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Pugly

The Good, The Bad, & the Pugly :D

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.


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puglysnewseats.jpg

cbantbracket.jpg
 



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Been sometime since Pugly got any attention other then routine maintenance.
Had a little time off last Sunday and decided to redo the wiring behind the console box. I added a Seagate 6 circuit fuse block, for all the accessories in it. Took a while to figure out the way I managed to get the rear camera & the DVD player switched to the 7" monitor. lol Mounted it onto the back of the passenger side swing door for easy reach and fuse change.
Pugly gets a fuse block.jpg
 






Ok, so here is a weird question for anybody that sees this post...

For sometime, I have had a slow leak of fluids, and always believed, it was from when I last changed the lower intake gasket, and didn't seal it correctly.

When the rig is parked on an incline, with the rear lower then the front, it really leaks Motor oil, & coolant off the back engine somewhere.

The only thing I can think of is it has to be the lower intake gasket not sealed at the rear valley. Thoughts? Any other explanations? I'm not looking forward to this job, and have been putting it off like a Dental visit. If it could be something else, I'm ready to hear it. lol
 






Mine did the same, it was NOT the lower intake.

It was leaking oil from the cam sensor, valve covers and coolant was building up on the intake manifold from a tiny leak at the thermostat and the heater hose.

sometimes if I smashed on the gas you would get a blast of coolant stink from the g-force throwing the coolant off the back of the intake which would then run off the bell housing onto the exhaust.

Also when climbing a hill or parked on an incline as your mentioned.
 






Mine did the same, it was NOT the lower intake.

It was leaking oil from the cam sensor, valve covers and coolant was building up on the intake manifold from a tiny leak at the thermostat and the heater hose.

sometimes if I smashed on the gas you would get a blast of coolant stink from the g-force throwing the coolant off the back of the intake which would then run off the bell housing onto the exhaust.

Also when climbing a hill or parked on an incline as your mentioned.

Now that's interesting. I would have never of thought of that. I have yet to mess with a cam sensor, and barely know where it is. lol
I'm wanting to say it is under the coil pack area, at the back of the Passenger side head. (Hard to work on, of course)
Thank you, I greatly appreciate this input! I will do some research and inspect it close as I can.
Question... Does that sensor have a ring gasket that can go bad, or is it something else, like bolt came loose, cracked, etc...?

I add about a quart of coolant to the resi bottle every other week or so, and can smell it after a running at temp, like it is burning off.
I add about 1/2 qt of oil about the same time too. I am constantly under the rig wiping oil off the pan, bell housing, cross member, etc...
With both fluids leaking, it just made sense to me, it would be the lower intake.
Before I ripped into it, I had to make sure it wasn't something else. Now I know, there is another possibility.
 






It's a rubber o-ring

On the cam sensor that is.... ..
 






Pugly got her own full size cargo box to hold all the misc work gear, hand tools, fluids, etc.. Once I get it painted, I will get a picture.

I also tried a set of front shocks that are 2" longer then stock. I figured that with the 2" suspension lift, the stock shocks run out of real estate at full extension, at droop.

That was a No Go! They bottomed out just pulling out the driveway. Too big. Rig made it halfway out the driveway, and then right back up. Pulled them off instantly, and back in the box. :(
No more lift is wanted right now, so the towers will be changed at some point to allow for longer shocks.
 












So what I actually heard was a front outer wheel bearing. Noticed the lower caliper pin coming out looking thru the wheels.

Caliper pin backed out.jpg


What boggles me, is the rotors, bearings, seal, pads, and nut kit, are only a year old, and bearings have been cleaned and repacked twice since. I changed the grease to the Ford Black molly last time, & the grease was still there, and not washed out. I have been having a rough time keeping the nuts set and seems I am torquing it to 175 ft lbs once a month or so. It just won't stay there. Must be the mass of the 35's on a little D35.
I threw on a good used bearing temporarily. New bearing set will be picked up and installed into another new rotor.
 






How do the races look? Is there another part in there which is wearing and hasn't been discovered yet? It's been ages since I looked at my old 91 4WD, I don't remember enough to help. I hope you figure that out, I do recall the brakes were fairly sturdy, just a hair small.
 






The outer race had a tiny little burnish. I cleaned the spindle, and took some emery cloth to everything just in case, but it looked fine.

The new rotor will have new races & bearings. I think I might go back to 33's on this rig. The 35's are proving to be too much for it. They are like new still, and I should be able to sell them for a fair price to help pay for a new set.
 






