MTNCLMBR
New Member
- Joined
- January 27, 2018
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Rockies
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 XLT V6 4x4
Hello all! I'm looking for suggestions and perspective on my DIY maintenance efforts. Hopefully, providing more information will be better than less.
Some background:
I started working on my wife's 2002 Explorer, after we got married last year. It is the XLT V6 4x4, and has about 123k on the odometer. She bought it from her uncle in AZ, who owned it from 63k-100k, ca. 2010-2015. He bought it from winter visitors who lived in Oregon (and came to AZ for winters, towing the Explorer behind their RV, which by my calculations could be up to 19k miles). He changed the oil every 4k, put a K&N air filter on it (at 63k), and changed the fuel pump soon after he got it, and said he used a Ford pump. He changed the serpentine belt, and the brake rotors once. He did nothing else. It was used as a family hauler. My wife bought it summer of 2015. We plan to keep it for 2-4 years more.
I have changed the oil & filter a few times, cleaned the MAF once (bank 2 too lean code, resolved), and wife's uncle (different one) replaced the thermostat housing, topping off the coolant.
Currently, I've noticed the following:
- averaging 17mpg
- coolant leaking from thermostat housing, from near sensor on the top.
- ride is a little bouncy, and rocks side to side a lot when driving over gutters, driveways, etc. Jounce test shows front shocks worse than rears. All four corners have rusty shocks that say "REFLEX" on the side, I assume Monroe. Wife's uncle did not replace them, so that must have been from original owners, so at least 60k on them. The spring around the shock has a red tag, mostly illegible. Springs look decent, not sure if they are original, or were replaced with shocks (as an assembly). I read OEM rear springs had a tendency to break.
- rear passenger outer CV boot is slightly torn (<1" slit), some grease spun out, grit inside boot
- front UBJ boots are completely cracked, dry
- current p0172 too rich code
- intermittent airbag light
- door ajar light always on
- alarm will go off randomly when parked. After disturbing neighbors too many times at 3am, I pulled out the fuses for the horns.
- recently the car will resist starting when engine is warm, especially if briefly cranked (not long enough to start), then trying again, won't start. Cranking while giving it some gas gets it going. This has happened twice.
I looked up the maintenance schedule from Ford, and made a spreadsheet after not finding a good chart online. In the picture, the blue is time owned by my wife's uncle, green is time owned by my wife. Green indicates services performed, Red indicates services missed. I bolded the R (Replace) / P (Perform) for those I am very sure of.
I plan to address:
- rear CV
- leaking thermostat housing
- front shocks (but perhaps all 4)
- spark plugs
- change ATF (perhaps filter also)
- Front UBJs & UCAs (read that Ford intended they be replaced as a unit)
- perhaps PCV valve
- perhaps front/rear diff. fluids & transfer case fluid
- lubricate driveline / suspension (recommended grease?)
My questions:
- What should I focus on first? What can wait?
- Which of these parts/fluids need to be Ford/Motorcraft? Which ones don't matter?
- Shocks alone vs. Shock + Spring assemblies? I see a set of all 4 assemblies for about $200 online, not sure if these are poor quality. Autozone quoted me over $250 EACH for their assemblies. I'm not going to drop a grand on shocks. I'm all for saving money, and am pretty handy, so using a spring compressor doesn't scare me, but I don't want to waste my time either if the cost is close, or if the springs might be worn out.
- CV boot kit or entire CV? Replace in pairs or just the one?
- Other thoughts? What else should I look at?
Some background:
I started working on my wife's 2002 Explorer, after we got married last year. It is the XLT V6 4x4, and has about 123k on the odometer. She bought it from her uncle in AZ, who owned it from 63k-100k, ca. 2010-2015. He bought it from winter visitors who lived in Oregon (and came to AZ for winters, towing the Explorer behind their RV, which by my calculations could be up to 19k miles). He changed the oil every 4k, put a K&N air filter on it (at 63k), and changed the fuel pump soon after he got it, and said he used a Ford pump. He changed the serpentine belt, and the brake rotors once. He did nothing else. It was used as a family hauler. My wife bought it summer of 2015. We plan to keep it for 2-4 years more.
I have changed the oil & filter a few times, cleaned the MAF once (bank 2 too lean code, resolved), and wife's uncle (different one) replaced the thermostat housing, topping off the coolant.
Currently, I've noticed the following:
- averaging 17mpg
- coolant leaking from thermostat housing, from near sensor on the top.
- ride is a little bouncy, and rocks side to side a lot when driving over gutters, driveways, etc. Jounce test shows front shocks worse than rears. All four corners have rusty shocks that say "REFLEX" on the side, I assume Monroe. Wife's uncle did not replace them, so that must have been from original owners, so at least 60k on them. The spring around the shock has a red tag, mostly illegible. Springs look decent, not sure if they are original, or were replaced with shocks (as an assembly). I read OEM rear springs had a tendency to break.
- rear passenger outer CV boot is slightly torn (<1" slit), some grease spun out, grit inside boot
- front UBJ boots are completely cracked, dry
- current p0172 too rich code
- intermittent airbag light
- door ajar light always on
- alarm will go off randomly when parked. After disturbing neighbors too many times at 3am, I pulled out the fuses for the horns.
- recently the car will resist starting when engine is warm, especially if briefly cranked (not long enough to start), then trying again, won't start. Cranking while giving it some gas gets it going. This has happened twice.
I looked up the maintenance schedule from Ford, and made a spreadsheet after not finding a good chart online. In the picture, the blue is time owned by my wife's uncle, green is time owned by my wife. Green indicates services performed, Red indicates services missed. I bolded the R (Replace) / P (Perform) for those I am very sure of.
I plan to address:
- rear CV
- leaking thermostat housing
- front shocks (but perhaps all 4)
- spark plugs
- change ATF (perhaps filter also)
- Front UBJs & UCAs (read that Ford intended they be replaced as a unit)
- perhaps PCV valve
- perhaps front/rear diff. fluids & transfer case fluid
- lubricate driveline / suspension (recommended grease?)
My questions:
- What should I focus on first? What can wait?
- Which of these parts/fluids need to be Ford/Motorcraft? Which ones don't matter?
- Shocks alone vs. Shock + Spring assemblies? I see a set of all 4 assemblies for about $200 online, not sure if these are poor quality. Autozone quoted me over $250 EACH for their assemblies. I'm not going to drop a grand on shocks. I'm all for saving money, and am pretty handy, so using a spring compressor doesn't scare me, but I don't want to waste my time either if the cost is close, or if the springs might be worn out.
- CV boot kit or entire CV? Replace in pairs or just the one?
- Other thoughts? What else should I look at?