Looking at a 98 XLT. Need some pointers

[frantic29]

Hello all. I'm new here and need some pointers. I have looked through a ton of threads and have looked through the How to buy section but am still curious on some things.

The truck is 1998 XLT 4X4 Extended cab 4.0, 5SPD, 187000 miles. Really a good looking truck for the year. 2 owner, the first owner had it garaged for first 175000. This guy bought it three years ago but was deployed for a year so it sat in a garage for most of that then he has been driving it the last year. New tires and brakes.

First off are there any specific build dates I should be more wary of than others?
Any tell tell signs of ongoing problems that arent mentioned in the how to buy section?

And now to the 2 things he has told me that is wrong with it. First is the A/C has a leak. He says it blows cold air when its filled but it quickly runs out. I am assuming since it blows cold the condenser and compressor are fine unless those are the actual parts that are leaking. Is there a good way of checking this without taking it to a mechanic. I am meeting him in a town I don't know real well since he lives a few hours away and we won't be a near a mechanic that I know.

Next is the CEL which he says throws a 02 sensor code. I believe he said it is the Left rear sensor if that makes any sense. He said the Ford dealership told him that as long as the motor sounds good and is getting good gas mileage then not to worry about it. But if I decide to buy the truck I'm getting it fixed. Is this usually an expensive ordeal to solve or is it normally pretty straight foward?

Thanks guys. Hopefully this is what I'm looking for. If it is I am sure I will be a regular visitor here. Seems to be a pretty good environment. I will be using this truck as a daily driver and for hunting. I really don't drive much though except during deer season.

 

[press 1 for english]

The search function on this forum is quite useful.

 

[backroad101]

I have the 4.0L but cant remember how many o2 sensors there are. I know there is a right and left upstream (before the cats) and then i think there is just one (?) downstream (after the cats) Clarify which you are talking about. If you are throwing a code on the rear most (downstream) 02 sensor, I would think the catalytic convertors are either bad or going bad and need to be replaced (along with the o2 sensors to be safe). If they back up that is not good for the motor. If that is the case I cant see a Ford dealership saying not to worry about it

As far as the AC leak, get one of these leak test kits

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021UXUSQ/?tag=959media-20

You can use it to check for leaks in things like AC, tranny, engine oil, etc.

 

[frantic29]

I have the 4.0L but cant remember how many o2 sensors there are. I know there is a right and left upstream (before the cats) and then i think there is just one (?) downstream (after the cats) Clarify which you are talking about. If you are throwing a code on the rear most (downstream) 02 sensor, I would think the catalytic convertors are either bad or going bad and need to be replaced (along with the o2 sensors to be safe). If they back up that is not good for the motor. If that is the case I cant see a Ford dealership saying not to worry about it

As far as the AC leak, get one of these leak test kits

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021UXUSQ/?tag=959media-20

You can use it to check for leaks in things like AC, tranny, engine oil, etc.

All he said was left rear. Sorry I don't know what that means exactly. The cats being bad is what I am afraid of on that situation. Thanks for the info on the kit. Thats what I was looking for. I guess I can take it to Autozone and have them put it on their Code tester. May get me in the ball park. Thanks

 

[backroad101]

If you can have him give you the CEL code he got, you can Google it to get a better picture and avoid the need to go to Autozone (unless you want to see it trip the code for yourself)

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/ford/

 

[frantic29]

Got a hold of him today and he said that he couldn't remember the code but that he remembers them saying that it was Bank 1 running lean causing it to trip. Found tons of stuff about that. Seems to be a laundry list of things that could possibly fix it, and found several guys that went through the laundry list with no luck. I'm just not sure what to do. Most of the things seem fairly easy and inexpensive I just don't know if I want to deal with it.

 

[frantic29]

Ended up getting that truck today. It was a way nicer truck than I even thought it was. Didn't have any of the issues that I had been warned about. Only thing actually ended up being the A/C thing. He cleared the code at the beginning of the week to see what it would do and the light never came back on. I went by an Autozone to have it checked real quick and there was nothing there. Anyway thanks for the help those of you who gave it.

 

[det107]

Ended up getting that truck today.

It was a way nicer truck than I even thought it was.

Pictures ??