calling underhood experts | Ford Explorer Forums

  • Register Today It's free!

calling underhood experts

expo5.0

Elite Explorer
Joined
October 18, 2001
Messages
7,181
Reaction score
5
City, State
Red Wing, MN
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 xlt
Hi-

As some of you know i finally picked up a daily driver and "retired" my explorer to show duty only. A big part of doing this was so that i could finish it to a much higher level than i ever could with having to drive it etc..

So i have a great number of major projects on my hands this winter- including shaving everything and finishing other bodywork, making the underbody and frame and suspension show worthy, and cleaning the engine compartment up as much as possible (which was the catalyst for starting this thread).

I have already fabricated new "inner fender" type covers (my inner fenders are cut out for my tires) which cover some things under my hood, and my shaker hood piece covers a lot of the other things. I have shaved my firewall of the random little holes and the hole the wiper motor left, and shaved the other stuff on that front "crossmember" that didn't seem absolutely necessary.

SO HERE IS THE REAL QUESTION-

i want to remove my heat/ac and anything else i can remove under the hood (wire packs, sensors, anythign that isn't part of actually driving the car). I need to know which things can go and which can stay. I'm hoping a few of the forum members on here can help me on an item by item basis if i post pictures of what i have removed (or would like to) and ask how to go about removing it properly.

lets start with the heater/ac. I have removed the box, but now i have hoses that run all around the engine bay to no where... how do i go about capping those off- what needs to happen in order to not screw up the vacuum situation?

thanks in advance -drew
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





well there is a vacuum line running into your cab that feeds manifold vacuum to the HVAC controls, as you know on your Gen II ex the HVAC switches and solenoids are all vacuum actuated. So unless you plan to completely remove your heayt and AC you still need to feed the cab vacuum.

You can remove:
PS cooler
the A/C compressor and other AC components (compressor requires a fake pulley in its place)
cruise control
ABS brake motor and manifold
heater core vacuum activated water bypass
You can remove the oil filter water cooling jacket and re-locate the oil filter. Will require a new lower radiator hose
You can remove the big water manifold that runs along the lower intake manifold and feeds the heater core

There are lots of features under your hood not needed to make the 5.0L run.
I would not simply cap off vacuum hoses, insteead I would remove the upepr intake plenum and look at what you are dealing with. When I did my conversion I removed MUCH of the factory explorer stuff mentioned here and modified the vacuum systems to work in my BII better, and to clean up under the hood.

The 5.0L once stripped of all this stuff is a great stand alone system with simple wire routing and plumbing it can really save space and clean up the OEM look under the hood.


You can remov
 






yeah,

well since i've spent the last 4 years learning about the rest of the truck, i'm going to need a lot of help in order to do all of that. Like i'll post pictures- you circle the rigth stuff to take out kind of paint by number thing. I can follow instructions well (i installed my cam etc.) under the hood, but really don't know what i'm dealing with.


I do plan to ENTIRELY remove the heat and AC though. It simply won't be driven once when either is needed unless in the event of some major catastrophe (and i'll just deal with it if that happens)

I will try to start getting pictures and more information later today.

some of this project is also going to be chasing down broken stuff. I know i have some parts in there that look important and are disconnected or broken (one thing over by more horn for sure, and i have cut vacuum lines in a couple places)

-drew
 






removing the heat and AC will make a HUGE improvement under the hood.

You will have to run a hose from teh water pump outlet to the heater core return, that is very simple. It iwll eliminate the entire black metal hose thing on the passenger side of your lower intake (again similar to my conversion, except my truck still has hoses going to the heater core)

Will this truck still need legal emissions?

You can eliminate the EGR system (fordfuelinjection.com) that will clean up the upper intake even more.
You can delete the entire EVAC fuel system emisisons stuff, including the charcoal canister back by the fuel tank. that will clean up the drivers side wheel well, under the batter tray, etc. On my BII I simply ran my fuel tank vapor line directly to a canister purge valve and into the upper intake plenum.

You can completely remove your brake booster and power steering pump system which will result in manual steering and brakes (not sure how the rack and pinion works withouth a pump though, would research this)

removing the PS pump will require again some sort of pulley to re-route the serpentine belt.

Heck you could throw a carb and distributor on that engine and remove everything really if you are that serious.
 






not quite that serious-

i want power steering and i think i want the brakes boosted ya know? (but i don't want abs for anything- although i've already managed to hide that anyways)

i don't care about anything else. I do not need to pass emissions, but i don't want to pollute either. So i need to be able to remove it with the idea that although it would be "illegal" in many states it probably would still pass a "sniffer" type test.

I think you and I are going to end up talking about this quite a bit in the next few weeks-
 






wel take a look under my hood, its basically a stipper down gt-40 5.0L with heat and emissions sensors. I still ahve cruise control and an AC comrpessor, but other then that all the Explorer BS has been removed :)

Things you can do without (in the pic):
I have my windshield washer and coolant overflow tank, I have my ARB air compressor under there, I have the heater box with AC plenum, I have my alarm siren, I have the 93 style power distribution box, and battery.

