1997 Ford Explorer - V8 - 5.0 - AWD

Hello Explorer Fans.

I have been on the forums for some time and have extensively read many threads. I have enjoyed the forums so far. Now I have a question of opinion for you all.

I currently own 97' V6 SOHC Sport and I love it. I was going to SAS it, but Id rather do it to a V8 Explorer, plus, manual TC's are readily available for the swap.

To get to the point, I'm looking at a 97' 5.0 AWD Explorer (166,000 miles) (for a few hundred bucks). It's a solid vehicle, straight but its flashing a few codes. I looked up the codes here on the forums and it appears to be a "simple" fix. It idles well, but has an obvious 'lumpiness' to it. When you accelerate under load, you can sort of hear and feel it. The codes I got were P1132 - Lack of Oxygen Sensor indicates Rich and P1131 - Lack of Heater Oxygen Sensor indicates Lean. Both appear to be O2 sensor issues which may not be that big a deal. The trans seems to shift well with no obvious issues.

I'm very mechanical in nature (I work on my own cars/trucks) and fabrication of all I want to do...is what I do.

I just wanted a few opinions on the success of fixing this issue and any potential things I should look for before i pull the trigger and pick this thing up.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Spudhut]

Update number...who knows at this point

Went to the JY yesterday to run into the 1/2 ****ed hatch of a...you guessed it - Mercury Mountaineer! OMG, gashed my head right open; blood everywhere!...and what was I doing...looking at my phone on this forum to find the correct DS I needed for my BW1406 swap.

Needless to say - First Aid training kicked in....luckily no stitches. I did return to the 'battlefield' and continued with my scouting. Found the donor vehicle of choice for another lunch-time return trip.

Went back today - pulled the DS with success and no injuries!

 

[CDW6212R]

Ouch, take it easy walking and phoning. I've done, that and played with the hood latch/hook a few times also. That latch is mean, replace those weak hood shocks when they need it.

 

[Spudhut]

Got more completed this weekend - after getting the rear axle cleaned up with pressure washer and disassembled all the brakes, I got busy with the SOA. The whole undercarriage was full of Arkansas clay. Dirt and rocks everywhere. Every time i tapped a part, dirt fell on my head. So, I pulled it out and pressure washed the whole under carriage and all the parts I removed. The springs were really roachy and since they were going to be visible, I decided to put a coat of rust-inhibitor paint on them.

As for the rear, I put the springs back in, got everything line up and welded the brackets in place. For mocking purposes, I used the original U-bolts to put everything together to get it back on the ground so I can set up the rear brake line from the frame.

Bent a new line for the rear axle - ill get it back on after all the new brake hardware arrives. I wanted something clean and simple.

Looks like I will need a few new parts, but here it is after the swap. (Ill get a side by side this week next to my Sport so folks can see the height change.)

Undercarriage Clean up:

Brake Line Modification:

** I think at this point, should this be moved to the 'Modified' section? @Rick

 

[Turdle]

Most people put the brake line extension on the other side of the bracket. The extension is to allow for more axle drop at flex without pulling hard on that line.

 

[Spudhut]

@Turdle - Great idea. Sometimes you get tunnel vision on things and don't see all options. (Could you also move this thread out of 'Stock Section' to 'Modified Section'?

Some of the pictures I saw of others work showed them removing the bracket from the frame and reconnecting the soft line to the hard line and bending it downward. Wasn't an ideal way for me to do things.

I could still make that change - I would gain considerable flex distance overall.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[CDW6212R]

I like it, cleaned and ready for shocks. I like the brake line too, it looks like you've gained close to 5" of length of the old hose.

 

[Spudhut]

I decided to pull the radiator to make room to re-work the lower mounts attached to the body.

I plan on adding a body lift to the Ex to give extra space above the manual BW 1406 swap. I'm not buying a complete kit as I have seen here in the forums since I don't need the bumper relocation brackets (custom bumpers to be made) and steering shaft extensions since I'm adding a steering box for the SOA to follow.

I'm glad I did...it let me check other things on the front of the engine since there was plenty of space to reach in and feel everything out.

Belt was cracked badly, so I pulled it and checked all the idler pulley's. The bearing were toast.

I have been reading about the temp gauge issues and one suggestion was to check the thermostat...

Glad I did....ordered a new on and all new pulleys and belt...I think I'm going to replace the waterpump since right now would be a good time to do it. With the condition of the parts around it...No telling how long ago that was done...

(Fix) Replacing the thermostat fixed my temperature gauge issue

Since the trans cooler is right there on the front, how beneficial would it be to add a 2nd cooler and/or a larger unit. Since I have the complete headlight assembly and panel off, its easily accessible and adding a 2nd one would be a piece of cake right now.

Are there any threads on electric fan mod?

 

[CDW6212R]

Well done getting that all apart, tough job. The trans cooler is a good idea to add, but changing to an e-fan is very hard(tight tight fit).

Hunt for those fan thread, lately others are doing the used Dodge or a couple other really thin OEM's. The only new one likely to fit is the thin Flexlite 190 I believe it is, I have that one to try later too.

 

[CDW6212R]

BTW, if you wanted an oil cooler(the optional one), you would have to change that filter adapter at the same time as the water pump. The short hose between them cannot be changed with the WP installed. I know that now unfortunately, 2-3 hours wasted trying to do that.

 

[toypaseo]

If your passenger side taillight looks like the driver side one, I have a new DEPO unit available...

 

[CDW6212R]

If your passenger side taillight looks like the driver side one, I have a new DEPO unit available...

