Bought an Explorer at an Auction! EEK!

[FirefighterJose]

here is the start up video where the first second or so has that chain slap sounding noise
I was talking about. Then the rest of the video you hear some noise but then it goes away after a minute and my guess is the oil gets thrown around. Maybe I should use some Lucas Oil Stabilizer to keep the oil up top a little bit more...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0s-vZW_MQQ

 

[Number4]

I had to stop the video, it was too brutal. You Gotta not drive that until you fix it.

 

[eeprete]

that honestly didn't sound horribly bad, it does need to be addressed though, and anytime you hear a sound that is out of the ordinary, better to get it taken care of as soon as you can.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Start shopping for an engine, or if you have time and tools and a few bucks for specialty tools (around 200 for an otc timing kit) pull er out. Rock auto had a kick ass deal on a cloyes (sp?) timing kit that came with all the gears for 400 bucks cad. You dont usualy get the gear that drives the jackshaft, or the crank gear in the set and they will run you at least another 200.

 

[FirefighterJose]

I'm not worried about the common tick associated with the tourqe converter area, It's the first
2 seconds that sounds like a dry chain slapping around. Maybe I should swap the Chain Tensioner
and see if that does anything.

Not sure I want to put another engine in, maybe I can flip it. If I'm going to hold
onto one, I'd rather have the v8 since it gets the same MPG as the v6...

Guess we'll see.

I've been able to find a 2004 4.0L v6 with only 63,000 miles complete for $1,300.
So for what I paid for it, I could have a really low mile motor. Def interesting.
I really like the explorers, that's why I bought another one.

Edit: Holy cow you can get complete engines (No tranny) for 500 with 100k miles...
Thats probably plenty worth it....

 

[FirefighterJose]

So I finally got around to cleaning the inside of the explorer.

Removed the seats and this is the before.

After about 5 hours of cleaning I was able to to get it to this point.

Picked up the leather seats and putting those in. Should be much nicer than the cloth seats.

 

[Tyleryac]

Looks nice and clean, man. I pulled my rear seats in the hope to find leather seats as well. You wouldn't believe the amount of garbage I found (from the previous owner). I recommend that everyone take their rear seats out and give the back a good clean.

 

[fireftr]

Many peoples complaints involved replacing rear wheel bearings more than once on 02-05 models! My question is...what is causing the replacement pieces to fail at an unusually short amount of time? (Had mine done once and "sounds" like they need to be replaced again. - taking back to mechanic to see what he has to say.
My point here is: a lot of complaints, a lot of extra $$$ being shelled out, but no formal complaints/action being taken!
Why has no class action been started? I'll be damned if I have to spend any more money on this problem.
Somebody must have the answer for all this premature wear. I could see if the factory installed junk bearings, but why are aftermarket ones failing also?

 

[Sweersa]

Many peoples complaints involved replacing rear wheel bearings more than once on 02-05 models! My question is...what is causing the replacement pieces to fail at an unusually short amount of time? (Had mine done once and "sounds" like they need to be replaced again. - taking back to mechanic to see what he has to say.
My point here is: a lot of complaints, a lot of extra $$$ being shelled out, but no formal complaints/action being taken!
Why has no class action been started? I'll be damned if I have to spend any more money on this problem.
Somebody must have the answer for all this premature wear. I could see if the factory installed junk bearings, but why are aftermarket ones failing also?

My guess is the bearing assembly was too small for a vehicle the size of the Explorer.

 

[eeprete]

Many peoples complaints involved replacing rear wheel bearings more than once on 02-05 models! My question is...what is causing the replacement pieces to fail at an unusually short amount of time? (Had mine done once and "sounds" like they need to be replaced again. - taking back to mechanic to see what he has to say.
My point here is: a lot of complaints, a lot of extra $$$ being shelled out, but no formal complaints/action being taken!
Why has no class action been started? I'll be damned if I have to spend any more money on this problem.
Somebody must have the answer for all this premature wear. I could see if the factory installed junk bearings, but why are aftermarket ones failing also?

What brand were the failed replacements?

 

[FirefighterJose]

Alright so I went to pull a part today for the explorer.

Even though I scrubbed and cleaned the carpet, It just wasn't clean and still smelled.
Every time It rained and I got the floor wet it smelled like puke... :gross:

So, I went back to the explorer I got the clean leather seats from and got the carpet!

I also got the Fog Light trim, and a set of foglights so I could mess with them as a possible fog retrofit.

