Newbie from England with a few questions

[Nippon]

Hi folks, and greetings from the UK !

I have just bought a 1998 Explorer XLT, this is my second Explorer, however it has developed a couple of faults which I hope you may be able to help with, one is just a niggling little thing but I fear the other is a little more serious.

Firstly, there is a slight grinding noise when steering that only happens when turning right on full lock or when turning from a stationary position.....that's the small one.

Now my main problem is the Load levelling suspension light is illuminated on my dash after about 5 minutes of driving, I have had it to the dealers last week and they traced the fault to worn/leaking rear shocks, I have had these replaced at a cost of £300....and I thought all was well as they had test drove the car for about 15 miles......however on my way home from the dealers the light came back on again. It is going back on Wednesday for a second go at fixing the problem..has anyone else encountered this problem ? Is there any kind of sensor involved as I personally think that this is an electrical problem rather than a mechanical one. The car still drives fine when the warning light is lit.

Cheers.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

Welcome to the site Nippon.

I drive a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport 4x2.

It has dual chamber 2 flowmasters but I wanna do more mods to it.

 

[Howard]

Welcome to another UK owner.

The first fault could be the cv joint or the ball joint. If it is the cv you should hear a slight clicking sound.

As for the self levelling suspension. I would test for bad electrical connections first. On the rear axle is the air pump and a activation switch either of these could just have a corroded connector.

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Welcome Nippon from a fellow UK owner , let us know what the outcome is .As you may have found out the dealers are not that up to speed on Explorers

Dave

 

[Nippon]

Will do matey, it's going in tomorrow.

 

[Nippon]

OK, Got word from my dealer apparently they have now found that the compressor that regulates air pressure to the self levelling suspension set up was set too high and pushing too much pressure into the system, this apparently (again) blew the seals on the original rear shocks.

Anyone else heard of a situation like this ?

I personally think this is something they've made up as they've already charged me £300 for 2 new rear shocks that I may not have needed.

Anyway will find out tomorrow when I pick it up...

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Does sound a bit 'made up' doesn't it .It would be interesting if they could show you the old shocks and show you how it managed to damage them But I bet they've lost them by now

Good luck

Dave

 

[SneakyPete_UK]

Hi Nippon

And hello from another UK X

Ford dealers suck took mine to one, had a problem with the 4x4 engaging and disengaging, they repaired the switch and charged me £72.00, so auto & 4x4 now works.

4x4LOW still didn't work, phoned them about it they didn't even check if 4x4LOW worked!
and they came back

"You did't ask us to check 4x4LOW and said they didn't have a clue why it will not engage 4x4LOW suggested i phoned Ford on a 09 number that costs £1.00 a min"

You can imagine my reply :fire:

Love the car, going to keep it, got a manual, going to do all the work myself, Of course with the help of you Guys

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Have to agree with the above . Try Ebay it can be good for getting some parts like pads and discs (rotors in the US ?)and you get the odd one breaking for spares on there also.

Dave

 

[Nippon]

Does sound a bit 'made up' doesn't it .It would be interesting if they could show you the old shocks and show you how it managed to damage them But I bet they've lost them by now

Good luck

Dave

Ok, got the car back today and it is fixed at last, apparently they stayed late last night and rebuilt the compressor and spent most of today setting up the suspension......and how much did they charge me for this ? £43 !!! now that's cheap and they even washed and waxed it for me and threw in a new air freshener !!!

Result .....

 

[SmokeGrinder]

LOL!!! It sounds like they just changed the fuse or something and then gave you an air freshener! Next time take the car to somone who wont blow smoke up your ass

 

[Nippon]

LOL!!! It sounds like they just changed the fuse or something and then gave you an air freshener! Next time take the car to somone who wont blow smoke up your ass

The garage in question is a local Ford dealership, the second one I have tried as the first main dealer didn't want to touch the car....they are all affraid of them I think......and I checked all the fuses and relays before it went in

But I do reckon they stung me for shocks I didn't need.....win some- lose some

 

[Howard]

The only answer over here is DIY.

 

[Nippon]

The only answer over here is DIY.

Just checked your pics...nice motor, I notice the clock on the dashboard, how annoying is it not to have a clock ? My previous Ex was a 97 R plate and it had a clock incorporated into the roof mounted compass...wonder why they got rid of that

 

[SmokeGrinder]

The only answer over here is DIY.

Check this out for DIY

 

[Howard]

Thanks. I've done quite a bit since those photos were taken. The radio head unit is now a DVD player, with clock. So the clock is gone. I have slotted rotors (discs for the UK minded) all round with performance pads (Hawk). Finally I have a K&N cone filter fitted.

Makes mental note to update web site.

 

[IN THE STICKS]

Just checked your pics...nice motor, I notice the clock on the dashboard, how annoying is it not to have a clock ? My previous Ex was a 97 R plate and it had a clock incorporated into the roof mounted compass...wonder why they got rid of that

Nippon , what radio do you have in it? mine had (untill I changed the unit )a Ford one with autochanger , and one of the functions on it was a clock display , you had to fiddle with the menu boutton a bit but it was there

Dave

 

[Crankcase]

Welcome to the site

 

[Nippon]

Nippon , what radio do you have in it? mine had (untill I changed the unit )a Ford one with autochanger , and one of the functions on it was a clock display , you had to fiddle with the menu boutton a bit but it was there

Dave

Yes mate, mine has the standard Ford unit but the previous owner swiped the autochanger, not sure of the exact model number off hand but will check, it's getting junked soon anyway to make way for an MP3 jukebox as I have masses of MP3

 

[vikingswede]

Hi, I'm all new here, but this far this is the only site I've found which comes even remotely close to an answer to the problem you had Nippon. I have the same typ eof problem with my 98, and the Ford dealer made some diagnose (cost me a fortune since Explorers aren't in the standard Ford line-up in Sweden) and came up with "air leakage"... Do you have more information on what they actually did and if the shocks really needed to be replaced?

The problem I have is about the same. After 10-15 minutes of driving the light goes on. I'd really love to get this solved without paying out of my ass over here...

Short introduction of myself; From Sweden, driving a 98 4x4 4.0 SOHC. Been doing so for the last year and a half.