BD's 2000 Explorer Limited

2000 Explorer Limited

-Picked her up (10/13/2010)
-140,093 miles when I test drove it
-5.0 V8, AWD
-Pearl White
-Dark grey leather interior

My dream explorer basically, no more old ones, no more sports, I finally have an Explorer that I love everything about!

I absolutely love the limited, its got:
-Seats w/ headrests
-Memory power seats
-Heated/Puddle mirrors
-Better mirror without all the buttons, just the slider
-Painted to match bumpers and grille
-Woodgrain radio bezel
-Digital HVAC controls
-And its got the homelink visor with a nifty little voice recorder that I will probably never use LOL

And alot more, but im just in awe over its nice features compared to my previous rides. They even recently (In the past few months) had a brand new hitch installed and the trailer harness all wired up.

I dont have any set plans for this one yet, I do have hopes and dreams though, and im stoked about the V8 that has so many options.

Dream list:
-Torque Monster headers
-Custom Tune
-LED tails (Something custom maybe, I just need to study up on resistors and whatnot)
-BMW projectors in a blacked out housing

It does have a few problems that id like some help with, (Fixed all, besides this one)
1. The blower only works when its on all the way high, (Same thing in my grandam, but it was the blower motor resistor then everything worked great) is that a common problem on the digital HVACs?


"For sure" plans include:
-New rims, id like to get a nice 5-spoke set of 20's with a beefy tire
-Paint job in the spring, black
-Some interior accents (Id like todo another metallic blue color like I did in my grandam)

He was asking 3400$ in the ad, but I talked him and his wife down to 2900$ because I was pointing all the little problems out that I mentioned above.

I didnt get a chance to really take any pictures, as it was raining, and almost dark by the time I got home.

I was bored on the way home so I took some random "driving" pictures

My friend was driving my Grand Am in front of me, I have a Avic-F700BT in there that will also be going into the Explorer, he was using the GPS to get us back home

I was extremely happy also, I was averaging 16.2 MPG driving with a decently heavy foot getting the feel for the V8 I was controlling

Edit- 1/21/11
New parts!

Hubs
Tie rod ends
Lower ball joints
Upper ball joints (Control arms)
Tires: Firestone Destination A/T's 255/70/R16's
Brake Pads

Soon:
Slotted (And drilled maybe) Rotors
Better pads
New shocks
Leafs
Shackles
Amsoil (In everything!)
Rebuilding tranny (And possibly a valve body kit)

 

[Kazer]

Glad to see you got your money

As for the rims, i like your idea of pearl white (minus the spinners). I talked to Turdle about powder coating my rims and he recommended someone closer to me who does good work, http://www.jpcoatings.com/ this guys name is Jeff and he does blasting and powder coating, hes at 2609 telegraph road

 

[BrianDye]

Cool! Shot him an email for a quote. Definitely wont be until Spring most likely, but ive wanted todo this since day 1 since they are pitting pretty bad now.

 

[Kazer]

any response from the guy? i've got some 20's i want to get powder coated but i want to see what he quotes you first

 

[BrianDye]

No sir, I emailed them a few days ago, and forgot to attach a picture of the rims, (They replied asking for a picture) now im just waiting for the quote.


After I got all these electrical bugs worked out, im now trying to find the bug causing my squirters not to work. I doubt its a relay, since neither the front or back work. (Isn't there a seperate relay for front and back?)

Ill get out tomorrow and start checking fuses and see if maybe theres a leak. It worked up until my message center told me I was low on fluid, then the next day when I filled it up, it quit.

 

[BrianDye]

Still havent gotten a response from them.

But after having strep throat for the last week, im finally starting to feel better. I have to work all day so hopefully were not too busy today, im not feeling quite 100% yet.

Did get a call from my uncle though the other morning, he works at the Ford plant in Saline and they took my info from him and will most likely be calling me to start work there in January!

I havent had any luck getting into any other factories, but if this doesnt work out, then theres one more, where from what I hear they pretty much hire anybody that walks through the door, its JCIM (Johnson Controls) right here in town.

 

[BrianDye]

Well after spending Christmas in the ER due to such a bad sore throat I could barely breathe, im starting to feel a little better. I was hoping to order a new windshield this week and shocks next week, but ive had to take so many days off work, its gonna be another month before I order that stuff.


Still praying and hoping that Ford calls me in January, that would be a spin for the best!

 

[BrianDye]

A little review-

Advanced Auto was running a special, save 5$ when you buy two "Trico Teflon Shield" wipers. They looked pretty snazzy and I was sick of my "winter" wipers.

(I bought those Duralasts with the rubber surround on them at AutoZone 3 weeks ago and they suck)

So I bought these, it was raining pretty good that day, and they suck. The drivers side streaks like crazy, and "smears" the water so to speak, and the passeneger side sounds like a 5 year old dry rotted wiper.

Im gonna take them back and get the Rain-X Repel's, those are almost the same price after the rebate, and the little chart at Advance shows them being the best.




I also couldnt resist this little sticker:

 

[BrianDye]

Uh...I found the clunking noise ive been hearing lately...



Is that the sway bar? What would cause that to come loose like that? Should I just tighten that bolt down? Sorry for the dumb questions, ive never messed with that before though so this is all new to me.

