2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

After getting an estimate on how much it would run me to fix up my Xploder with all new exhaust, cold side piping, and a bunch of other stuff done up the "right" way... I've decided to convert my Xploder back to NA form so that I can actually ENJOY the truck before I die of old age.

Anyways... To start it off I ordered up a MAC cold air intake (I do not have the stock intake) and sold my FMS headers on ebay.

I plan on buying a set of torque monster headers in the next week or so but am still up in the air on how I should run my exhaust from a performance "speed" perspective. I do not plan on doing much, if any, off road driving, so am looking for a setup that improves take off and speed for spirited pavement driving that sounds good.

I already have the spare tire removed (and will be keeping it off, I have free towing anyways lol)... What would an optimal setup be with the above in mind and no worry of a spare tire being in the way? True duals (straight pipe off of each header, thru separate mufflers, and out the sides), or a dual exhaust both going into a 2 in 2 out "H" pipe style muffler and then out the sides? Or something else? In all cases I won't be running any cats.

I also plan to re-tune my car since currently it is tuned for the turbo setup which obviously will no longer apply once I rip everything out.

Thank you for any input!

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, with a cheap parts store pump($10ish) and 2-3 quarts of top brand gear oil, it's possible in 15 minutes. You have to get under it and reach the plug near the top on the left side, half way down. Be careful removing that plug, very old they may be tough to remove. It's just a 3/8" square hole, so a short extension on a ratchet easily should R&R it. The level is supposed to be about 1/4" below that hole, but typically you lift the rear with a floor jack. That tilts the vehicle downward towards that fill hole, and filling it until it begins to drain out is very close to the proper level.

 

[willzilla]

Little more details. It's been freezing rain and sleet so haven't been able to crawl under the car yet but have been forced to drive it the past few days. The whirring sound increases with pushing the throttle down and decreases when I let off. Sound is happening even when not moving. Driving to a doc apt today and the o/d light began flashing. Will try and see if I can pull the transmission codes later today.

 

[CDW6212R]

How is the trans, has the fluid been changed recently? The noise while not moving would be from the engine or transmission, can you hear it under the hood at all?

 

[willzilla]

How is the trans, has the fluid been changed recently? The noise while not moving would be from the engine or transmission, can you hear it under the hood at all?

Transmission fluid and filter are ANCIENT, lol. I've been putting off the drain and fill and filter replacement forever with just how messy it probably will be. I DO have new fluid, filter, gasket, and even a pan with a drain plug that I need to do the full service ASAP.

I ran codes and got back P0741 "Torque converter clutch circuit performance/stuck off" which in the Bluedriver software says possible fixes are: repaired auto transmission torque converter clutch solenoid wiring harness, replaced auto transmission torque converter clutch solenoid, replaced transmission filter, adjusted transmission fluid".

 

[CDW6212R]

If the mileage is high at all, it's probably a wise time to include the solenoids with the fluid and filter. They are wear parts, and one of the few that create first symptoms. It isn't extremely hard to change the solenoids, but it's worth it whether you do it or have it done.

The pan drop isn't bad if you have both a larger plastic pan that is bigger than the pan, a steel flat one from a parts store(it's about 2x3 feet), and slowly drop the pan from the low side first. Loosen all bolts slightly(half a turn) and remove all but the four corner bolts. Then lower the two corner bolts on the lowest end half way, pulling the pan loose gently and controlling the fluid fall by hand. Hold the pan up while loosening those two, then remove them, and lower the pan until 90% of the ATF is out, pan at an angle. Loosen the last two bolts until the pan is tilted enough you are comfortable with how little is coming out(all in the drain pan of course). Then you can hold the pan up by hand, remove the last two bolts and lower the pan and place it aside. If you drop the pan in that methodical order, there will be very little ATF on the floor, or your clothes etc. When you loosen the filter bolts, more fluid will drain from those two bolt holes, it will drain for a little while.

