Thinking about leaving the ST world

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Gary L

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Last week I stated that, i'm having problem with my tranny shifiting between 3rd & 4th.

I hate to say it... but if the tranny as to be rebulit i'm going to trade it in for a Nissan or somthing else. My ST is a 01 with 45,000 miles ..and most of that is driving from MA to NY. I would say i go to NY about 7 times a years since I purchased it in june of 2000 . Most of it is highway mileage. It sucks that so many of us here have the same problem with their tranny. A year ago I started to save to buy the ST ADREANALALIN ... Now i dont think i'm going to get another Ford , and i hope i dont offend anyone here but i love the ST but i think Ford needs to fix there tranny problem on their trucks:(
 
I have an '01 as well and about 65k miles on it. It's an automatic.



About 2 years ago, I had serious problems between the 2 & 3, and the same happend again about a year later between 3 & 4.



I found out that the early production of '01 (yours & mine are; it's pre-February), had quite a few problem with the PCM chip. I had mine replaced twice. The first time they replaced it with a new one of the same "batch". The second time, they gave me the "new" version.



Something you might want to look/investigate. The first batches of 01 had a chip with loads of problems that was later fixed for all the other ones.



Long story short, the tranny might not be your problem.
 
The new 07 St's will have a different tranny than the current version....

Todd Z
 
Hey, Star, before you leave the Ford world, you should know a few things. The '01 had issues. The '02 was improved until the '03 and then everything got better after that. Try and take it somewhere to have it checked out. Maybe your tranny is not creating the right pressure to shift. But, if it were me, I would only trade up into a Toyota. But, if you are impressed with the vehicle that turned the auto industry on it's ear, I would wait and slide into an'07, if you can wait that long. I'm hanging on to my '02 in the hopes that I can Mustangize it. Hope this helps.



Ed
 
Star,



No matter who makes it, some will have problems. The Explorer has not become the best selling SUV ever on the face of the planet because it is garbage.



Nissan has problems. Some are fires started at the spare tire because the differential is too small causing it to overheat. When someone here first mentioned it, I could not beleve it. I did some research, sure enough, on the Nissan Titan there have been reports of fires caused by the rear differential overheating. That just floored me. I could not beleve it.



There are better vehicles out there then a Nissan. Josh L, a member here, got a Titan and had a blown engine. Then he gets a Trac and has problems with it. Dealer, in an effort to keep a customer happy, gave him a heck of a deal on a Toyota. Hopefully it will be reliable for him.



I am in the Florida Keys right now. Driving on this flat sea level land, My ScanGuage is reporting over 24 MPG. Not bad for a vehicle that is lifted and loaded down with supplies. I am getting average 18 MPG on the flat, hills are about 16 MPG with the trailer behind me. I have no reason the complain.



I will have over 65,000 miles on my Trac without one tranny problem. My brother has a 1999 Explorer and my sister has a 1998 Explorer both with well over 130,000 miles on them and have no tranny problems. Dad has a 2004 Ranger with about 10,000 miles and tranny is doing fine.



I do hope, whatever you choose to buy, will give you flawless service. There is nothing more sickening then spending hard earned money on something and it giving you trouble.





Tom
 
Well i hope it is just the chip, but i'm going to take it to the dealer on Wed when i get back to MA. i'm in longisland ny on Vacation and i hope it takes me back home:unsure:
 
I really hope your Tranny issue can be resolved and it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. If you do decide to go with the Nissan (Frontier?), you may want to stay away from the 04s and earlier. They are underpowered and though I never had a problem with my tranny (00 Frontier with 33K), it was constantly searching for the right gear under moderate acceleration. I would imagine that would take it's toll on a Tranny over time. My 05 has none of the problems of the earlier Frontiers.
 
I have an '01 with 65,000 miles on it. The trans was rebuilt at 56,000 under warranty. On the internet today, there is an article from Forbes magazine listing the Nissan(some models) as the worst 2005 vehicles on the road. Mostly electrical problems.....

p.s. I love my trac, but I would trade it for an '05 if they would give me what it's worth
 
I looked on Forbes to see which Nissan models they have sited. I couldn't find the article, but I did find the Nissan Sentra listed in the 10 Worst Vehicles of 2005 list on Forbes. Also on that list are the Sport Trac and the Ranger. :eek:



 
I wouldn't say a Nissan is any more reliable than a Ford. Been there. Done that. I did own 3 of them, all had annoying electrical and switch problems. No better than Ford, imho.
 
Cayman - It took me a minute to understand what you meant here: "The Explorer has not become the best selling SUV ever on the face of the planet because it is garbage." I get it now. Once the ST takes on more of the true Explorer character, I think many problems will be eliminated...or at least, better understood, then corrected. My former early ' 01 Trac had tranny problems at 80,000 miles...and my dealer corrected them even tho my extended warranty was of the 75K variety. Hard to beat that ! I think the move to being a real Explorer will be very positive for all of us in the long run.

 
I think the move to being a real Explorer will be very positive for all of us in the long run.
Click to expand...



I think the move will bring the Trac closer to being a "soccer-mom mobile".



Ford needs to get rid of the independent rear suspension with the driveshafts going through little holes in the frame. They need to keep the limited-slip rear differential, and they need to bring back the manual transmission option (6-speed would be nice).
 
I had to have my engine rebuilt T 65,000 miles because the timing belt broke! i AM leaving the ST (and Ford) world ASAP.

Ford did not stand behind their product. Hell, my Saturn lasted 130,000 with no serious problems like this.

It will be a Toyota or Nissan for me,
 
Anthony: Timing BELT? The 4.0L V6 in the Sport Trac has a timing CHAIN, not a belt.



fyi... many of the Toyotas and Nissans use timing belts which must be change every 60K miles.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Darin,



You are correct. Most cars today have timing belts. When they break, they are going to cost an arm and a leg to repair.



If the vehicle does not have a timing belt, it has a timing chain. They can and will break.



Jim Thompson, The Trac is an Explorer. If you look under the hood of a previous generation Explorer and look under the hood of the Trac, you will be unable to tell the differences, if they both have the same engine.





Tom
 

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