Project Vehicle - 1998 Explorer Limited

[GLOCKer]

I just picked up a FREE 1998 Ford Explorer Limited with the 302 V8. It was free because it is in NASTY shape and needs a deep cleaning and a couple of things fixed up. Long story short; a friend owned it and a couple of years ago it was towed from his apartment complex because he stopped driving it and it looked abandoned. He had it towed towed to our work parking lot, where it sat for another two years and someone finally told him he needed to do something with it. I jumped started it with my work vehicle (2002 Explorer!) and moved it down to my building's parking lot. After replacing the battery and putting gas in it, I'm happy to say it starts right up with no issue! I also threw a bunch of ant bait stations in it and took care of a HUGE ant problem; I'm hoping they haven't been in there long enough to destroy any of the wiring.

I have a concern though, as of this morning. The Explorer was parked backwards on a slight hill in the parking spot, and when I got to work this morning, there were dark spots of fluid behind each of the front tires. I rubbed my fingers in it and smelled it, but there isn't enough to figure out what it is. I just walked outside to take a picture of the fluid spots in the parking spot where the Explorer was parked and they have evaporated, so I'm hoping that it was condensation that collected and evaporated off.

Some issues that I'll need to take care of:

• The driver door handles (inside and outside) don't work and you have to pop the lock and unlock several times to get the door open.
• Driver side mirror glass is missing. (One of our fleet guys is parting an Explorer out and has this for me.)
• The hood, lift-gate, and rear glass struts are all shot. (The fleet guy has good hood and lift-gate struts for me. I'll grab the window struts from Amazon.)
• Slight quiet whining sound while driving; I'm thinking it may be the power steering pump.
• Brake fluid is BROWN!
• It needs washed, compounded, polished, and waxed BADLY. Some of the exterior trim will need to be sanded and painted black.
• The interior is FILTHY. I'll need to figure out how to clean some dried pain off the driver leather seat, and I'll need to shampoo the carpet.

Do you guys have any advice on the driver door issue? Will I need a whole new lock actuator or can I buy the clip kit for the linkages and get it hooked back up?

Thank you!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Spray WD-40 into the lock cylinders to lubricate them, and pull off the door panels to lubricate the moving parts on the handle mechanism.

 

[GLOCKer]

Spray WD-40 into the lock cylinders to lubricate them, and pull off the door panels to lubricate the moving parts on the handle mechanism.

Thanks! If it ends up being that simple, I'll be thrilled! I'm concerned though because the inside door handle seems to be disconnected and the outside door handle flops until I pop the unlock several times. But I'll take the door panel off and hit everything with WD-40 and inspect all of the clips when I install the replacement side mirror.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Is the interior handle loose, or is in normally in the position that it is in to be opened? The handles have a cheap plastic tab that commonly breaks.

 

[TKZ]

I would check the brake lines real good, they will rust out

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’d also swap out the tires ASAP

 

[GLOCKer]

Is the interior handle loose, or is in normally in the position that it is in to be opened? The handles have a cheap plastic tab that commonly breaks.

I'll have to check. I think it's disconnected; I hope the tab isn't broken.

 

[TKZ]

I dont see any rust !!!

 

[GLOCKer]

I dont see any rust !!!

Yes! It's got a good body and I'm thinking the paint is mostly good under all of the crust. I'm anticipating putting in a lot of hours compounding, polishing, and waxing it.

 

[Spudhut]

Another one saved! I'm envious!!! I'd be all over that like white on rice....love them V8's. Im trying to sell my SOHC V6 to get into another V8

The Junk Yard can be your best friend! Lots of good parts to recycle in place and cheaper than new. I had the some of the same issues with my V8 but now have them all fixed. (check out my V8 thread link below - lots of pictures of the fixes I completed).

I had a similar wining sound in my engine and thought it was the PS pump. Come to find out it was the idler pulley next to it - the bearings were shot!

Struts are cheap on Ebay. Got my hood units for $9.

As for the door handles - interiors are easy to find in JY and outers can be picked up new from Dorman cheap. Couple rivets will swap them out. Problem is, they only come in black. The issue is the spring breaks on the handle and its not a replaceable item (of course, I have never tried)

 

[GLOCKer]

I got to retrieve my new hoopty-ride from from the office parking lot today and drive it home. Before I hit the interstate I stopped and filled it with gas and ran it through the drive-through car wash. Driving home was fun without a review and driver mirror, but that will be taken care of soon. The broke driver door is annoying as hell too.

I experienced a little bit of a howling noise on the interstate; is this the rear-end? Can a simple fluid replacement quiet that down?

