Pugly

The Good, The Bad, & the Pugly

1994 Purple Explorer XLT 4wd

I decided to have a registry for my "Other" rig so I can post things done and have a reference for it.

Pretty much stock drive train.

4.0 OHV-A4ld-1354e.
D35 front 4:56 Yukon gears, Aussie Locker.
2nd gen disc 8.8 rear 4:56 gears, Spartan Locker.

Front C-Clip eliminator Mod.

Slight lift with 2" Skyjacker coils & rear F-150 hybrid leaf packs.

3" PA body lift
Helpful thread with pics for the front body mounts
Pics of front body lift mounts

Swapped to manual hubs.
Double U-joint XJ steering shaft.

33" x 12.5" x 15" Cooper Discoverer ATX3, mounted on 15"x10" AR Outlaw1 alum wheels - full size matching spare.

Shocks:
Front Rancho 9000xl
Rear Rancho 9000xl
Duff Stabilizer shock.

Sway bar quick disconnects front & rear.
Custom tube sliders w/kickouts

22" LED light bar.
18w amber fog Led pods.
55w rock lights--2 front--1 rear over diff.
8 LED pods for rocker lights.

Full brush guard.
2.5" Fender Flares.

TTB Diff guard & Skid plate.

Custom roof rack with 48" Extreme Hi-Lift jack.

Flipped Tow hitch & front hooks for tow points.

Cobra19 CB & rear hatch mounted firestick antenna.
Rear view HD camera.
JVC DVD/CD/MP3 Head unit with 7" HD Monitor.
Sony 6.5" front speakers.
Rockford Fosgate 5.25" component rear speakers.
8" JL Audio sub in 2001 enclosure with 500w amp mounted on enclosure.

Custom made center console with CB/Rear view color monitor/2-12v outlets/ in-out temp display. D cell Maglite mounted on cargo panel. Truck bed liner on cargo floor.
Custom Cargo storage box with topside spare tire mount.

'99 Eddie Bauer Front Leather buckets.
'94 Limited Rear leather split bench.

 

[gmanpaint]

Pugly is back home rubbing mirrors with the Black Hole. I think she likes it here better then a dirty shop. Hopefully she learned her lesson and will behave for a while.

The shop owner drove her last night, and during the day today to make sure all was well. Said when he first moved it, the locker bound up and popped real loud. He took the cover back off, and inspected it, but all was fine. He searched the forums and found posts saying this locker sets itself on initial lockup, and takes a few miles to break in. he didn't want to just hand me the keys the minute the last bolt was installed.

On my first ride with it, the old gal def has much improved take off power, and easily barks the tires going straight. Around a turn is to be expected with a rear locker, and will produce a rubber slipping symphony if on the throttle too hard on pavement. I have to find a black VSS gear now to correct the speedo.

500 mile break in period has begun. Front gear swap is scheduled for the end of this month.

Edit: Black VSS gear was installed, and speedo is right on the money!

 

[gmanpaint]

The oil leak on the rear Dr side has got worse, and I can smell it burning now. So I grabbed a flashlight, inspected the area suspected, and it is hard to tell if it is the lower intake gasket or the valve cover leaking. For the heck of it, I put a socket on the outside valve cover bolts. They were frigging loose! Hmm... So I went a bit past snug on the bolts I could get at. Sprayed some degreaser, and hosed it clean as best I could. If it leaks as bad, after a test run, I will have to tear into it, and R&R all the gaskets asap.

Ordering the master install kit for the front diff next week. Hopefully I will be able to start that project in the next couple of weeks, if work allows the time. Looks like that will be a good time to replace the R/A rivets with bolts, and do the pivot joint bushing. Have to research the bolt size for that job still.

 

[Dono]

Lets hope the tightening of the valve cover fixed it.
I have learned also that its painfully difficult to diagnose oil leaks.
The way the oil flows like water with the different winds and inertia's acting on it can be ugly. On my motor everything looked like the rear main seal.

 

[gmanpaint]

Your so right about locating the leaks on the back end!!

One of my beefs with Ford is the fact we have to pull the plenum/intake to get the valve covers off. That just irritates the heck out of me.

 

[CDW6212R]

My front differential I took out last week has no puddle under it on the steel pan I left it on. The truck was evenly covered on everything within a foot of the engine, the frame and LCA's, all the way up to the water pump and back to the transfer case. This front diff, it had maybe a cup of grease come out of it stood on end. It will be a spare hopefully never used. I already had one spare, so that will go in this.

BTW, the Torsen is available, maybe I can get one of those installed if I can swing $500, plus installation.

 

[gmanpaint]

I would think that would be the Dr side axle seal or the pinion. If the crush sleeve let loose, you would have front to back play, allowing fluids past the seal, or the pinion seal just gave up.
I have yet to see a front diff cover on a 2nd gen just start leaking for no reason.

I wouldn't mind a Torsen in the front of the 2nd gen. The auto locker in it now makes it a PITA to steer in 4wd, and beats on the wimpy R&P rack. Return to center is so violent when locked, it can break bones easily in a flash. The Torsen wouldn't do any of that. Lose a little lockup, gain some manners. Seems fair to me.

 

[CDW6212R]

This front diff, it has a decent pinion seal still, but the two axle ends are filthy, that's where it lost the grease. The last owner was a lady, it was her first car, and they took the front drive shaft out early on. She drove it like that with 2WD and didn't do much to the truck. They are very reliable, so she benefited from not having to repair much at all while she had it.

I'm more proactive, so some things need to be replaced now. The TC fluid was black, hopefully that AWD will survive long enough to get to doing the 4406 swap.

 

[gmanpaint]

The 22" LED bar I put into my Amazon wish list had a 33% price drop, so I grabbed it. The smaller LED pods have been on for sometime now, I just haven't took a picture of them until now.
All these lights are pretty amazing for what they cost.

