Thinking of buying a 2003 Eddie Bauer, anything I should watch out for?

[Prince_Polaris]

I agree, don't use stop leak...it sucks.

I am EPA certified for refrigerant, so I can get a good deal LOL

Awesome, and yeah, I don't trust stopleak or any of the other janky AC system things.

There's a few things I'm gonna be fixing myself, and I was gonna ask for any advice on em, but I gotta cook, so I'll either edit this about it or add a new reply..

 

[autoarcheologist]

Congrats on getting the Expedition! Hope it works out for you.

One tip from a dealer. Next time you buy a car make sure you test everything and don't buy anything until you know everything is working. It's different state to state, but here in Oregon unless otherwise specified all sales are As-is and dealers are under no obligation to fix anything after a sale. Plus a dealer is much more likely to agree to fix something before the sale vs after.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[Prince_Polaris]

Congrats on getting the Expedition! Hope it works out for you.

One tip from a dealer. Next time you buy a car make sure you test everything and don't buy anything until you know everything is working. It's different state to state, but here in Oregon unless otherwise specified all sales are As-is and dealers are under no obligation to fix anything after a sale. Plus a dealer is much more likely to agree to fix something before the sale vs after.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

I kinda have respect for those guys, even after we'd bought it, they took the car out and got the windsheild washer system cleaned out. Though, now the car can't decide if the wiper fluid is "Ok" or "LOW FLUID" but at least it works!

Oh, and I found out that I actually don't have air suspension, there's just a panel that says "AIR SUSPENSION SWITCH (if installed)" which I only glanced at earlier.

Even better though, I removed the mirror switch and fiddled around with it, and I got it working too! The mirrors are a bit... unwilling to move however, so I suppose I have a list of minor problems I wanna fix, because I'm **** about it for some reason:

-Find the door code, it doesn't seem to be behind the glovebox and the ford help line was not only completely
-Turn signal on the passenger side mirror is loose, I suppose I need to glue it back in place or something
-Mirrors shudder when moving, can I lube the mirrors somehow? Oh and the DRIVER'S SIDE ONE LOOKS LIKE IT HAS A BEEHIVE IN IT AAAAAAAAAAAAA I mean it seems to be a dead beehive but eeuugghh I hate bees
-CD player is borked, gonna replace it with another headunit, I have a bluetooth to FM adapter anyway
-We put in a new reverse light because the passenger one was out- turns out it rusted the contacts off, rear lights might need sealed?
-Rear wiper works, and works good, but it's a few inches off kilter, when it's in its resting position it's sitting on the back door instead of the glass, how do I fix that one?
-Rear washer fluid seems to come out weird, I'm gonna fiddle with the nozzle
-Front drivers side sprayer sprays the fluid over the windsheild instead of onto it, I'll mess with it too
-There is a pin on the tow hitch but it has a lock on it, I'll just cut it off later, however the hitch is rusty, should I worry about it?
-Someone else mentioned the AC hissing means it needs some coolant, I guess I'll try adding some someday

 

[Expatriot]

Hi, I've enjoyed reading your posts. If the driver's fluid nozzle isn't spraying where it should, you could switch it for the center one, that was a simple fix for me. We have salt up here in Canada and one of our rear hatch hinges let go. If you are at a wrecker, take some penetrating oil and the right socket and see what shape a used hinges is in. You can't tell what your own are like and they often break when your turn the nut so good to have a spare. New I was quoted $125 a hinge but I got an entire rear door with hatch and a bumper for $300 so a wrecker is a good place to shop. Enjoy your ride and keep you positive attitude!

Mike from Saskatchewan

 

[autoarcheologist]

I kinda have respect for those guys, even after we'd bought it, they took the car out and got the windsheild washer system cleaned out. Though, now the car can't decide if the wiper fluid is "Ok" or "LOW FLUID" but at least it works!

Oh, and I found out that I actually don't have air suspension, there's just a panel that says "AIR SUSPENSION SWITCH (if installed)" which I only glanced at earlier.

Even better though, I removed the mirror switch and fiddled around with it, and I got it working too! The mirrors are a bit... unwilling to move however, so I suppose I have a list of minor problems I wanna fix, because I'm **** about it for some reason:

-Find the door code, it doesn't seem to be behind the glovebox and the ford help line was not only completely
-Turn signal on the passenger side mirror is loose, I suppose I need to glue it back in place or something
-Mirrors shudder when moving, can I lube the mirrors somehow? Oh and the DRIVER'S SIDE ONE LOOKS LIKE IT HAS A BEEHIVE IN IT AAAAAAAAAAAAA I mean it seems to be a dead beehive but eeuugghh I hate bees
-CD player is borked, gonna replace it with another headunit, I have a bluetooth to FM adapter anyway
-We put in a new reverse light because the passenger one was out- turns out it rusted the contacts off, rear lights might need sealed?
-Rear wiper works, and works good, but it's a few inches off kilter, when it's in its resting position it's sitting on the back door instead of the glass, how do I fix that one?
-Rear washer fluid seems to come out weird, I'm gonna fiddle with the nozzle
-Front drivers side sprayer sprays the fluid over the windsheild instead of onto it, I'll mess with it too
-There is a pin on the tow hitch but it has a lock on it, I'll just cut it off later, however the hitch is rusty, should I worry about it?
-Someone else mentioned the AC hissing means it needs some coolant, I guess I'll try adding some someday

Good luck finding the door codes. That's one of my favorite features on our Navigator.

