rumpledoll
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- 2002 Eddie Bauer V6 4WD
I've been bitten with the DIY car bug, haven't felt this way in years. We have a 2002 4WD V6 (4.0L SOHC) Eddie Bauer Explorer with 61,000 miles on it than was my wife's primary mommy car until March of 2007 when we purchased a new car for her use. As I take the train to work the Explorer sat around used lightly.
In the last few weeks I have done the following:
1) New battery as the old one wouldn't hold a charge
2) Oil changed with Purolator filter and 5 Qts. Yellow Bottle Pennzoil 5W30. Next time I'll use Pennzoil Platinum synthetic 5W30.
3) New Purolator air filter. Old one was dirty leaf encrusted - yuck!
4) New serpentine belt. There is an annoying squeak that I can't track down. It's not the idler pulley or the tensioner as both were removed and inspected and found squeak free. I suspect the fan clutch or water pump but this is hard to trace down for sure!
5) Drain/refilled the green IAT coolant with more green (Zerex) coolant. 50/50 antifreeze/water ratio.
6) New fuel filter from Purolator. This was a pain in the arse but the old one was very close to being fully clogged and had a high restriction when blowing through it.
7) New double platinum spark plugs from Champion. The old Motorcraft spark plugs were all at a 0.063" gap rather than in the 0.052" - 0.056" spec. They were also pretty worn looking and it need of replacement at the 61,000 miles. Ford says they are good for 100,000 miles but these would not have made it for another 40,000 for sure.
8) Drained/refilled the transfer case with Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF which is Mercon V rated. The old ATF in the transfer case was a deep brown with no hint of red. Ford called for Mercon rather than Mercon V in the case, but as Mercon has been discontinued I went with the Mobil 1.
9) Changed the rear differential gear oil. The old fluid was pitch black. I used Lucas Synthetic 75W140 gear oil which has limited slip friction modifier already in the oil as I have a D4 limited slip rear diff.
10) Changed the front differential gear oil. The old fluid was grayish which was odd looking. I replaced it with Valvoline 75W90 Synthetic gear oil. The original oil was non-synthetic 80W90.
11) I put a bottle of Amsoil P.i. in the gas tank to clean whatever crud it could from the fuel injectors, back of the intake valves and combustion chamber.
I took a trip on the GSP (Garden State Parkway) and set the cruise control to 57MPH. For ~60 mile round trip I averaged, according to the dash display, 23.7 MPG which is better than the Explorer ever got on the highway previously. I'm pretty pleased with how the old truck is doing.
Around town I've been getting 15.5 MPG or so lately, which again isn't too bad. No quick starts, no heavy acceleration.
Next up is dropping the transmisison pan and changing the filter and as much ATF will come out.
Rumple
In the last few weeks I have done the following:
1) New battery as the old one wouldn't hold a charge
2) Oil changed with Purolator filter and 5 Qts. Yellow Bottle Pennzoil 5W30. Next time I'll use Pennzoil Platinum synthetic 5W30.
3) New Purolator air filter. Old one was dirty leaf encrusted - yuck!
4) New serpentine belt. There is an annoying squeak that I can't track down. It's not the idler pulley or the tensioner as both were removed and inspected and found squeak free. I suspect the fan clutch or water pump but this is hard to trace down for sure!
5) Drain/refilled the green IAT coolant with more green (Zerex) coolant. 50/50 antifreeze/water ratio.
6) New fuel filter from Purolator. This was a pain in the arse but the old one was very close to being fully clogged and had a high restriction when blowing through it.
7) New double platinum spark plugs from Champion. The old Motorcraft spark plugs were all at a 0.063" gap rather than in the 0.052" - 0.056" spec. They were also pretty worn looking and it need of replacement at the 61,000 miles. Ford says they are good for 100,000 miles but these would not have made it for another 40,000 for sure.
8) Drained/refilled the transfer case with Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF which is Mercon V rated. The old ATF in the transfer case was a deep brown with no hint of red. Ford called for Mercon rather than Mercon V in the case, but as Mercon has been discontinued I went with the Mobil 1.
9) Changed the rear differential gear oil. The old fluid was pitch black. I used Lucas Synthetic 75W140 gear oil which has limited slip friction modifier already in the oil as I have a D4 limited slip rear diff.
10) Changed the front differential gear oil. The old fluid was grayish which was odd looking. I replaced it with Valvoline 75W90 Synthetic gear oil. The original oil was non-synthetic 80W90.
11) I put a bottle of Amsoil P.i. in the gas tank to clean whatever crud it could from the fuel injectors, back of the intake valves and combustion chamber.
I took a trip on the GSP (Garden State Parkway) and set the cruise control to 57MPH. For ~60 mile round trip I averaged, according to the dash display, 23.7 MPG which is better than the Explorer ever got on the highway previously. I'm pretty pleased with how the old truck is doing.
Around town I've been getting 15.5 MPG or so lately, which again isn't too bad. No quick starts, no heavy acceleration.
Next up is dropping the transmisison pan and changing the filter and as much ATF will come out.
Rumple
