2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

[CDW6212R]

You can do the inner tie rods with a good crescent wrench. Be sure to turn the steering wheel a little to bring the tie rod "nut" out just beyond the rack housing.

 

[willzilla]

You can do the inner tie rods with a good crescent wrench. Be sure to turn the steering wheel a little to bring the tie rod "nut" out just beyond the rack housing.

Yeah... I don't have any crescent wrenches lol.

 

[rickybobby]

I couldnt get a wrench in my rack, I ended up renting the inner TRE tool from autozone

 

[willzilla]

I couldnt get a wrench in my rack, I ended up renting the inner TRE tool from autozone

Hmmm... When I turned my steering wheel in the direction of where I was working I was able to get to the nut but couldn't get it to move with just pliers lol... Didn't know of a inner tie rod tool though!

 

[CDW6212R]

BTW, the OEM TRE should have a roll pin in each, in/through the inner wrench surface. Try to get a hold of those and pull them out. You can force the TRE loose by stripping the pin off, but it's easier if the pin comes out first. I've only been able to remove less than half of those pins, maybe two out of six that I've done.

 

[willzilla]

Bah, storms today and maybe tomorrow... Right when I'm making solid progress... Though, I did run into a hiccup yesterday... I had not put on my passenger side torsion bar and.. Yeah... That was a PITA and I gave up when the bugs started to use me for dinner last night.. Lol... Looks like I will need to remove the stabilizer bar linkages so when I use a jack to press the torsion bar key up into place to slide in the nut that the torsion bolt goes into the entire car won't jack up lol :-/

 

[willzilla]

A little progress yesterday after work and before it began to rain... I was having issues getting my passenger side torsion bar in place until realizing that I had bolted on my shock already and that was preventing me from being able to use the jack to push the torsion key up far enough to get the nut in place that the torsion bolt goes into. Oops!!

Unbolted the shock and was able to jack the torsion bar into its seat, lol. Bolted the shock back down and reinstalled my stabilizer bar linkages. Now I just need to install the inner and outer tie rods (wrench came in yesterday) on both sides and tighten up the UCAs and get it aligned (and install the rear shocks)!

Reading around the forum I've def convinced myself I want a nice stout rear stabilizer bar from EE or somewhere if I can find a nice one for less with some poly mounts!

I was poking around under the car trying to find the coolant leak... It "looks" like it's the lower radiator hose leaking where it meets up with the water pump but I rented a coolant pressurizer thing earlier today to see if I can verify that and maybe I just need to tighten it down or replace the hose hopefully.

 

[willzilla]

A little more progress... I got the driver side tie rods installed (still need to zip tie on the bellows though). Also removed the passenger side tie rod but noticed the bellows had deteriorated and had to order a replacement.

A quick comparison between the OEM and Moog units (the OEM is cut in half to allow for the bellows to be removed... The stupid bolt would not budge):

And a pic of the driver side tie rods installed:

Had enough time to remove one of my rear shocks... Kind of a pain in the ass.. The bottom bolt is corroded badly... Need to find a replacement... Anyone know a part number or place to get just the bolt/nut, or, do I just get something close enough at a hardware store and call it good? Lol. Stupid new shock came with 2 new upper bolts/nuts but not the lower one :-/

A quick side by side of the OEM and KYB MonoMax rear shocks:

Question... For the tie rod installation... Should I grease the exposed steering rack piece that the inner tie rod screws into at and around the teeth? I had to clean off the spot and think it needs some new grease... Is the grease I'm using in the ball joints and what not good or do I need something specific/special?

Thanks!

 

[CDW6212R]

Place a little grease in the rack ends, but it doesn't need much at all. The same grease will work.

Spray those rusty bolts well. I will have to cut my LR shock off, the lower bolt will not come through the spring perch. I'd like to replace those perches and the bolts when I get to it again. The northern rust did them in.

 

[willzilla]

Place a little grease in the rack ends, but it doesn't need much at all. The same grease will work.

Spray those rusty bolts well. I will have to cut my LR shock off, the lower bolt will not come through the spring perch. I'd like to replace those perches and the bolts when I get to it again. The northern rust did them in.

Yeah... I had to hammer it through. The threads are completely corroded off lol.

 

[willzilla]

Had some more progress today... I'm on a MISSION, haha. Miss driving the Xploder, though, the rental car I got (Camry se) while my Freestar gets recall work done (torque converter) and rear ended damage fixed has been nice (over 30 mpg!) haha.

Got both rear shocks off.. The drivers side one is kind of a pain to get to the top nuts but nothing was rusted in place and it all came off. Got the KYB MonoMax's installed and used some new bolts/nuts/washers for the bottoms and the provided new ones that came with the shocks for the tops:

Also found my rear differential vent hose is completely broken off, lol :-/ I stuck it together (simply held together for a minute for the pic lol):

Poking around in the forums it appears it's a 5/16 hose so I will pick that up and replace it. Still need to get to the coolant system (leak) and install the last tie rod (when the bellows comes in).

