Haven’t updated for a bit but have been making progress.
Intercooler is in and mounted. Built some simple brackets that bolt to the bottom of the intercooler and run up to existing bolt holes in the core support.
Radiator was in and out several times to figure out hoses. Had to cut down the necks on the radiator to make it all work. Upper hose is a combination of Explorer and 4Runner upper hoses. The lower is Explorer and Jetta.
Went for a fan from a 1994 3.8l Taurus. Mounted it 90* from stock and it fits really well. This will be controlled with a Dakota Digital controller. Every is wired with the exception of two fuses.
Remote oil filter is in and plumbed with an oil cooler. Changing the filter will be super easy.
Sure does look sweet with an intercooler behind the grill!
Got the transmission and fuel tank back in as well. That finishes off the list of things needed to turn the key. So, Saturday I spent some time filling all the fluids up. The awesome part of all of this is no leaks. I don’t think this Explorer has been leak free for at least 15 years.
Now I’m at a point where I’m a bit stuck… it won’t start. Spent most of Sunday getting all of the air bled out of the lines, filter, and injectors. That was a real pain. Unlike most diesels you can’t crack the injectors open to bleed the air out on a VW BEW. So it’s pull the glow plugs until it sprays fuel. Was hoping once everything was bled it would fire. Nope. Just cranks but no start. I’ve gone over every bit of wire, made sure the glow plugs are functioning, made sure I’ve got fuel, swapped in a different glow plug module. Everything is setup correctly. Still nothing. It sounds like it wants to fire. Smells like it wants to fire. But it won’t. This has been the most frustrating part of all of this.
I’ve got stuff showing up Saturday so I can set myself up with VCDS to hopefully see if there’s anything in the computer that may need to be adjusted.