 

[willzilla]

If the mileage is high at all, it's probably a wise time to include the solenoids with the fluid and filter. They are wear parts, and one of the few that create first symptoms. It isn't extremely hard to change the solenoids, but it's worth it whether you do it or have it done.

The pan drop isn't bad if you have both a larger plastic pan that is bigger than the pan, a steel flat one from a parts store(it's about 2x3 feet), and slowly drop the pan from the low side first. Loosen all bolts slightly(half a turn) and remove all but the four corner bolts. Then lower the two corner bolts on the lowest end half way, pulling the pan loose gently and controlling the fluid fall by hand. Hold the pan up while loosening those two, then remove them, and lower the pan until 90% of the ATF is out, pan at an angle. Loosen the last two bolts until the pan is tilted enough you are comfortable with how little is coming out(all in the drain pan of course). Then you can hold the pan up by hand, remove the last two bolts and lower the pan and place it aside. If you drop the pan in that methodical order, there will be very little ATF on the floor, or your clothes etc. When you loosen the filter bolts, more fluid will drain from those two bolt holes, it will drain for a little while.

Good advice! What all solenoids are there that should be replaced? The TCC one looks simple enough, what else should be considered with the pan off?

 

[CDW6212R]

They are all similar, but the EPC is a critical one, it runs full line pressure constantly. The EPC is what controls the line pressure from low to high, I've been told to do that one every 60k miles. Even the wear of the solenoid housing can cause issues, vibration making the trans housing larger, which is not fixable. I state that but I too am behind at doing my last 98 I bought, I wanted to do it two years ago. I stopped when I was trying to figure out what hole sizes would be best for the truck models, doing the Jerry's Mod. So I also have all of the parts but never got to it, the axle bearings were higher on my list, ironic that your symptoms pointed to both of those jobs. Now I'm worried about my truck.

 

[willzilla]

Well, seems maybe my transmission is blown up now.. Had to drive a few miles to drop daughter off... car began not shifting and leaking transmission fluid. Limped it home and it's dumping fluid from somewhere. RIP.

 

[CDW6212R]

Don't condemn it yet,it may just be the rear seal or the pan gasket etc. If it leaks much the level will get low and it won't shift right. Check the fluid level and then try to track the leak to the highest forward point. My 92 Lincoln was leaking a bit when I got it home the first day, it turned out to be the pan gasket and the dip stock o-ring. I had a three foot mess the day after I got it home, and had to keep cardboard under it until R&R'd the pan, then I found the dipstick leaking once I filled it again, so then had to drop the pan again to change that o-ring.

 

[willzilla]

Don't condemn it yet,it may just be the rear seal or the pan gasket etc. If it leaks much the level will get low and it won't shift right. Check the fluid level and then try to track the leak to the highest forward point. My 92 Lincoln was leaking a bit when I got it home the first day, it turned out to be the pan gasket and the dip stock o-ring. I had a three foot mess the day after I got it home, and had to keep cardboard under it until R&R'd the pan, then I found the dipstick leaking once I filled it again, so then had to drop the pan again to change that o-ring.

Yeah, going to let it cool all down and everything before I can get into it much.

 

[willzilla]

Was fluid everywhere under the car from around this general area and back to the rear end:

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm not sure what all is on that side of the trans, that is the shift lever and range sensor on it. There is a sensor up above it on the side too, which also should never leak. If it isn't obvious where the leak is from, you might have to start the engine and try to see it in action, or clean the area and then run it. It sounds like the leak is enough to locate fairly quickly though.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah, hard to see... where did your transmission dipstick leak at? You mentioned o ring, do you know the part number for it? I already had ordered the 2 solenoids so when I get those I'll drop the pan and see if it looks blown up or whatever, lol.

 

[willzilla]

Ooo.. and I wiped down everything I could reach, will maybe spray hose under there and clean up whatever else that I can and then watch for leak location.

