2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

After getting an estimate on how much it would run me to fix up my Xploder with all new exhaust, cold side piping, and a bunch of other stuff done up the "right" way... I've decided to convert my Xploder back to NA form so that I can actually ENJOY the truck before I die of old age.

Anyways... To start it off I ordered up a MAC cold air intake (I do not have the stock intake) and sold my FMS headers on ebay.

I plan on buying a set of torque monster headers in the next week or so but am still up in the air on how I should run my exhaust from a performance "speed" perspective. I do not plan on doing much, if any, off road driving, so am looking for a setup that improves take off and speed for spirited pavement driving that sounds good.

I already have the spare tire removed (and will be keeping it off, I have free towing anyways lol)... What would an optimal setup be with the above in mind and no worry of a spare tire being in the way? True duals (straight pipe off of each header, thru separate mufflers, and out the sides), or a dual exhaust both going into a 2 in 2 out "H" pipe style muffler and then out the sides? Or something else? In all cases I won't be running any cats.

I also plan to re-tune my car since currently it is tuned for the turbo setup which obviously will no longer apply once I rip everything out.

Thank you for any input!

 

[willzilla]

Alignment was a SUCCESS!

It only took about... 5 years, since my first FAILED alignment attempt back on March 11th 2013 lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent, those are good specs. Now drive it to keep it happy.

 

[willzilla]

That's the plan, lol.

Still have a list of things to do as well, lol.

Cleaned up some of the engine wiring a little... Still have more to do.

Put the wheel well fender flaps back in. Still need to install the plastic piece on the top front of the engine and under the radiator and install the 5.0 v8 plate on the top of the intake manifold.

New HIDs as well, plus figure out my mirror issue and a number of other odds and ends lol. But... I'm driving it as my SVTfocus is out of commission for now.

 

[CDW6212R]

The mirror is probably the switch or the mirror, hope it's not the door jamb wiring. Get OEM mirrors if you hunt one, even used is better than aftermarket. I have two that are going in the trash, when I get to swapping a pair of used ones for my 99.

 

[willzilla]

The mirror is probably the switch or the mirror, hope it's not the door jamb wiring. Get OEM mirrors if you hunt one, even used is better than aftermarket. I have two that are going in the trash, when I get to swapping a pair of used ones for my 99.

I'm not to worried about the power portion of the driver mirror not working... More concerned why the mirrors move out of position while driving instead of staying set.

 

[CDW6212R]

I read that, but how far do they move? I figured you meant slightly, which could be from vibration and looseness of the inner mirror section. They are very reliable, seeing how good they work after 20 years. If one has issues, I'd not fight it, and replace it.

I'm fighting with the rear hatch of my new 98 recently, the right striker keeps breaking apart. I'm fairly sure the past owner caused damage to the hinge from an antenna mounted at the top right. The hatch did fine for many months, and then the original bushing cracked and I replaced both sides. Now the right one has broken three of the parts store replacements. So I've swapped an original one from my Mercury, since it's been perfect always. I bought new hinges, and though the two on the truck appear okay, I think at least the right one is worn, and letting the hatch move too much.

At this age of our vehicles, maintenance is really important, and replacing old parts that never get a thought, is also big.

 

[willzilla]

They don't seem to move to much... Just annoying. How bad are these to take apart? Maybe just needs a little TLC lol.

Have driven the truck about 80 miles now... Got a check engine light...

- P0430 - Powertrain: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 2).
- P0401 - Powertrain: Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient Detected.

Looks like the system noticed my lack of cats and EGR..?

Truck drives nice. I thought I had disabled checking for the cats in the tune.. Maybe time to re-flash the tune fresh on the system... Eventually need a completely new tune which sucks with Henson gone :-/ His tune took into account my exhaust setup and other mods but not EGR delete (if that can be accounted for in a tune?), intake manifold spacer, and a few other small things.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm not sure how the mirror glass will come off, I've never had to do it or read about it here. If you think it's the internals, I'd see if another whole mirror can be found easily. I think $25 or less will buy any mirror at the local JY.

The EGR can be turned off in the programming for sure.

 

[willzilla]

I'm not sure how the mirror glass will come off, I've never had to do it or read about it here. If you think it's the internals, I'd see if another whole mirror can be found easily. I think $25 or less will buy any mirror at the local JY.

