Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[Turdle]

Well if you can't get it to fit the Mounty I'd sure like to have it for the Explorer!

It's going to fit, some how some way. Just not today. Or tomorrow. If i work on this thing tomorrow it's going to be transmission cooler related. Where I can sit, and think, and be slow.

 

[traveler]

LoL yea, I just got my transmission cooler fans today, so thats on the list for tomorrow. I've been meaning to ask about that to, but we're getting off track of the roof rack! Time for a new thread after I do some searching.

 

[CDW6212R]

What trans cooler are you planning Jon? I hope to begin with my 98 in a month or two, after I get my 99 running again. I still plan a Super Duty cooler, and I have two sizes. I might put the shorter one on my good 98 truck, and the tall one in the 99 later(cut the radiator support to make room for it).

When I do the trans cooler I'll get that oil adapter with thermostat fixed with the marine T-stat(140*). Then I'll hook it up without the radiator, and see what the ATF temps run in various driving.

 

[Turdle]

For now just bypassing the radiator and adding a fan to the stock cooler.

 

[delexploder]

My friend plays with several fox mustangs and i made fun of him for wasting money on a B&M tranny cooler , it looked identicle to our stock ones , so on his latest one , a 347 trick flow heads intake procharger ect... backed by a manual valve body 4R70W guess whats keeping the tranny cool? explorer trans cooler with a parts store fan

 

[CDW6212R]

For now just bypassing the radiator and adding a fan to the stock cooler.

I might need a fan also for my work truck. I don't know what my ATF runs at now, I should get something to monitor that soon. Slow speeds and constant throttle will heat the ATF.

 

[Turdle]

I was easily able to bypass the transmission. No issue there.
Betty is not getting an efan it seems. Not without removing my front bumper and doing a little trimming.

So, this will have to be put off for later.For now I want to see what kind of results i get from removing the radiator out of the equation.

anyone have any ideas for driving a tap in when there isn't room for the tap handle dealio? I tried my cordless drill, the keyless chuck can't quite cut it.

 

[traveler]

I didn't get a chance to finish the fans. I was forced to go out to eat and see a movie.. Hehe I would have much preferred to stay in the hot truck finishing up the wiring.. (If you believe that...)
If I have time I'll get the radiator bypassed next week.

 

[toypaseo]

It's going to fit, some how some way. Just not today. Or tomorrow. If i work on this thing tomorrow it's going to be transmission cooler related. Where I can sit, and think, and be slow.

Yakima and/or Thule might/could have universal mounts that would work to mount the basket to the OEM bars.

I have two, yes two, Yakima Loadwarrior baskets in my stockpile. Bought one used at a swap meet just because I wanted to mount one on my roof. Searched/waited on eBay for some mounts to attach to the OEM bars. Ran across another basket on Craigslist with the correct universal mounts needed, so I snagged that for cheap. Never mounted one yet. Both sitting in my garage, along with a Thule 581 roof rack unit I got, maybe from another swap meet.

@traveler, I would be willing to sell you a basket, but I think shipping would kill it from being a good deal...

 

[Turdle]

Yakima and/or Thule might/could have universal mounts that would work to mount the basket to the OEM bars.

I have two, yes two, Yakima Loadwarrior baskets in my stockpile. Bought one used at a swap meet just because I wanted to mount one on my roof. Searched/waited on eBay for some mounts to attach to the OEM bars. Ran across another basket on Craigslist with the correct universal mounts needed, so I snagged that for cheap. Never mounted one yet. Both sitting in my garage, along with a Thule 581 roof rack unit I got, maybe from another swap meet.

@traveler, I would be willing to sell you a basket, but I think shipping would kill it from being a good deal...

I have the yakima with q posts but need si=ome support further back. I was not aware, nor did I even look for yakima mounts for the explorer track.

 

[Turdle]

Poser shot, and a camping shot. Story to follow in another thread..

 

[traveler]

LoL you took a pic of the few times when the hood was up on the Eddie Bauer.

 

[Turdle]

LoL you took a pic of the few times when the hood was up on the Eddie Bauer.

The closed hood pics also included Sheri plucking her eyebrows in my side mirror. -I had to make a choice.

 

[traveler]

Hehe.... Good choice.