Nice offer, and I've got water in both of mine too. I drilled holes in them for strobe lights though, I think I caused it. It is funny to see the bulbs lit up and under water. That can't be good for the glass.

 

[Spudhut]

Thanks @CDW6212R - I have read on other threads where people add the trans cooler and figured, eh...what the heck; even if I took an OEM one and reversed the bracket to mount to the other side. However, I was not aware on the oil cooler. Ill look into that. Plenty of time ahead!

I was looking at that little hose last night thinking...OMG if I had to change that later down the road.
As cheap as it would be to get, a pain to replace if you didn't do it at the same time of the water pump. One of those - 'Cuss the whole time' projects.

 

[Spudhut]

@toypaseo - only the drivers side looks that way. I will replace them both down the road....shoot me a PM on it.

Thanks for offering.

 

[toypaseo]

PM sent to @Spudhut

 

[Spudhut]

So, my new waterpump, pullys, thermostat and belt arrived. I was excited to have something to do and get the front of the block buttoned up.

I started with pulling the waterpump bolts...and that is when my night made a drastic turn.

One of the large studs on the passenger side snapped off right at the head of the bolt... - at that moment, I thought to myself...why cant I leave things alone

Oh well...it was what it was!

I tried everything I knew to try to break it loose; Stud pulling tool, welding nut on the end...no vice grips LOL !! ...Just not enough to get this thing to budge. The other side came off with a fight, but with slow movements, it finally broke loose. Super 'Roachy' bolts. - Time for new bolts!

Sooo...I guess the next step is to pull the timing cover and get this thing loose and....a new timing chain will now be installed.

I'm already this far into it...might as well change it at this point. I even considered changing the camshaft at this point....only for a min...

Thank goodness I enjoy this kind of hobby!

 

[CDW6212R]

Well, I'm sure glad you like that kind of work. I do too, but those WP bolts are the one thing I'm dreading. I wish they were easier to buy new, and I wish ARP made them also, with the proper stud ends on them.

Do buy some Vise Grips, those are the next best thing to using a welder, cutting torch, and extraction tools. I always begin with Vise Grips, I have several sizes of them.

Spray more penetrant on it too, as well as the seam of the block and TC. Sometimes it can weep into those.

 

[Spudhut]

I may try the Vice Grip method next, but at this point, I'm committed to replacing the timing chain. As bad as it has gotten, I'm glad in a way - its double insurance I know everything is in good working order!

These normally work great, not enough meat to grab the stud....Darn!

 

[Mbrooks420]

This is why I didn’t feel so bad farming this job out. Good luck, man, you’ll get it.

 

[Spudhut]

My Weekend of Fun!

With a sheared bolt, new parts in hand, I was ready to tackle this thing. I would not be defeated!

I went through the process of pulling the Harmonic Balancer. I'm sure this is covered extensively so I wont bore with the removal details. Just make sure you have a 3 bolt puller on hand!

Got the balancer off and removed all the bolts on the lower part of the timing cover. All of them, including the 4 in the oil pan came off nicely.

The biggest issue I had was trying to get the cover to clear the broken bolt. I had not done this before on these motors so I wasn't sure if the bottom of the cover had to be lifted up first to clear a lip in the oil pan. Luckily, there was no lip and the cover needed to be pulled straight off the block. It took me 2 long...frustrating hours of finessing the cover using a large pry bar in the upper corner near the bolt in order to get leverage to pry it off near the bolt. As soon as I saw movement, a grin started to evolve on my face. I left 2 bolts on the opposite site of the timing cover to ensure it pulled away from the force straight-like without warping the cover. Right above the cover, I had to put in a long bolt to give the prybar a place to press against to help rock it off. (see picture)

Timing Cover removed!

Here is a shot of the alignment pins. I thought they were small 1/4" pins like on a Chevy...boy was I wrong.

Double check to make sure all the pins are in place...Glad I did, cause one came up missing...In my oil pan! Flash your lamp down there and just make sure.

 

[Spudhut]

Okay, here is the 'WTH' moment of the day

I get the cover off and the bolt easily comes right out of the block with my 2 fingers. Im not complaining but seriously!

The issue was there was a massive amount of rust built up in the hole. Rust expands as it grows and can bind up spaces without you knowing it.

I took the bolt and scraped the inside of the hole and all this 'gunk' came out. I then took a wire brush and used a drill to clean it out further. Dont be fooled!

Next, I tapped out and cleaned all the threads in the block to accept new bolts. The old timing chain had some slack in it. I made sure it was aligned to accept new timing chain.

New timing chain! Cleaned all the gasket surfaces on the block and timing cover. That job really sucks! There are no amount of wire wheels or razor blades that make this a simple job. I also took my shop vac and clean out the oil pan and surrounding areas.

Timing cover cleaned, bolts wire wheeled to a fresh state and torqued into place! I added a little paint on the timing tab and balancer. Tapped the holes in the balancer in case I need to pull it again and painted the inside of it for a fresh look!

Now...as for that little coolant hose that goes between the pump and oil cooler. All the ones the parts houses had in stock did not work. The angles of the new hoses are too steep and makes the hose fold/crimp itself. I looked at the existing hoses and their angles and decided to use the lower hose and cut the part out of it that I need to fit in this area. A new hose from Rock Auto was a mere $4. Parts houses were from $18 - $25. I was not going to pay that kind of money to chop it up.

Overall, if you have the tools and the time, Its a simple project. the only specialty tools needed was the 3 bolt puller and clutch fan wrench. The rest are basic tools.