11th Jun 2008, 22:07

The steering wheel leakage is common. Mine does it and yes I put a $12.00 cover on it and avoided a $75.00+ wheel replacement. Shoot at 155,000 miles a little goo from the wheel is nothing.

25th Jul 2008, 10:04

I'm considering buying a '92 2WD Explorer which my wife will use for a 25 - 30 mile commute daily. The shop who has it just pulled the engine and replaced heads, seals seals on transmission, and a lot of other things including new tires all the way around. The truck has 87,000 miles on it and the engine came from a 97 Explorer. Everything seems to work OK, although I can't feel the overdrive shift in at 45 mph. He says it is. Says it will get 16 mpg. I have talked him down to $1850 and I'll have to replace a cracked windshield myself. What do you guys think? Runs OK, cold AC. has good power.

Dan.

27th Jul 2008, 19:33

In regards to the last comment, this is just my opinion but:

1) It sounds like this '92 Explorer has been kind of cobbled together. I would be leery of buying something that has been so trashed as to need so much work. I would also be leery of the mixing and matching engines. In short, this thing sounds like junk, and sounds about $1,500 overpriced.

2) With gas prices what they are, you would be throwing money away to buy something that only gets 16 mpg for a 60-mile round trip commute. That is $300/month on gas. You could do a lot better, and I mean a LOT better! For $1,850 you could find yourself an old Ford Taurus or Escort, or Dodge Neon and get +30 mpg.

17th Jan 2009, 15:19

I have a 92 Explorer.. I love it.. we just replaced the motor as the old one was leaking anti freeze with 368,000 k on it. Cracked gasket. New one has 60 k on it..

The body needs work, but I feel safe in this baby. Prime example, hit black ice two days ago, swerved hard left and hit a rock hard snowbank head on.. no control. The only damage is the black PLASTIC skirt in the front is loose on one side.. had I had my little Taurus, I would be doing frond end work.. my daughters neon-scrapping the car.

So I guess I am going to replace my two rear panels and I am good to roll for a few more years!

:)

7th Nov 2010, 00:16

I have 92 Explorer XLT with 168 K on it. I've had this vehicle since 2000. I love this thing, and it has never been to a mechanic since I bought it. I do most of the work myself.

The parts I had to replace so far were: radiator, hoses, water pump, muffler, vacuum diaphragm on the auto transmission, shift motor for the 4x4, brake pads and shoes, regular oil changes, transmission oil and filter every two years. That's about it, and it drives like new.

I've always had two cars since I bought this truck, and had the second car replaced six times since, because I get tired of them, but this truck is a keeper, I love it.

17th Mar 2013, 03:45

My 92 has the exact same problem.

The solution?

I found a brand new, old stock steering wheel on E-bay for $35.00 and replaced it. Quite an easy job, since I already had a gear puller that worked perfectly on the steering wheel. So that is fixed for at least the next 16 years. Probably longer, since I now have a garage to park it in out of the hot SoCal sun.

My next fix will be replacing the plastic cylinders in all the window motors, since they are just now starting to slip.