2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

After getting an estimate on how much it would run me to fix up my Xploder with all new exhaust, cold side piping, and a bunch of other stuff done up the "right" way... I've decided to convert my Xploder back to NA form so that I can actually ENJOY the truck before I die of old age.

Anyways... To start it off I ordered up a MAC cold air intake (I do not have the stock intake) and sold my FMS headers on ebay.

I plan on buying a set of torque monster headers in the next week or so but am still up in the air on how I should run my exhaust from a performance "speed" perspective. I do not plan on doing much, if any, off road driving, so am looking for a setup that improves take off and speed for spirited pavement driving that sounds good.

I already have the spare tire removed (and will be keeping it off, I have free towing anyways lol)... What would an optimal setup be with the above in mind and no worry of a spare tire being in the way? True duals (straight pipe off of each header, thru separate mufflers, and out the sides), or a dual exhaust both going into a 2 in 2 out "H" pipe style muffler and then out the sides? Or something else? In all cases I won't be running any cats.

I also plan to re-tune my car since currently it is tuned for the turbo setup which obviously will no longer apply once I rip everything out.

Thank you for any input!

 

[Dono]

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford molded rubber, 3 hoses in total (one from heat pipe to valve, one from valve to heater core. one returning from heater core to heat pipe.

These are all accessed from the engine bay. If you wanted to replace your heater core you need to pull the dash out. You don't want to do that.

 

[willzilla]

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford molded rubber, 3 hoses in total (one from heat pipe to valve, one from valve to heater core. one returning from heater core to heat pipe.

These are all accessed from the engine bay. If you wanted to replace your heater core you need to pull the dash out. You don't want to do that.

My luck.. replace all hoses... core bad.. LOL Thanks for the links!

 

[willzilla]

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...eferer+www.google.com.br+URL+/en/catalog/ford molded rubber, 3 hoses in total (one from heat pipe to valve, one from valve to heater core. one returning from heater core to heat pipe.

These are all accessed from the engine bay. If you wanted to replace your heater core you need to pull the dash out. You don't want to do that.

Looking at the list of heater valves... And then looking at this old picture of my old engine bay...

I'm guessing the 1 is the heater valve (it appears to be the valve WITHOUT oil cooler option), 2 and 3 are 2 of the hoses, and then out of sight plugged into the WP is the other hose that goes from WP to a pipe of to the hose pictured?

I don't recall seeing anything leaking from any of this stuff but will check again

 

[CDW6212R]

FYI, I just ran across the Ford hoses I bought for my Mounty, and hadn't used them yet. I compared them to the two I got from Rock Auto, and I like the OEM hoses better. They match the originals and should fit better. The short length hose can be replaced by a little straight section.

The two OEM hoses you ideally want are F77Z-18472-JC and F77Z-18472-KB.

Both are available from Ford Parts Giant;
http://www.fordpartsgiant.com/parts/ford-hose-heater-water_f77z-18472-kb.html

Those are $11 and $18 plus shipping, versus the RockAuto Gates pieces I got recently for under $20 for both, shipped with other items so not much shipping.

 

[willzilla]

FYI, I just ran across the Ford hoses I bought for my Mounty, and hadn't used them yet. I compared them to the two I got from Rock Auto, and I like the OEM hoses better. They match the originals and should fit better. The short length hose can be replaced by a little straight section.

The two OEM hoses you ideally want are F77Z-18472-JC and F77Z-18472-KB.

Both are available from Ford Parts Giant;
http://www.fordpartsgiant.com/parts/ford-hose-heater-water_f77z-18472-kb.html

Those are $11 and $18 plus shipping, versus the RockAuto Gates pieces I got recently for under $20 for both, shipped with other items so not much shipping.

Awesome, thanks!

And I'm looking at the valve MOTORCRAFT YG426 which I believe is correct.

 

[willzilla]

Ordered up the OEM hoses and a valve... Weather has been crappy but hopefully I get everything in tomorrow and can install it this weekend and hope for the best haha.

 

[willzilla]

Blah!! FordPartsGiant hit me up with an email yesterday informing me that the hoses I had ordered (and that they took my money for already lol) are "vintage source" parts and they would like to know if I want to pay another $10 per hose (x2) and wait 7-10 days for them.. Already paying like $50 for them so... Canceled the order and am going with the Gates it seems so I'm not waiting a few weeks.. I'll make them fit lol. I put on a Gates upper radiator hose and bypass hose and both fit great so hopefully that trend continues! Lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've had that dealer come up for almost every part I've looked for, but never yet bought from them. They have a lot of obsolete parts listed but not available, so they still come up in searches.

 

[willzilla]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've had that dealer come up for almost every part I've looked for, but never yet bought from them. They have a lot of obsolete parts listed but not available, so they still come up in searches.

Yeah... Actually the second time I've used them and second time they told me a few days later that either they can't get (the previous time) or that it'll be more than the listed price (why not list it for the price taking that into account initially?) Haha.

Amazon here I come LOL. My valve just got delivered today so that is a plus! Ordered some worm gear clamps as well.

 

[willzilla]

I got all of my hoses in and the valve thingie... Hopefully working on the Xploder this weekend if the weather holds. Had been crazy busy over the past month as I had my regular day job with Lockheed and also was teaching 2 undergrad courses (online) for SNHU and also designing a new undergrad course for them and it seems like I was pulling 20 hr days for the last month to hit all of my deadlines! Haha.