 

[CDW6212R]

The dipstick has an o-ring at the base of it where it pushes into the case, they get hard and brittle. The EPC should be the hardest to replace, the shift lever has to be removed some to get at it I believe. The others are side by side and not that hard to swap out.

 

[willzilla]

Didn't want to start the car up yet... Did crawl around under it some more and it looks like MAYBE the transmission overheated some and when it overheated the pan gasket failed and it leaked out fluid which hit the front drive shaft which slung fluid all over the place. Hard to tell really. I did run codes on it and it still gets the TCC solenoid code P0741 but also had a transmission overtemperature condition (P1783) code. Checked the transmission fluid dipstick and it still has some fluid in there, it was very dark, but it wasn't like bone dry or like a solid, lol, so.. maybbbeee it didn't full die on me? Haha.

The solenoid gets here in a few days and I will drop the pan and probably can see in more depth how bad it is.

Do you happen to know the part number of the dipstick o ring? I'd like to change that when I do the solenoid while I'm in there to be safe.

 

[CDW6212R]

That o-ring is part of any rebuild kit for the 4R, and any trans parts source should be able to sell it. It is likely the same one use for most of the Ford models, it should be also possible to find one locally if you called around to trans shops.

If the TCC solenoid failed in a way that created overheating, that might be the simplest cause. I'm not sue how that would make it overheat, I'm imagining it locking the converter all the time, or not at all, and that causing the ATF to heat up.

 

[willzilla]

Finally dropped the pan... fluid is darkkkkk and smells like ass, lol. Probably not a good sign but pretty sure it's 150k mile old fluid as the dip stick plug was sitting at the bottom of the pan which I'm told happens during assembly and means pan has never been off of the car, lol.

Here is how it looks with the pan off underneath after I wiped things down a bit:

And looking at the ECC solenoid replacement it looks like this roll pin needs punched out or something. What is the method for that as I don't see any way to access it from behind so I can't just punch it through like I would with most roll pins I've encountered, lol... Do I need to try and pull it out and then punch it back in on install of new solenoid?

 

[CDW6212R]

That roll pin should be no big deal to remove, unless someone knocked it in too hard. So very slowly get a solid grip of it with sharp Vise Grips, and it should come out easily. Don't try to push it in hard, just barely in enough to not fall out, the pan won't let it come out anyway. It takes a little patience to remove that large nut and fish out the shift shaft etc. Then the EPC is not hard at all to swap.

Note first before pulling the EPC, is there any play side to side? That is a wear point of the case itself, from vibration of the EPC. What other solenoids did you get? When you drop the VB you need a new gasket usually(the age), sometimes it's undamaged and can be left on. It's just as easy to do one of the shift solenoids, as all of them. Also Sonnax has a basic o-ring kit for the 4R, it replaces several of the end plugs with a new one that has an o-ring, which stops fluid leakage.

 

[willzilla]

That roll pin should be no big deal to remove, unless someone knocked it in too hard. So very slowly get a solid grip of it with sharp Vise Grips, and it should come out easily. Don't try to push it in hard, just barely in enough to not fall out, the pan won't let it come out anyway. It takes a little patience to remove that large nut and fish out the shift shaft etc. Then the EPC is not hard at all to swap.

Note first before pulling the EPC, is there any play side to side? That is a wear point of the case itself, from vibration of the EPC. What other solenoids did you get? When you drop the VB you need a new gasket usually(the age), sometimes it's undamaged and can be left on. It's just as easy to do one of the shift solenoids, as all of them. Also Sonnax has a basic o-ring kit for the 4R, it replaces several of the end plugs with a new one that has an o-ring, which stops fluid leakage.

I wasn't planning on dropping the valve body (saw a number of videos of them replacing the ecc without dropping the vb).. Is that something I should pull anyways?

If I pull the vb, is the gasket something easy to find online? And how would it best be to clean it up? Carb cleaner or something? And where are the various o-rings located? Above the vb and I'd see them once I remove it?

Thank you!