For the turn signal if the clips have broken off then glue might be your best bet. Or a good used one. I also noticed that Ford mirror motors don't hold up well, they get jerky and don't work smoothly.

To fix the driver washer nozzle insert a pin into it and you can reposition it. Use the pin to try cleaning out the rear nozzle. You can also just replace the nozzle for $5, ours was missing.

Rear wiper, some are designed to sit on the door when off. I can't remember if the Expy is supposed to. If not just remove the arm and reposition.

Do you plan on using the hitch? You can remove it, brush down the rust and repaint it. They are 1/4" thick steel so pretty solid. Touching it up to look better is an easy project.

Enjoy!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[Bain64]

-Rear wiper works, and works good, but it's a few inches off kilter, when it's in its resting position it's sitting on the back door instead of the glass, how do I fix that one?

-There is a pin on the tow hitch but it has a lock on it, I'll just cut it off later, however the hitch is rusty, should I worry about it?
-Someone else mentioned the AC hissing means it needs some coolant, I guess I'll try adding some someday

Rear wiper re-positioning is easy (as long as it's not seized, which yours sounds OK) follow the first few steps of this video.
Surface rust on hitch is normal, if the rust is deep or 'boiling' post some pictures, but they all rust on the surface.

 

[Prince_Polaris]

Good luck finding the door codes. That's one of my favorite features on our Navigator.

For the turn signal if the clips have broken off then glue might be your best bet. Or a good used one. I also noticed that Ford mirror motors don't hold up well, they get jerky and don't work smoothly.

To fix the driver washer nozzle insert a pin into it and you can reposition it. Use the pin to try cleaning out the rear nozzle. You can also just replace the nozzle for $5, ours was missing.

Rear wiper, some are designed to sit on the door when off. I can't remember if the Expy is supposed to. If not just remove the arm and reposition.

Do you plan on using the hitch? You can remove it, brush down the rust and repaint it. They are 1/4" thick steel so pretty solid. Touching it up to look better is an easy project.

Enjoy!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

Yeah, I'd love to get a camper someday, and take a trip or two around the US to visit some of the friends I have online! I just gotta learn how to tow stuff first, would be a horrible idea to just hook up a trailer and run off westward.

On my explorer, it rested against a holder on the door, but on the expedition it's supposed to stay on the glass... on my explorer I was able to take off the front wiper arms and turn them to the right or left a few notches but I dunno how to do it on the rear one on this expy...

Rear wiper re-positioning is easy (as long as it's not seized, which yours sounds OK) follow the first few steps of this video.
Surface rust on hitch is normal, if the rust is deep or 'boiling' post some pictures, but they all rust on the surface.

...however this video sure does! It's raining right now sadly, so I'll have to do it tomorrow, but the gist of it is that I need to adjust the wiper thingy on the back window, not the motor?

 

[1955moose]

If the 2003 is same as 2000, the door code is under dash, drivers side. When I bought mine 3 plus years back, I was at dealer, a mechanic crawled under there, no easy feat for you, or me, and read off 5 digit code, so I could write down. a wire cleaner for cleaning welding nozzles might work for spray nozzle I used a tool for cleaning small motorcycle jets to clean those nozzles in the past. When someone Paints a hood or any item near those nozzles, it gets them clogged!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Prince_Polaris]

If the 2003 is same as 2000, the door code is under dash, drivers side. When I bought mine 3 plus years back, I was at dealer, a mechanic crawled under there, no easy feat for you, or me, and read off 5 digit code, so I could write down. a wire cleaner for cleaning welding nozzles might work for spray nozzle I used a tool for cleaning small motorcycle jets to clean those nozzles in the past. When someone Paints a hood or any item near those nozzles, it gets them clogged!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

I have canned air for cleaning dust out of my computers, you think that would work? If not, I could just poke at it with a knife or something, or this thing I have here on my desk- it's a sharp pointed stick, with a screwdriver handle, it's designed for you to poke a hole in wood with it and then you'll screw a screw into there.

Also, me and my dad and my brother are all too big to get down in there- so I got my mom to do it. She checked in behind the removable fuse panel thing, and back behind the glove box (it opens downwards) and we tried every number she could see down there and none of them worked

The pad works, because I can use it to lock the car, so I guess I could take it to a ford dealer and ask them to get it off the computer... you think they'd charge for it? :/

This was easier in my explorer... heh, it was just a box in the rear drivers side thing, I shoved my phone in there while recording video and eventually got the code on video. I suppose I can try the same trick with the expy, but I dunno how effective it would be since it's a larger space.

I only need the factory code for reprogramming anyway, I'm gonna put in the same code my explorer had, for memory's sake

Edit: Though the system works now, the car yells at me for low wiper fluid every time I start it, and if I run a system check it says it again, but then goes through the list and says "Ok", is there a sensor I can perhaps clean or something I need to do with the computer?

 

[1955moose]

Usually the spray nozzle needs a real skinny wire. Go by the local motorcycle shop, ask if you can borrow one for a second. Also once it's off blow through with air tip and compressor after you unclog with wire. The easiest bet is pull hose from nozzle, make sure it pumps, if so just buy a new nozzle. You need your washer almost daily, especially in winter months. I'll look into the code on mine and report back.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk