Brian1 91 XLT 4x4

[gmanpaint]

Washboard miles = Parts on the ground.


LOL!

 

[410Fortune]

I run the Amsoil/Injen "blue" dry air filters these days, I installed a amsoil pre filter over it, I could not be happier with the way it has handled our extremely dusty environment

We have like 14 trucks parked out front at any given time (custom truck / repair shop) and we live at the end of a 2 mile dirt trail we call our road. Every once in a while my neighbor will show up with a bolt....."hey found this on the road" and I CRINGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL last time he showed up it was a rubber bump stop, I cant find any missing bump stops! drives me insane

 

[Brian1]

Last week's adventure. Off to Colorado again tomorrow to join up with a few forum members!

 

[2TimingTom]

I’ve done Hayden and Medano.

 

[Brian1]

Nice! I really wouldn't recommend Hermit. It is a rough ~16 mile roundtrip that is very slow going the whole way.

 

[Brian1]

The group run in Colorado was fun but I also did lots more exploring and camping on my own while out in the area. Here is a short video I put together of my wanderings. Everything went fine on the trip, had a strange puff of smoke out the tailpipe on a section of trail. We think maybe some oil possibly went through the PCV because it seemed to clear up. Got a few new scrapes on my rear bumper (in the video), rock slider and at least 1 wheel that I will need to buff out. Time to change the oil, get some new wiper blades and power-wash the Explorer.

 

[Brian1]

Current situation, my Explorer has been down now going on a week with 0wheel-drive. I decided to rebuild my transfer case and freshen it up, nothing was wrong with it but I did have the rear yoke come loose recently and a vibration from that so I wanted to put new bearings in it at least. I ordered up a rebuild kit and new chain on ebay from a national distributor who claims to private label rebuild kits for several other companies. It came in while I was in Colorado and I took off my case last week to start the process.

Long story short the last bearing I got to after tearing the case completely apart is the input bearing. The rebuild kit did not have the proper bearing with a snap ring groove which keeps the planetary held into the front cover. I asked the company to send me the correct bearing and their customer service has been terrible. Last response I got was "That bearing was pulled out of the kit 2 years ago because it was discontinued" and nothing else. The listing picture still shows the correct bearing. I ordered the correct bearing Tuesday morning direct from another supplier but that has yet to ship as far as I know I also ordered a new shifter bushing from a Ford dealer and that hasn't shipped either

Once the new bearing gets here, hopefully soon, I can put all the pieces back together. I plan on doing a brief/basic write-up on the rebuild (on this forum) as there really are no good tech write-ups I have found on the rebuild process start to finish. You can bet the company who supplied my kit will be getting a mention if they don't make good on it. Using their bearing would result in internal damage as the planetary and main shaft could walk without that snap ring securing the bearing in place.

 

[Scott B.]

I rebuilt mine at about 200K miles. It was actually a simple job. Fortunately, there was no major wear, and it was clean inside.

Are you replacing the pump as well?

 

[Brian1]

I rebuilt mine at about 200K miles. It was actually a simple job. Fortunately, there was no major wear, and it was clean inside.

Are you replacing the pump as well?

I wasn't planning on replacing the pump. Filter screen looked in good condition and hardly anything on the magnet. Did you swap a new pump on yours? I have no idea how many miles are on this case as I got it in a junkyard around the cash for clunkers time. Ive probably put 50k on it myself. Gears all look pretty good as well

 

[Scott B.]

I wasn't planning on replacing the pump. Filter screen looked in good condition and hardly anything on the magnet. Did you swap a new pump on yours? I have no idea how many miles are on this case as I got it in a junkyard around the cash for clunkers time. Ive probably put 50k on it myself. Gears all look pretty good as well

I did. i figured since I was in there, I might as well. My magnet was clean, as was the filter screen.

I also changed the fluid every 15K miles, which helped keep everything clean.

Is this a manual-shift case?

 

[Brian1]

Is this a manual-shift case?

Yes it is. I'll take a closer look at the pump but I think I will leave it alone if it looks good

 

[Rick]

Current situation, my Explorer has been down now going on a week with 0wheel-drive. I decided to rebuild my transfer case and freshen it up, nothing was wrong with it but I did have the rear yoke come loose recently and a vibration from that so I wanted to put new bearings in it at least. I ordered up a rebuild kit and new chain on ebay from a national distributor who claims to private label rebuild kits for several other companies. It came in while I was in Colorado and I took off my case last week to start the process.