You could re-locate your wiring stuff to the inner fenders and hide the harness, but most of it will have to stay to get the engine to run and lights working, etc.

28935litretop.jpg
 






well, i'll have some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

thanks a lot! i feel better about tryign to figure it out already.
 






we will start with these pictures-

they all show things either broken or disconnected that i'm not sure what i need to do about.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0936.JPG
    IMG_0936.JPG
    57.7 KB · Views: 688
  • IMG_0937.JPG
    IMG_0937.JPG
    61 KB · Views: 682
  • IMG_0938.JPG
    IMG_0938.JPG
    62.2 KB · Views: 691






to clarify- in that 2nd picture the "line" running from that black sensor, it doesn't run anywhere. (if there is other broken stuff in the picture, let me know)

also, what does this relay box control? lights?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0940.JPG
    IMG_0940.JPG
    70.4 KB · Views: 697






The third picture looks like a a/c line.
 






that is correct, now where should it go/how does it get removed now that it has no where to go?
 






It goes between the compressor, condensor, and evaporator(the others probably have plastic covers). You can remove all of those. The connectors have a garter spring inside the round part of the end shown in the pic, when you push the other end on the o rings seal it and the spring slips over a ridge and locks the 2 pieces together. You can get a tool that removes them (plastic one is supposedly better) or you can make your own. If you dont car about them just cut them off or pull the spring out with a pick.
http://www2.chicago-rawhide.com/ld_garterspring.htm
 






Yes remove your radiator, remove the A/C condensor from the radiator
remove the a/c compressor, you MUST replace it with a pulley from Summit or the like for your 5.0L (AC delete pulley)
This will remove the A/C lines. they run around the engine
remove the A/'C canister (guessing you already did when you pulled the box)

Not sure which fuse/relay box that it, what happened to it? hehehe

PIcture 1 is the fuel tank EVAC system, the beggining of it. There are vapor lines that lead to the charcoal canister and ANOTHER EVAC solenoid (or canister purge valve)

If you remove all this stuff you will not be emissions legal.
Actually with it broken you already are not.
However my BII passed emissions (sniffer test) without any of it :) so it depends on your state inspection.


Picture 2 is your heater core hot water bypass.
You can remove it, remove the vacuum line and plug up any holes (or run new rubber vaccum line like me, i hate the plastic ford lines) This line runs into your cab I believe, there is a switch/solenoid under the dash, you can remove it too)

Man your engine compartment needs some TLC :) How's it been running like this? hahaha
 






well, it runs!

thanks for the help. I will order that A/C delete. Are their any other parts i will need to order to do this? that you can think of off-hand. Thanks for the help again!
 






Nope, the new pulley will keep the belt routing and you can unbolt the entire AC system. Only takes a few minutes, I know I jsut removed 3 of them (one from my BII conversion, one from my rolled truck, and one from my 96 project)
I have lots of AC parts :)
 






ok, before i begin with that- should i run dual alternators with that space?

i'm planning on running a 300 amp, but i could run dual stockers or cheap aftermarket upgrades...

i wish i was at home to check that out.
 






You could, it would be really easy to tap and mount the compressor mount too for the 3 hole style Ford alternator...its aluminum.



I will be converting my compressor to on board air in the BII since all the glass is coming out I wont need AC.

I tried to buy a non AC belt for the 5.0L so I could remove my compressor but the belt routing wont allow it on the 5.0L.
You will have to call summit about the delete pulley, they list them for Mustangs but not eh GT-40 Expo....I know they make one just not in the book.
 






expo5.0 - please shorten your signature to 6 lines. Thank you.

-Drew
 






figured i'd make an update so you guys know i didnt' forget about this/forget how much i need your help

i sold my 200 amp mr. alt with a partial trade for a stock alternator as well. the plan will be to run a stock alt inthe stock location, and an iraggi 260-300 amp in the ac compressor location (it seems that his 260 has the same idle output as the 300 i could get anyways- and that is what really matters to me).

I have the ac comp. out and those hoses out most of the way. I guess by going this route i won't need the delete pulley-lol. Are there any other things i will need to continue on with this-

i still need to remove the smog charcoal canister and related stuff, and the lower hoses that used to go the the ac/heat.

as a further update- i should be picking up headers soon. So i'll probably be posting a few questions about that install and about any little engine modifications/preventative repairs i should perform while i try to rip it down far enough to clean the rust off of and high temp paint my valve covers (or maybe replace them).
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year or try it out for $5 a month.

Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





whats the size of the new alternator pulley that wioll go where the AC was? compared to teh AC clutch pulley?
 






Featured Content

Back
Top