Looking at buying a 2011 Ford Explorer and have a few questions for those here on the forum. The first question has to do with the motor. I was told by a neighbor who fixes cars at a shop to stay away from the Fords with the Duratec 3.5L motor because they have an internal water pump. To change the water pump on these motors is costly($$$) because you have to take the front of the motor off. The Explorer we are looking at is a FWD 3.5L but it doesn't say if it is a Duratec motor. How can we tell, without having to be in front of the car and lift the hood?

Also, 2 of my daughters have FWD Ford vehicles (Flex and Escape) and they are a pain to work on (no room). How is the room in the FWD Explorer?

Any thoughts and advice?

 

If the explorer has a 3.5 or 3.7 engine in it it has the timing chain internal water pump, it is a major job to replace the water pump and it can cause damage to the engine by leaking cooling into the oil and that mixing internally. I would not purchase one myself but that said there are thousands and thousands of happy customers who have not had issues with the waterpumps.
It does not matter if it is FWD or AWD, 3.5 or 3.7 Duratech or 3.5 Ecoboost, its basically the same engine with this design flaw, the 3.7 duratech is one of my favorite engines when it is in a rear wheel drive vehicle, its got a normal water pump for those vehicles because the engine is not sideways in the engine bay.
I would buy a explorer with a 2.3 ecoboost happily though.
There is no extra room in the engine bay with the 3.5 ecoboost motor..