2 Projects- Soliciting Advice

[jacoby0419]

Ok- so I've been a long time lurker here, but this is my first post.

I've got a 2003 Eddie Bauer Explorer that has 198k on it and last week someone spun out in front of me in the rain and caused a 4 car pile up. I got caught up in it and basically need a new front clip. The insurance company totaled it out-but I brought her home anyway (I've had her for 8 years and put 175k on her and she was pretty well taken care of by me).

Now I've got an explorer that runs and drives just fine but needs about $1000 worth of body parts.

I picked up another 2003 EB explorer with a v8 in it for a song that barely ran and thought I'd strip it for parts, then scrap the rest and come out alright.

The new truck is actually in better shape than I had originally thought though. It appears to have leaking valve covers which is fouling the plugs on it. The top of the plugs is basically coated in oil, but none on the electrode themselves.

So what do you think I should do- fix up and sell the new one and use the profits to patch up the original one and keep the excess funds- or strip and part out the new one? It has 192k on it and it moves forward and backward in 2wd, 4hi and 4lo with no noise but haven't taken it above 5 mph yet.

In the meantime I have bought a 2010 Ford Flex Limited for my wife to drive so immediate transportation is not necessary.

Sorry for the long and winding post- and thanks for the advice!

 

[fusseli]

I'd transplant everything working into the working EB V8! If it isn't a necessity for transportation it could be a good weekend hobby to keep going, and with two essentially matching cars you'd have parts for about everything. That and the 4.6 should be a big upgrade over the 4.0 even if at high mileage.

 

[HiImBrian]

Part out the old one and fix up the V8. They are really easy to work on and you can find parts everywhere. Same block that the Mustang uses, so you can even find some performance parts for it. That's what I'm doing

 

[jacoby0419]

Is the 4.6 really that big of a performance boost over the 4.0? There was never anything I asked the V6 to do that it didn't happily. I towed 10,000 pounds with it on numerous occasions, and did some moderate trail riding with it too- the only thing that ever complained was the transmission about 160k (replaced solenoid pack).

I did pull the driver side valve cover to replace the gasket and it was full of sludge! I've never seen one this bad before.

It was the consistency of thick lithium grease, but black as oil (so not a water problem). I cleaned most of it out with my fingers, but I'm guessing they never changed the oil in the truck. Am I wasting my time with this engine?

I'll finish changing the valve cover gaskets and replacing the COP and plugs, do a couple of engine oil flushes and see what happens.