mechanic wants me to get rid of expedition

[egeller]

I brought my 03 5.4 EB to the shop so that he could look at the fuel gauge, which was reading a quarter off after he replaced the fuel pump. He calls me the next day to say that the water pump is bad and that I need to replace the water pump and thermostat, and quoted me 1100 dollars. He also said that the head gasket was causing high pressure in the cooling system, which he thinks caused the water pump to fail and the induction manifold (which has been leaking since 2020) to leak. Furthermore, he said that at 270k miles, things are just going to keep breaking, and that he isn't going to service the vehicle anymore, and that I should sell it as is and buy something else.
I've had the car my whole life and am willing to put as much money as it takes to keep it running forever.

My question is two fold: is it possible to keep the car on the road to a million miles
And ballpark how much would it cost to preventatively replace everything that is prone to fail
(he also said that this car should be a local errands runner, but I want to be able to confidently take it on the road in the summer, every summer I put 10-12k on it visiting national parks)

 

[mr_dave]

From a purely financial perspective, your mechanic is absolutely correct. Almost all modern consumer vehicles are designed to have a 150k mile / 10yr lifespan, 200k tops. The only exception I can think of is maybe a Toyota Land Crusier / Lexus LX which are over engineered and can easily last well over 300k.

That being said, of course it's possible to keep your truck on the road but only you can decide if it's worth it. The costs are only going to keep increasing as the vehicle ages.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Whoaa; Has he fixed your fuel gauge? I brought my 01' in for an oil change and right afterword while they tried to start it, the fuel pump failed at 92K miles. I was a bit miffed, mostly because they were cranking it over and over and over. So I paid to have the fuel pump changed and a week later the low fuel light comes on and as I am making a u turn it stalls. I put a minimum amount of gas in and it did it again on the way home. It should have had 4 gallons when the light comes on. So he did replace the entire pump and sender again at no cost. I am still driving mine and contemplating repainting it. Maybe at 270K he is correct, but he needs to fix the problem you brought it in for and not look for reasons to charge you more as a distraction. By the way there is an easy DIY test kit to see if compression gases are getting into the coolant. If not just fix the water pump and manifold and keep on truck'in.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

You can buy a remanufactured engine for your 03 for less than a years worth of payments on a new one.

 

[egeller]

Whoaa; Has he fixed your fuel gauge? I brought my 01' in for an oil change and right afterword while they tried to start it, the fuel pump failed at 92K miles. I was a bit miffed, mostly because they were cranking it over and over and over. So I paid to have the fuel pump changed and a week later the low fuel light comes on and as I am making a u turn it stalls. I put a minimum amount of gas in and it did it again on the way home. It should have had 4 gallons when the light comes on. So he did replace the entire pump and sender again at no cost. I am still driving mine and contemplating repainting it. Maybe at 270K he is correct, but he needs to fix the problem you brought it in for and not look for reasons to charge you more as a distraction. By the way there is an easy DIY test kit to see if compression gases are getting into the coolant. If not just fix the water pump and manifold and keep on truck'in.

he didn't touch the fuel guage or the pump, he told me that the float thing that comes with the new fuel pump is calibrated in a fashion where it'll tell you it's empty when you still have a quarter so that you don't run it dry...

 

[kep5niner]

You can buy a remanufactured engine for your 03 for less than a years worth of payments on a new one.

I’m $10k all-in, to include CAPEX, new engine, and addressing every mechanical and cosmetic write-up. I now have a solid EB truck that I would take anywhere. Far less than a year’s worth of payments on a new one. Of course I did all the work myself. It may have been twice that if I paid some joker to do it.

 

[Dahammer]

Get a newly rebuilt engine or have your engine completely rebuilt.
Look for a reputable rebuilder who offers a warranty. It's cheaper to do this than spending a whole lot on repairs.

While that's being done, have the body and frame, plus electrical wires, looked over and make necessary repairs. Ultimately, you'll have a new-looking vehicle and peace of mind.

Happy hunting, and best of luck.

 

[GlennSullivan]

It is a game we all play with older vehicles, especially high mileage ones. It sounds like you need someone other than the current mechanic to evaluate your vehicle before you make any big decisions. Since you are in the south, you don't need to worry about rust, which is a major factor elsewhere. Still, there are a lot of very expensive parts on these trucks. Engine, transmission, differential, hubs, bearings, electronics, etc, etc.

We generally keep our vehicles 10-15 years, but as they age we use them for secondary, local transportation rather than a front line vehicle to take a 1200 mile trip in. You could rebuild the engine, transmission and rear end and still have the AC compressor or condenser go out on a trip, of course that can also happen with a 2 year old vehicle, but much less likely.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

he didn't touch the fuel guage or the pump, he told me that the float thing that comes with the new fuel pump is calibrated in a fashion where it'll tell you it's empty when you still have a quarter so that you don't run it dry...

On my 01, the Low Fuel lamp comes on with about 4 gallons remaining. It does not show 1/4 tank. It is closer to empty. How did I verify 4 gallons? My tank is 26 gallons. With 4 remaining a half tank should require about 9 or 10 gallons. I put that much in and the gauge reads about half a tank. In my case the first new pump assembly read Low Fuel when there was just a bit of fuel left, not enough to fill the sump on a left turn, thus the engine stalled. The second pump assembly behaves like the car did from new. A quarter tank would be 6.5 gallons.

 

[EngineerMike]

Get a better mechanic that doesn't think he owns you and will fix things when asked. Pretty sure the 1/4 gauge statement is b.s., that's what the red gas light is for