Laundry list of Repairs. :(

[kmh1596]

The other day, after washing up my truck, (which is not driven daily as I have a 60mi round trip commute every day), I saw a decent sized spot under it. The "smell test" said it was trans fluid. Sure enough, one of the two lines coming down next to the radiator, feeding the trans cooler as well as the return line to the trans, was rusted and leaking. Good thing this showed itself now; we are going to Niagara Falls in May, with a 4,000lb camper in tow.

My mechanic, who is a former full time Ford tech, went through the truck front to back, and found the following on my 95K miles truck:

Replace Trans Lines, and lines feeding Cooler
Oil Pan Gasket Leaking
(Will do oil change)
Trans Pan Gasket Leaking
(Will do Trans Filter/Flush while in there)
Rear Diff Fluid looks original, will drain and refill
Transfer case fluid service (looks original)
Front diff drain and refill
Fuel Filter (original)



The truck had never towed anything more than a yard trailer before I bought it 6 months ago (still had the factory dielectric grease in the 7way) so it has not been worked extremely hard, but much of these items have never been addressed.

About $775 or parts and labor later, and it should be done tomorrow, but I'm glad the lines leaked in my driveway and not 7 hours away from home.

 

[ZombieSoldier]

:/ damn that sucks, but better to have it happen now than on the road trip.

 

[Hamfisted]

Yeah if you're in a area of the country where they salt the roads in the winter I would go all over the underside of the Expedition with a brush and some CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion guard spray. You're not gonna be very happy when you look at the radiator support bracket either. Notorious for rusting out. As well as the valleys up on the roof. Put some wax on the roof. At least you found this stuff in your driveway and have a chance to fix it right.


-Mike

 

[kmh1596]

Yeah if you're in a area of the country where they salt the roads in the winter I would go all over the underside of the Expedition with a brush and some CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion guard spray. You're not gonna be very happy when you look at the radiator support bracket either. Notorious for rusting out. As well as the valleys up on the roof. Put some wax on the roof. At least you found this stuff in your driveway and have a chance to fix it right.


-Mike

Mike,
Well.. funny story. When I bought the truck, the reason I bought it as cheap as I did, ($5100 with 93K) was due to the radiator support mounts needing attention at some point. The seller was scared of it, I've bought several salvage vehicles in the past needing rad support for crashed reasons, and not rust, so I wasn't scared of having a new support installed. The mechanic mentioned that needs some attention within the next year. I will likely bring it in in the fall or something. I'm mainly not looking forward to my body guy doing the AC breakdown, etc.. which will require a recharge, and should have new o-rings done at the same time, being that they are about 9 years old. The system works well now, I'd hate to have issues with it after the rad support replacement.

I went over the underside of the truck when I bought it, right before winter, with Boeshield T-9, which I have used on my camper for years, with moderate success. thus far, the underside of my truck looks great, with the exception of those radiator mounts.

Zombie Soldier--I LIKE those new rims/tires!

All in all, the repairs are not expensive, as they all include parts and labor, and the trans lines alone were ~$130-$150.. $70 to install them is fair to me.

 

[kmh1596]

Here she is, being loaded up to tow to the shop. The trans line was not leaking terribly, but it was dripping fast enough that I didn't want to risk it running low, and doing further damage. That's what AAA is for.

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

you should be back on the road very soon.
+1 on finding the culprit while still @ home base.

PanHandler.

 

[JasonSanders]

Seriously bro!!! Your truck has a lot of problems. Get them sorted out and my suggestion is that you give your truck a regular once over otherwise you might find yourself facing a problem like a malfunctioning chain binder on a long journey. Take care of your truck. All the best.