Long story short the last bearing I got to after tearing the case completely apart is the input bearing. The rebuild kit did not have the proper bearing with a snap ring groove which keeps the planetary held into the front cover. I asked the company to send me the correct bearing and their customer service has been terrible. Last response I got was "That bearing was pulled out of the kit 2 years ago because it was discontinued" and nothing else. The listing picture still shows the correct bearing. I ordered the correct bearing Tuesday morning direct from another supplier but that has yet to ship as far as I know I also ordered a new shifter bushing from a Ford dealer and that hasn't shipped either

Once the new bearing gets here, hopefully soon, I can put all the pieces back together. I plan on doing a brief/basic write-up on the rebuild (on this forum) as there really are no good tech write-ups I have found on the rebuild process start to finish. You can bet the company who supplied my kit will be getting a mention if they don't make good on it. Using their bearing would result in internal damage as the planetary and main shaft could walk without that snap ring securing the bearing in place.

View attachment 321261

I just had to comment on the red oil can in the photo. A couple weeks ago I was filling the OD unit of the Dart with an oil can like that. I need the flexible wand to reach the fill hole. The tip of the wand broke off and fell into the OD unit Had to remove it and pull it all apart to get the darn thing out. Just something to watch out for. Mine wasn't obviously loose either.

 

[Brian1]

I just had to comment on the red oil can in the photo. A couple weeks ago I was filling the OD unit of the Dart with an oil can like that. I need the flexible wand to reach the fill hole. The tip of the wand broke off and fell into the OD unit Had to remove it and pull it all apart to get the darn thing out. Just something to watch out for. Mine wasn't obviously loose either.

Yikes! Thanks for the heads up! It is a Harbor Freight unit so it wouldn't surprise me. I'm just pre-lubing the bearings with it but I also use it to top off my trans so I will keep an eye on that.

 

[BKennedy]

If you got the kit on eBay you can initiate a return on it and they will probably send you a refund without making you send back the parts

 

[410Fortune]

Brett just rebuilt one of these for my friend, a 96 1354m............when he did he upgraded it with 2004 Ranger FXII lvl 2 internals I believe there were some upgrades in those that make them stronger? Just throwing this out there, that is about the extent of my knowledge with 1354 rebuild....I have always just put another one in when one went south

 

[Scott B.]

Brett just rebuilt one of these for my friend, a 96 1354m............when he did he upgraded it with 2004 Ranger FXII lvl 2 internals I believe there were some upgrades in those that make them stronger? Just throwing this out there, that is about the extent of my knowledge with 1354 rebuild....I have always just put another one in when one went south

I wasn't aware of any difference in the internals of the FX4 case to the standard case. The documentation from my '06 Level II didn't mention anything about any upgrades.

Of course, if I still had that truck, I could go open it up and look...

 

[Brian1]

Well there's your problem right there!

Noticed a cracked seal on rear driveshaft ujoint at the pinion so I decided to pull it out to check. Yup, that's junk. Too much dirt and water for it. They have a lifetime warranty so I'll probably just get a refund and get Spicer lifetime joints.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good catch Brian. U-joints get forgotten by many people. I've been wanting to make time to replace some of mine.

 

[gmanpaint]

Good catch X 2

 

[Brian1]

Haven't done much lately since the t-case rebuild. I am chasing a coolant leak that seems to be changing locations. It was leaking from the center of the bellhousing and now that seems dried up but it is now leaking somewhere on the passenger side area just in front of the motor mount. I can see it wet around the water pump passage on the timing cover but I think it is leaking above that and dripping down. Also, it barely passed emissions with high HC's at idle. Maybe my ~18yr old aftermarket cat is done for or the "upgrade" 4 nozzle injectors are putting out too much fuel at idle (Bosch O2 is also new). It passed for 1 year instead of the normal 2 because it was within 80% of the limit. Its due for an oil change and I will probably pull the plugs to see the condition of each cylinder to gather additional info as well as a partial teardown of the top to trace the coolant leak when I pressurize the system..

Just took a trip to explore the desert that was fun. It worked great for the 800 miles despite the problems above, good mpg's and no overheating. My friend's JP had an ignition switch part break in the column early in the trip so we had to basically jump the starter motor each stop so that has me adding the ignition switch on the lower end of the steering column to my spares box. I haven't heard of these failing on Explorers but it is cheap enough to just throw in as I do solo exploring on occasion.