When I was younger, I thought grease packing wheel bearings by hand, was therapeutic. Now I'm like WTF was I thinking? This sucks! :crazy:

So the new Napa Premium rotor and new wheel bearings are installed. I noticed the rear pads are not right. They do not fit the spindle that well, and have up/down travel slop (explains the click clack I kept hearing now & then). The top edge of the pad is a hair over the rotor, and as they are wearing , leaving a lip on the pad. I will get a new set of pads soon and get them on. Time for a test hit, and see if that rotor was indeed the hum/noise I was hearing.

Sheesh... Never fricking ends with this rig. :banghead:

Edit: Good news...Put a new set of front Napa premium pads on. These have the clips on them for the knuckle, and they don't clack.
Bad news... The hum is still there. I whole hardheartedly believe, it's the rear carrier bearing.
My feelings on that are, I don't want to take it back to the guy who installed the new carrier, gears with master install kit, and the locker. Even tho it is his faulty workmanship, I can't trust him to fix it right.
 






Anybody ever feel that your rig hates you sometimes? :rant:

Decided to change the air filter real quick. Yeah right, more like an hour. :angryfire:

I had to cut one of the bolts in half to get the cover off. I fought it and fought it, but it just spun & spun. Vice grips wouldn't stay on the lower nut. Turns out it is a round splined nut that fits into the molded lower half of the air box. It lost it's grab, and just spun.

Off came the intake tube, off came the maf housing, out came the dremel. I broke 3 small cutting discs, and broke out the angle grinder. :shoot:

This frigging rig, I swear, it is out to get me sometimes!! :crazy:
 






That's an old parts way of saying it wants retirement, or attention.
 






That's an old parts way of saying it wants retirement, or attention.

Ok Don, then how about this....

Last July, the A/C system was rebuilt. It hadn't been used for a few years, and was nice to have it back. I rarely use it, as I got accustomed not to having it. But when I did, it was oh so nice. Well, a couple moths later, and there was no need for it any longer as fall hit & winter was approaching..

Fast forward to this July, today as a matter of fact. I turned it on for the 1st time this year. It is blowing hot air, and the compressor is clicking away.

Seriously? All that work, and $$ in parts, and it was for a couple months worth? C'mon man!

I will try to fill it, and see if it has a slow leak or dump leak. SMFH

Edit:
It was low with 25 bars of coolant. I filled to 40 bars.Cold air is blowing at 50*. Not great, but better. Bad part is the compressor sounds like a bearing or something is going out on it. Only makes the noise while running, not free spinning, so I'm not sure what it really is. Clutch I guess.
 






The quick connections on the AC lines are the weakest links. Normal vibration causes more wear of the green o-rings than age etc. If you get a reason to ever take those apart, first buy the o-rings of course, but also an aftermarket clamp made for them. Those are designed to clamp onto the connection and hold it still, saving the o-rings from vibration wear.

Thanks for the reminder, I need to get some more of those clamps, for my extra cars now.
 






I used new Greenies but didn't go buy the fancy high dollar oil lube for them. I used what came with the parts. I will do a little research on the clamps, as I never knew they existd until now. Thanks Don.
 






A lot of the Fords came with a thin steel clamp on those connections, but they didn't really reduce vibration. My Lincolns and Crown Vics came with them, and I think I recall them on my Mercury. Those I just removed and scrapped. The aftermarket units are aluminum or very thick and solid plastic, with two Allen headed bolts to lock them together over the joint.
 



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Been as quiet as a library here lately. Guess that's a good thing. :)

Lately, tires have been a thorn in my side, and I got stuck again.

Pugly Ran over a nail. Didn't go far into the tread, and still held air. I just happened to notice it walking by. Decided to take it in and have it fixed just in case. Took the wheel off on my lunch hour, dropped it off to return after work. They called 3 hours later, and said they can't touch it, as it is only an inch away from the outer tread. WTF? Seriously?

I went back, yelled at them for wasting my time, and said they are a bunch of chickenshits for not doing it. Instead of telling me they will fix it, they should have inspected it, and told me they won't try because of policy, or some other lame ass excuse. I would have gone elsewhere. Loaded my wheel, and left.

Took it to another tire shop. Told them I had a loose wheel, with a small nail barely in the tread. First thing this guy said, was vehicle is it on? I about lost it again. I said... It's Loose! lol

Dude realizes I'm not in a good mood, and says sorry, it's for the computer, and I have to put something in. Damn electronics age is ridiculous sometimes. So I ask him to look at it before he says he can fix it. He says, well, yeah, it's in the tread, if it was a sidewall, then we would have to vulcanize it, if you are ok with that.

So that made me feel better. This guy at least knew what he was doing. Told him to take his time, and I will come back tomorrow for it. Thank goodness for a matching spare!
 






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