My 2004 Explorer

[Dono]

Nice clean install. Once you get to use it a bit, post overall thoughts please. Range, use of remote, etc.

 

[4pointslow]

Remote start

You just reminded me what I wanted to post about this remote start.
It uses the factory remotes to start. The input to remote start the truck is done from the driver side door lock actuator. It is a pulsed ground. You just hit the lock button three times and it activates the remote start.
The range will be the normal range for the factory remote.
I will post more later after using it for a while.

 

[Joe in NY]

I will try to make one, if the video comes out halfway decent I will post it. lol.
The exhaust is really quiet so I don't know if anything will be heard there.
I should be able to get the mph and tach in action.

One thing I have to note:
I am so used to the lockup torque converter in my other two trucks staying locked up even under heavy throttle, this truck seems as if it unlocks with very little throttle. I never liked lock up staying on so long but now I got used to it. I guess I will have to get un used to it in my 2004. lol.

You noticed what I noticed the first instant I drove my explorer haha

I actually really hate it. I like when a TC locks up and stays locked. The trans stays so much cooler. Plus, when a TC is unlocked, a lot of HP is simply wasted into heat... But watching the trans temps on our Suburban (has tow package) the trans runs <180* normal towing or not with a locked TC. When it unlocks for real steep hills and hard take offs it climbs to >200* far quicker and stays there far longer than I like...

If you can get a vid of the Tach and MPH of normal driving and giving it some gas that would be great. I want to get a shift kit, the o-ring pistons, and a tune on my trans so bad. I feel like I'm going to blow it up with just daily driving... It holds to 3,000 rpm for every gear until it reaches 4th

 

[4pointslow]

Video 1

Here is a video of light throttle with a slight incline at the beginning, finally goes into TC lock up at around 70 mph.

 

[4pointslow]

Video 2

Video 2 is almost mid throttle.
ABS light came on, I almost for got about that. It is an intermittent problem.

 

[4pointslow]

Over head LED's

The over head lights barely lit up the interior so I installed some LED's I had left over from my other trucks.
Now I can see inside the truck at night time with the light on.

 

[Dono]

I see another sct and an additional strategy to your pro racer package in your future.

This will take care of your tc lockup issue nicely. My gen2 v8 had this 'issue'. For whatever reason, the tp reading was always a bit too high for the tc to lock up unless I was driving well over the speed limit. I'm of the opinion that if the tc should lock under light load, and be locked at higher rpm's. I do like the tc to unlock when letting your foot off the gas though, to makes for smoother driving.

I think its crazy that the factory doesn't make better use of the lockup tc they obviously knew was there when creating the lockup strategy.

 

[4pointslow]

Mind reader

I see another sct and an additional strategy to your pro racer package in your future.

You read my mind!

I have plans for this truck, that is why I started this thread under modified Explorers. lol.

 

[4pointslow]

Y Pipe

I have to post this while I am thinking about it.
Most of the transmission work I found easier than my 1998's.

The one exception is the Y pipe (cat pipe), you can unbolt it but can not remove it with the crossmember in place. You have to remove the crossmember while the transfercase is supported with a jack. Then the Y pipe can be removed. Then you have to get the transmission jack under the trans but the jack under the transfercase is in the way.

If the Y pipe could be removed by itself without dropping the crossmember, then you could just get the transmission jack under there afterwards and then drop the cross member.

I guess somewhere down the road I will have to have custom exhaust work done to alleviate this problem.

 

[Dono]

How do you like your kenwood double din head unit?
If I ever get my truck running, Id love to install that unit. It looks really sexy!
Im struggling wondering if I could get my rear audio controls working though. Not that they are ever used, its just the principal of the whole thing.

 

[4pointslow]

Kenwood

Dono,
I love the Kenwood head unit!
It is outdated, but I like it that way because they are cheaper. lol.
One of the features I like is the free lifetime traffic alerts, when I see a 20 minute or more delay then I know to take a different route.

I have three of these, one is a slightly different model, it has HD radio. I don't like it, the HD radio sounds like crap when I listen to AM kyw1060 for more traffic info. So my other two are the older models with regular radio.

