Leaking Differential?

[Daryll40]

The rear differential on my 2003 Mountaineer AWD V8 seems to be slowly leaking. At 74K miles, I've never had this serviced (and not sure that I should have or should now). Is this a big deal?

[NaviCat]

The rear differential on my 2003 Mountaineer AWD V8 seems to be slowly leaking. At 74K miles, I've never had this serviced (and not sure that I should have or should now). Is this a big deal?

 

My 05 Explorer leaked at the rear diff seal to the RH axle shaft right after purchase, was fixed under warranty and leaked again shortly after that. Seems there is at least one TSB out covering this seal issue. It started leaking again recently at around 53K miles.

[Daryll40]

My 05 Explorer leaked at the rear diff seal to the RH axle shaft right after purchase, was fixed under warranty and leaked again shortly after that. Seems there is at least one TSB out covering this seal issue. It started leaking again recently at around 53K miles.

 

I had it fixed yesterday. There was a leak at the rear something with the pinion and they ALSO found a leak in the front differential. The total of both repairs was just over $300 which I found to be VERY reasonable (I would have expected $300 to $400 each) and my WARRANTYDIRECT.COM warranty covered all of it. So I am a happy camper.

 

The bigger question, however, is what happens next year when my 7 year extended warranty expires. Oddly, it seems like the suspension parts are what are not holding up. Very odd for an SUV that never goes off the road. I've had broken springs, leaky struts(shocks??), and now this double axle thing. But to be balanced I DO live in Pittsburgh (hills, potholes, winters) and at 74000 miles some of this is to be expected. But my issue will be do I buy a new vehicle soon or keep fixin' and drivin' this. It drives well and looks new. And with the current used SUV glut, it's worth almost bupkis. So even if I spend a grand or two a year to keep it movin', I guess it makes more sense than taking the 5 grand trade in on another $35,000 vehicle that will start depreciating. And in 2-3 years it will still be worth 3 grand or so.

 

Are there others on here with 2002 and later model Explorers/Mteers that have 75,000 to, say 125,000 miles? How are they holding up? What else might I want to do, maintenance wise, to prevent stuff? I do what's in the book now.

[Ralph Greene]

Explorers are terrific useful vehicles. Keep fixing and drive it til it dies. You can probably drive it about 75,000 more miles for about the 1/3 of the cost of starting all over again with a new one. Consider insurance savings as well.

 

My personal opinion is this is a terrific time to buy a used Explorer, spend what it takes to get it in good condition, then drive it til it dies. Cheap driving. Gasoline is not the major cost of driving a hi depreciation vehicle. Good luck.

[05gt]

I had it fixed yesterday. There was a leak at the rear something with the pinion and they ALSO found a leak in the front differential. The total of both repairs was just over $300 which I found to be VERY reasonable (I would have expected $300 to $400 each) and my WARRANTYDIRECT.COM warranty covered all of it. So I am a happy camper.

 

The bigger question, however, is what happens next year when my 7 year extended warranty expires. Oddly, it seems like the suspension parts are what are not holding up. Very odd for an SUV that never goes off the road. I've had broken springs, leaky struts(shocks??), and now this double axle thing. But to be balanced I DO live in Pittsburgh (hills, potholes, winters) and at 74000 miles some of this is to be expected. But my issue will be do I buy a new vehicle soon or keep fixin' and drivin' this. It drives well and looks new. And with the current used SUV glut, it's worth almost bupkis. So even if I spend a grand or two a year to keep it movin', I guess it makes more sense than taking the 5 grand trade in on another $35,000 vehicle that will start depreciating. And in 2-3 years it will still be worth 3 grand or so.

 

Are there others on here with 2002 and later model Explorers/Mteers that have 75,000 to, say 125,000 miles? How are they holding up? What else might I want to do, maintenance wise, to prevent stuff? I do what's in the book now.

 

 

We have an '03 Mteer V8 2wd bought new, just turned 120K. Only 3 repairs so far, pass. window motor, tie rod end, and a coil to 1 of the cylinders needed replacing. All maintinance by the book, 5K oil changes, etc. On second set of tires, got almost 70K from the stock ones and MPG is around 19 (mostly highway). So yea, in my opinion, untill the repairs start costing you time and money close to what something new would cost or unless you really "want" a new one it's probably worth keeping.

[Daryll40]

We have an '03 Mteer V8 2wd bought new, just turned 120K. Only 3 repairs so far, pass. window motor, tie rod end, and a coil to 1 of the cylinders needed replacing. All maintinance by the book, 5K oil changes, etc. On second set of tires, got almost 70K from the stock ones and MPG is around 19 (mostly highway). So yea, in my opinion, untill the repairs start costing you time and money close to what something new would cost or unless you really "want" a new one it's probably worth keeping.

 

Thanks for the info. At the very least we'll probably keep it to 100,000 miles (about 2 more years)