Scurvy
Active Member
- Joined
- July 3, 2018
- Messages
- 64
- Reaction score
- 4
- City, State
- Vancouver bc
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Explorer 4.0l
I am having some issues with my 02 Expo, 4.0L v6. First, some background.
I bought it last April (so ~16 months ago) and it had a thermostat housing leak. Not a big one, so I didn't get around to fixing it until a few months ago. In that time I drove the truck thousands of KM without an issue, topping up the coolant every week or two. I'm pretty sure my thermostat was also fked as the temp gauge would usually sit about halfway between cold and normal.
Since replacing the tstat housing and tstat I have pulled my tent trailer a few hundred km without issue along a combination of city, highway, and gravel roads, in addition to daily driving and an overnight hunting trip without the trailer. In this time, my temp gauge continued to read between cold and normal.
Last week I went hunting again. I was doing a good pace up a gravel road and heard an odd noise from under the hood. When I pulled over and checked my coolant reservoir was full to the top and boiling! I let it cool down, the coolant level in the reservoir came down a lot, almost to empty. I filled it up, let the truck idle for a bit, squeezed the top and bottom radiator hoses to try and burp the system. Everything seemed to be fine, so I kept going. At no point did my temp gauge go above normal.
Fast forward a bit, I'm now going up a big hill for a few km. All the sudden I get DING DING DING, my O/D OFF light starts flashing, and I lose power to the wheels. I pulled over, let things cool off for a while, fire it back up and everything seems good to go. Again, my temp gauge never went to normal, let alone above it.
After I'm done hunting for the day, I get back in the truck and head home. I get halfway off the gravel and my OD OFF light starts flashing again. Didn't loose power to the wheels or anything, still had overdrive, no difference in the way the truck was running. Pulled over, waited a bit, started driving again. Get just off the gravel, and my OD OFF light starts flashing again. Pull over. Wait a bit. This time my OD off light came on only a minute or two after starting to drive again (going ~80km/hr), and I said **** it I'm driving home unless this stops me. Drove home fine without any real issues.
I have since driven the truck around town a few times (don't go out much due to Covid these days) since then and haven't had the light come on or noticed any serious issues. However, my wife pointed out I have a small coolant leak now. Kinda looks like its coming from the water pump, but I'm not sure.
SO! With all this info, what might be my issue(s), and what might be my fixes?
I bought it last April (so ~16 months ago) and it had a thermostat housing leak. Not a big one, so I didn't get around to fixing it until a few months ago. In that time I drove the truck thousands of KM without an issue, topping up the coolant every week or two. I'm pretty sure my thermostat was also fked as the temp gauge would usually sit about halfway between cold and normal.
Since replacing the tstat housing and tstat I have pulled my tent trailer a few hundred km without issue along a combination of city, highway, and gravel roads, in addition to daily driving and an overnight hunting trip without the trailer. In this time, my temp gauge continued to read between cold and normal.
Last week I went hunting again. I was doing a good pace up a gravel road and heard an odd noise from under the hood. When I pulled over and checked my coolant reservoir was full to the top and boiling! I let it cool down, the coolant level in the reservoir came down a lot, almost to empty. I filled it up, let the truck idle for a bit, squeezed the top and bottom radiator hoses to try and burp the system. Everything seemed to be fine, so I kept going. At no point did my temp gauge go above normal.
Fast forward a bit, I'm now going up a big hill for a few km. All the sudden I get DING DING DING, my O/D OFF light starts flashing, and I lose power to the wheels. I pulled over, let things cool off for a while, fire it back up and everything seems good to go. Again, my temp gauge never went to normal, let alone above it.
After I'm done hunting for the day, I get back in the truck and head home. I get halfway off the gravel and my OD OFF light starts flashing again. Didn't loose power to the wheels or anything, still had overdrive, no difference in the way the truck was running. Pulled over, waited a bit, started driving again. Get just off the gravel, and my OD OFF light starts flashing again. Pull over. Wait a bit. This time my OD off light came on only a minute or two after starting to drive again (going ~80km/hr), and I said **** it I'm driving home unless this stops me. Drove home fine without any real issues.
I have since driven the truck around town a few times (don't go out much due to Covid these days) since then and haven't had the light come on or noticed any serious issues. However, my wife pointed out I have a small coolant leak now. Kinda looks like its coming from the water pump, but I'm not sure.
SO! With all this info, what might be my issue(s), and what might be my fixes?