2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

After getting an estimate on how much it would run me to fix up my Xploder with all new exhaust, cold side piping, and a bunch of other stuff done up the "right" way... I've decided to convert my Xploder back to NA form so that I can actually ENJOY the truck before I die of old age.

Anyways... To start it off I ordered up a MAC cold air intake (I do not have the stock intake) and sold my FMS headers on ebay.

I plan on buying a set of torque monster headers in the next week or so but am still up in the air on how I should run my exhaust from a performance "speed" perspective. I do not plan on doing much, if any, off road driving, so am looking for a setup that improves take off and speed for spirited pavement driving that sounds good.

I already have the spare tire removed (and will be keeping it off, I have free towing anyways lol)... What would an optimal setup be with the above in mind and no worry of a spare tire being in the way? True duals (straight pipe off of each header, thru separate mufflers, and out the sides), or a dual exhaust both going into a 2 in 2 out "H" pipe style muffler and then out the sides? Or something else? In all cases I won't be running any cats.

I also plan to re-tune my car since currently it is tuned for the turbo setup which obviously will no longer apply once I rip everything out.

Thank you for any input!

 

[willzilla]

Do you have any drilled or spot faced rotors?

That sounds more like a typical squeal more than the whirring of drilled rotors. Avoid using that amount of brake force, use less or more to keep it from doing that.

Yeah I haven't heard the sound since the video.. very odd.. I'm sure it will come back for a few minutes... Was just making sure it's not like, "OMG THAT IS THE SOUND OF YOUR BRAKES PREPARING TO EXPLODE!!" or something haha.

And yes, they are cross drilled and slotted rotors.. same ones I had on before putting the new pads on... never made a sound before... Got them pretty cheap otherwise I would of just got plain normal rotors as I don't actually need or wanted cross drilled and slotted rotors lol... But... Truck stops shockingly great!

 

[limited2000]

Willzilla, I am currently working on a rear mount for my car, I just was wondering, what amount of boost were you running your explorer on, in its healthy days. And was there much of a difference in power?

 

[willzilla]

Willzilla, I am currently working on a rear mount for my car, I just was wondering, what amount of boost were you running your explorer on, in its healthy days. And was there much of a difference in power?

I believe I was just pushing around 6lbs of boost.. the turbo setup was put on by the guy before me, Justin, and was a "junk yard" style setup based around an STS kit using a Holset turbo, STS rear oil pump, 2" charge piping, stock exhaust (mostly)... Was a cheap setup but the power was very good and you could def get the truck moving and the boost came on quick.

Because it was a junkyard kit and he tossed it together for minimum dollar and it was the first setup of its kind (I believe) it ended up having some reliability problems especially after sitting for so long (couplers kept blowing off, oil puking issues, charge piping was rusted, exhaust setup was horrible, etc) which is why I stripped it all off and converted it back to NA though I did keep many things in place like the larger injectors (39lb cobra), the walboro fuel pump, etc, and then added a bunch of NA stuff myself (intake, TMHs, 90mm LMAF, custom exhaust, etc, etc).

I wouldn't mind re-doing it ONE day but currently enjoy the truck NA and have an SVTf project car so haven't worried about it lol.

Here is Justin's turbo build thread which prove useful/interesting to you though! http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169060

Hope that helps! Good luck!

 

[limited2000]

Sweet! Thanks! I'm really starting like you willzilla. And if you ever need to get more space in that garage, tell me what's up for grabs cause it sounds like you have a lot of fun stuff!! I could be in need of a rusty pipe one day! It's got to be better in price than paying for the new stuff! Hahaha.

And good luck on your project! Looks great already!

 

[willzilla]

Sweet! Thanks! I'm really starting like you willzilla. And if you ever need to get more space in that garage, tell me what's up for grabs cause it sounds like you have a lot of fun stuff!! I could be in need of a rusty pipe one day! It's got to be better in price than paying for the new stuff! Hahaha.

And good luck on your project! Looks great already!

Haha, thanks I junked a lot of stuff like the IC and all of the piping... Oil, rust, etc.. Was just nasty... Only thing I have left was a new BoV I bought but ended up never installing as I went NA.

 

[willzilla]

This is the new/never-used blow off valve that I still have (and am selling half ass), lol:

Which is an RPS 50mm Blow Off Valve (BoV).

 

[limited2000]

I already have the blow off valve, however, it is a Greddy Knock-Off. If it has any leaks when I install, I'll give you a message and talk to you about that one. The blow off valve is kind of where I just went cheap, it was one of the last in my importants for the kit I put together. I figured I'd be fine running a cheap BOV for a bit, until I get the extra cash to upgrade.

 

[limited2000]

One quick question, I'm doing the oil lines today so I can get it out of the way, did Justin tap the oil pan for the oil feed? Or how did he do that? I am stuck on this part.. I understand the oil return, but I'm stumped on the feed.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah.. This is a "cheap" RPS BoV but high quality and highly regarded on a lot of turbo boards... I picked it up for $99 I believe... Prob selling for around $80 shipped so, if you have problems with yours let me know. I may pop it up on ebay or something eventually if I get some time to think about it lol.

 

[willzilla]

One quick question, I'm doing the oil lines today so I can get it out of the way, did Justin tap the oil pan for the oil feed? Or how did he do that? I am stuck on this part.. I understand the oil return, but I'm stumped on the feed.

Check this out: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1536865&postcount=66

 

[willzilla]

Not much to report as of late... Hope to get some new front tires and an alignment next month... And hopefully work on my interior lights LED stuff this weekend or when I have a week off for the holiday now that I have a month off from school! Also been looking around for some new cruise control button pods to replace mine and do the LED replacement on since they are all burned out and the pods themselves are peeled and crappy looking!

