Ryan Penner, Wichita KS

[rpenner54]

My Name is Ryan Penner, I live in Wichita KS.

Have had a few in the past, All are gone now.



My Explorer is a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer

 

[rpenner54]

Wow was this an oldie! I updated it and changed where I am at. Took out the email address though.

Merc

• rpenner54
• March 24, 2017

 

[rpenner54]

Did some more little projects with this today. Painted the front grill. Installed a stereo. Cranked the torsion bars up. Got rid of the steps. Ran my odb2 reader on it to see what all is happening. Got p0340 p1401 p1000 p1780 p1116. It's also got a pretty decent oil leak coming from the back. All and all it's really coming together well. I have replaced two broken handles inside and out and two latches as well. Also was checking out if my old bumper that I made would fit.

 

[rpenner54]

A decent side shot here.

 

[rpenner54]

My son in law made these. Got one old one out tonight. The other was stuck good. I think my shocks/away bar are keeping me from full droop as I had to jack the spring between it and the frame to get some movement. I believe the shocks look stockish.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Those look nice.

 

[rpenner54]

Yeah he works at a fab shop and can do some stuff on the side. I took advantage of it!

 

[rpenner54]

Starting degreasing the underside.

 

[rpenner54]

I got the last shackle off. However it didn't come off nice. I have emailed the contact info at https://thesuspensionking.com/index.php?route=common/home to see if I can get some bushings. He seems to sell them for a few bucks a piece. Better then paying $70 for some rubber.

 

[rpenner54]

I also picked this up today. I need to get a new plug on it as this one doesn't seem to work real good. Flops around in my truck side.

 

[rpenner54]

Got the shackles in took it around town. It's still got a slight idle issue that I need to take care of. Guessing that I should just replace all the o2 sensors and all the other ear junk as well. I am also planning on getting the whole exhaust re done as I think the cats are probably done since it has 275k miles on it.

 

[rpenner54]

This guy is looking old. With 275k on it I am guessing it needs to be changed. Also going to swap out the alternator since I am reading 13 volts while driving. Has a bit of a hesitation.

 

[rpenner54]

Got the DPSE replaced and re-ran my scan program. Got these, Alternator was running at 13.5 volts. I will replace that before the CPS I think.

 

[Turdle]

Hi Ryan. Is the p0340 an active code? It may be the source of the high idle.

Also, check the coolant level in the radiator. Low coolant levels may make idle go high as the engine is trying to get coolant to the ECT sensor. If the coolant level goes far enough low the sensor has no coolant to measure. The gauge might even read normal. Just want you to beware of that. And, we need to get you a good reservoir lid pronto. I will keep an eye out if I get up to Rayrays.

As far as the voltage reading from the alternator, it will only be above the battery voltage by so much. The battery voltage "excites" the alternator. I was seeing a range of 13.6 to 14.3 depending on the circumstances-thought the alternator was bad, stuck in another and got the same readings. I put the "old" alternator in a box for a spare.
Then, a few months later the battery went-5 years and 1 week to the date of buying it from wally world. T

Now with the new battery I see readings from 13.9 to 14.3

See if cleaning the battery posts help with the charge level. These trucks are real picky about having clean battery terminals. I always used to grease or lube battery posts to prevent corrosion, but you can't do that to these explorers by golly.

 

[rpenner54]

Yeah it is still active! Funny you should mention the coolant level as it was low. I filled it, but probably need to get some more. I only had about 1/2 gallon to put in. I will double check that here soon. As far as the lid goes, I can run up to the salvage yard here and get one, I just need to remember to put it on my list. I always go, then say what else do I need and it slips my mind.

It's a brand new battery, the old one was shot only read 10 volts at shut down. The alternator on here is a re-built one so who knows if it's good. I may need to make new cables up as the negative was almost long enough just to get on the battery. The positive I thought was okay. I have had my fair share of ford's positive cable issues.

I just ran it around this weekend again and it's missing pretty good. I am wondering if this ever had the cooling system burped.

 

[rpenner54]

Ran it around this weekend, added some antifreeze got it all up and burped out. I am thinking the CPS is probably shot. I will need to learn how to do that swap as is sounds complicated.

 

[rpenner54]

Got some well used tires to mount up on it. Needs a bit of trimming. Also the water pump/gasket went out so that needs to be done here soon. My oldest step daughter was driving it all around for the past few months as she didn't have a ride. Now I have it back and am working through some of the issues again. I found the radiator lid and also never noticed that the windshield washer lid and the radiator lid were on the wrong ones. I never traced the lines down. I am thinking that the water pump has been leaky for some time and that may be where some of these codes come from. This motor probably needs a rebuild one of these days but I just don't have time right now for that.

 

[WormsExplorer]

So what size tires did you get

 

[rpenner54]

36's