JakePSD
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- March 25, 2010
- Messages
- 402
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Ohio
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 Mercury Mountaineer
To give you an idea of the frustrations I'm currently dealing with, I will give some back story. If you don't want to read all of it that's fine since it's gonna be a short novel, just need to vent a bit, so I will have all of my questions in a nice easy to read format at the bottom of this post.
So the somewhat irrelevant start of this goes back about a year. Was looking for a winter vehicle for my girlfriend and found a 97 Mountaineer V8 AWD. It ran and drove great and paid $1500 for it knowing only that it needed lower ball joints. Easy. So I am changing the oil on it about a week later and notice an open spot where a front driveshaft should be. Although I looked over the truck pretty good, I didn't look there. Really though, why should I? An AWD vehicle should have all the parts to make it AWD. No one ever looks under the hood for the sole purpose of making sure the engine is there. Bought a shaft, found out the tcase/center diff was toast, and bought a junk yard unit. After doing an autopsy on the old one I found the chain had stretched, a lot. Ran and worked great after that. The truck has since been sold to her parents so she could buy a Fusion, and continues to this day as their daily driver.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. She is once again looking for a winter vehicle to keep the salt off her nice Fusion. Came across a Black 02 Mountaineer V6 AWD. It was on a facebook garage sale site for $750. Supposedly only needed the transmission wiring harness spliced back together since someone decided to cut the solenoid pack plug rather than unscrew the bolt. Idiots. Well, I can do wiring all day so I figure this is an easy one, match up the wire colors, butt connect, tape the crap out of it, done. Yeah, well, not so much. I find out when I get it home, not only is it missing the front driveshaft, it's also missing the front diff and axle shafts! I never looked because really, who woulda thought it would happen twice?
After realizing that the cost to buy all these parts at a junk yard ($400-$500) is going to cost just slightly less than buying an entire parts truck on craigslist ($500-$700) I decided to go with the latter option since then I have all kinds of extra parts, and can turn around and sell what I don't wanna keep and possibly even profit off the deal.
I found an awesome parts Explorer for $500 on CL about 2 hours south of me. 8/10 condition body, and 9/10 interior. Green, V6, AWD (allegedly), had a blown head gasket and the trans wouldn't shift into 3rd unless you lifted off the throttle (realized by owner before head gasket popped). So I hook up to the trailer and make the drive. This time I was smart and looked under the truck at the front end. F***ING 2WD!!! No transfer case or anything. Just a tail housing coming off the back of the trans like a 2wd typically does. The guy was clueless, he said he had no idea, and I believe him. He's the kind that takes his vehicles to a shop to get the oil changed so hes probably never been under it, and for some reason the shop he used marked AWD on every bill. Also the same shop that did a "coolant flush" that shortly thereafter is when the head gasket popped. We stand there in an awkward silence for what seemed like hours. He finally asks me what I wanna do. I told him the whole reason I wanted the thing was for the front drive components and being as this truck lacks all of it, it's pretty much useless to me. He asks if I'll do $300, he's desperate to get rid of it. I offer $250 and he accepts. I figure I just drove 2 hours one way, and for $250 I might as well not come home with an empty trailer. I can part it out for way more than that. Time to look for another parts truck...
Found one on eBay 3 days later (just this last wed), 03 Mountaineer, V8 AWD. Kinda rough body, but seemingly pretty nice interior. Also the engine supposedly has a knock. That's ok though because after a rebuild it has everything I need to do a V8 swap into the black one I am now considering keeping as a replacement to my 97 Mountaineer, plus a black/dark gray interior that I'd swap in for the tan/brown in the one I have. Although the truck is 8.5 hours away, for the right price, it's worth it. Auction was to end in roughly 24 hours from me finding it, and the current bid at the time was around $115. I ended up winning the auction for $350 + $110 processing/title/notary blah blah blah fee. Score! So I call them up and tell them that I will be checking the price of haulers, but most likely plan on me being there saturday. I leave saturday morning and begin the long drive. I call them at about 4:30 to let them know I'll be there around 6. No answer so I leave a message. I finally get their shop and no one is there, and I don't see the truck. Mind you there is a LOT, probably 80+ vehicles squeezed into a lot big enough for a shop and a parking lot. In order to get some cars out they might have to move 10 others depending on where it's parked. So at this point I am PISSED. I called numerous times to try to get ahold of someone, but apparently that's the shop number and no one is there to answer it. Called eBay and they ended up giving me the owners personal cell. Called him, which it took everything I had to not go off on him. Apparently they thought that I wasn't coming because I hadn't called them yet, and that they closed at 4. He's an hour and a half away at his daughters dance recital or something, and can't get ahold of anyone else that works there, has no idea where on the lot the truck is, where the keys are, or where the title is, someone else he can't get ahold of has that info, and he can't do anything until monday morning. So we start discussing options. He said if I want, I can go back home, cancel the sale and he will refund my $200 deposit, plus give me $200 to cover my fuel and tolls there and back. Or he will sell it to me for $250 with no fees if I wanna come back and get it a different time. At least hes standing up and willing to try to make it right. So here I sit, 8 hours from home, no truck, and can't get it til monday. I have no other option but to drive back home. I still haven't decided what I'm gonna do with it yet. Thinking about seeing if he is willing to meet half way or something because I really don't wanna make that drive again. 17-18 hours is a long time to ride in an F-250 with no air ride or anything. My back still hurts from saturday.
