Tell me about 1st gen Navigators

[Nophix]

I'm shopping for a new vehicle for the wife, and that will double as a tow rig for me. Fuel mileage is not terribly important, since she rarely leaves town.

We've been finding Navigators around the '99-'02 model years well maintained for a song. I'm talking $4500 and under. I now the Expedition SOHC had the plug spitting issue, but I've never heard bad of the DOHC.

Is there anything specific to watch out for?

Here's the criteria. 3rd row seating, comfortable, 4wd, decent parts availability, able to pull a 16ft car trailer with my Firebird on the back.

I can fix about anything, but after owning European stuff for a while, I prefer parts that aren't manufactured by Martian refugees on Pluto, out of unobtainium, and shipped by Planet Express.

We're also looking at a few Suburbans, but tge wife like the Navi better. We're also not opposed to Expeditions, but I've seen too many spit a plug to feel comfortable.

 

[Brownsfan]

I know this may not help. I had a 2nd gen. It was pretty much trouble free. Just brakes and tires and oil changes. Sold it and down sized to A 2010 v8 explorer. Those are not a slouch just a little less roomy. The v8 aviators can be found cheap as well

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

I have a 167,*** miles on my '99.

Check the rear pinion seal for leaking, the front of the diff will be covered.
Air compressor is behind the headlight, in front of the washer fluid, mine went out two years ago. Advanced Auto carried a replacement.
Rear trailing arms will rust out, the Chinese replacements are slightly longer and have to be done in pairs.
Verify that the rear wiper is functional, mine works intermittently.
Highly probable the odometer display will function intermittently.
Check for rust in the area above the running boards and below the doors, maybe give a little tap if you don't see any visible rust.
Alternator will go out between 100k-150k, only takes about two hours or so to change.
DO NOT WASH THE ENGINE! The coil packs have a tendency of cracking and taking on water, despite being covered.
Diffs will chatter most of the time, nature of the beast.
Sometimes all of the electronics will lose their **** for a moment when rolling down the driver side window, maybe 2-3 times a year.

She's been the only American vehicle I've owned that I would recommend to anyone.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The biggest problem people have with 'gators is the air suspension. When it is working, it is nice. They all leak, it is just a matter of how much. Finding and fixing all of your leaks can drive you crazy or broke.

Air suspension was optional on Expeditions.

You should also check to see if it has HD Trailer Tow package. That includes a 7 blade Pollack connector at the rear, a pigtail to connect he brake controller to the harness under the dash, an auxiliary transmission cooler and a HD radiator.

 

[kiatech]

Rear air bags

 

[cdcman]

I will say don't go for the Suburban. I had a '97 Suburban that I finally got rid of with 160k, I realized it was cheaper to buy a 4Runner than keep buying parts and wrenching on it all weekend.

 

[GTA Matt]

Budget for airbags all the way around and a compressor, or the conversion to coil springs. Done dozens of both depending on how much money the customer had to spend. Most would let a leaky bag go for too long and burn up the compressor. Have had 2 come through recently with burned #8 exhaust valves and of course plugs are a bit of a PITA.

 

[Nophix]

I've owned Lincoln's, mostly Mark 7 and. 8. I always yank the airbags and go coil when they fail, so no biggie. Actually, one of the candidates has it done already.

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like it may work.

If we did get a Suburban, it would be the '01 up with the 5.3. But they're long.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Or save your money and buy an Expedition EL with real springs.

My daughter has a 2012. You can carry 8 people with a lot of luggage, although the third row is a bit bouncy.

 

[Farmall 1066]

We bought our 01 on 11/15/03, with about 60k on it.
Over 275k now with no serious issues. Radiator, heater core (in 20 years wrenching, the only job I've paid to have someone else do!) Strutmaster conversion, alternator, 2 fuel pumps, rear wiper motor, and front wheel bearings.
Only real beef with it is that it seems to eat tires. Not alignment issue, they just seem to wear fast, no matter the brand.
I towed 2 horse trailer a few times with it, years ago. Power was not an issue, but the air ride goes nuts with any tongue weight on it, and ours has the trailer package.
I raised hell over the price, but the wife wanted it, and she argues for a living!
Overall, been very happy with it.

 

[Farmall 1066]

A couple other things came to mind. Odometer is doing the intermittent thing now, as mentioned earlier, but seems to be counting correctly.
And I did have to replace the gasket between oil filter housing and engine. That wasn't the most fun job, but I can think of much worse. Tightened up the shifter cable, where it attaches to the lever a few times too. Multifunction switch, and just last week, the brake pressure switch that cuts out cruise control.

 

[Nophix]

Or save your money and buy an Expedition EL with real springs.

My daughter has a 2012. You can carry 8 people with a lot of luggage, although the third row is a bit bouncy.

That's an idea, but the wife's van is getting long in the tooth. It's also a pain to work on. That, and the coil conversion is easy and inexpensive. Truthfully, the air suspension isn't that bad to work on, I just don't care for it.