The Garmin Navigation is awesome too, had a Sony with Tom Tom, it sucked!

Forget about the rear audio controls though, they don't work with this head unit.

 

[4pointslow]

ABS light fixed

Found out why my ABS light was intermittently coming on.
Turns out the cruise control deactivation switch was bad.
Had a code C1440 in the ABS module.
The module thought the brakes were being applied all the time.
I wondered why it came on under hard acceleration when I had wheel spin.
makes sense now.

The only one around was at Advance Auto for 53.49, yikes!
I bit the bullet and it is in and fixed now. Bonus, the cruise control works now.

 

[Dono]

Sounds like the gremlins are almost out. Awesome!

I'm busy drueling over new head units. I need to focus on my motor. Lol

 

[delexploder]

Lol now I've got the kyw news radio 1060 jingle stuck in my head, so are you gonna swap the goodies from your sport over or at least make it similar?

 

[4pointslow]

Explorer

I will not take stuff off the sport, that is still my race truck.

With this truck, I would like to keep it a little more streetable as I plan to use it as one of my daily drivers. But you know that once you get started, you just can not stop sometimes. lol.

 

[4pointslow]

First datalog post

Here is the first datalog post from my 2004 Ex.
My first thought was what is wrong with the fuel pump duty cycle?
My second thought after seeing the commanded A/F (stft) was, maybe it is catalytic converter over temp protection?

2000StreetRod,
Does your newer Explorer have an electronic returnless fuel system?
Have you datalogged fuel pump duty cycle, fuel pressure, and stft yet?

I would like to see a comparison to see what the norm is when datalogging this system.

 

[2000StreetRod]

no gadgets

I considered purchasing only 2002 and 2003 models to avoid electronic throttle control and I don't have a temperature/pressure sensor on the fuel rail. I haven't done hardly any datalogging because the data is so unreliable. My engine speed glitches vary from -1600 to 7 trillion rpm. It's not my Powerflash because both of them have the same problems. I read an article somewhere about rerouting the wiring near the COPs but haven't tried it yet. Here's about the only log of a short pull that is useful.

 

[4pointslow]

Engine speed glitches

I considered purchasing only 2002 and 2003 models to avoid electronic throttle control and I don't have a temperature/pressure sensor on the fuel rail. I haven't done hardly any datalogging because the data is so unreliable. My engine speed glitches vary from -1600 to 7 trillion rpm. It's not my Powerflash because both of them have the same problems. I read an article somewhere about rerouting the wiring near the COPs but haven't tried it yet. Here's about the only log of a short pull that is useful.

View attachment 90249

Don't use the orange ENGINE SPEED pid
Use the blue rpm pid instead (your blue pid for engine rpm may be named something else?)
The orange pids don't seem to work very well for our older vehicles, some do but some don't.
Let me know if that helps out.

That was smart to stay away from drive by wire, tuning should be easier and you can have a wide selection of throttle bodies. I wanted to learn how to tune drive by wire so it is a plus for me.

Shame your truck didn't come with electronic fuel system, it is very much like the fuel pump controller you have on your sport.
It is my favorite fuel system since I can do fuel pressure testing, and injector flow testing in seconds with just the factory scan tool attached. With my sport I have to attach a fuel test hose and pressure transducer along with the factory scan tool.

 

[4pointslow]

No TCC unlock with brake application

Here is another screenshot from my first datalog with this truck.
The torque converter does not unlock with brake pedal application, and as far as I know this may be normal for this truck. There are two brake switches, one under the dash on the pedal, and the other is on the master cylinder. The one on the master cylinder I just replaced and the other seems to be working as the brake lights work fine and the input to the PCM is working as shown in the datalog.

 

[4pointslow]

New RPCaster Supercharger Plate Design

I am letting the cat out of the bag now. lol.
RPCaster has been working on a new plate for his supercharger manifold.
This will allow someone to use a 03-04 Cobra supercharger on one of his custom lower intake manifolds for the 4.0 sohc. There is also a new intercooler design that will fit into the manifold so it will be liquid intercooled!

I plan on installing this set up on my 2004, It needs a little more passing power anyway.