So now on to my questions:
1. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the transmission? I can't just match up wire colors to splice the black one's harness back together when there are 3 wires with the same color on one plug. And the black AWD one has different color wires on the solenoid plug than the green 2WD, so I can't even use it as a reference to splice the black one's back together. Oddly though, every wire color between the 2 harnesses match up, except the solenoid plug and the PCM plug where those few wires run.
2. Did they ever even offer AWD in Explorers? Or were they all either 2WD or 4WD?
3. Would a 2WD Ex transmission harness work on an AWD Mountaineer? I tried it, the plug on the harness that is off to the side of the PCM had the guides on the opposite side, but everything else matched up, including wire colors as referenced to the 2WD's harness, so I filed them off and plugged it in but the trans would not engage.
4. What are the differences between an AWD, 4WD and 2WD trans? I know the AWD and 2WD look the same as I've got both in my garage for reference, the 2WD trans even has threaded holes for a tcase. Can the tailhousing be unbolted and a Tcase be put in its place?
5. With an entire parts truck at my disposal, how hard would a V8 swap be? Is there any differences between axles, tcases, transmissions, etc.
6. What transmission do I have? There is like 50 versions of the 5R55. E, W, S, I'm forgetting one. How do I figure out which one I have? What vehicles have the different versions? Did some searching but there was no clear answer and it just made my head want to explode even worse. Also in my research I saw something about some having the 4R70W, and some having a variant of the 5R.
7. What is the cutoff date for early builds? I'm wondering if that explains the wire color difference in question 1. Although I have no idea what the build date on the black one is as the door tag is missing and all I can see is "VOID" where it used to be. Junk yard door maybe. I do know the green one is 8/02.
8. Is the problem with the trans in the green 2WD from the servo bore issue?
9. What other differences are there between AWD and 2WD trucks? The 2WD has a tube for chassis reinforcement behind the lower control arms, whereas the AWD has a stamped piece. Or is that an early/late build difference?
10. Do 2WD trucks use the same front bearing/hub assy. as 4/AWD? The 2WD truck has a splined hole in the center of the hubs. Or was this truck 4/AWD at one point and someone just took all the crap out and made it 2WD?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as this thread goes on but that's all I can think of at the moment.
So the somewhat irrelevant start of this goes back about a year. Was looking for a winter vehicle for my girlfriend and found a 97 Mountaineer V8 AWD. It ran and drove great and paid $1500 for it knowing only that it needed lower ball joints. Easy. So I am changing the oil on it about a week later and notice an open spot where a front driveshaft should be. Although I looked over the truck pretty good, I didn't look there. Really though, why should I? An AWD vehicle should have all the parts to make it AWD. No one ever looks under the hood for the sole purpose of making sure the engine is there. Bought a shaft, found out the tcase/center diff was toast, and bought a junk yard unit. After doing an autopsy on the old one I found the chain had stretched, a lot. Ran and worked great after that. The truck has since been sold to her parents so she could buy a Fusion, and continues to this day as their daily driver.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. She is once again looking for a winter vehicle to keep the salt off her nice Fusion. Came across a Black 02 Mountaineer V6 AWD. It was on a facebook garage sale site for $750. Supposedly only needed the transmission wiring harness spliced back together since someone decided to cut the solenoid pack plug rather than unscrew the bolt. Idiots. Well, I can do wiring all day so I figure this is an easy one, match up the wire colors, butt connect, tape the crap out of it, done. Yeah, well, not so much. I find out when I get it home, not only is it missing the front driveshaft, it's also missing the front diff and axle shafts! I never looked because really, who woulda thought it would happen twice?
After realizing that the cost to buy all these parts at a junk yard ($400-$500) is going to cost just slightly less than buying an entire parts truck on craigslist ($500-$700) I decided to go with the latter option since then I have all kinds of extra parts, and can turn around and sell what I don't wanna keep and possibly even profit off the deal.
I found an awesome parts Explorer for $500 on CL about 2 hours south of me. 8/10 condition body, and 9/10 interior. Green, V6, AWD (allegedly), had a blown head gasket and the trans wouldn't shift into 3rd unless you lifted off the throttle (realized by owner before head gasket popped). So I hook up to the trailer and make the drive. This time I was smart and looked under the truck at the front end. F***ING 2WD!!! No transfer case or anything. Just a tail housing coming off the back of the trans like a 2wd typically does. The guy was clueless, he said he had no idea, and I believe him. He's the kind that takes his vehicles to a shop to get the oil changed so hes probably never been under it, and for some reason the shop he used marked AWD on every bill. Also the same shop that did a "coolant flush" that shortly thereafter is when the head gasket popped. We stand there in an awkward silence for what seemed like hours. He finally asks me what I wanna do. I told him the whole reason I wanted the thing was for the front drive components and being as this truck lacks all of it, it's pretty much useless to me. He asks if I'll do $300, he's desperate to get rid of it. I offer $250 and he accepts. I figure I just drove 2 hours one way, and for $250 I might as well not come home with an empty trailer. I can part it out for way more than that. Time to look for another parts truck...