 

[willzilla]

Finished! Well, mostly, lol. Got my last tie rod on and bellows buttoned up.. Of everything getting zip ties on the bellows was the biggest PITA, lol. Just need to tighten up my UCA bolts and install the torsion bar covers and torsion bolts.

I wasn't able to pressure test the coolant system as the autozone loaner tool did not fit the radiator :-\

 

[willzilla]

Bought 2 new gas lifts for the hood... Stupid thing keeps trying to decapitate me lol.

Hopefully finish tightening up the UCA's today after work and bolt the torsion bar covers and get the torsion bolts in.. This weekend I plan on draining coolant and replacing the lower radiator hose and beginning the fan conversion, new pulleys, and perhaps the 1" intake manifold spacer install

 

[CDW6212R]

The hood shocks are easy to do, smart to do those too. I've only had to replace about two sets of them, and the hatch shocks. They do last a long time, and you know how valuable they are when they get weak.

 

[willzilla]

Made some progress today! I installed the new StrongArm hood shocks which took only a couple minutes.

Afterwards I drained the coolant and pulled the lower radiator hose and found the waterpump outlet was gunked all up and am pretty sure this was the origin of the leak as I thought from looking around under the car. Perhaps the clip was a little loose and let coolant seep out which is what caused it to look all corroded and funky?

I cleaned it up pretty good with a flat head screwdriver.

I also yanked out the clutch fan and fan shroud. I didn't have the right tool for the fan removal (just the wrench thing that wrenches on the fan itself)... Thankfully I was able to brace the waterpump from moving using my handy E-350 lug nut wrench (same thing I used to help pop off the LCA's lol).

Stock fan and the Lincoln Mark VIII fan:

Stock fan was cracked pretty badly like this all over the place:

I tried to eye ball and spot check the Lincoln Mark VIII fan into position and... How the hell does it get down in there? Lol... The radiator is thin but the metal piece above the radiator is thick... And it just seemed hard as hell to push the fan down into position??

While in there I also replaced the tensioner and cpl other pulleys:

Fun stuff, lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

The Mark VIII and Taurus fan will not fit with the 302. Supposedly the V6 with thinner radiator will take them.

Apply some anti-seize to the WP inlet when you put the radiator hose back on, just a light coating to keep it from corroding. A new WP would be a good idea too if the mileage is high.

 

[willzilla]

The Mark VIII and Taurus fan will not fit with the 302. Supposedly the V6 with thinner radiator will take them.

Apply some anti-seize to the WP inlet when you put the radiator hose back on, just a light coating to keep it from corroding. A new WP would be a good idea too if the mileage is high.

Well.... FML, lol.

The Lincoln Mark VIII fan fits width wise going in sideways but is just a tad (under a centimeter) to thick... Arg!

Since I DO plan on replacing my old (almost 130k miles) water pump... Perhaps I could swap to an electric water pump that would be thinner (maybe??) that would allow for the Lincoln Mark VIII fan to fit? Hmmmm.

 

[CDW6212R]

The gap from the radiator to the WP pulley is under 4" for the original thick radiators, you must have the later half depth one yes? I've read here of members thinking it would work with that one, but I guess it's just a little too thick.

I bought the same Flexlite 180 fan that Cobra** used for his truck. He has a thread here showing how he made it fit, and those fans are pretty good.

You might be able to fit one of the Taurus fans with the shroud cut down a lot, but I wouldn't bet on it without seeing it done first. I had bought a used Mark VIII and Taurus fan before someone knew if they would fit(the thick radiator).

 

[willzilla]

The gap from the radiator to the WP pulley is under 4" for the original thick radiators, you must have the later half depth one yes? I've read here of members thinking it would work with that one, but I guess it's just a little too thick.

I bought the same Flexlite 180 fan that Cobra** used for his truck. He has a thread here showing how he made it fit, and those fans are pretty good.

You might be able to fit one of the Taurus fans with the shroud cut down a lot, but I wouldn't bet on it without seeing it done first. I had bought a used Mark VIII and Taurus fan before someone knew if they would fit(the thick radiator).

Yeah, I have the thin style radiator but the top and bottom metal piece that radiator is connected to looks to be the same one for the thick radiators so the top and bottom overhangs the radiator by a good inch or so which makes sliding a fan in more difficult.

 

[CDW6212R]

You would have to cut the shroud of the fan away to make it fit flush against the radiator. Firs check the thickness of the fan motor out to the fan blades, and see what that is compared to how far the WP pulley is to the radiator.