 

[BrianDye]

After some searching around, i found a number of members who posted videos of the same thing, it looks like I'm heading out to go buy away bar end link bushings! That clunk has been there for awhile but I was under the assumption that it was my old shocks. Last night I noticed it was way worse and it felt different driving it so this morning I went out to find that!

 

[Kazer]

yeah that is your sway bar, and that threaded shaft that connects to your lower control arm is your swaybar end link. theyre easy to remove/replace. and yeah if you can, just tighten it down

 

[BrianDye]

Im just gonna drive the Fiesta for now to go get the parts, it should be fun in all this snow

Im hoping I can get ahold of a friend with a garage tonight and change them.



Im reading J'Dirts write up right now, it seems fairly easy. I doubt they will be too bad, as I changed all my balljoints and front hubs without the "rusted to the vehicle" syndrome

 

[BrianDye]

I cant believe how much better it feels now. No clunking, no "swaying" and with all the new parts from last Spring, it feels like a new truck!

Now after payday I can pay a couple bills and hopefully order new shocks, im gonna go with the Monroe Sensa Tracs. Then hopefully in February ill get a new windshield, and when it warms up again shell out for a new.......uh whats that thing that goes on the back called?....BUMPER!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Then hopefully in February ill get a new windshield, and when it warms up again shell out for a new.......uh whats that thing that goes on the back called?....BUMPER!

Not so fast...

 

[BrianDye]

Now-

A. My ac compressor is going bad
B. The clutch or bearing is going bad
C. I'm low on refrigerant.

I'm hoping C because most of the people who described their problem that was like mine, fixed it because of low refrig. And with everything else being stock I doubt the PO ever checked or added any ever.

(Something rattles when my AC is off and the compressor kicks on intermittently for 5-10 seconds at a time.)

Don't get off til 11 tonight so I'll have to run to Wally world to get a can of refrigerant and a new pressure gauge. I have no clue where my old one is.

 

[BrianDye]

Great- goto the carwash today, and as I leave I kick my defroster on for a bit so the water on the windows wouldn't freeze, and like 10 minutes later I hit the "OFF" button and it turned off...but the blower was still going.

I just replaced the blower motor controller in Fall.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

hey brian i see u got ps 3 whats your gamer id so i can add u as a friend mine is RaiderNationSam and what games do you got

 

[BrianDye]

Im guessing some water/condensation must have just gotten into the controller somehow (Scary, but thats the reason I NEVER go through auto washes! So that was my last time; last time I went in one, it took my brand new antenna and ate it!)

But on another note, after I turned her off for about an hour or so, all was well. Totally forgot how close it was to my girlfriends birthday, so shocks and windshield are gonna wait a couple more weeks, but mid February isnt too far away. I cant wait to get it all done! My windshield regardless of the crack needs to be replaced, its got so many specs, even spotlessly cleaned, it still looks filthy in the sun:thumbdwn:

Still no word from Ford yet, but I have a couple options, 1. 2nd job lined up, guaranteed to get if I apply; or 2. a smaller Johnson Controls factory starting out around 12$ /hour. Its not much, but its more than 1.5x what I make now and guaranteed 40 hours w/ overtime. Im LUCKY to get 40 here.

hey brian i see u got ps 3 whats your gamer id so i can add u as a friend mine is RaiderNationSam and what games do you got

I only play COD, but its BrianDye or Brian_Dye (Ones 360, ones PS3)

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

i dont have COD i play gran turismo 5 and madden 12 and nba 2k12 and wwe 12 and some other games

 

[BrianDye]

Fun day- woke up and finished packaging those mats up for Sbyrne to ship out, decided to make a pit stop at the carwash to rinse it off real quick, ended up turning into an hour. After I hung the nozzle back up, I grab my door handle and realized somehow the doors locked. Keys, wallet and phone in the console.

Luckily by some miracle my uncles friend was a couple stalls over and let me use his phone, but noone was in town or had a slim Jim or wire hangar. He suggested trying the fire station behind the carwash so I went there and a couple guys drove over with a little kit to get in, didn't charge me anything but I wished I had had some cash on me to give them something at least. Anywho now my X is clean again, I still have the package (it was 530, PO closed at 6 I didn't get back in my X til almost 630). Great start to my day off LOL.

 

[BrianDye]

Well the time has come, to POSSIBLY say goodbye to my X.

I had an offer today of $4000 which is pretty damn good, judging as I paid $2800. I didnt say yes, but got the guys info, and told him ill let him know this month.

Depending on how much I get for taxes, ive decided nay on the Macbook laptop ive been drooling over, and would love to get into a 3rd gen, or possibly a 4th gen X.

I love my X, and ive done quite a bit to her, but depending on my job situation, I may be driving a good distance each day to work (~40 minutes without traffic), and might even get myself back into something smaller, and more gas efficient after this winter is over. (None of this is set in stone, just figured id share a little update). Im looking more into AWD vehicles, as I have grown to love my all wheel drive this winter. Its so satisfying when were sitting at a stoplight in a semi-blizzard and I can take right off without even spinning the tires, whereas the guy next to me cant move, and is just spinning his tires.