Found one on eBay 3 days later (just this last wed), 03 Mountaineer, V8 AWD. Kinda rough body, but seemingly pretty nice interior. Also the engine supposedly has a knock. That's ok though because after a rebuild it has everything I need to do a V8 swap into the black one I am now considering keeping as a replacement to my 97 Mountaineer, plus a black/dark gray interior that I'd swap in for the tan/brown in the one I have. Although the truck is 8.5 hours away, for the right price, it's worth it. Auction was to end in roughly 24 hours from me finding it, and the current bid at the time was around $115. I ended up winning the auction for $350 + $110 processing/title/notary blah blah blah fee. Score! So I call them up and tell them that I will be checking the price of haulers, but most likely plan on me being there saturday. I leave saturday morning and begin the long drive. I call them at about 4:30 to let them know I'll be there around 6. No answer so I leave a message. I finally get their shop and no one is there, and I don't see the truck. Mind you there is a LOT, probably 80+ vehicles squeezed into a lot big enough for a shop and a parking lot. In order to get some cars out they might have to move 10 others depending on where it's parked. So at this point I am PISSED. I called numerous times to try to get ahold of someone, but apparently that's the shop number and no one is there to answer it. Called eBay and they ended up giving me the owners personal cell. Called him, which it took everything I had to not go off on him. Apparently they thought that I wasn't coming because I hadn't called them yet, and that they closed at 4. He's an hour and a half away at his daughters dance recital or something, and can't get ahold of anyone else that works there, has no idea where on the lot the truck is, where the keys are, or where the title is, someone else he can't get ahold of has that info, and he can't do anything until monday morning. So we start discussing options. He said if I want, I can go back home, cancel the sale and he will refund my $200 deposit, plus give me $200 to cover my fuel and tolls there and back. Or he will sell it to me for $250 with no fees if I wanna come back and get it a different time. At least hes standing up and willing to try to make it right. So here I sit, 8 hours from home, no truck, and can't get it til monday. I have no other option but to drive back home. I still haven't decided what I'm gonna do with it yet. Thinking about seeing if he is willing to meet half way or something because I really don't wanna make that drive again. 17-18 hours is a long time to ride in an F-250 with no air ride or anything. My back still hurts from saturday.
So now on to my questions:
1. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the transmission? I can't just match up wire colors to splice the black one's harness back together when there are 3 wires with the same color on one plug. And the black AWD one has different color wires on the solenoid plug than the green 2WD, so I can't even use it as a reference to splice the black one's back together. Oddly though, every wire color between the 2 harnesses match up, except the solenoid plug and the PCM plug where those few wires run.
2. Did they ever even offer AWD in Explorers? Or were they all either 2WD or 4WD?
3. Would a 2WD Ex transmission harness work on an AWD Mountaineer? I tried it, the plug on the harness that is off to the side of the PCM had the guides on the opposite side, but everything else matched up, including wire colors as referenced to the 2WD's harness, so I filed them off and plugged it in but the trans would not engage.
4. What are the differences between an AWD, 4WD and 2WD trans? I know the AWD and 2WD look the same as I've got both in my garage for reference, the 2WD trans even has threaded holes for a tcase. Can the tailhousing be unbolted and a Tcase be put in its place?
5. With an entire parts truck at my disposal, how hard would a V8 swap be? Is there any differences between axles, tcases, transmissions, etc.
6. What transmission do I have? There is like 50 versions of the 5R55. E, W, S, I'm forgetting one. How do I figure out which one I have? What vehicles have the different versions? Did some searching but there was no clear answer and it just made my head want to explode even worse. Also in my research I saw something about some having the 4R70W, and some having a variant of the 5R.
7. What is the cutoff date for early builds? I'm wondering if that explains the wire color difference in question 1. Although I have no idea what the build date on the black one is as the door tag is missing and all I can see is "VOID" where it used to be. Junk yard door maybe. I do know the green one is 8/02.
8. Is the problem with the trans in the green 2WD from the servo bore issue?
9. What other differences are there between AWD and 2WD trucks? The 2WD has a tube for chassis reinforcement behind the lower control arms, whereas the AWD has a stamped piece. Or is that an early/late build difference?
10. Do 2WD trucks use the same front bearing/hub assy. as 4/AWD? The 2WD truck has a splined hole in the center of the hubs. Or was this truck 4/AWD at one point and someone just took all the crap out and made it 2WD?
I'm sure I'll have more questions as this thread goes on but that's all I can think of at the moment.