I got home and power washed the carpet I got from Pullapart. So Clean, no smell!
I also replaced the header panel since I picked one up last month from the junkyard.
Installed fog light trim, fog light, header panel and tightened it all down so now
the headlight doesn't shake/vibrate. It was killing me on my retro being bouncy. FIXED

So I'm going to let the carpet fully dry out in the garage for i don't know probably a week. Just want to make sure it's 100% dry on the underside before installing it.

The main issue I have is the noise it makes, but hell... 230k and $1,300 I think just waiting for the motor to crap is my best option. Then throw a low mile motor in....
The tires are great, everything else is great. Sure, it doesn't have a sunroof but
*** it... Not making a payment or out much on it anyway.

While I had the bumper off I noticed the support bar would be perfect for mounting
the 23" Cree led bar that I have laying around. Not sure I want to mess with it tho...

Father In law game me this really nice matco tool box as well

The carpet I got from the junkyard. The top is the cleaned side, bottom about to be.

The reason the headerpanel needed to be replaced. They hit something and broke it all to pieces.

I also replaced the rear diff fluid in hopes of the howl going away some.
No luck on the rear end howl (COMMON) but it needed to be replaced anyway.

Nasty nasty

Filled it with new Mobil1

I used 75w90 because the diff was stamped with it... Guy at the store said it called for 90w140 but I figured maybe the diff was
swapped out. Either way just wanted to play it safe. Heard though going to the 90w140 could help make some howl go away but oh well.

Also, I used Mobil1 LS (Limited Slip) even though I don't think I have it because there was absolutely no gear oil without the LS additive already in it...

 

[kifferarri]

There was a tsb that came out years ago to change the gear oil in the rear diffs from 75w90, to 75w140. This was to prolong the life of the pinion bearings. Not an overall big deal, it had more to do with towing and other high stress/loads than just putting around town.

 

[FirefighterJose]

Well crap then.... I guess I'll swap it out.

Thank you

 

[Sweersa]

Nice work! Keep it up. I have a 2005 XLT with the V6 SOHC. It's at over 183,000 miles and still running OK. I change the oil every 3,000-4,000.

At one of my trusted mechanics, there is one identical to it, sitting in their parking lot with the same engine. It blew at around 260,000. I'm hoping to get to at least 250,000 before needing a new replacement engine on mine, the dropping another in it.

 

[96firephoenix]

If you haven't addressed the noise, I had a similar one that went about 80% away when I relocated an O2 sensor wiring plug that had flopped onto a heat shield...

It sounds like yours is a lot worse than that, but still something to check on before you strip the tranny out.

 

[FirefighterJose]

sweersa,
Yeah this one has 230k miles and I'm just hoping for another 10k out of it!
Then again, I really don't drive it that much. In the last two months I've put 900 miles
on it. My job is only a few miles away. So even 5k miles would net me a year!

96firephoenix,
Hey thanks, I'm going to get under it today and look around and see if I can get lucky enough that it's not inside the motor.
Really really crossing my fingers! I did notice the sway bar links up front broke so the sway bar isn't connected. I found front end kits for 150 online that came with Upper Control arms, ball joines and everything so that's probably my best route when Im ready to replace it. Thing is, it rides so smooth without it haha.

 

[Sweersa]

sweersa,
Yeah this one has 230k miles and I'm just hoping for another 10k out of it!
Then again, I really don't drive it that much. In the last two months I've put 900 miles
on it. My job is only a few miles away. So even 5k miles would net me a year!

Nice! I'd say drive it until it dies, then have a new engine dropped in. I put on around 15,000 miles a year, so I keep my fingers crossed!

 

[Hank102938]

Looking great! I can speak to the difficulty in removing carpet smells. I accidentally left a gallon of milk under the rear passenger seat following a grocery run. One hot summer day later, I had about a half gallon of spilled, rotten milk to clean up.

The wiring harnesses and sound dampeners adhered to the floor were about the only things retaining funky smells after cleaning. If you still have stray smells give those a whiff and an extra scrub if necessary.

 

[Sweersa]

The carpet in the rear passenger of my explorer has some rust stains from the seat brackets that are bolted down, which have some rust.

Are those stains hard to remove?

 

[FirefighterJose]

I'm going to say yes because this new carpet has a couple rust spots
from being in the junkyard. I found someone used it to unload a car next to it so it was full of car parts.

However, Pressure washing, scrubbing and repeating made a huge difference.

The only issue is dry time. I was able to take it to work and place it under a gas shop heater for almost 18 hours. I rotated and flipped it every couple of hours and had I not done this I don't think it would have ever dried. The underside insulation was soaked and certainly would have stayed wet and molded ( I think ) had I left it to drip dry in the garage.

I'll post some photos, Maybe today when I swap it out.