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Blizzard my 94 Explorer Build

Y'all think maybe the coil pack could cause these issues?
I thought I read before about similar issues and they replaced the coil pack and it worked. I have the coil pack on the other motor that I believe is good so I could pull it off and see.

Also reading that the engine temp could cause it so I am not sure yet. I think what I need to do is drive the truck until it starts acting up then pull the codes.
What are your guys opinions on this?
Should I make another thread on this to get more answers or is this fine?
Trav
 



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Thanks unfortunately that confused the crap out of me probably because I barely understand electronics. I will show my dad it and see if he understands it. If not we will just have to go out on a limb and pull the coil pack off the other engine and put it on hoping it is good.
Trav
 






Look at the picture in that post, that's all you need. The coils are arranged in pairs; front, middle & rear. You want to test each coil so touch the multimeter probes to the front left and front right terminals. Then the middle two, then the rear two. Measure the resistance. Then on the 4-pin plug, look at the diagram, it shows you to hold 1 probe to 1 terminal and with the other probe, touch the other 3 terminals, measuring each ones resistance.
 






Ok I didn't understand one thing you said. LOL
I will figure it out though I usually do thanks for the link.
Trav
 






Replaced the ignition control module. Was talking to a few guys on another forum and they recommended that. I went straight for that as I have had full size fords act exactly the same and that was the culprit. I had one from the parts truck and verified they are the same so swapped them. Didn't take long nor was it hard.

Going to take her for a test drive hopefully today. If not that going for the ignition coil/ coil pack.
Trav
 






Well ended up replacing the coil pack/ignition coil with one off the spare engine. I kept getting the same 217 code still so I put the coil pack on and turned the key started even easier had even more power so I put it on a reader and no more codes! So had to run some errands so I left a tow strap in the 97 Expedition since my mom was staying home drove to town to the local cell shop (had problems with my new phone) then drove to check out another truck and then went home. Ran like a top. Dad drove it to town and to the guy with the truck. I drove home and I have to say not bad for a little truck.

So now I am back on the road again with her (good thing because I now have 3 vehicles going instead of just 2 where as I am suppose to have 4 (my 02 got a flat and I can't afford to fix it just yet needs a whole new tire).

Now fixes needed still:
power steering leak
doors still don't work in the rear
tires hum really loud (I had that problem when they were on the B2 also)
now pulls to the right a bit (probably alignment this time)
Hatch lock still won't work at the key up (don't mind since I just use the power door locks)
need to find out if the 12 volt outlet works so I can charge my phone
Trav
 






Well decided to put this in here even though it isn't much of an update but I am thinking I need to play with the tire pressures because going down these crappy backroads makes the explorer fishtail like crazy at almost any speed. Plus on the backroads it rides rougher then my dad's 89 F250 with a TTB D44HD.

Been driving her even more and the fuel mileage has gained and so has the power.


Got a question for y'all:
I know the A4LD transmissions are probably the weakest transmission Ford ever made but I have a 16ft flatbed trailer that once in a while I haul light loads like a couch or something like that and I was wondering how y'all would feel pulling it?
I don't know the explorers and rangers well enough to say that I am willing to do it without somebody saying they think it is ok. I pull the trailer all the time with the 84 Bronco 2 but it is a stick shift and it is usually just around the yard plus in 4x4 (I rarely take that truck out of 4x4).
Trav
 






The A4LD is more of a lightweight transmission. It's one of the things Ford cobbled together for the 1st gen Explorers as part of their learning process. It's not horrible, it just gets a bad rap because people try to haul and offroad with it and abuse it in stock form and it ends up breaking. The 4.0L Explorer is the largest engine (as far as I know) Ford ever put in front of the A4LD, compared to the 2.3L engines of the Mustang & Ranger setups. The A4LD is pretty capable just as long as you treat it right. Change the fluid often, keep it cool (rad+factory aux cooler+more wouldn't hurt), never haul in OD and don't abuse it.

For what it's worth, the A4LD in my Ex took a dump and the previous owner had a lot of parts upgraded in it and afterwards used to haul firewood in a heavy trailer. I don't know how many miles it has on the rebuild but it works pretty well for me now with some minor issues that don't concern reliability.

Just make sure the weight is balanced properly in the trailer, and have all the extra precautions of towing. The Explorer isn't a very heavy vehicle and tends to get pushed around with larger loads.
 






I would agree, keep the trans cool and you'll probably be fine.

From what I have seen, many issues with the A4LD are caused by lack of adequate factory cooling (it always running hot), not so much because the trans itself is weak. Ford's bright idea was putting the trans cooler in the radiator where it's already in contact with the 190-something degree engine coolant. Adding a good-sized auxiliary cooler after the factory unit should improve things a lot.

You said it had 3.73:1 axle gears so that also helps take some load off it as well. (many came with 3.27s which just compounds the A4LD's issues)


As for the rough ride/fishtailing, it might be that it needs new shocks.
 






