2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

[willzilla]

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.

The fan that I received had already been trimmed down to fit flush against the radiator... It would fit if I could find a way to lose about a centimeter of thickness from the water pump, lol.

I was looking at a Meziere WP374 electric water pump which in their catalog shows it being 4.75" depth. Checking the stock water pump dimensions on Amazon it states 12.3 x 8.4 x 8.3 inches which I am assuming means it is 8.3" thick. If this is all true swapping to an electric water pump would easily clear the Lincoln Mark VIII fan but they are crazy expensive lol.

WP374
WP373 (same as WP374 but without idler?)
Meziere Catalog

Hmmm :-/

I see the WP373 floating around for around $400... Mustang people post they see around 10-15whp from it, wonder how accurate that is lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

You still have to have a pulley in place where the OEM WP pulley is, so the electric WP doesn't help. The belt is made to wrap enough around each pulley, taking out that WP one will not work. Check out the belt routing diagram.

 

[willzilla]

You still have to have a pulley in place where the OEM WP pulley is, so the electric WP doesn't help. The belt is made to wrap enough around each pulley, taking out that WP one will not work. Check out the belt routing diagram.

Ahh... Didn't even think about that (don't have routing diagram in front of me... Technically doing homework, lol). With the idler pulley the pump is still only 4.75" thick (versus a little over 8" for a stock mechanical water pump), without the idler pulley it's under 4.5" thick... With the idler the cost is $50-$100 more though.

 

[willzilla]

Got call from dealer about my wife's pos ford freestar... Transmission is toast. Wonderful. Thankfully it is backup car but still sucks. They are asking insurance if they are going to pay which I doubt will happen lol :-\

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry about that, transmissions are a high repair cost item. Exhaust work pays the most per hour, and the trans is second. I need to get to work on my 99, the V6 trans, and figure out what special tools it takes to do it.

 

[willzilla]

I'm sorry about that, transmissions are a high repair cost item. Exhaust work pays the most per hour, and the trans is second. I need to get to work on my 99, the V6 trans, and figure out what special tools it takes to do it.

Yeah... If insurance not covering it (drove fine before being rear ended) I will not get it repaired and still make them pay for the cosmetic repairs then trash it lol. Maybe they will total it, that would be nice.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ah, I see, you always worry about a trans from a rearend collision.

 

[willzilla]

Ah, I see, you always worry about a trans from a rearend collision.

Seriously? Lol, is that possible (it's FWD)? Or is it just a bad coincidence? The torque converter was a recall item but the dude said the transmission is toast as well (burned up). Drove pretty good (no shifting issues, etc, but I was getting the possible beginning signs of the torque converter acting up with periodic trans-axle light flicker on occasion over long distances) the few times I drove it over the past year or so (mostly it sat as a spare car and I just hadn't got around to getting the recall performed).

Once I got rear ended (not too hard, maybe 5-10mph, enough to knock me from being fully stopped a few feet forward (had foot on brake) into the car in front of me that left only minor front end cosmetic damage. The trans-axle light came on and stayed on at that point and shifting got sluggish... Drove it a few miles that day and 100 miles the following day (mostly hwy so not a lot of shifting involved) and then the day after it just took a crap and would not shift at all

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry, I didn't think that it might be FWD. The old standard of a trans being hurt by a rear collision is due to the internal parts of a trans being abruptly forced back and forth.

The FWD trans is different just by the lack of a rear driveshaft to hit it. It's possible that some impact will hurt those, but not likely at 10mph.

Unfortunately I'd bet on the problem being that the trans is fairly new(design). Ford has problems with almost every automatic transmission when it first comes out, for the first few model years.

 

[willzilla]

I'm sorry, I didn't think that it might be FWD. The old standard of a trans being hurt by a rear collision is due to the internal parts of a trans being abruptly forced back and forth.

The FWD trans is different just by the lack of a rear driveshaft to hit it. It's possible that some impact will hurt those, but not likely at 10mph.

Unfortunately I'd bet on the problem being that the trans is fairly new(design). Ford has problems with almost every automatic transmission when it first comes out, for the first few model years.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I've seen many horror stories of the torque converter and trans in these Freestars. The car came with the wife and is thankfully a backup car BUT one I'd like to have while enabling me to take my sweet time on my Xploder without being down to a single car, lol. Right now I am assuming insurance will say no on the tranny and I'm not dumping a ton of money into that POS so will sell it as is or junk it or something lol.

 

[willzilla]

Any chance someone knows what the plug for the windshield washer pump looking thing attached the the fluid reservoir looks like and is located?? I bought a used coolant overflow/reservoir box with the pump still attached and cannot for the life of me find a plug anywhere that would plug into the pump which has a male connector that looks like:

The only plug I can find not plugged into anything is a female connector completely different... Lol? :-/

Looking on rockauto I see 2 different versions of the washer pump listed under the 2000 ford explorer 5.0 catalog... Were there different pumps based on some variation?