 

[Turdle]

Here's the story.
I will remember this trip for the rest of my life. aside from some new squeaks, and due to operator error, trying to run an uphill climb in 4wd hi, Betty held up to the task well.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...it-hurts-but-did-you-die.465357/#post-3642983

 

[Turdle]

Well,
The ol gal did pretty well on our trip. I didn't keep an accurate count but we had to have clocked over 2000 miles. Lots of rough stuff, and some future changes noted.
Found out my rear sway bar quick disconnects were real quick, in fact they turned out to be self disconnects. This was purely operator error, as I used too small of washer as a backer after loosing the proper one. One good tug and the whole thing came out the end of the link, bushing and all. I am not sure where that happened-but when I crawled under to disconnect them, hoping for a softer ride, i was quickly disappointed. Nope, it's still going to be bumpy.
The e brakes I spent all the time on took a crap in KC on the way out from my parents sub division. We let them chatter until I could deal with it at camp. The driver side was rattling, and, once again due to operator error, me, using the old clips with new nails----
Yup, it let loose and that spring that is so much trouble to spring in there was rolling around and re shaped. lol
I tore all the stuff out and threw it in a pile, then zip tied the levers in place. Live free or die, in the mountains, with no park brake. Good times.
I should have done the other side too, because once we hit Salida for essentials ( walmart) it let go. So, I tore them apart in the wally parking world while Gman, Sheri and Traveler went in for the stuff.
she's a stubborn mule. Ran good and hard even though her driver tried to fry the transmission going up every bumpy foot of a 14k ft Mount Princeton in 4wd hi range. Yup, her trans was cooking about 245 degrees when we pulled over to cool down. She smelled a little funny but never kicked. Good mule

Back on the trail, I had to kick her as hard as I could in 1st gear for the final climb-235 degrees again. She made it. It wasn't until we were about 1/2 the way back down I stopped, and gave the shift lever a tug to 4wd lo range. We could have died.





Back on the highway I noted a few things.
First, my trip computer-economy thingy is needing some special education. This thing is on the short bus, we actually got around 3mpg more than it was displaying
2nd The bumper and front skid plate seem to act like a wing, which wants to lift the front end. 75mph requires 80 load, and really sucks fuel. 73mph seems to be the wall, if this makes sense. Anything over 65mph is really taxing everything, and, even with the trans bypassing the radiator, cruising temp was around 185 degrees. Coolant runs around 197 at 73 mph, with a 193 thermostat. The friggin skid plate is like a wrong way spoiler I reckon.

3rd the high trans temp at highway speed tells me a fan will not help. I need more cooling area, so, a second cooler will be installed.

4th I need to find a source for a thicker radiator. All of them I see are single row , but there is plenty of room for more-

5th MOAR tire for better ride.

6- some how some way the torsion bars just have to go. Cranking them up just makes them way too stiff. That road is a complete different animal on 33's with coilovers. I know this for fact. (nevermind the fact it was 8 years ago)


7- I have a small oil leak down the back of the engine, but it only lost 1/4 qt on the whole trip. I have yet to add any oil, I'm just going to change it.

8 loaded with about 1000 lbs of spare parts, tools and camping gear, add to that 2 people made the leaf springs very unhappy. I am amazed we didn't break them. Need more of that also. A f150 leaf should help.

She has some rust, which about 7 months or so ago had me thinking about putting her down and using the drive train for the Ranger. But after this performance, I think we'll fix the rusty rockers, and do some thingys so she'll be able to pull a pop up camper. We'll see if I can swing it.

 

[gmanpaint]

I am on the hunt for a new set of front reserve shocks. I will have the Qa1's and a brand new set of Eibach 650's still in the box, for sale, for cheap. You just have to make/source the brackets, and Bob's your uncle.

I am swapping out the F-150 mod 2" leaf packs on the 94 for the 95's old set of 4" packs. Those you have to come & get.

Someone posted (Can't remember the thread) about an aftermarket oversized cooler, they got off of Summit. Might wanna have a look see. Does your winch impede air flow to the cooler/Rad? Pretty sure you removed that lower air flow director flap underneath too?


(Told ya.... Moar Tar! )

 

[timtimtimajim]

Someone posted (Can't remember the thread) about an aftermarket oversized cooler, they got off of Summit. Might wanna have a look see.

That might have been me. Just added a new trans cooler/e-fan combo that I got from Summit. So far I've been happy with it. You can check it out in my registry. Post 160 http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/tims-93-sport.421787/page-7#post-3644335

 

[Turdle]

Well, 2 stock coolers and 2 fans worked on our Black mountaineer ( original turdle) with the 347, cam, heads and 3000 RPM flash art carr converter, and, since I have another stock cooler on hand, and 1 fan, I may just do the same on this truck. I'll need to get another fan.

Gman, I will buy that stuff. One question though-should I try for longer shocks like you are doing? Seems with the proper spring rate, a longer shock with more travel will offer a softer ride. While we are on this subject, could someone please PM a picture to me of the bottom shock bracket for a coilover? I have the picture in my head, I just want to double check. I know this can be fabbed easily.


Something happened on those roads, I mean, My body has suffered carnage. I am still not able to put socks on or yeah--anything involving reaching or bending is a no go. We didn't really do anything epic as far as roads go, but I do know I can't go through that again.

 

[boominXplorer]

Someone just came out with a whole line of thermostatic trans coolers that bypass the cooler through the bottom row until up to temp. That way you can bypass the rad and still have some warm up when cold.

If you want to upgrade a 2nd Gen easily just add another 2nd gen trans cooler in line on the other side. Without some decent cutting it's hard to fit a full width one up high.