What to look for when buying a gen 2 expy

[Big White]

Vacuum tubes/ hoses. The big one near the brake booster to the throttle body was almost completely rotted. As was the three elbows on the PCV valve to throttle body.
Rust on the roof/ cavities in the roof that run for/aft. Mine was not rusted, but I see minute cracks where winter salt will play havoc. I'm lucky, I found them, and will paint entire roof with this:
WHITECOTE-POR-15 Inc.
I changed the brake fluid out, I would wager it was the fluid that came from the factory.
At one point in its life the battery leaked, and took out some paint on the fender.
Around here in upstate NY, I have noticed a lot of the breed has rotted out rocker panels. Again, since mine came from Kansas I am good there, but I will constantly be filling these with rust cop oil.

 

[kmh1596]

I may have missed it, but i don't see anyone mentioning the area where the Radiator Support mounts to the frame. Mine is rusted through, and will need to be replaced soon. Rest of the truck is rust free-this was a BIG Ford "OOPS"

 

[Hamfisted]

General 2nd Gen Expy issues....

At least on the 2wd models the front ball joint boots crack/tear after about 5 years, with ball joint failure following soon after. The Raybestos Professional series replacement parts use a synthetic dust boot that wears far better. The inner tie-rods go out at about 80k miles as well. Basically the entire front suspension is about the same as a Mustang and everything wears out pretty quick.
Check the passenger side floor carpet and padding for water marks or wetness. May need to install the A/C plenum drain outlet elbow as per the TSB to ensure the drain off is not coming back into the cabin floor insulation. The rear A/C unit actuator(s) frequently fail and need to be replaced. There are dozens of how-to write-ups all over the web on this. The brake pads typically dust up like crazy. I recommend the Akebono ceramic pads to prevent the dust problem. The sonar units in the rear bumper go bad and give you back-up alert faults in the message center when you back up. The roof channels are notorious for developing rust if not cleaned out routinely. Clean 'em out and apply a good wax at least twice a year. The factory headlight lens develop spider webbing and deteriorate with age. Easy enough to replace with new Depo units when needed. Fog-lights are the same way. Depo brand are good replacements, don't use TYC brand.
The tailgate area roof panel may develope tiny rust holes between the tailgate hinges. Drop the interior upper trim piece and spray some rust preventative stuff up in that area to save yourself some headaches. If there's already rust holes there clean 'em out and use some metal epoxy to seal 'em, then repaint the area. Like KMH said above, the radiator lower support bracket is almost always rusted out, no matter if you're in a salty road environment or not. It wasn't galvanized from the factory and very few are painted.



-Mike



Install the elbow on the A/C plenum drain outlet to keep water from flowing back onto the firewall and insulation, soaking the floor padding.

Radiator Support Bracket :

 

[JoshuaGrooms83]

guess it good to live in the warmer dryer climates dont get as much of the rust issue as other parts of the country

this! if your up north and they use alot of salt and chem to melt snow make sure you dont have excessive rust between the running board and the doors. look up under there to make sure you dont have chunks of rust coming out of there. its not structural, but rust is a cancer that speads if not addressed. also, running boards support bars will rust too.
if its undercoated thats a plus for up north!

 

[Captainjerky]

Thanks!

Thanks for the info everyone! I've surprised a number of dealers and private sellers with the questions you've led me to ask. I've also had a number of people discover rust behind their running boards!
I have another question, but I'll post it in the thread so as not to go off topic here...

Thanks again,
Ryan

 

[Team Zombie]

One i haven't seen mentioned...

On ones that have brake/gas pedal that moves, check to see how far it actually goes. If it only moves about an inch, the plastic gear inside is broken and i believe you have to replace the whole thing (not just get a new gear). The wife and i were all excited when we saw the button but after buying we found ours was broken... sigh.

ALso have the door switch leds out, and a few of them are not working the windows correctly.

2nd row middle seatbelt won't click in on ours so check them all.

6 disk changer is broken which some have already said it's easy to fix which i hope to do since my son was excited about the rear controls and headphone setup and not sure if If I want to go through all the $100 this $100 that to keep that working.

Oh and check to see if all the jack parts are there... I didn't and they weren't.

Buttons on keyless door entry system dont light up (not sure if they're supposed to though) I need to find a manual.

One last thing... someone said there was "play" in my front driveshaft and to have that looked at.

 

[Captainjerky]

Tranny?

