Whoops, so while I didn't ever get pics (my bad) but this summer I've done quite a bit to my Explorer, Dora, since it's just been sitting around not getting used.
Late May she got new NGK Iridium Spark Plugs
Four weeks ago or so I found out that my transfer case is cracked at the bottom of the drain plug bung... Not cool.. Don't know my game plan for that yet...
Three weeks ago new parking brakes shoes, rotors, and pads on both rear wheels. Discovered that I had a bad RR Wheel bearing and the RR caliper hung up after the brake job. So new bearing and reman caliper with steel piston instead of phenolic from Napa. My friend had a press so I pressed out the old and pressed in the new. That was an interesting learning experience. Not a fan of pressed bearings... But now my car is more quiet! I thought my diff was really going to hell... Nope! Turns out the whole time I was away at school from last fall to three weeks ago I had a bad bearing and put thousands of miles on it.. (EEK!
) Strangely it didn't change sound when turning like bearing normally do when going bad... But fixed now!
And while she was sitting with her rear end in the air the wonderful Ford engineers put the gutter guard clips right over the intake manifold so that way we wont miss out on having flooded spark plug wells that make the engine run like **** even with the beauty cover on top of the engine!... So I had to thoroughly clean out each well and reseal with lots of Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease again only to find I had another coil pack go on me... Still have to figure out how I wanna seal up those 4 clips.
They still make Made in USA coil packs! Dont buy those stupid Accel coils! I'm pissed I bought one... They cost the SAME as Made in USA but they are chinese junk! So I bought a proper BWD Made in USA replacement and now she runs happy again.
Last Friday I tore the valve body out of the 5r55W and installed a TransGo HD-2 shift kit (Oh yeah baby
). Got it reinstalled easily and buttoned the trans back up no prob. The problems came when it was time to adjust the freaking planetary drum friction bands..... OH BOY.... Get ready to develop a pure HATRED for ANYONE who was involved with the 5r55 transmission... The OD band was easy, 10 minutes and didn't really need adjusting.. The Intermediate though.. WTF... You get all of 5* of adjustment with the trans in the car and it jams up bad with rust... I snapped the open end of my 8mm holding the adjuster still while I backed off the jam nut... And oh yeah, the intermediate band in my trans has seen some abuse... I developed the 2 to 3 flare last fall and the amount of adjustment and amount of friction material i found in the fluid and in the pan tells me that the band isn't in too good of health... Then after that the wonderful Trox bit fill pug stripped... So removed the drain plug, drilled out the body of the fill plug, screw extracted the threads, and bought a good ol' square drive 1/8" NPT brass plug as a replacement. And for filling I bought a 1/8" NPT to 1/4" or 3/8" barb from NAPA for $2. After 9 quarts of Mercon V pumped in by a little electric pump I had (worked sweet), and a brief drain till I saw the first burp in a continuous stream I got to take it out for a drive.
R Doesn't clunk as bad and is a much nicer engagement than before, no delay before or after, just smoother
1-2 was just starting to have a delay and is now back to normal
2-3 oh yeah, that thing shifts now! beautiful shifting from 2nd to 3rd!
3-4 was never an issue and always shifted well but now might actually take a bit longer now and doesn't feel as solid as it used to...
4 to 5 was never an issue and no outstanding difference
lock up was never an issue, always had a sure feeling thump as she locked but is smoother now
But I have only put 10 miles on the car since and only maybe 20 or 30 miles since I got home in May so, I'll give the trans some time.
ANNNNNDDDDD Tonight I got my remote start system that I installed 2 YEARS AGO working! Directed model 4103LX. In the diagrams it shows a secondary 12 Volt 30A Input and secondary Accessory output as optional... Turns out they aren't and you actually need both for the module to work! Explorers only have (1) 12V feed, (1) Accessory, (1) Ignition, and (1) Starter Lead. So if you follow their installation manual it wont work... Now I just have to figure out how in the hell I'm gonna shove everything up underneath this puny little dash and enjoy my remote start this winter!
SKF Bearing - $55 from NAPA
Monroe Parking Shoes $23 - All were chinese made
so I just got the cheapest that had a rust resistant coating
Akebono ACT881 ProACT Ultra-Premium Ceramic Brake Pad Set $46 - Made in USA! OEM Pads, and I highly recommend always using Akebono. They just always fit perfect the first time unlike Wagners and last a long time with great stopping and little dust. I tried them once and never looked back
EBC Brakes USR7151 USR Series Sport Slotted Rotors $30!!!!! I just so happened to order these on Prime day! What a steal!
TransGo HD-2 Shift Kit $100 - Made in USA
Pics! Sorry, pics wont load from google docs... So here is a view link to the pics.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B6z9W4aWlAb8QV9HUDkwNlZRa2s?usp=sharing
Oh yeah, current mileage:
89,499.9 Miles