The other variation:

That connector looks more accurate from memory...

 

[CDW6212R]

There are two WW reservoirs, the high option models have a low level sensor also. I bought one and found out that it didn't have the sensor in it. Most Mountaineers probably have the high option, things like that and the oil cooler you might have, depending on year. Mine doesn't have the oil cooler, but does have the sensor for the WW, and the oil in the pan.

 

[willzilla]

There are two WW reservoirs, the high option models have a low level sensor also. I bought one and found out that it didn't have the sensor in it. Most Mountaineers probably have the high option, things like that and the oil cooler you might have, depending on year. Mine doesn't have the oil cooler, but does have the sensor for the WW, and the oil in the pan.

Awesome. My guess is that I have the other pump thus the difference in connectors

 

[willzilla]

Still waiting to place the order for the electric water pump.. Took the time to do a few other things that I've been putting off for a LONG time, haha.

Finally replaced the cruise control switches. Mine were worn out, didn't light, and were "mushy". It was a pretty quick job.

Before:

Airbag removed:

Switches (and their wiring) replaced final result:

I also finally converted my overhead console map lights to dual 10 LED disc setup in red (to keep night vision after turning them on/off).

Beginning. Note the burned up flex cable which turned out to be broken in a couple of spots and why neither light worked for a long time:

10 LED discs installed on the top of the bulb holders facing away from the reflector which isn't needed any longer. Secured in place and sealed with hot glue:

LED discs installed back into the console and wired up. I only had red wire so all the wires are the same color but the power and ground wires on the LED discs can be wired either way and works fine. Soldered all connectors and sealed with hot glue to help prevent solder joints from breaking over time and/or coming into contact with each other:

Back side of the console after being wired up:

Map lights lit up after the console being installed back into the roof (day):

Map lights lit up at night. They turned out to be quite bright but not overpowering which is what I was afraid of if I had used white:

Going to do the same (or similar) to the mid console and rear hatch lights next!

I got the idea from THIS POST by MustangP51. Changed a few things and went the much simpler route using complete LED boards Lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

That's a very good idea, and the LED's will not tax the wiring at all. The LED's should be the weak link now, live long time.

 

[willzilla]

That's a very good idea, and the LED's will not tax the wiring at all. The LED's should be the weak link now, live long time.

Yeah. The LED disc is rated for at least 50k hours and is 160 lumen and 2.2W w/10 x 5050SMD LED's. Hopefully it "should" last longer than the life of the car itself, haha.

 

[CDW6212R]

Yeah. The LED disc is rated for at least 50k hours and is 160 lumen and 2.2W w/10 x 5050SMD LED's. Hopefully it "should" last longer than the life of the car itself, haha.

Yes, the wiring and electronics have much shorter lifespans than people think. The current going through small wiring and switches eventually wears them out.

 

[willzilla]

Yes, the wiring and electronics have much shorter lifespans than people think. The current going through small wiring and switches eventually wears them out.

Yeah... I use to work on electronic circuit cards and sensors from F/A-18, F-14, EA6B, and S3 aircraft. Fun stuff! Lol.

Bought 5 more 10 LED red discs this time off eBay. The seller was the same company I got the original discs from but had a 5 for $30 quantity discount on eBay (versus $8 a pop on their official website) w/free shipping.

I plan on putting 2 in the center console and seeing if I can fit 2 in the cargo area and will have 1 spare for whatever else I come up with or if one goes bad or I mess something up lol.

The wife gave me the go-ahead on the Meziere water pump but I have to wait until next week.. So... I plan on installing that, the Mark VIII fan, and the 1" IMF spacer... All combined I should see a nice little jump in power and an improvement in gas mileage I'd assume.

On a side note... My plastic armrest lid is jacked up and screws keep falling out... Going to temporarily glue it all back together and then eventually order a new complete lid from http://z-interiors.com/index.php

 

[CDW6212R]

I wonder how bright the white LED versions of those would be, and how they could be adjusted in that? I've collected most parts I thought of to rebuild my truck years ago, but didn't think of the wiring(light effects).

 

[willzilla]

I wonder how bright the white LED versions of those would be, and how they could be adjusted in that? I've collected most parts I thought of to rebuild my truck years ago, but didn't think of the wiring(light effects).

They would be crazy bright I'd think. 140-160 lumens each 10 LED disc. Prob be good in the back and cargo but blinding in the front. The website has lower lumen white LED disc's with less LEDs.

The 6 LED disc's are 96 lumen in white http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=277

3 LED metal surround disc 94 lumen http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=814

Other options as well.