1998 5.0 XLT Electrical Gremlins. PATs and horn problem.

[koda2000]

I found the repair kit on rock auto from dorman that you have to cut the bottom out. Fine with me. I have a soldering iron ad apparently that seals it back up perfectly. Thanks for the thread link koda

No problem. BTW - I understand that the metal tape, like the stuff they use on A/C ducts, is another good way to seal the cuts.

 

[Nate_V8]

Yea that metal duct tape is included in the kit but in that link you gave me they mentioned that a soldering iron works best if you have one. Seems a lot better than removing a lot of parts and venting the AC....etc

 

[koda2000]

Yea that metal duct tape is included in the kit but in that link you gave me they mentioned that a soldering iron works best if you have one. Seems a lot better than removing a lot of parts and venting the AC....etc

Yeah, way easier. This is not a repair I've had to make to-date (knock on wood) and my OCD usually makes me do repairs the "right way", but no way do I want to remove the entire dash to make that fix.

Let us know how it goes for you.

 

[Nate_V8]

Yeah, way easier. This is not a repair I've had to make to-date (knock on wood) and my OCD usually makes me do repairs the "right way", but no way do I want to remove the entire dash to make that fix.

Let us know how it goes for you.

Lucky! I seem to be getting all the common annoying electronic problems lol. I won't be able to get to it until the end of may unfortunately as I will be away from home but when I get back the weather will be nice and warm and I'll be ready to tackle it.

 

[koda2000]

Lucky! I seem to be getting all the common annoying electronic problems lol. I won't be able to get to it until the end of may unfortunately as I will be away from home but when I get back the weather will be nice and warm and I'll be ready to tackle it.

I currently have 2 non-working EATC blend door actuators that have stripped their plastic gears and no longer work (another common Explorer problem). I've had both blend doors wired to the heat side for the winter. Now that the hot weather is coming to GA, I either have to wire them to the cold side or replace the actuators with Dorman replacements. It's always something that needs fixing, but all-in-all my Explorers and Mountaineers have been very reliable vehicles, so I'm not complaining. My Sport Trac on the other hand seems to always be broken down with some aliment. The list of repairs I've made to that truck is approaching 2 type written pages, but what do you expect from a $1000 truck. I'm now at the point where I've begun replacing parts I've already replaced once. I'm sure it's started leaking something in the time it's taken me to write this.

 

[Spudhut]

Any new status?

 

[Nate_V8]

I bought the dorman blend door kit from rock auto and cut a hole into the bottom of the plenum. Pretty easy to do and that metal tape hasn't budged.

As the for the intermittent pats ring problem. I tried replacing it with a used one and it had the same problem (It being intermittent). I haven't even bothered calling ford to see if they make new ones, I'm assuming they do? lol

My rear wiper only works sometimes also but I forgot to take a look at it this summer. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't and I can't remember what the common problem is. I'll look it up here soon.

I barely drive it in the summer with owning a motorcycle and gas being at 1.50/L but now that we have half a foot of snow or more I will be driving it most of the winter so I will try to fix the PATs problem and rear wiper.

 

[koda2000]

As far as your rear wiper, even when they work reliably they do a lousy job of cleaning the rear glass. I won't go into the reasons why, because the subject has been beaten to death here.

When they work intermittently it might be that the switch for the rear glass latch doesn't always work. If the truck thinks the rear glass is open the wiper will not function.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good thought. Keep an eye on the Door Ajar dash light. If that comes on when you're driving, one of the seven latch sensors is saying it's open. Three of my four Explorer rear wipers have worked fine, my latest 98 didn't work at all, so I removed the arm completely.

 

[Nate_V8]

I've never noticed a door ajar light and I remember reading about it now that you mentioned it koda about the sensor thinking the glass is open. I tried opening and closing it a few times and it did nothing. I'll have to root around and see what the fix is. I know it doesn't do much but in the winter it sure helps with all the crappy spray or snow that covers the rear window, mine moves enough off so I can see clearly anyways.

 

[Nate_V8]

OK so I had a chance to look at the rear wiper.

I turned it on, heard a clicking, so I went to force the arm, thought I stripped it as it went half way across the window making a "zzzziiippp" noise as it went (like stripping plastic gears lol). Anyways it was fine and I could get it do a full cycle forcing it enough but in the end if I put some light pressure on the end of the arm with 1 finger it would do a fell cycle smoothly.

When I start it now from the off position it just vibrates in the spot unless I put the light pressure on it.

Any ideas?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Probably needs a new motor. I I was home I’d offer to send you one, I have a new motorcraft unit I never used on my last Mounty.

 

[koda2000]

Probably needs a new motor. I've gone through several remans on our '00 Mountaineer. I won't have bothered replacing it the 2nd/3rd times, but I had a lifetime warranty, so why not.

 

[Nate_V8]

Probably a motor? Poop. Guess I'll see what rock auto has

 

[Mbrooks420]

There’s really nothing to it. The arm mounts directly to the motor shaft. It’s not like the front with linkages. They aren’t expensive.

 

[koda2000]

There's nothing else to make noise on the rear wiper other than it's motor/transmission. The arm fits on the tapered motor shaft, which has small splines/teeth on it to keep the arm from slipping and to provide a means to adjust the arm. A 13mm(?) nut holds the arm in place on the shaft.

When all is said and done, the rear wiper on the Gen II's sucks unless modifications are made to the motor's mounting and/or arm. I've cut an 1/8th inch off my arm stops and use an expensive ($21) Bosch Icon blade and I get about 98% coverage on my rear glass and the blade doesn't get caught in the space between the glass and the metal part of the lift-gate. If I also remove the rubber motor mounting bushings and mount the motor solidly to the lift-gate I might get 100% coverage, but at the cost of more noise, It's not worth messing with it to get 2% more coverage. I rarely use the rear wiper anyway. The Bosch Icon blades last a long time (for multiple years) so the $21 price is worth it.

 

[Nate_V8]

Maybe it might need to be adjusted then? it slipped without too much force and I read somewhere in a rear wiper thread on here that a nut (I think on the arm?) has to be tightened correctly for everything to work right. I'll try tightening it this weekend and see what I can do.


At least that is the last electrical problem save for the pats ring (which I will replace one day) and AC not working but mechanic told me the AC clutch is toast so I need to get a new one from rock auto next spring.