A word of appreciation

[abritincanada]

I believe when it's worth saying to say it....I am a Brit living here in Canada.
back in England we had a 4x4 and as we had bought a little place out in the boonies we decided to get another 4x4, having heard about Canadian winters

we did not have much to buy a car with but got a good deal on a 1995 explorer limited with just 130000 kms on her,one owner. she that must be obeyed,aka ''The Wife'' would use this. this vehicle has never failed us to date...regular things like brakes,belts exhaust we replaced, along with the routine summer and winter oil changes along with winter/summer tires.

well just about a week ago the wife went out and not long after i got a call from her screaming that water was coming into the car,..yes....she had put it into a water filled ditch up to the top of the wheel arches. how this thing never rolled i have no idea...i assumed looking at the point of entry it was more than 45 degree,then she hit the water,that thankfully cut the engine because she told me she tried to start it....anyways she went into the ditch, engine stopped but she is still going forward, up a mound of earth,nose dive into the water the other side...and thats where i found her when i arrived in my 1/2 ton....i waded in up to my nut sack..dirty stinking creature infested dith water...

well i got some local boys to pull us out from the rear,i have a hitch there, and tow us about 3 kms home....thinking the worst..i had not lost my mind yet and she could not understand why....a dumb thing to do trying to steer with your knees on gravel whilst trying to open a bottle of 7 up...but as we say a car can be replaced right?
so imagine as we got out of the ditch and opened the doors....just like a comedy movies but we did not have any fish in there..lol....all the pond grass hanging from underneath etc....well next day,after being told to write it off which would not have got me much more that a few grand....i decided i just gotta try and see if she will run again....i have loved tinkering mechanics and have a fair size tool supply..so out came plugs,leads,filter and left here to air out for a few hours..went in and cranked her over...a small amount of water came out...then with air line blew into cylinders and cranked over...just kept repeating this for several hours.....i had just got a new set of front air ride shocks so if she was gonna run then i would put them on after taking all wheels and brakes of to be cleaned.....popped in new plugs,leads and filter....just a trace of water in the engine and tranny oil at moment....we are on day 2 now......stood to one side and hit the remote start....whoofff..up she fires....a few pints of water outta the rear....out came plugs and more high pressure air into engine....put together and fired up......sweet.
off came all wheels,brakes etc and checked and cleaned....believe this or not because i just couldn't....she blew the 30 amp fuse for the remote locks,seat and windows etc...but after replacement it all worked....the computer even told me i had turned off the air ride when replacing front shocks.....we left the roof open because its been nice here since the incident so let the gross smell out...:thumbdwn:
i had a heavy rumble from front side and could not see why....most of the steering had been replaced....any ways i have just finished putting on front right cv shaft and hub/bearing
i have driven about 200 kms since i got her running,had tranny flushed,engine,diffs and transfer box all done....gearbox seems sweeter than it ever has.....took a while to make sure all the dried grass etc was clear under her and around the exhaust system...she is drying out inside nicely and the smell is getting less

i aint sure if there is still a little rumble but the tires were cupped because the shocks were really bad..great ride now.....so before i get balance and tracking done i think i will replace cv shaft and bearing/hub on driver side.

the reason i am telling this story is because this site was the first i found when i wanted to check something out a while back....and i think you all need to know that the pictures and explainations to the ''How To'' sections are a god send....along with all the input that floods in about torque lbs etc....trying to understand some of these manuals are a pain because there are so many variations of models and they have u flicking back and forward....here u search.. find.. and there it is...some one ready to answer a post with help and info. Just let you all know that the time and effort you take to post these great posts are worth more than diamonds to many of us out there...do not stop.This is a great forum and when i recover from my injury and start earning some pennies i shall push something toward the upkeep..it has made this whole experience so much more easier..to take a laptop into the shop and get every thing i want while i work.
Great Job..Great Forum and a Great Bunch of people who are happy to freely share knowledge and experiences..
THANKS !

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! It's good to see a new member with a lot of patience, and the ability to search the site for answers. We have a load of information that you will not find anywhere else. This site is one of the top hits on Google when somebody does a search for Ford related information. Post some pictures of your vehicle when you have a chance.