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)

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice limited u got there brian keep up good work

 

[Sbyrne97]

in cold weather you might idle a bit rough, and while idling the engine might rev higher than normal, sometime egr can mess up your emissions as in O2s

 

[BrianDye]

So really theres nothing negative that can happen, or this can lead to?

 

[BrianDye]

Help me deicde! 5000k HIDs, or 6000k?

I like the color of the higher temps, but im out of that looks over performance phase.

My old 10,000k's werent that blue, but I know when it rained, it was like driving without headlights on. Im hoping that was due to the temp. of the bulb, and not something "expectable" of all HIDs.

 

[Sbyrne97]

Well I suggest you get it fixed ASAP

EGR or Exhaust Gas Recirculation is used to cool the combustion chamber of your engine. If you think about it the combustion temp during ignition is somewhere in the thousands probably 2000+ degrees so the exhaust is able to cool the engine cylinders which is only around 500 degrees. Not having proper function of the EGR can cause the engine to get hotter than it was designed too. As we all know (I hope) if your engine is running hotter your in danger of burning up essential components: piston rings, gaskets, valves etc. That being said some people purposely block their EGR as it robs MPG and are fine. But with the winter coming and your engine being 100,000+ miles I would get it fixed. Always fix the small problems before they become bigger, word of advice. I know its some change now, but sooner or later its going to be a wad of cash.

And it's always nice to see that little orange light go away, is it just me or does it seem to shine brighter than all the other instrument lights

 

[BrianDye]

Lol yea that little bugger is bright I had no clue it was that severe, well I guess I'm out to buy some PB Blaste and hopefully tackle it by this weekend. My temp gauge is actually running on the cooler side though.

 

[BrianDye]

 

[Brandon96]

Help me deicde! 5000k HIDs, or 6000k?

It was the temp of the bulb.
anyways,
5000k!!!

That's actually a touch whiter than they really are..

 

[BrianDye]

Thats an awesome picture man!

Yea after stewing on it for awhile, I believe ill be going with the 5k's.

Hopefully in the next week ordering my projectors


Im stumped though, should I go with the black ones or the chrome ones? I hate alot of chrome, IMO it looks tacky and cheesy, but im not sure if the black ones would look good on my Ex...

I would say f-it and get the chrome ones, BUTTTT I do have plans on next season getting it painted black, or a dark charcoal color.

 

[sport97]

Im stumped though, should I go with the black ones or the chrome ones?

I vote black. The chrome ones look, to me, a little over the top, if that makes sense. You have blacked out taillights too. Also if you do ever paint it, it would look better with the black ones.

 

[BrianDye]

Thats what im thinkin man, and I know exactly what your sayin

Plus I think the blacks will look better whenever I decide to get a billette grille, or any aftermarket grille.

 

[BrianDye]

Look at my latest 2 projects

Found my old pair of 8000k H1 HIDs in a box, so I decided to put them in the foglights, aside from people saying they can never get them to fit right, and that they throw glare all over, I have to call BS, mine almost fit perfectly, but just to be safe, I laid a nice bead of silicon around the socket, and after MINOR adjustments to the aim, I had them just like stock, no glare, no rough pattern. Looks just like stock did, but WAY brighter, and alot farther of an output.

Now I cant wait to get my projectors, and the 5k HIDs in them!

Stock on the left, HID on the right with the stock fog bulb hanging down just to see a comparison. (Ballast was wired to the battery just to test them)

Final install: (Missed the few pieces of green duct tape I know

Heres my new monstrosity!

I had to make some mounts, to allow the box to sit on the little wheel wells, tomorrow im gonna trim the wood up a little bit and paint it black so its not standing out so bad

I also had to buy a new 15, becuase my old headlights were in the back, and they slid up against the sub, BREAKING the headlight, and the mounting tabs, along with a nice penny sized hole in the sub, and a small 1.5" crack. So shes down for the count, but already being replaced

 

[sean99]

Heres a pic of both projector styles in black...

 

[BrianDye]

My old box is cut in half, because there was no way in hell that it was going in the Grand Am as it was. I ended up selling one of them for 300$ since I couldnt fit them in the trunk, and ended up buying it back when I got the Explorer.

 

[BrianDye]

Heres a pic of both versions in black...

WOW! Thank you so friggin' much for that! I absolutely love the black ones with the white truck! Those arent the same as what I had though, I think I might like them better, where were they purchased?

The Halo's are so much more vivid and clean looking too!

 

[sean99]

Ebay has them under ccfl projectors...the ccfl halos are much brighter than the led halos
You can hardly see the leds in that pic.

 

[BrianDye]

Cool man, you just helped me so much! How exactly do those wire up blinker wise? I only see one blinker bulb, so wheres the other one go?

 

[sean99]

ccfl halos

 

[BrianDye]

Beautiful!

Is that little "strip" above the projector/high beam a blinker?

ONE more question , Do they take the H1 bulb for the high beam/projector?

 

[sean99]

These are plug and play, no tapping of wires and these lights go right in with no cutting or swearing... I didn't use the strip because they run off of three 194? bulbs and they weren't as bright as the halos and didn't look right. I might pick up some super bright led 194's and hook them up.
I think its an h1 for the projector.