Need Help in Brazil

[Sonya]

Hello Everyone,

I have a problem. I have 2 Explorers -- that is not the problem. I love both of them. The problem is that I live in Brazil. New additional problem is that my husband is not in country and cannot help me with any off this stuff. Everything is in Portuguese here and Brazil must be the country Ford forgot. There are maybe 10 explorers in the country -- two of which are mine -- and very few spares. Ok -- I exaggerate a little -- but not much.

One of them is a '96, XLT 4X2, and the other is a 98 XLT 4X4. I am glad I found your page because I would like to take care of both of them.

My immediate problem is the 4X2. A while ago -- about 2 months, the car overheated once. The mechanic showed us a part (don't know what it was) that was leaking a little drop and said as long as we kept the radiator topped off, there should be no problem till we got ahold of part. Well, The car overheated once since then -- but I filled up radiator with water -- it cooled down -- and was fine. Everytime, I take a longer trip or anything, I would check the level of water and oil and top of the radiator. The radiator would get dry while there was still water in the reserve tank. So I guess it was not circulating correctly between the two. But it only overheated one time after the first.

Then on Saturday, I went to Rio. I had the oil and water and what not checked before I left. Water topped off everything hunky dory. On the way back the car overheated something wicked and there was oil in the coolant tank. The radiator was dry. The 'water' in the coolant tank was cold. When we put water into the radiator -- gobs of hydrogenised oil came out. We flushed it and flushed it -- took a long time but it finally cooled down and we made it back (120 Km) w/o it overheating again. The driver said he was positive oil was not entering from motor cos he checked level in morning and the level had not changed nor did the oil gauge show a change in pressure.

I took it to a mechanic --- and he removed radiator and tank etc etc and cleaned it with gasoline and left it running to see, oil seeped in again. He said that means the 'junto of the cabesorte' is burned. The best translation I can give of that is some kind of o-ring or rubber gasket something in the engine which is supposed to keep the oil separated from the water. He said the 'hot air valve' -- that is my translation too -- is leaking and that deprived the engine of water and burnt the junto.

Another mechanic says it is too hard to burn a junto and the first one did not clean the system correctly. It is very hard to clean a radiator system.

I guess my question is can you tell anything from this long convoluted story. I feel like the Mieneke lady. Spares here are very hard to get and when one does get them they are very expensive. I will have to get spares in the States and have them hand carried down here. Could you please give me some suggestions. Also since I am going to have to have spares hand carried probably anyways -- what other general stuff should I get to have on hand, given that I have 2 Explorers in the country Ford forgot.

Thank you so much. I appreciate whatever help you might be able to give me.

Regards,
Sonya Dial

 

[dbarale]

I'm sorry Sonya but that doesn't sound too good.
The first mechanic is probably right, the head gasket is probably gone. It's not really that hard to burn one if your thermostat is dead (wich seems to be the case here...). The water pump is probably dead too that would explain the leak.
If you're having a hard time finding parts you may wanna try ford parts network, the banner should be on top of this page.
I don't know if they do international shiping but they're really nice and might be able to help you.

Hope that help...

 

[dbarale]

http://www.fordpartsnetwork.com/

By the way, DO NOt drive the X anymore if possible. You may cause some more damages.

 

[Sonya]

Thanks Daniel,

I appreciate your help. I will put it up and use the other, till I get parts. You think I should order new thermostat and water pump as well?

 

[dbarale]

I would say yes. The thermostat is really cheap (5-15 $), the water pump iprobably a little more expensive but nothing crazy and you will have to pay the shipping anyway.
you said someone would have to deliver it to you?
Is the mail really that bad in Rio?

 

[Sonya]

What mail? I had some books sent on Oct 1. No sign of them as yet. Someone sent us printer cartridges once and they sat in customs forever. Yes, I will probably have to have someone hand carry. I will get other spares too -- just to have on hand. Belts, shocks -- stuff like that. Do you have any suggestions? Also. would stuff like that be the same for the both cars or do I need to get two different sets.

 

[dbarale]

Let's see. Belts definitely, I would say fuel filters and KN air filters and cleaning kit. They're a little bit more expensive but you can clean em and reuse em, in your case that may be really helpfull.
I guess you can find spark plugs and oil filters locally.
Can't think about anything else right now.

As far as using the parts on both cars I 'd say yes if they have the same type of engine (v6 ohv or v6 sohc or v8).
But don't quote me for that.

 

[amigo]

Sonya,

i had the same problem with my 91 overheating. replaced the thermostat and it took care of the problem. then my radiator burst out the side (considering Ford made them out of plastic) and ended up cracking both heads. Well $1250 later and 2 new heads I haven't had any problems. I know how you feel, I lived in central America for 2 years and parts are a pain. My wife is Hispanic and from the country I lived in, so it made it a bit easier. I'm probably going out on a limb, but if you need parts let me know what you need and as long as you pay shipping and cost of the parts I'd be happy to pick them up for you and mail them to you. i work for the Postal Service here in the US, so its easy for me to send them from work. Just let me know. You can email me at Budgetphotography@msn.com. I'll let you know the price here and the postage amount.