Beginning of a beautiful journey, 2000 Explorer SOHC

[Pekka]

So I bought a Ford. Now I have to deal with it..

Six months ago I switched from a tiny rust-ridden Mazda3 GT to this rather huge SUV and I've been pretty happy with it. No leaks, plastidip is going away slowly with every wash and revealing something that seems like perfect chrome. I'll post pictures later.

However...

Case #1. Car battery died during the winter. I switched the battery and now A/C doesnt work. I have to look into that later.
Case #2. Car wobbles. Almost everything is loose in the front. Bought new bushings, ball joints, the whole shebang and right now I'm waiting for FedEx to bring the package to me.
Case #3. Car has too little body lift to my liking. New lift kit has been waiting for a couple of months for better weather.
Case #4. Now this is something I would like to discuss about. The timing chain. I've decided to do the repairs myself since I don't want to pay the car's worth in money to someone to do the repairs. And my mother has always said I can achieve anything if I really try my best
Now the thing is that I've found a 2000 V8 ex from a junkyard and it seems to have a working engine and transmission AND the price is decent. I have to pull the engine out of the car anyways so why not take the extra mile and throw a V8 inside! Installing a BW4406 transfer case could be done at the same time, if I manage to find one, Ford trucks aren't a thing up here.

edit: removed imgur link

 

[donalds]

Welcome to the forum
All the things you've talked about you can find info on start a thread for the timing chains and or the v8 swap and lots of members will be there to help and give idea's

 

[Pekka]

Thanks!
I've been rummaging through the forum and read several threads about the timing chains. This forum truly has an incredible amount of knowledge.
Biggest question right now is whether I should to try and repair the V6 at all or switch straight into a V8. There are obviously a lot to consider, mostly for the V8 swap. The junkyard find hasn't been started for at least couple of years and I might have to put of new parts into it before I can even consider using it, although the seller is saying the engine is all good.

TLDR I can't decide pls do it for me

 

[donalds]

Lol do what I did put in a remanufactured engine wait a year then put a blower on it

 

[Pekka]

Decided to buy the V8 from junkyard. Going to fetch it later this week. Door ajar alarm tried to make me insane the whole week so I had to do something. Found out that all the rear door jamb switches were busted. I pulled them out and managed to get two of them working. I left one disconnected and I'll buy a new one. Lots of WD40 and happy thoughts

Fedex brought several bits and pieces to counter the wobble problem. Maybe next weekend..

 

[Pekka]

After spending 17 hours of driving with a trailer, at least 150 litres of fuel and an undisclosed amount of cash money, I finally have a front half of a Ford Explorer V8... But wait a minute, why does it look a bit weird when I start to examine it a little closer? Seller told me it's year 2000, by the look of it this one is made in 2002.

Then it hits me. I just bought a 3rd gen ex with 4.6L V8.


This is going to get interesting.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Ouch.

 

[Hacra]

Judging from your name, you're maybe from Finland, welcome to the forum

2nd gens are great fun, but do require some love.

 

[Pekka]

No mutta kiitoksia!

Decided to do the engine swap. It's been done before and I don't have much choice either. Right now I've been dismantling the '02 front half and had a lot of fun. Original engine makes a lot of deathly rattly noises but still runs so I have at least a couple of weeks before it gives out..

Forward, said granny in the snow

 

[donalds]

Subscribed

 

[Pekka]

I managed to pull the body and frame apart, right now the body is hanging from the ceiling of my barn. I didn't have the time to finish because I had to go to work.. I broke only a couple of hoses and almost killed the transmission shift cable, luckily I saw it in time. The AC unit is still connected to the body, and seems to be alive because it still has the cool juice in it. I might have to use the '02 AC parts in my car, that remains to be seen. I'll pull the AC unit out as a whole and get it emptied in a repair shop nearby. Tomorrow I'll throw the engine and transmission to my neighbour who will check them out. Next week will be full of woes; taking apart the engine and waiting for new parts from overseas.

I have absolutely zero trust in myself and I am 100% certain that this project is doomed to fail from the beginning. But I will know later if I was wrong all the time or was all this effort just a big waste of money and time. There's no way to win

I have NO mechanical skills whatsoever. I can barely begin to understand how to use a screwdriver. But why to start a project this big, one might ask! I haven't got anything better to do and I'm too stubborn to just quit and get a new car.

 

[Mbrooks420]

If you successfully pulled a cab with no experience, you’re doing okay.

 

[Pekka]

If you successfully pulled a cab with no experience, you’re doing okay.

Well I can read and follow simple instructions, also Youtube helps a lot. Monkey see, monkey do

 

[Hacra]

Are you planning to use the 4.6 ECU or going aftermarket?

Edit: Take pictures, because rest of us are very curious.

 

[Pekka]

I'll try to use the 4,6 ECU first.

Imgur link on the first post.

 

[Pekka]

Pulled last of the wiring and electronics out of the cab. Lots of broken wires, a major PITA when I start to rewire the car.. Gotta find wiring diagrams for both 2000 EB and 2002 XLT.

I cleaned and examined the wires. Wiring to the rear of the car is gone of course, the person who cut down the frame and cab didn't bother much being careful with wiring so there's a lot of broken wires.
There's a weird jumper cable coming from the 4x4 Motorola box and going... somewhere? Also headlights have something going on. But I don't have to worry about those.


EDIT: Didn't take long to find the 2000 diagrams. I love this forum already.

 

[donalds]

Labels label label label
And please post some pictures as you go

 

[Pekka]

Couple of more pictures on the imgur link in the post #1.

 

[Pekka]

So I bought an year subscription to alldatadiy and downloaded a bunch of '02 wiring diagrams and with those my neighbour built me new wiring. Plugged them into the engine, added a fuel pump and tried to start.

Engine does crank but it won't start. No weird noises though, so it's pretty promising.

The question is: What do I actually need to start the '02 V8 engine? Right now I'm hotwiring the car from starter, I've bypassed (put together) the wires for fuel pump relay and the immobiliser. Spark plugs are getting electricity, fuel pump gives a tremendous amount of fuel pressure and starter is cranking the engine but still nothing.

 

[Hacra]

I have no actual knowledge of this, but does 3rd gen have some sort of anti theft system which might prevent it from starting? (also simplest thing, grounding of engine ok?)

Edit: Afaik forscan could program the PATS?