Explorer-Mountaineer parts swap questions.

[Duranged84]

Have an 03 Explorer that I'm tearing down for parts for my 03 Mountaineer I just bought. I want to swap the interiors. The Mountaineer has tan (trashed worn) interior, the Expy has very nice gray interior. Both cloth, both power seat, adj pedals, 3rd row, same over head console rear hvac. Etc. The Mounty has heated ext mirrors where the exp does not. The exp has the auto dimming mirror where the Mounty does not. What about air bags? Can I use at least the gray pass bag from the Explorer or will it depend on build dates? I also would like to use the exp steering column as its in better shape and steering wheel itself is 10 times better. How hard would it be to swap ignition switch and will Mounty air bag work in it wiring wise? Probably stupid questions as they are so close but have seen things on other "twin" vehicles have different wiring colors and connectors before. Also the Mounty gauge cluster is really dim, will the Explorer cluster work? Both are non info center vehicles. I also only got one key with the Mounty, already programmed explorer remote to it, but can I swap locks and have 2 keys for it? Is it a module I can swap from the Explorer for the chip to match or is it in the ecm? I plan to gut both trucks in a couple days to start the swap.

Also, the Mounty is awd where the Explorer is 2wd. Will the front hubs/rotors brakes etc interchange? The Mounty is currently 2wd but have not crawled under to see the extent of how they disabled the awd. Seller disclosed that the front diff is bad and was "converted" to 2wd. Will replace whatever all it needs soon but want to get everything I can use off the Explorer at the moment.

Cliff notes -- want to swap entire interiors, optioned identical inside except for auto dimming mirror, would like to add. Air bags work? Front brakes/hub bearings interchange? Possible to make explorer keys work by changing security module or something? And one small not so important question, will the Mounty hubcaps fit the Expy stock 16s? (Expy is currently being stored about 20 miles away or I'd already have checked) Mounty wheels were very neglected and one has a nasty gouge in the bead area but has had new tires put on. I just don't like it plus they look kinda crappy. Will be installing new heater core as well as my good blend motors, etc.

one last quick thing, how hard is it to swap the door glass in these? Mainly how hard to swap without possibly screwing up regulators. Expy has nice dark tint.

 

[Duranged84]

Need to know any info on this dash/wiring. still getting chilly at night and need to do heater core while this is all out. Also need to replace rear heat lines, have a busted line right under passenger front door. On the steering column/ignition cylinder, Will I just be able to put the current Mounty Key/cylinder in the Explorer column and the Mounty Air bag? Only option difference Im seeing so far is the expy has the auto dim rear view, and the mounty has heated exterior mirrors. Option/switch wise, these seem to be the only visible differences inside. Do I need to keep the current dash harness thats attached to the mounty dash or will it all work? Seen in another thread that the stereo harness plugs in on the right side somewhere by itself too, is that correct? My main concern with changing harness is that the PO of the mounty cut the stereo plugs off and hardwired a different head unit. I would like to replace or repair the factory plugs using the Expy harness if possible without a bunch of ghetto hacking and splicing. Also seen, and cant find again, a thread where someone did a heater core without undoing the AC in the dash. I dont mind cutting the HVAC box if I can seal it back up, and not have to disconnect the AC.

 

[firefly1246]

I personally don't know the answer to most of your questions. Looks like you would be the perfect person to let everyone know the answer to many of them, as not many have a mountaineer and explorer lying around. My personal opinion is that most everything is interchangeable. I do know that the gauge cluster is only interchangeable from awd to awd and 2wd to 2wd, and not with 4wd as mountaineer didn't have that option. In terms of the key, I would just get another copy made, it will take you a ton of effort to switch the keys over, and if I remember correctly it only cost ~$45 for another key.

The front hubs, and wheel bearings are identical between the 2wd, awd, and 4WD, explorer, aviator, and mountaineer. The brakes are identical on the explorer and mountaineer. My assumption with disabling the awd is by removing the front driveshaft or the front axles. Either option would require you to obtain another one. You just need to take a look underneath the vehicle. If the AWD is broken, it is either the transfer case of the front diff.

 

[Duranged84]

I plan to document, much of it. I got the explorer home tonight, (ok its 2am, so last night) Have a few things to do tomorrow, (today) then will be starting on them. Its late so forgive me, Little confused on the clusters. Is it AWD-AWD only, 2wd-2wd only, and 4wd-4wd only? Or AWD-2wd but only 4wd-4wd? Also, neither have the info center, think I mentioned that above.

I finally peeked under truck better and they removed the entire front diff/cvs except the end in the wheel bearings, x-fer case is there, but probably bad coupling. Ive seen people disable the awd, take front drive shaft out, cut cvs or remove them, but this is the first one of these ive seen them take the diff out too. Oh well. For what I have in both trucks, I cant complain. The explorer gave me 2 and a half years of good service till some BS came up, then trans pretty much toasted, etc... But good side of things is I paid cash for both and still under book value for just one in average condition, for both of these together. I will try to take pictures of the heater core/dash removal and may try to put together a write up on it. I see several posts on here asking for it and no real solid answers. Plenty of quick fixes for flipping the blend door, or getting to the blend motor, etc, but not actually taking everything out and repairing the core.

On the keys, I think I will just swap the ignition cylinder to the expy column, then put in Mounty, then go have another mounty key cut/programmed.

One more little bit, The Mounty has the quietest rear diff Ive ever heard (not heard) in one of these, feels good and solid. I havent really done anything to make it spin to see if its LS or open, but pretty sure its been out. The tag on it is kinda messed up where someones had it off and didnt put it back on very nicely. Its supposed to have a 3.55 in it, BUT, the tires are the right size according to the door sticker, and the speedo is reading faster than GPS speed is showing. 70 on the speedo is actually pulling 66 on the GPS on different devices with gps functions. My therory/question is, is it really a 3.73 rear diff that somebody put in and just put the other tag on to cover their butt, which would possibly explain the front diff removal/possible x-fer case damage. Whats some more pointers to determine which gears its got without opening it up?

Sorry for the book post, just been waiting to get on this project for a while and finally getting somewhere.

 

[firefly1246]

You can swap the gauge clusters, it is just that an AWD Mountaineer Cluster will have a AWD light, if you put it in a 2WD Explorer the light will not turn on. If you have a 4WD Explorer and try to put in a AWD Cluster you will not have your 4WD Low and 4WD High lights. So technically if you have a 2WD vehicle you can accept any of the clusters.

You can always count the number of revolutions of the axle vs the driveshaft. Here is a video http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-Gear-Ratio

It sounds like you are missing just about everything for swapping it to AWD, sounds to me if you really want AWD you will need to take a trip to the junkyard or you can just keep it 2WD.

I was reading up on getting the keys done. Sounds like you can order a kit where you can program it yourself and then just take the key to any key place and have them cut it to match your existing key.