I normally never buy cars that require payments. I'm master tech certified so I buy a lot of "mechanic specials", repair them, and they last us years. This year is the first time since paying off the Volvo. 8 years ago we've had a payment. I commute 140 miles a day and work 60 hours a week , so I bought a year old Cruze.

The wife drives about 20 miles a week. The minivan she has now has lasted us a couple years, and up until this year has been pretty easy. But, now that it's breaking, it needs to go. Not because I can't work on it, because nothing is thought out on it. Everything is 1" too close to change parts without nearly complete disassembly of the entire front end. Even my old twin turbo Stealth was easier to repair!

I used to work in a Ford dealer, and the few times we had to do repairs on a Navigators they weren't bad. But, they were fairly new back then so aside from oil changes and basics, it was rare to see them. They always seemed decent, but I literally only know 2 people to ever have one long term, thanks to the rapid jump in fuel prices.

 

[59 wagon man]

we had 2 expeditions a 2003 and 2008 both had air bags in the rear and loved it . best option we had for towing .didn't have to go crazy finding the sweet spot so the trailer didn't sway. pulled a lot of station wagons including 59 chevy's and fords , a fox body mustang from fl to detroit across to niagara falls down thru NY into manhatten and home to fl. had one of those firestones peel the tread on i-85 i think it was doing aabout 75 with the trailer and it handled it fine . after getting the 2003 when i came time to trade it in , i searched the entire stste to find the one we bought. i remember packing the trailer on our trip up to detroit and i could see the rear hanging low and i was concerned .Jumped in the truck to pull it up and the leveling system kicked in and leveled it right out. then about a 1000 miles later the entire tread peeled off our 12,000 old firestones that missed the recall by 20 funny thing was dealer said he never saw anything like the way the tires peeled away entire tread and it still had all its air pressure

 

[bobcatdan]

Buddy has 2000 or so first gen. It has been pretty trouble free, but it did need rear bags. They found a complete kit to convert away for the air system. It was very reasonably priced compaired to replacing just the rear bags.

 

[bop_pa]

We have a 98 that was nicely optioned. I love mine but will provide my opinion. Mine has two captains chairs up front a two captains chairs in the middle with the hard row in the back. For a big crowd I find the 3 rd row embarrassing as there is no foot well. So the passenger(s) has to have there feet/knees on the load floor. It will do in a pitch but not ideal for routine use unless they are children. Knowing that issue now I would have preferred having the bench seat in the middle to avoid that one extra person being forced to crawl in the back 3 rd row. I think later models may have addressed that. I also wish the last row folded into the floor. Having to take the last row out is easy but still a pain. Again I think they changed in later years. Mine Nav has 180,000 miles the 5.4 4wd with tow package ect. It works nicely. The Nav is a big vehicle but the 5.4 is geared very well. It always feels powerful for its size so no complaint there. It is a true gas guzzler. I average 12mph almost always luckily I work from hme and the wife about 5 miles away so it works out. Most will tell you the Nav has a surprisingly good,short turning radius. Much better than other vehicles it's size. As for the exterior mine still looks flawless, however they do seem to suffer rust issues underneath. I too replaced the rusty trailing arms. Cost me about $150 to get some better than the originals aftermarket replacements the install was pretty straight forward. I have also replaced various other parts...rusted brakeline and the worst was a rusted on rotor. Never experienced that before, but I guess the fit on the hub is so tight that they commonly rust together. Even beating it off with a sledge was no good. I found a trick on YouTube and quickly got on side off but when working the other rotor that bolt method put a whole in the rotor. I believe they were OEM and because of the rusting probably avoided hence the reason they were thin. I went back to the hammer and broke the steering knuckle..urrgh. Luckily many parts are very cheap for this thing. So the new knuckle was like $150. Got the rotor off in pieces. When I put new rotors on I put antiseize on everything. I also swapped the airbags suspension over. I was apprehensive at first as i really do like the leveling system. The new system was really cheap to have put on. I think it cost me $600 total and ride really nicely. Even quieter than before, but i yet to tow with the new set up. Because of the spark plug issues i have heard i had the dealer replace them $275! But i figured, let them deal with it. They said it went smoothly. I just did not want to take the gamble and have something break. Im kinda know for busting stuff with my Hulk hands, lol. I expect to get several more years out of it and then will get something newer. Otherwise I enjoy driving it. Adequate power tows well and most importantly. It's paid for.

 

[01ss]

We're also looking at a few Suburbans, but tge wife like the Navi better. We're also not opposed to Expeditions, but I've seen too many spit a plug to feel comfortable.

They are the same truck, and all the engines in that era spit plugs. Your research has left you at the short end of the stick if you are differentiating between these two models.

 

[Drunken Yak inc]

They are the same truck, and all the engines in that era spit plugs. Your research has left you at the short end of the stick if you are differentiating between these two models.

The late model year '99 and up 1st Gen Navigators have a 5.4 DOHC 32-valve engine, the Expedition is a 5.4 SOHC 16-valve...

 

[Nophix]

They are the same truck, and all the engines in that era spit plugs. Your research has left you at the short end of the stick if you are differentiating between these two models.

Big difference between SOHC and DOHC engines. Expedition is also way down on power because of that.