2002 Ford Econoline E-150 6 from North America

Faults:

ABS sensors went at 62k miles.

Front brake calipers went at 72k miles.

Alternator went at 76k miles.

A/C blower went at 78k miles.

Front brake pads since I have owned the truck have been replaced pretty much every 15k miles, and have been through rotors as well.

Computer went at 110k miles.

Front wheel bearings went at 114k miles.

O2 sensors replaced twice since owned.

Rear brake cylinders at 124k miles.

General Comments:

Only have one comment really about this vehicle; if you are a contractor and need a reliable truck to make a living, buy anything but this, never mind the cost of fixing the thing, it's the money I have lost because it was in the shop being fixed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 23rd August, 2009

2002 Ford Econoline E-250 5.4 Triton from North America

Summary:

The us car makers wonder why people don't buy American anymore

Faults:

U-Joint replaced @46K.

Catalytic converter failure @51k.

4r70w Transmission failure @75k.

The van sat at the dealership for 4 months. Ford could not locate a converter. I was told by the dealership to go under my van and disconnect the converters myself. I said no.

The transmission's planetary gear blew at 75k.I had to get a total rebuild on the transmission. The transmission failed without any signs of slippage, grinding or clunking.

General Comments:

This is a good work truck for the most part. Gas mileage stinks. With a ladder rack I get around 11 miles per gallon. The 5.4 triton has enough power to merge into traffic and pass on the highway. The cab is comfortable and for a work truck is pretty easy to drive.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th February, 2007

29th Mar 2007, 18:59

Well my transmission is now slipping and had to be towed. This transmission was just rebuilt at 75k.The odometer now shows 76.5k.I am totally fed up with this truck. Back to the mechanics once again. Meanwhile I have a business to run and a truck that gives me headaches.

18th Aug 2007, 09:57

To go through both a U-joint and transmission, it sounds like the driveline was really pounded on.

Something really severe has to take place to "blow" a planetary gear set in a transmission. Usually the parts of an automatic transmission that fail are the shifting clutches or bands, because they are subject to the most wear. The planetary gears are a constantly meshed set of gears that are only really subjected to wear if the driveline is shocked, such as through repeated abrupt accelerations (the type where the back bumper sinks down), shifting from reverse to forward while still rolling (hitting the gas while doing this makes it dramatically worse) or other similar activities. A U-joint is killed in the exact same way.

I could be jumping to the completely wrong conclusion here, but both the U-Joint and planetary gear set failing on this van, given that they will both fail if subjected to the same type of conditions, is pretty suspicious. These vans go 200K+ miles without these types of problems. I am not saying any of this necessarily happened, but to have both these types components go at once is highly suggestive of the particular types of abuse I mentioned.

22nd Aug 2007, 19:22

The U-joint and tranny were replaced 30k apart. I understand that these trucks go over 200k; that's why I bought one. Mine has been a POS since it hit 51k. All I can say is its been serviced on a regular basis and was not a fleet vehicle. I have owned or driven many Fords over the years and have never experienced so many problems this soon(82k) on a vehicle. Junk is junk.

14th Jan 2008, 15:09

Do you drive this van or is it one of your employees?

If it's your employee's someone ain't tellin' you somethin'.

11th Feb 2008, 22:50

No its just me driving. When my own mechanic tells me to trade it in, well that speaks volumes. This truck sucks big time.

28th Aug 2008, 21:25

I traded the truck in today for a new Nissan.

88k mile mistake, never again.