2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

[willzilla]

I got the tune in this morning... Quickly flashed it onto the Xploder and started it up for the first time since doing the plugs and wires and...BAM.... Runs like ****, lol.

I'm thinking maybe I switched a wire around or something but did not have time to look at it and had to head into work so took my backup ride (Freestar) and will have to delve into the truck after work tonight.

 

[willzilla]

Ok.. I am an idiot.. I did not gap the damn spark plugs.. They were listed as being pregapped on Amazon but now I'm looking around and people are saying they don't come gapped or if they do it's rarely accurate. Blah.

 

[Dono]

well, recheck wire positions, and gap. Then you can log and send the results to James.
Who knows, it could be lots of stuff at this point. No worries, you will get it sorted out.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah, that's the plan.. Going to first check/gap all of the plugs to 0.054 and verify wire positions and then see if that helps

 

[willzilla]

Have not got around to working on the Xploder yet since everything above, lol.. Will over the weekend.. Have been messing with the spare vehicle (2004 freestar 3.9)... Ugh... One thing after another! Lol.. Alignment is jacked up so driver side tire has been chewed up (outside portion of tire) pretty bad, which I knew about and will get aligned once I replace the tire... But I recently put on a new EGR valve (a pain in the ass), which fixed engine code and the stumble... But, while putting on the new EGR valve I noticed a big hole in my PCV valve hose which has been killing the car at idle and causing all sorts of other problems.

Anyways, I ordered what I thought was the right part on rockauto and got the wrong part in, turns out there are 2 variations of the hose, one they carry, one they do not and the one I need is a dealer specific hose or whatever.. Got a refund (rockauto helped me out right away which was awesome) and ordered it from Tousley.. Hopefully I get it by mid next week. Right now I have the hole half-ass patched with aluminum foil and hose tape w/zip ties, lol.

* A generic shot of the 3.9l engine in the freestar (not of my actual engine), the hose that with the hole in it is the big one to the right of the coolant fill top that then runs up and off to the left a bit and back into the top part of the engine.

Would a big hole in the PCV valve hose also cause brake issues by affecting the brake vac booster in such that I get no booster assist in braking?

And on TOP of everything else my damn transmission/transaxle light has been flicking on the hwy, oh joy... Though transmission shifts and seems just fine, so, I'm sure it is one more headache to deal with soon :-/

 

[willzilla]

Found I'm completely missing the 2 bolts to adjust the front end height lol.. What is the official name of these as I'll need to buy these lol.

I yanked the spark plugs out and gapped them to 0.054... Re-booted up the car and it idles great and drives 100x better BUT if I punch it the truck pegs high on the AF gauge and is sluggish... Emailed Henson to tweak the tune.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'd get a used pair of those adjuster bolts, cheaper than Ford.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah... Need to find some... But I think new ones are only like $10 or so thru Tousley for a pair... Not sure if I'm missing keys as well or not... Need to double check.

 

[willzilla]

Nice... Just talked to tousley ford and Steve has the adjuster bolts for $1.10 each :-D I just want to raise the front up about half an inch or 1" up off the bump stops.

 

[willzilla]

Installed new PCV valve and PCV hose on the Freestar.. drives much better but the tranny seems to be having issues as well, lovely. Lol :-/

Hope to datalog the Xploder soon so I can get that tune finished up so I can drive it around again.

 

[willzilla]

If any of the geniuses around here could offer a little input on my Ford Freestar issue I posted at this thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3007440#post3007440 - that would be awesome Lol.

Will work on datalogging my Xploder today/this weekend so hopefully I can get the truck up and running smoothly soon.

 

[willzilla]

Datalogged the Xploder Friday and was seeing A/F over 19 when I try to punch it.. Lol.. Sent Henson the datalog Friday night so hope to get revised tune soon so I can start driving the Xploder before the Freestar grenades on me lol.

 

[Dono]

a bit rich...
James has my tune perfect. I was getting detonation after upload, and detonation would come and go at different load/rpm's. It all seems to magically be disappearing. Not sure if that's normal or not, but my truck is running better and better.

I just thought I'd mention this as you may experience the same thing once James gets the rich condition sorted out. I'm interested to find out if you experience this also.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah... his last tune before the larger AMSOIL dry filter and 90mm LMAF was spot on.. I upgraded those parts over the stock MAF and smaller MAC intake air filter and he re-did the tune and it's been rough since. I think he just needs to tweak it more as it's a completely new and larger MAF so a lot harder to tune until he gets in some datalogs and such.

 

[willzilla]

Got a 2nd tune and truck drives 100x better... Data-logged and sent it back to him for some more tweaking.

Cylinder 6 started misfiring again.. Ugh... Damn NEW taylor wire touched the header and burned the outside layer off.. Stupid heat sock slipped down and exposed the wire :-/

Hope I can get a replacement single spark plug wire!

 

[CDW6212R]

Very good, now fix that wire right.

 

[willzilla]

Yeah, lol, ordering a replacement wire... Taylor said it would be $18.50 and would come with another heat resistant sock thing which is good since it would allow me to stack 2 of them high for extra safety! lol. Cars runs fine now that I covered up the burn mark so it can't touch the header but want to order a new wire to be safe.

Also.. damn brake pads squealing like mad... Pads not even that old but are cheap, lol, so, ordered new front and back sets.

 

[willzilla]

The second version of tune the truck is driving very nice... just got a 3rd version I have yet to load into the Xploder to try out and see how it's been improved further Sounds mean tho, that's for sure.

 

[willzilla]

Well.. have been crazy busy.. Kicked the Freestar to the curb and said F it, got tired of messing with it and it was a spare car anyways, lol.

One of my HID ballasts took a **** on me.. So...That sucks... Going to look to replace both and the bumbs as it seems a better deal to replace entire set than individual components AND I'm not sure what brand or any details on what is on the truck currently anyways... Serial number on the ballast matches nothing online :-/

Also just replaced my brake pads... Damn things were squealing just driving around so new ceramics are on (same ebay brand which worked great for 2 years)... Damn things brake nicely but squeak a little on light brake pressure now (no sound on hard braking or driving around, odd.. Maybe just because they are brand new and haven't bedded in at all, dunno).

Hope to find a new HID kit soon and put in some fresh AMSOIL motor oil and filter soon as well.

 

[TekMan05]

http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/ They're a little pricey but the Ballasts are awesome. I kept my Xentec bulbs and these ballasts made them shine whiter/brighter. I do get an occasional issue where sometimes they don't always come on the first time with the switch?!? You ever had that issues with HID's? My stang does this on occasion too.