 

[TekMan05]

Not much to report as of late... Hope to get some new front tires and an alignment next month... And hopefully work on my interior lights LED stuff this weekend or when I have a week off for the holiday now that I have a month off from school! Also been looking around for some new cruise control button pods to replace mine and do the LED replacement on since they are all burned out and the pods themselves are peeled and crappy looking!

PLEASE take pics of the LED conversion. I tested two 194 SMD bulbs in the map light and am not entirely impressed. Not near bright enough since the bulbs face inwards. That's my next misc. project on the truck as well. Can't wait to see this

 

[willzilla]

PLEASE take pics of the LED conversion. I tested two 194 SMD bulbs in the map light and am not entirely impressed. Not near bright enough since the bulbs face inwards. That's my next misc. project on the truck as well. Can't wait to see this

Yeah I heard just swapping in 194 LEDs in the map lights won't look good so I'm going to be following this write-up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259083&highlight=map+light

Already have the LEDs and such (in red) so hoping they will be nice and bright!

 

[willzilla]

Wow... Been busy doing... Absolutely nothing at all lolll... Though.. Recently... My temp gauge has been acting strange... Is it the gauge, thermostat... or maybe something else??

Symptoms... Temp gauge hits high... then floats back down to mid range... then kind of slowly floats back up to high.. then fairly quickly back down to mid range... does this fairly often... The engine itself seems to be running fine... not overheating or anything... feels no hotter than usual.... Odd...

 

[TekMan05]

Wow... Been busy doing... Absolutely nothing at all lolll... Though.. Recently... My temp gauge has been acting strange... Is it the gauge, thermostat... or maybe something else??

Symptoms... Temp gauge hits high... then floats back down to mid range... then kind of slowly floats back up to high.. then fairly quickly back down to mid range... does this fairly often... The engine itself seems to be running fine... not overheating or anything... feels no hotter than usual.... Odd...

Yeah if the engine is running fine start with the temp sensor then the thermostat. I recently replaced mine because it wouldn't really heat up right. Oh yeah I went ahead and swapped over my map lights to LED's. Used these little guys right here
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-SMD-Pure-...Parts_Accessories&hash=item337d9c14a1&vxp=mtr
It's actually much easier my friend helped me by taking a test light and finding the live feed side of the copper connectors and tying it to my adaptor wires for the LED's. Much easier and the circles fit right in the center with double sided tape in the retainer holder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTZtIrybB3w

 

[willzilla]

Sweet.. I still need to do my LED conversion... Like I said.. I have been lazy (and playing a lot of black ops 2 lol)

Yeah... Also noticed my interior heat is luke warm at best... which SUCKS since it's been cold as hell lately!

 

[willzilla]

Ordered a new 190 degree t-stat, new coolant/water sender and the sensor, all Motorcraft parts, and everything from rockauto.. Hopefully swap everything soon and eliminate the odd temp swing and crappy interior heat.. Parts were all cheap so don't mind swapping them all out even if it's overboard lol

TekMan.. The interior looks nice! How long did it take? I hope to get motivated eventually and do all of my lights... It looks like you got the same circular map light LEDs that I grabbed though I got mine from some LED warehouse for a few dollars more per unit but I think mine have more LEDs on the circuit and I'm moving all of my lighting to red (ie, Submarine style, lol)

HOPEFULLY will also be getting 2 new front tires in the next month, get my front end perfectly leveled, then get the car FINALLY aligned! Three cheers! HAHA.

 

[TekMan05]

Ordered a new 190 degree t-stat, new coolant/water sender and the sensor, all Motorcraft parts, and everything from rockauto.. Hopefully swap everything soon and eliminate the odd temp swing and crappy interior heat.. Parts were all cheap so don't mind swapping them all out even if it's overboard lol

TekMan.. The interior looks nice! How long did it take? I hope to get motivated eventually and do all of my lights... It looks like you got the same circular map light LEDs that I grabbed though I got mine from some LED warehouse for a few dollars more per unit but I think mine have more LEDs on the circuit and I'm moving all of my lighting to red (ie, Submarine style, lol)

HOPEFULLY will also be getting 2 new front tires in the next month, get my front end perfectly leveled, then get the car FINALLY aligned! Three cheers! HAHA.

The way I ended up doing it. Didn't take long at all. I didn't use the same big sized disc LED that's luke warm white. I used the 5000k colored one with 9 leds that's about nickel sized. They're plenty bright and come with the adaptors. I just snipped off part of the adaptor and tied them into the copper conductor wires then wrapped them in electrical tape. They already had adhesive backings so they fit right on the front of those bulb holder mounts perfectly. I'll try to take some pics sometime.

 

[willzilla]

Busy, busy, busy... And... Lazy... Explains me lately lol.

I am getting ready to replace my t-stat tomorrow hopefully if it's nice... Having either t-stat or coolant sensor issues.. Replacing all of that crap.

Still need to do my interior lighting stuff eventually as well... Oh... And get new front tires and an alignment, arg!!

 

[willzilla]

ARG!!!!

Talk about a nightmare trying to replace my froze thermostat!

Should be an easy task.. But.... NOooooo... First... Radiator drain peakcock snaps off with me just touching it... So I have to pop the bottom coolant hose off and of course coolant explodes everywhere... Drain it all out... Was able to get the drain peakcock piece out and a new one in place... Go to remove upper radiator hose and it's pretty much melted in place so I have to saw it off... Get the thermostat housing off and junk the thermostat, clean up the old gasket residue from the housing and block.. slap new thermostat and gasket in there... button it all up... pour coolant in and **** just dumps right through the car.... UGH.

Being 30 degrees out makes it that much more fun..

Dunno wtf is wrong and now it's dark out :-/