Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[Turdle]

Outta the blue, and into the black

 

[vroomzoomboom]

idk, looks like you got this with no problems

 

[Turdle]

idk, looks like you got this with no problems

Keep telling me that, maybe I'll believe it.

 

[410Fortune]

That looks very nice!

 

[Turdle]

Woot!

Got the upper on and bolts in on first try! Myself.

Split a 1 3/4 " long chunk of 1/4 " hose to use as rear upper bolt holder. Place gasket by lifting, then use the rear holes as gasket targets. Make sure to plug in new pcv first, then all vacuum lines. Now you can do the gasket.

Might not sound like much but that means I didn't mess up a gasket.

I

 

[vroomzoomboom]

<iframe src="Oprah Winfrey GIF by Golden Globes - Find & Share on GIPHY" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="">via GIPHY</a></p>

 

[Turdle]

All hooked up, R/O water to fill flush, 3 turns of key to prime and Betty fired right up.

I found several small unmetered air leaks doing this work also. Biggy was oil breather line into air intake. I used a screw clamp to tighten that.
Other small air leaks evident at throttle body gaskets, and egr gasket.

 

[Turdle]

All new this session
Injector o rings, injector connectors, all coolant hoses, tensioner and idler pulleys, throttle body and elbow gaskets, egr gasket, lower intake gasket, pcv valve and hoses, valve cover gaskets, and got rid of the blue

 

[Turdle]

I'm happy to report, no leaks at all, no smell, and she's running better than ever now.

 

[Turdle]

Except for the dang timing cover . Oh gravel in my coffee

Tried k seal , thought I bought time but nope.

I'm not going to second guess, new cover , gaskets, bolts and rtv coming via Amazon.

Teardown begins on 3

1, 2

 

[Turdle]

No matter how many times I do it, need joe dirt's radiator how to.

Stupid smart clips

 

[410Fortune]

They get easier
I use robo grips to squeeze the tabs
I put the v6 setup in whenever I get a chance

 

[CDW6212R]

Except for the dang timing cover . Oh gravel in my coffee

Tried k seal , thought I bought time but nope.

I'm not going to second guess, new cover , gaskets, bolts and rtv coming via Amazon.

Teardown begins on 3

1, 2

I hope it goes better for you this next time Jon. I put mine off when I bought my latest, it had a minor leak at the timing cover. I got through Winter, but in late March the stop leaks(Bar's Leak Copper seal, and K-Seal) weren't helping much.

The prior owner had changed the WP, so the bolts let go easily. But the timing cover they evidently disturbed when they loosened all those bolts, and the gasket seeped at the left coolant passage. I spent plenty of time cleaning the surfaces around the timing cover and oil pan etc. With Ultra Black in the corners, anti-seize on the bolts, plus the gasket Spray a Gasket, it hasn't leaked in two years. Take your time and do it well.

 

[Turdle]

Taking a reading break, water pump and harmonic balancer are removed, rediator draining upside down

 

[CDW6212R]

I water hosed my radiator for several minutes to remove as much of the stop leak as possible. I have a minor leak at the lower radiator hose(screw clamp), popping the cap shows a tiny amount of sludge build up on the cap. So it's not easy to clean the system. I drained my system after it was assembled and filled, twice. These have excellent cooling systems, except for the awful radiator mounting of the condenser.

 

[Turdle]

It's the small square tab on the bottom driver side corner.

Thanks Don for the advice. Parts won't be here till Thursday so I have lots of time.

Slightly intimidated by the timing cover bolts. They like to break off .

 

[CDW6212R]

I still have a hard time understanding why no one ever made replacement bolts, besides Ford. They obsoleted them in about 2009 IIRC, I tried once in that year range to buy spares.

 

[Turdle]

I found arp 154-3202

Rockauto says for front cover with aluminum water pump. Fingers crossed

Also there is arp 154-3204

 

[CDW6212R]

I took notes in 2021 when I did my timing cover etc, wrote down the original bolt lengths. At that time ARP still didn't have any bolt kits which matched the needed lengths, only about half of their kits had useful bolts. I have two or three of those kits, I managed to save all but two of my old bolts. One was a bad replacement(wrong threads and length but they screwed it in), and one as too short(1/8" of threads). So I replaced two with generic grade 5 bolts, not perfect but close to the right lengths.

The lengths are wild, there are several different lengths, many 1/4" increments from 1/2" dimensions. To do it properly, the holes should be all measured anew, compared with the OEM, and new lengths chosen. Then ask ARP if they have those specific lengths, obviously without stud threads of course.

 

[Turdle]

All timing cover bolts out, including the oil pan to cover bolts, 4 of em.

I must be missing something. Got a wiggly cover but it isn't wanting to let go.