[Chainblade]

so I know i've got some front end problems, suspension problems, alignment problems. Also sounds like I have a loose belt or something as it kinda squeals (only when it's cold though). I'd like to get some of this stuff fixed. Now i'd like to see what else is wrong with it so I can fix what is more important first. If I take it into a shop, I know they have all these point checks that they do. What point check would be good? like i see there are like 15-point checks and 200-point checks. what's the difference and are the high point-checks really needed? also, how much should these checks cost?

[sims]

Its somewhat of a gimmick really, if anything they are used at places where employee’s doesn’t have a lot of experience and knowledge to make sure they don’t miss anything. With basically anything under 50K new a car is a car, they all follow similar designs. Ideally find someone who knows fords well.

If you want to save yourself money try to diagnose the problems as best as possible yourself, it will save your mechanic time and you money and it will insure your not getting ripped off.

If you have suspension and alignment problems the suspension issues need to be corrected first or the alignment will just go out of whack right away. If you think it’s a belt, pop your hood with the car on and look and listen. Rev it from the throttle body and the squeak will increase if it’s the belt.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by sims

Its somewhat of a gimmick really, if anything they are used at places where employee’s doesn’t have a lot of experience and knowledge to make sure they don’t miss anything. With basically anything under 50K new a car is a car, they all follow similar designs. Ideally find someone who knows fords well.

If you want to save yourself money try to diagnose the problems as best as possible yourself, it will save your mechanic time and you money and it will insure your not getting ripped off.

If you have suspension and alignment problems the suspension issues need to be corrected first or the alignment will just go out of whack right away. If you think it’s a belt, pop your hood with the car on and look and listen. Rev it from the throttle body and the squeak will increase if it’s the belt.

i just don't have the time at the moment to go through the vehicle, nor the knowledge. i just need to start getting this thing fixed up as I've been putting it off for too long. It's a 94 Explorer with a 140,000 miles on it.

ya i tried to get an alignment done a while ago but they wouldn't do it because of some front end problems. I posted up here what the shop needed to be done first.

ya it's a belt because when I rev the engine or just accelerate, the squeak increases. It only happens when it's cold though. Not sure what belt it is but hopefully it's nothing major.

[sims]

anything involving a belt is something you can do yourself, its very easy, look for an online walkthrough. if not your mechanic should only charge you $20 or so anyways.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by sims

anything involving a belt is something you can do yourself, its very easy, look for an online walkthrough. if not your mechanic should only charge you $20 or so anyways.

ya isn't a noise like that usually because the belt is too tight or too loose or something like that?

[sims]

Originally Posted by Chainblade

ya isn't a noise like that usually because the belt is too tight or too loose or something like that?

normally speaking yes, its simply a matter of adjusting one bolt.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by sims

normally speaking yes, its simply a matter of adjusting one bolt.

cool, we'll i may take a look at that myself and see if I notice anything and see if I can fix that myself.

[sims]

with the car off, push on the belt, if its really really rigide its probably to tight, if its too loose you will probably see it flopping around abit when the car is running.

either way its mostly trial and error untill you get a feel for it, but its hard to really mess anything up.

[offroadin]

You only have 1 belt, your 4.0L has a serpentine setup on it. You can easily check it visually. Look on the ribbed side of the belt where it runs against the idler pulley. If you can see and cracks it's time for a new one. If you've never replaced it so far, skip step one and change it anyways.

I KNOW you can change the belt yourself, it requires 1 wrench or ratchet on the spring laoded idler. You will see that if you put some force on the wrench, the spring loaded Idler arm will flex down, slacking off the belt. May a little sketch of how the belt is routed if there isn't a stick under the hood showing it. Remove the old one, and replace it, the idler controls the tension so you don't have to worry about it being too tight or loose as long as you have the right size belt.

Don't pay a shop to do a 100 point inspection, tell them what you want them to look at/deal with.