 1500 single cab 4X4 truck from the factory.
Dodge was the only company that allowed me to have the truck built exactly the way I wanted without having to pick this package or that package with things I didn't want. I had the dealer put a 4" lift on it that they warranted.
In 2012 Dodge didn't offer the Pentastar V6. Just there standard V6, 4.7L V8, or two different Hemi V8's. I chose the 4.7L V8. Other than the computer having to be replaced its been a great truck so far. I get compliments on it a lot. I guess because you don't see many single cabs?

 

[gadget73]

or one of the Toyota V-8's that is full of debris left over from the machining processes that grinds the bearings to dust then grenades the motor

or the Kia/Hyundai engines that had the same issue. I think most of those have already exploded by this point.

 

[Mumbles]

There for awhile the Explorers had some serious problems including transmission failures.

That would be the infamous 5R55W and S series of transmissions. Although the trannies themselves are fairly good and strong, the main problem is the way Ford designed the servo shaft sealing. The servo piston shafts and their O rings ride in bores machined into the aluminum transmission case itself, which tends to wear out and leak fluid and pressure causing shifting and slipping problems. The fix is fairly simple using brass bushings but the trannie must be removed and partially disassembled to do it properly. Ford knew about this flaw but decided to carry on and sweep it under the rug instead of solving it.

 

[0b11011001]

or the Kia/Hyundai engines that had the same issue. I think most of those have already exploded by this point.

Hyundai/kia now has horror stories about trying to get something covered under their warranty, and they do still have impressive failure modes.

 

[grey]

The rocker arms were revised in 2018 (?)

The time frame seems correct for acquiring the engine. He should have checked with other dealers on the warranty claim. The warranty that you're explaining is what was forwarded to him. We can swing our own wrenches, so it was ~4-5K just in parts/supplies.

 

[Lavane]

Hyundai/kia now has horror stories about trying to get something covered under their warranty, and they do still have impressive failure modes.

The Korean government got involved in part. The Hyundai my wife has, I really hate the thing myself, has a 100K warranty on the engine and whats connected to it. The standard warranty was up by a few thousand miles when the turbo failed. I didn't have to pay a dime. The turbo, all hoses, pipes, intercooler, and sensors were replaced along with an engine flush.
Personally I absolutely hate the transmission. Its a standard 8 speed transmission with dual clutches and shifting is done by the computer.
When its cold it hunts for gears. When its really cold it will lurch when driving through a parking lot at parking lot speeds. You have to let the thing warm all the way up for it to shift properly. She wanted a hatchback and thats what she picked. We traded the Charger that I really liked for the thing.
Did I mention I loath that car?