 

[gmanpaint]

Today's Fix.
Dr front window motor rebuild #2 since '08.

 

[gmanpaint]

So wrenched on the rig this afternoon until the skeeters came out in hoards. Managed to get the front tore down mostly to remove the 3rd member. All that's left is to pull the Dr side R/A out of the mount, loosen the R/A nuts on the beam, drain whats left & yank the Diff. Appointment in 2 days to get the gears / locker installed, then put it all back together over the weekend.



Been 6 weeks since the rear gear swap, and still have 160 miles left for the fluid change. LOL!!

Looking like a crime scene.

Ahh, that's better.

 

[gmanpaint]

Getting old is part of nature, and that's fine. Why does it have to hurt though?

I didn't try to work fast, just stayed at it, but it took me 6 hours to tear down the TTB and get the 3rd member removed, and exactly 6 hours to put it all back together.

I'm sore, but relieved it is back together. The gear shop was supposed to have it back to me last Friday, and plan was to take my time over the weekend with the install. They didn't have it ready for me until this morning. Worked until noon, turned off the electronic devices, and went at it. Matching 4:56 gears, and an Aussie lunchbox Stuff cleaned and painted, and new fluids tomorrow.

I'm ready for winter, and maybe some trails someday! Pugly can handle the San Juan Mtn's in CO perfectly as is. Hmm......

 

[CDW6212R]

Well done, and that looks awesome. I love clean parts, makes me want to build an engine soon.

Now, do you smell like Bengay?

 

[gmanpaint]

Thanks Don! I have been waiting to see your 347 build thread happen.

I did smell like grease, anti-seize, and RTV before hosing down.

I don't have any topical stuffs, so a couple Aleve, and hit the couch after dinner. lol

 

[gmanpaint]

New one on me.

On the way to work today, the oil pressure needle dropped to nothing. I thought ok, that's odd. I guess the sending unit went out or a bad ground. Then my mind started thinking.

Sure enough, I smell oil burning. Ruh roh, that's not a good sign. Engine was running fine, temps stayed cool, so I pushed on a couple more miles to my job site. Parked it, and popped the hood.

Oil is on everything on the Dr side. Climbed under, and oil is on everything. I couldn't see where it was coming from. So I went to work, and checked on it after about an hour. I was and wasn't surprised to see about a half quart of pugly blood on the pavement.

Got someone to follow Pugly home, in case she had a stroke, and left me stranded. Made it home, got her in the garage, and had a closer look after wiping stuff clean.

When I cleaned the oil sender, it instantly started dripping oil out of it. WTF?? I never had one break, just quit working. Hopefully I find one tomorrow and see if that is the issue, or if there is another cause.

 

[Rick]

I had to do a Google search for this since I hadn't heard of the problem before. I found that leaky oil pressure sensors are not uncommon on various Ford models

 

[gmanpaint]

Thanks for looking into that Rick. I never had this happen before, and it's def a weird one.

Well, I was going to get a Motorcraft replacement that takes a couple days to get, but if they go bad too, might as well just get a BWD that is available now.

Craziest stuff happens to this rig.

 

[gmanpaint]

So I replaced the oil pressure switch, and now the gauge reads High. There is soooooo much oil on everything, I really can't tell if it stopped the leak or not. I ran it for a few mins and watched for a leak. Oil started dripping off the switch, but slowly. I can't tell if the switch is leaking still, or above, or what yet.

I have the engine soaking in De-greaser, after I ragged off as much as I could. Hopefully after it's cleaned off, I can inspect a bit better. The part the switch threads onto, is like a long Hex nut, and I'm hoping that is not the problem, as I know jack squat about that part or if it takes a gasket or what.

#puglyproblems

Edit:
Rinsed it off. I can see the adapter for the switch better. It is just threaded right into the block, and I can see some stock blue thread locker on the threads. Once it dries off, I will start it again and watch that area for a leak.

Edit #2:

I was able to put a box wrench on the adapter. It was snug, but not real tight. I tightened it up to where it felt good. Ran the engine for about 10 mins with some random throttle blips. No oil leaking now. I placed some fresh cardboard under it, to make sure it is done bleeding. Hopefully, this is all it was.

Ok, so my next concern is the high reading on the new sensor. Is this a sign I have sludge blockage, and she is about to have a massive coronary? Oil is clean, and filter recently changed. She is getting up there in age. Even with the amount of upkeep I do, it can only last so long.

 

[CDW6212R]

That is very odd for the sensor to leak, the pan level sensors are common to do that though.

The older Fords all used to use real oil pressure sensors. In the mid 90's Ford changed to a smaller sensor, which only registers ON/OFF, they have two possible outputs, nothing, or some value that makes the gauge pop up to some level. If yours is that kind, all that matters is that the gauge doesn't show zero. Those just respond at over some low pressure level, like 10psi.

That one you pictured is a mid-sized unit, it's smaller than old real sensors, but a little bigger than the very compact version people know of now on late model Fords.

I'm sure you fixed the leak anyway, given a little sealant and tightened. I doubt your oil pressure has changed.

 

[gmanpaint]

I hope your right about the pressure not changing. I have read threads on making the oil gauge a real gauge, and the on/off deal. I would just think if it was on, it would be in the middle, not on High. lol

This year has been hard on me with this rig. Transmission was pulled 3 times, front suspension was completely rebuilt knuckles and all, rear axle rebuilt, front differential rebuilt, front axles replaced, and now this little freakout. All this year alone!

There isn't much left I haven't worked on/replaced since I have had it.

 

[Dono]

There isn't much left I haven't worked on/replaced since I have had it.

That was the kiss of death, if I've ever heard one. Just wait......