The motor will probably Xplode soon. The valvetrain starts to knock on them usually around that milage and then it's all over :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:
And as already stated, the A4LDs suck and since the tranny is probably original, and the fluid has probably never been changed, it's time is due too:nuke:
Like Hyde and Mr. Sunshine have said, the tranny is the weak spot on them. The 4.0 is a reliable engine and valvetrain tap doesn't mean the engine is destined to fail shortly. When you test drive it, just give it a good 15-20 min of highway speeds and listen for valve tap. If you hear nothing after getting it hot and running it at high speeds for a while, and the tranny isn't slipping or acting up, you should be good to go.
Other than that, just give it the usual once over that you give every used vehicle before you buy it.
Mine ran awsome at 214K till I hydrolocked it. Best damn vehical I ever owned. 91' sport, manual tranny, manual T-case.. DD, and even wheeled it it some, never had a issue with anything..
I've never been much of a Ford fan, but I had a 93 Explorer for about a year and a half as an "in between vehicles" truck. Had a bout 165,000 miles on it, and the thing NEVER gave me a single problem. I recently sold it to a friend, and he's loving it. I just had new brakes put on before I sold it to him.
No tranny problems, no engine problems, even the 4wd still works great.
With general maintence the 4.0 will run for a very long time, many well over 200k. A little valve rattle is fairly common, the push rods get mushroomed out abit but even with that they will continue to run. The auto tranny is the biggest weak link in them, but you can replace that with much more robust options. If it has an electronic shift the motor may get gummed up occasionally, but you can usually rebuild them for very little. Auto hubs are generally considered bad, but Warn makes a very good upgrade for that. All in all very good reliablilty. Mine has over 130k on it and it still runs great.
I sold my 91 Ranger with a 4.0 and a A4ld at 277k. It never missed a beat. The trans was rebuilt at 150k. I never opened the engine. It was a great truck and I still see it around town.
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