Hey again. Going to look at a 2005 Eddie Bauer tomorrow with 93K miles. Has a brake controller, they claim it's only towed 500+ miles or so. With the tranny being the area of most concern for a model like this, is there anything I can check to look for its health? I know the basics of acceleration, coasting, up/downshifting, etc, but mechanically or code-wise is there any way to gauge the health of the thing? Also, if fluid hasn't been changed, is a flush the first thing I do, or is it one of those things where if it's gotten to this point I should just leave it alone?
Thanks!

Ryan

 

[capitlj]

The only thing you can really do besides the test drive is to get it up to temp and check the fluid. It should be a bright red almost pink. If you're not familiar with the smell of fresh trans fluid it wouldn't be a bad idea to check some out because you can actually smell when the old trans fluid has been "burned." Fresh fluid doesn't necessarily mean a good trans either tho. If I were the unsavory sort and I had a vehicle I wanted to sell that had burned trans fluid, I'd gladly spend $60 to change it out for fresh stuff.

 

[Captainjerky]

Thanks

Thanks for the info. I'm going to take it out, plug it in to the local shop's computers, and give it the once-over. Hoping for a good car; this one seems really nice!

 

[PAcountryBOY]

I haven't seen this mentioned and probably not a deal breaker, but as previously put, can be used as a bargaining chip. Look under the side step bars for rust. I found minimal rust and the dealer knocked $500 off instantly.

 

[Captainjerky]

Gone and done it!

Well, I used all your advice and everything I've accumulated over the years and picked out a 2005 Eddie Bauer. I'll post a picture in an appropriate forum when I get it in a few days. Really excited; everything seems to be in great shape and it doesn't even have any bubbling pain on the tailgate!
Thanks again for all your advice. I can't wait to pull our camper with it!

 

[Captainjerky]

Here's my new-to-me 2005 EB. Thanks again for the advice; this truck is really growing on me!

 

[mindgame]

Here's my new-to-me 2005 EB. Thanks again for the advice; this truck is really growing on me!

Now that you have a Gen2.. You have the ability to also purchase an 8" lift from Rize

 

[billycuth]

A couple of things that were mentioned already that I noticed on my 06:

Some rust underneath the runningboards.
The drip rails on the roof had some cracking of the paint, but no rust.
DVD player, but no headphones.

A couple of things that I noticed that weren't mentioned:
Inside the bottom of the rear hatch, a TON of the paint was flaking off, exposing the aluminum.
The driver's side puddle light was out. It's like a $30-$40 bulb. So that sucks.
The little compartment on the drivers side in the trunk - the door latch/lock was broken and the door would fall right off.

 

[AbbottTheTank]

thanks for this thread...I'm heading to the title department today to finalize the deal on a 04 XLT...it was helpful to have this to refer to

 

[HolidayJones]

I don't know when they changed the from the 2v to the 3v 5.4, but I have one if the very first 2nd gens(Jan/03) and it still has the 2v. So no can phaser problems for me, but less power. And obviously the faded XLT trim, which I took care of with a couple rattle cans. Cruise control doesn't work, can't figure that one out....

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[HolidayJones]

1 would think he's a FORD mechanic...but he's E/E

I don't know when they changed the from the 2v to the 3v 5.4, but I have one of the very first 2nd gens(Jan/03) and it still has the 2v. So no cam phaser problems for me, but less power. And obviously the faded XLT trim, which I took care of with a couple rattle cans. Cruise control doesn't work, can't figure that one out....

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[HolidayJones]

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I don't know when they changed the from the 2v to the 3v 5.4, but I have one if the very first 2nd gens(Jan/03) and it still has the 2v. So no can phaser problems for me, but less power. And obviously the faded XLT trim, which I took care of with a couple rattle cans. Cruise control doesn't work, can't figure that one out....

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Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

[03NavigatorGuy]

Another issue not mentioned is rust underneath the wheel well cladding on those models with it. It will be completely concealed so you'll need to get inside the wheel wells. usually the rear. near the door opening and dog-leg. I know because mine was riddled with it. Since then, I have seen some retail priced, extra clean, seemingly well maintained Expy's and Navi's that looked great, but had severe rust issues that most typical buyers would probably miss. Here is a picture of my left rear quarter after I removed the trim. I ground off the rust.

 

[GAINMOB]

I don't know when they changed the from the 2v to the 3v 5.4, but I have one if the very first 2nd gens(Jan/03) and it still has the 2v. So no can phaser problems for me, but less power. And obviously the faded XLT trim, which I took care of with a couple rattle cans. Cruise control doesn't work, can't figure that one out....

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2005 is when they changed from 2v to 3v