2002 XLT seems to be falling apart! Flashing O/D light, various other issues.

[Hollander]

I'd been meaning to make a post for a while but none of my issues bothered me enough to fix them yet.

The biggest issue that made me post something is that today my O/D Off light started rapidly flashing on my dash... It seems to be driving OK. I did use my 4x4 High on the highway at speeds of around 45mph today for a distance, we had a TON of slush on the roads here. The O/D flashing consistently comes back no matter how long I leave if off or anything else. Just bought this thing in February or 2012 with 125k on it. Owner has the transmission rebuilt at 117k and I've had no issues with it.

Next up, around 2,5k RPM it sounds like a timing chains about to drop. Does this pretty consistently. Something is probably about to break.

ABS died. The ABS light is on and if I slam on my breaks on top of an icy road, they lock up. No ABS kicking in. Not sure where to start with that either.

Power windows no longer work. They stopped working one day, then started working again, then went out again, came back etc. Did this for a few days and then finally stopped all together. Thankfully they stopped working in the UP position! All 4 of them fail to work.

Power Locks stopped locking BUT they unlock just fine. When I'm trying to lock them, I can hear some type of solenoid or something clicking in the back passenger side of the SUV. I would have thought a wire in the drivers door wire-loom but I hear that solenoid clicking in the back when I hit the button or the keyfob so it seems to me that the signal is getting "somewhere".

Sigh...

 

[DAT05EXPLODER]

you probably have split wires in the door boot.

servo pistons are probably broke on the transmission.

 

[Exproblems]

Power windows no longer work. They stopped working one day, then started working again, then went out again, came back etc. Did this for a few days and then finally stopped all together. Thankfully they stopped working in the UP position! All 4 of them fail to work.

Power Locks stopped locking BUT they unlock just fine. When I'm trying to lock them, I can hear some type of solenoid or something clicking in the back passenger side of the SUV. I would have thought a wire in the drivers door wire-loom but I hear that solenoid clicking in the back when I hit the button or the keyfob so it seems to me that the signal is getting "somewhere".

Sigh...

On the windows, most likely a broken wire or two in the drivers side door boot. Take the drivers door panel off, then remove the door speaker. The speaker hole gives you plenty of room to work inside of the inner door area. Trace and look at the color of the wires coming off of the arm rest window switches and look for them where the wire bundle enters the rubber door boot. Grab each wire by hand and try to pull them back into the door. If the wire is broken, it will just pull back into the inner door area. If you find a broken wire, you will then have to look for the other end of it by pushing the rubber boot out of the door hole it sits in and into the middle area between the door and body of the vehicle. You can then push the boot at the body end into the body hole of the vehicle as far as it will go. This will give you some extra room to search the middle of the rubber boot area for the other end of the broken wire. You can repair a broken wire with a section of 12 gauge wire, "wire butt connectors" getting a good solid crimp on the connectors, or "soldering" the wire ends together using a a new section of wire. If you solder, add a "shrink weather proofing tube" to protect the new soldered ends of the wires. When adding a new section of wire, leave a couple of extra inches of wire to the repair to take the stress off of the wire going thru the boot. The wires break because of the bending stress of the door opening and closing numerous times over the years and the shortness of their factory lengths.
On the power locks, I would look for broken wires in the same door boot and repair them the same way.
On the timing chain guides, have a mechanic you trust check it out for you ASAP and I wouldn't drive the vehicle any more than necessary till it gets looked at.

 

[BigRondo]

I'd been meaning to make a post for a while but none of my issues bothered me enough to fix them yet.

The biggest issue that made me post something is that today my O/D Off light started rapidly flashing on my dash... It seems to be driving OK. I did use my 4x4 High on the highway at speeds of around 45mph today for a distance, we had a TON of slush on the roads here. The O/D flashing consistently comes back no matter how long I leave if off or anything else. Just bought this thing in February or 2012 with 125k on it. Owner has the transmission rebuilt at 117k and I've had no issues with it.

Next up, around 2,5k RPM it sounds like a timing chains about to drop. Does this pretty consistently. Something is probably about to break.

ABS died. The ABS light is on and if I slam on my breaks on top of an icy road, they lock up. No ABS kicking in. Not sure where to start with that either.

Power windows no longer work. They stopped working one day, then started working again, then went out again, came back etc. Did this for a few days and then finally stopped all together. Thankfully they stopped working in the UP position! All 4 of them fail to work.

Power Locks stopped locking BUT they unlock just fine. When I'm trying to lock them, I can hear some type of solenoid or something clicking in the back passenger side of the SUV. I would have thought a wire in the drivers door wire-loom but I hear that solenoid clicking in the back when I hit the button or the keyfob so it seems to me that the signal is getting "somewhere".

Sigh...

I had similar electrical issues with my '02 XLT. The dome lights would stay on until the battery saver feature turned them off, the accessory delay wasn't working, the driver side puddle light didn't work, the keypad on the door would set off the alarm when I pressed it, the door ajar light would flash and beep at highway speeds, the radio would shut off as soon as I turned the key off, the alarm would beep twice when I armed it. Recently all 4 windows stopped working. Most recently the driver door lock actuator stopped working.

A lot of electrical issues can be traced back to broken/damaged wire(s) in the boot between the body and the driver's door. I found 3 broken wires and repaired them. The thin black ground wire was broken and after repairing it all was back to normal. When the windows stopped working, I repaired the thick black ground wire and the windows now work like a champ. I had to repair the pink/black wire to fix the driver door lock actuator.

Here is the thread for removing the door panel: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=303524

Here is a great thread for checking for broken/damaged wires, thanks to synyster for this awesome write-up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=270081

Be sure to take your time when looking for broken/damaged wire(s). Check all the wires for breaks/damage. When you think you're done looking, look again, and again, and again. A bright flashlight can be very helpful.

I have the shop manuals & wiring diagrams and can forward info as requested.

Good luck with the fix and be sure to keep us posted.