1994 Explorer Sport Clutch Done

[Ynot2691]

I did the clutch on my 1994 Sport this last week. Overall not too bad although there were a few things that tripped me up a bit. First thing was the exhaust flange bolts. I applied penetrating oil for about a week prior to commencing work thinking this would help the bolts break free. No such luck. I did not want to break these bolts off for obvious reasons so when they would not break free I had to regroup. Heated the manifold red hot, nope. Breaker bar, nope. I tried several things before I decided to use my die grinder and a cut off wheel to make a small cut in the manifold along bolt to allow the manifold to relax around the bolts. They all came right out. When reassembling I used longer bolts with nuts to tighten the pipes. Other than having to work on my back and all of my helpers scattering like **** roaches when I started working on it, it was pretty uneventful. I put in a new LUK clutch kit, flywheel and slave cylinder. Master cylinder was replaced a month ago. I changed the fluid in both the gearbox and transfer case. I also replaced the rear main seal, oil filter adapter o ring and intake manifold & valve cover gaskets as oil was leaking from them. I also put in a shifter repair kit. The Explorer runs and drives very good now. Like a whole different rig. Total time doing the job once I got the exhaust bolts out was about six hours. (I was an auto technician for 35 years, so I have done this job before numerous times) not bad for doing it on your back in the driveway. Next thing to fix will be the coolant seeping from the water pump, timing cover area. That is gonna be a can of worms so I'm just gonna buy pump, cover, chain kit, bolts etc.and plan for the worst.

 

[Rick]

Six hours doing it on your back isn't bad at all. I'm glad it all worked out well for you.

 

[92exp4x4]

I never thought of slotting the manifold at the hole. I've always used torches to cherry the metal and remove the bolts.

 

[Ynot2691]

I never thought of slotting the manifold at the hole. I've always used torches to cherry the metal and remove the bolts.

I had the manifold cherry red but the bolts still would not budge. After trying a multitude of methods to free the bolts, slotting popped in my head and sure enough, it worked!!! It went back together good with the nuts and bolts, no leaks.

 

[92exp4x4]

Awesome, did it pull any of the threads when you took out the bolts? They had to have been super rust tight for torches not to work! That's impressive. I actually just used the torch trick on my most current project this past weekend. I'm resurrecting a '57 Bel-Air 4 Dr sedan. Last ran in 94, so it's getting a lot of attention. I broke one stud on each manifold. Torch and a vise grip got them right out, granted they were off the car and in the bench vise. It's a little easier to access them that way.