Thanks guys for all that information I won't be pushing the truck hard when it comes to heavy loads I have my 02 F250 and dad' 89 F250 to do the job. I do have the factory trans cooler also so that sounds like it helps. Only mod done to the transmission is that it has a B&W torque convertor as the original from the parts truck went bad so I transferred it over to this truck.


Shocks on this truck were replaced about 15K miles before I bought it. (first owner of the car owned it till 242K when the engine supposedly seized my buddies brother then bought it and never touched it then my buddy traded him for it and right away sold it to me). Anyways the first owner (whom I believe was an older couple) bought it and took it to the dealership that they bought it from ever single time right on time for every service that could be done so it has a lot of newer parts already in it. That was another thing that sold me and had me wondering how in the world could the motor sieze up and once I had it out turns out it didn't just the dealership. I found some records in the truck that they probably bought a new explorer.



The other day me and my dad went out doing some light trailing I took the explorer he took his 89 F250. He was smart enough to go and lock his truck in 4wd I was a bit stubborn and did not (I figured I wouldn't need it). So got to some really soft dirt and didn't have very much speed on it and she really got a little slippery but I pushed her pretty good and made it through it soft dirt a few times and just kept doing the same thing never got her stuck but sure did burn some rubber that day. I had pushed it pretty hard and the temp gauge rose to the M so I parked the explorer off to the side and let it cool down as I didn't want to overheat it. When I noticed my dad was still running cool and he was pushing his truck even harder I locked it in 4x4 High and went all the way without slipping a tire except once where I did a 4wd burnout right in soft dirt. LOL She really has a low 4wd I was very surprised she could keep up with my dad's 89 F250 (which has a low granny gear and 4wd high ratio). Right now she is very dirty from the dust all over her and such. If I didn't have limited slip I probably would have gotten her stuck in 2wd. I love a good working limited slip (one of the things the Bronco 2 doesn't have that disappoints me). I am going on the same trails probably next Saturday but this time I am going to lock it in 4x4 right away so that I can go farther and longer.
Trav
 






Well yesterday I had picked up a set of 31 10.5 R15s for my 88 F150. I had great 235 75 R15 tires on my 88 F150. So I grabbed the jeep wheels and put my old 235 75 R15 tires on them and put those wheels and tires on my Explorer. Blizzard rides, looks, and feels even better. They don't rub at all anywhere!
Pics
SANY0431.jpg

SANY0432.jpg

SANY0433.jpg

And the new wheels and tires on my 88 F150
SANY0426.jpg
 






If you take the plastic "Tupperware" off the bottom edge you will gain a little bit more clearance and you can easily put them back on if you ever want to sell it.
 






I haven't decided if I am going to pull them or paint them black. I kinda started to like them. I am worried however about when I take it trailing about breaking them.

Another thing is we haven't decided if we are going to sell it or not. I like having it for getting around cheaper on gas but I always like having a full size ford pick up truck (hence why my 88 and 02 gets the most attention).
Trav
 






Just finished refilling the A/C. Took a can and a half.
Idiot kid at O'rielly told my dad he needed to buy the conversion kit I walked out their just now and noticed it was already R-134A. The kid even looked at it and said it was R-12. Oh well I have to go back up their anyways so will return it or maybe I will keep it for my 88 not sure yet.
Trav
 






Well yesterday took the Explorer to go get some more A/C refrigerant for the other trucks and I also had to get some tools. Next thing you know I start hearing this loud noise can't really describe it but it got louder with higher RPMs so being my dad was driving again we pull of the road I never even looked at the gauges figuring my dad had and I pop the hood. Next thing you know coolant comes flying out of the overflow box. The truck overheated. I called my mom to come tow me home with her 97 Expedition and while I was waiting I did some diagnosing. It turned out to be the water pump finally went after 143K on the original one that was in the ranger (since I put the ranger engine in here). So I went next door to napa bought a brand new water pump, water pump gasket, and decided to also get a thermostat (stock 195*) and thermostat gasket just so I know it is brand new. So luckily I had bought a torque wrench yesterday so now today hopefully I will replace the water pump and all the parts I just bought then get to the bronco 2 fix what it needs then put the new pads on my 02.

Hope your guys and gals day goes better.
Trav
 






Well found out yesterday I didn't have all the tools so went down and got the fan clutch release tool, new upper and lower hoses. Got home late so I put all the new parts on today and fired her up and she runs great. No more putting water in going to run straight coolant.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to test out my new pressure washer.
Trav
 






I hope that when you say "straight coolant" you mean 50/50 mix.
 






Yep exactly what I meant. Last time I had started adding to much water so now I won't be doing that.
Trav
 



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Well explorer let me down. I went to the eye doctor and on the way back the tire tread separated flew up put a decent sized dent and broke the tail light. Got her home just barley on the spare with the wrong lug nuts.
All damage on the passanger side.

So repair list includes:
tail light
tail light bulb
tail light harness
pull dent (which we got mostly)
new tire

luckily that's it that we know of.
Trav
 






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