The EGR can be turned off in the programming for sure.

Cool, thank you! I'll keep eyes open for mirror replacement but will see what I can do and see if repair (or even if I can freeze the mirror position in place manually (wedge something to hold it in place once situated, for example, etc)).

I believe I had my tune disable engine light for cats but had not yet deleted the EGR completely so possible reason why I got one of those codes.

 

[Turdle]

small wedge of black adhesive foam holds the one on our Avalon. Placed there by a toyota dealer of all things---

 

[willzilla]

small wedge of black adhesive foam holds the one on our Avalon. Placed there by a toyota dealer of all things---

Sounds like a nice fix if it comes down to it

 

[Turdle]

OH, I might mention even if it is off base-
When I tried to remove our 5th shock on 1st mounty, wifey complained of Weird road feel and vibrating mirror images. Our roads are kind rough here and have cyclic type surfaces.

Tried it with this mounty with same results.

 

[willzilla]

Bought a new HID kit, this time from XeonHIDS.com which seemed like a quality place for lighting. Picked up their Bi-Xeon 55w kit with 6k bulbs kit.

 

[willzilla]

Still haven't had a chance to work on the A/C... Had to work yesterday and then got called into work today as well :-/

Had my oil gauge go whacky (bouncing between the high and low stops). I recall this being an issue I had before I took the truck offline. I plan to replace the oil and oil filter and perhaps will swap out the sensor as well.



Gas mileage has been pretty horrible, lol. Like... 250 miles on the entire tank of 93 octane. Perhaps a fresh tune taking into account everything done sometime in the near future will help a little I'd be happy with 300 miles on the tank lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

Run regular if the engine is basically stock, and see if it runs any differently. I've never had an issue with the oil pressure sensor, other than my last one leaking. Those are just an ON/OFF switch though, so the readings should be all or nothing, a normal level, or zero as the pressure drops below a certain point.

 

[willzilla]

Run regular if the engine is basically stock, and see if it runs any differently. I've never had an issue with the oil pressure sensor, other than my last one leaking. Those are just an ON/OFF switch though, so the readings should be all or nothing, a normal level, or zero as the pressure drops below a certain point.

The Henson tune I'm running is for 93 octane... though the tune is now a bit outdated and not taking into account a few of the most recent changes (EGR delete, 1" intake manifold spacer, etc).

I still need to relocate my A/F sensor closing forward before I delve into getting a new tune done by whomever does tunes now (I found who does them a few months back but forgot off the top of my head who it was).

 

[CDW6212R]

I just figured for the extra cost of premium, about $.45 a gallon, I'd give regular a try for saving money. I'm going to use premium for my 347 and blower engine, but the 306 I'm planning will use regular. Gas used to be about $.20 more for premium, now it's a lot more.

 

[willzilla]

I just figured for the extra cost of premium, about $.45 a gallon, I'd give regular a try for saving money. I'm going to use premium for my 347 and blower engine, but the 306 I'm planning will use regular. Gas used to be about $.20 more for premium, now it's a lot more.

Ya.. I never planned the explorer to be a daily driver but now I may ask for an 87 and a 93 tune when I have tune redone lol. Same some money.

 

[willzilla]

Got my new HID kit in... Quite nice quality. Hopefully lasts a while once I install it (hopefully this weekend).

I've noticed my engine compartment gets quite warm... Hood too.. Is this normal? My engine temps, as per the temp gauge, are very good (well below half mark), but the ambient temp within the compartment and even the hood is quite warm to the touch. Side effect of the headers that I forgot about?

This is high as engine temps get displayed on gauge..

 

[willzilla]

Have been driving the Xploder the past few weeks to/from work.

Did some work on the truck today and some more... challenges :-/

It seems one of my electric fans is hitting something (not the radiator).. Got dark so couldn't troubleshoot it but it seems something fell down into the fan unit and is sitting on the bottom clipping the fan a bit.

Even worse though... coolant leak is back. Same area as before in the rear. Hard to see what once again but it seems to be around the heater core hose(s) again.. Ugh, wtf.

My SVTf is still down, had not had a chance to work on it so it sucks even more that I'm having issues with the truck.. always something :-/