I was glad to find the sunroof is fully functional. The carpets are FILTHY! I have a lot of work ahead of me! The car was help make it look a little bit nicer sitting in my driveway, but it's going to need a thorough cleaning and shampooing inside and out. I'll probably borrow my neighbor's pressure washer next weekend for the exterior.

 

[koda2000]

I doubt a fluid change is going to quiet the rear end down. It's a bit late for that now. Interior and exterior door handle problems are common issues, are inexpensive and easily repaired. The door latches, key locks and actuators can also have issues, some due to dirt and lack of lubrication. The actuators also wear out and get weak.

 

[Mbrooks420]

The front seats come out very easily, making a full carpet cleaning fairly easy.

 

[GLOCKer]

I doubt a fluid change is going to quiet the rear end down. It's a bit late for that now. Interior and exterior door handle problems are common issues, are inexpensive and easily repaired. The door latches, key locks and actuators can also have issues, some due to dirt and lack of lubrication. The actuators also wear out and get weak.

I'm hoping it's not the rear-end that's making the howling noise! I just looked up 3.73 ring and pinion and it's EXPENSIVE! At least the replacement interior door handle is only $8.00. The outside one works once the door is unlocked.

 

[GLOCKer]

The front seats come out very easily, making a full carpet cleaning fairly easy.

I'll probably do this. Ironically, the rear load floor is relatively clean.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Unless you can set up a rear end yourself, I’d probably swap in a complete rear axle.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

^. Agree with that.

Glock, the salvage yards still have lots of inexpensive parts for effective projects and solutions. Start your maintenance and repairs, knowing that you will have some catching up to do....

The cost of auto shops and dealerships make many of these projects financially out of reach, or just not reasonable.

Good luck, and get your wrenches ready!

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Congrats on the purchase of your V8, I have one and am swapping another truck to a V8, and nothing I've driven beats them. Although, you have a bunch of typical problems, they're fixable, easily some of them, if you've never done doors, the first time is always bad (what she said), after that, they're easy. Also, those tires, you're gonna wanna change them, I had a set, hated them, they made a humming road noise.

 

[koda2000]

I'm hoping it's not the rear-end that's making the howling noise! I just looked up 3.73 ring and pinion and it's EXPENSIVE! At least the replacement interior door handle is only $8.00. The outside one works once the door is unlocked.

The rear diff in my '01 Sport Trac was totally worn out (PO ran it out of oil and then got water in it). I installed a used rear diff out of a 4-door Expl, which cost around $300. It was in good shape and is quite 3 years later, but I did have to replace a broken axle. It's always a crap shoot with used parts, but it can save you lots of money.

 

[Redmanss]

I'm refreshing my '97 4.0 OHV Sport right now, it's sat for years off and on similar to yours, so I'll throw in my advice as to what to look and listen for based on what I'm going through.

Fluids: Definitely drain and change them all ASAP, and replace with good synthetics. While I've fed mine synthetic motor oil for the last few years, I admittedly never changed any of the others. After doing transmission (manual), transfer case, and rear end oil recently with all synthetic, issues I thought I was having with my drive line have disappeared. Same with coolant, give it a good drain, cleaner with flush, and refill. I recommend changing your thermostat and radiator cap while you're at it. PS fluid can be flushed at home too, here's a good video on that. The rear end noise I would give it a fluid change first, I always go lowest cost fix first and you can give it a good inspection when you remove the cover to see if it really does need rebuild/replacement. Shaft

Plugs and wires: I recovered at least 2mpg and dropped my idle RPM by 200 just by replacing these. They were the factory platinum plugs and had 128k miles on them, gaps were worn on all to .070" and one was .090". Got Autolite Iridiums from Rock Auto, post rebate they came to less than a dollar per plug.

Brakes: As mentioned above, definitely check thoroughly. This is what downed my truck the last time, sprung a corrosion induced leak where the hard line is clipped to the top of the rear diff. It's a pain, but replacing all the lines was well worth it. I redid all my rotors and pads in the process since the length of sitting had put serious pits into the braking surface, but the calipers were still good. The friction pads on the shoes for my parking brake fell apart when I pulled the rotor off, so I recommend inspecting those. Bled out all the old fluid, took a quart to do that but brakes are 100% now, just watch it close and refill often to not push any air into the system.

Suspension: My front sway bar links were rusted to nothing and two shocks were blown, along with upper ball joints are shot. I haven't done the control arms yet, still gathering parts to do a full refresh on it along with steering links and only need to get it professionally aligned once, but new shocks and sway bar links have really refreshed it, just have a bit of slack in it now which is manageable. Ball joints and stabilizer bar links are common items to go out on these, so give yours a good look. Lots of threads there to look through if you do have issues.

Overall, you're at the right place to get help. This forum has certainly been an asset to me thus far.