helimd
Member
I know there will be a lot of hate responses on this one, but maybe there are a few owners going through the same thing. We have 230,000 miles on our 05 King Ranch Expedition. This thing has been a beast and cost so little to own that I feel the need to keep feeding her. The car is absolutely rust free and is in near perfect condition. This has always been my wife's car and, as such, I have made her responsible for the minor maintenance. This is where the craziness begins.
I had a chance to drive the car to pick up hardware one day and, much to my dismay, this thing was all over the road. It truly felt like all of the front suspension components were destroyed and the tires were flat. So I took it in to my favorite shop for a bid and, $3500 later, we were back in good shape. She love's this car and I really didn't mind spending the money. Like I said in the beginning, it has been a very inexpensive machine to own.
This is where it gets bad. Two weeks later, she calls me from work saying the engine quit just as she pulled into her parking spot. I met her at work to discover that the engine appeared to be locked up. Trailered the old girl home (not the wife, the Expedition), got on the old interweb, and came to the conclusion that the chain guides and phasers had failed. So, I tore into the engine and, sure enough, most of the right side chain guide was gone, either in the oil pan or wedged into the crank sprocket. I spent over a grand on all of the oem parts, rebuilt the front of the engine, and was quickly patting myself on the back. She ran like a top, although I couldn't get rid of the white smoke. Thinking this was just assembly lube and an excess of oil, I drove it for several miles to just make sure everything was OK.
About a week later, I jumped in to take it to the shop to have the AC recharged. Upon startup, it shuddered for a brief moment then started knocking badly. I got out the stethoscope and located the knocking noise coming from the passenger side valve area, somewhere around #2 or #3. I'm done with this engine.
I know this has been long and drawn out, but based on current used car prices, I really think I want to put a new crate motor or, at worse, a good quality reman engine in the girl. Any opinions on who has the best remans that use oem parts? I know this is stupid but we really do like this car.
I had a chance to drive the car to pick up hardware one day and, much to my dismay, this thing was all over the road. It truly felt like all of the front suspension components were destroyed and the tires were flat. So I took it in to my favorite shop for a bid and, $3500 later, we were back in good shape. She love's this car and I really didn't mind spending the money. Like I said in the beginning, it has been a very inexpensive machine to own.
This is where it gets bad. Two weeks later, she calls me from work saying the engine quit just as she pulled into her parking spot. I met her at work to discover that the engine appeared to be locked up. Trailered the old girl home (not the wife, the Expedition), got on the old interweb, and came to the conclusion that the chain guides and phasers had failed. So, I tore into the engine and, sure enough, most of the right side chain guide was gone, either in the oil pan or wedged into the crank sprocket. I spent over a grand on all of the oem parts, rebuilt the front of the engine, and was quickly patting myself on the back. She ran like a top, although I couldn't get rid of the white smoke. Thinking this was just assembly lube and an excess of oil, I drove it for several miles to just make sure everything was OK.
About a week later, I jumped in to take it to the shop to have the AC recharged. Upon startup, it shuddered for a brief moment then started knocking badly. I got out the stethoscope and located the knocking noise coming from the passenger side valve area, somewhere around #2 or #3. I'm done with this engine.
I know this has been long and drawn out, but based on current used car prices, I really think I want to put a new crate motor or, at worse, a good quality reman engine in the girl. Any opinions on who has the best remans that use oem parts? I know this is stupid but we really do like this car.