Also need to do some work on my SVTf... Got some water up under my spark plug boot things and ended up with a good half inch of water sitting on the tops of my spark plugs and up into my spark plugs boots causing misfires... Cleaned it up and still have a misfire so ordered new plugs/wires and while at it am going to replace the valve cover gasket. If that all goes well... I should have time to swap these heater hoses and valve and pray for no more leaks lol.

 

[willzilla]

Blah. Lol. Haven't been able to get my buddies air compressor back to work on the Xploder yet. Hopefully get it next few days or so!

Did get some work done on my SVT focus... Has been stumbling while "cruising" a bit.. Very weird.. No codes.. I did hit a big storm (and cleaned my engine bay) and when it began to happen a few weeks after the storm and cleaning I pulled my spark plug boots out and saw a half inch of water on top of my left 2 spark plugs.. Never good!

I cleaned up the water and had some corrosion and today replaced the plugs (Motorcraft coppers, same ones I've used since day 1), Taylor thunderbolt 8.2mm wires (same pair that was on the cari that I replaced), and while I was at it I replaced my old valve cover gasket (pulling the valve cover let me get to the plugs better to clean off corrosion and such before pulling the plugs so no debris would fall into the engine). Stumble still happening.

Next I will clean my MAF.. I think my CAI maybe ingested some water and it got up to my MAF before being spit back out... Any thoughts on this video that I took of the stumbles? I know it's not an Explorer but it's a ford lol

 

[CDW6212R]

I would also concentrate on the ignition. Has it ever thrown any lean or miss fire code, for which cylinder? Swap out some plugs with new ones if you can, plugs are tough to diagnose when not perfect, even new ones can create a miss.

 

[willzilla]

I would also concentrate on the ignition. Has it ever thrown any lean or miss fire code, for which cylinder? Swap out some plugs with new ones if you can, plugs are tough to diagnose when not perfect, even new ones can create a miss.

Yeah... I put in brand new plugs, brand new wires, and the stumble is exactly the same which makes me think it's not the plugs (even the rare chance a new plug is bad but I would think the issue wouldn't be exactly the same if that was the issue). No codes sadly or this would be easier to figure out lol.

I pulled the MAF out last night after work and gave it a real good cleaning with electrical cleaner and then did some checks of the ignition coil... Not sure how good of a method this is but I started the car up and then pulled one spark plug boot off the spark plug at a time (unplugged, plugged back on, unplugged the next one, etc, etc). When I unplugged the first one (left to right) it was sparking like crazy (cool).. The second one... almost nothing (hmmm)... third one.. Sparking like crazy... 4th one.. almost nothing. I'm guessing this indicates there is an issue with the ignition coil? lol.. Ordered a new one.. Arrives tomorrow so hopefully that's it!

 

[CDW6212R]

That's a decent bet, coil packs lose cylinders in pairs. I've had one bad coil, and it was an Accel with under 3000 miles on it. Putting the stock coils back on stopped the miss.

 

[willzilla]

That's a decent bet, coil packs lose cylinders in pairs. I've had one bad coil, and it was an Accel with under 3000 miles on it. Putting the stock coils back on stopped the miss.

Ahh.. I did not know about coil packs losing cylinders in pairs.. It def sparked perfectly on 1 and 3 and none (or almost nothing) on 2 and 4. Odd I got no code (even hooked up my SCT3 to check if a code was active but hadn't lit up the light yet.. nothing). The coil pack is only a few years old and probably only has 20k miles on it. Hopefully a new coil pack fixes everything and I can just sell my what are fine spark plug wires I had replaced (8.2mm Thundervolts) or keep them as a spare lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

The coil packs which Ford has used all seem to be batch fire systems, so half the ignition signal is used, to fire two coils at once. All of the V8 coil packs should be the same, from a 4.6 to 5.0 I think. My truck was sometimes rarely throwing a 303 code, the #3 cylinder, but it never hinted at the opposing #5 cylinder in the firing order. I went through everything, even injectors, and then doing things again, I finally got back to the coils.

 

[willzilla]

Well... Put in new ignition coil... Seemed slightly better but still stumbles when cruising at a constant speed.. Accelerates fine. Idles fine. WTF? Lol :-/



I did notice I had swapped around spark plug wires 2 and 3 when I replaced them and swapped them to the correct position and it runs almost the same either way... So.. ya... Weird.

 

[CDW6212R]

That shows a pattern of the A/F ratio changing with the stumble. I'd look more at the things affecting the A/F ratio, from injector wires to the programming itself. I'm no expert on the details, just an opinion of what else might be related to the stumble.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah.. It pretty much almost cuts out. I did notice that the spark plug wires 2 of them still almost spit out no spark when I pull them from the running engine even with the new ignition coil. Odd. I am going to yank the crap out of the ignition coil wiring harness to make sure there is no issue with the wiring that is not obvious (I yanked on it before but maybe it broken but not completely on one wire and still holding on enough to physically look ok but not actually be ok.

I checked all of the injector wires and they all seemed fine but will def go over the wiring in full hopefully tomorrow after work.

Thanks for the help!

 

[CDW6212R]

Good luck, engine wiring gets very brittle over the years, and then they become easy to break, even just part way. I'm going to be swapping/building a harness set for my 91 Lincoln, using a 2002 Mustang set.

Cross your fingers, and have good circuit test tools.