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Help, I broke something at CCR...

Heath

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00 Excursion (THE BUS)
Okay guys here is whats happneing... There are three things...

1) When I turn on the heat/ac when I'm idling the explorer will sit there and go from about 800 rpm down to about 300 rpm and almost stall and then go back up to normal... It happens about every 10 seconds or so... Rick said that he thought it may be a vacuum line, so can anyone tell me where to start looking for this disconnected/broken line...

2) When I turn my left front tire now rubs... It didn't before... I think its just the plastic moulding has moved forward from the run... I did A LOT of clanging and banging this weekend...

3) When I accelerate hard I get a loud thunk from the left front wheel well area... Sometimes it thunks once sometimes up to three times... This is also the same side that is now rubbing...

Please help guys my baby is sick and I don't know exactly how to make her better... Any thing you reccomend that I check??? I'd rather not have to pay a mechanic to tell me whats wrong...

Thanks...

BTW the stats on the truck are as follows....

96 AWD V8
2" PA Body Lift
Shackles
TT @ about 1.25

Thanks again!!!
 



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1. Idle air control motor/sensor? If you did alot of bumping check to see if the connector is loose.
 












hmmm.....I now see that you have the V8, ok in the Haynes manual it shows it being located right on top of the throttle body....yep it's there....checked it on my mom's explorer....ya can't miss it....
 






Not sure of what is causing the problems...

But I would recommend getting yourself a repair manual. Either Haynes or Chiltons. I prefer Chiltons (lotsa pictures and diagrams). These books are both less than $20.
Even if you don't do your own repairs, it is good to have a reference to familiarize yourself with the workings of your Explorer.
As for the idle issue, disconnect the negative battery cable and wait about ten minutes then reconnect it. This will reset the computer profile to the default settings. I have noticed my Explorer running "differently" after doing high altitude runs (>10,000') then returning to lower elevations. The computer is trying to react to the environmental changes and sometimes acts up.
As for the front end issues, you gotta crawl under there and take a good look at the suspension setup. It should be easy to tell if it's just a broken or bent plastic trim piece or if something bigger is broken or missing. Look for scrunch marks on the suspension components. If it all looks OK, jack up the front by the frame and try pushing and prying each wheel to see if there is play on either side.
Hope this helps...
 






#3 Heath did we forget about our little swaybar link problem??? I would check that first.

The previous suggestions are exactly where I would start on the other 2 problems!
 






Well...

Yes I remember that... But until today I wasn't able to confirm that is what is causing it... I'm 90% sure thats whats causing the thunk now...
 






Okay well here's where I am...

I checked all the electrical type connections that I could find under the hood... It cleared up the idle thing for a bit but now its back again... CRAP...

The tire still rubs but I didn't look at that yet...

As for the thunk... WELL... Its only gotten worse... I took off the linkage and that wasn't it... I used to only do it under hard aceleration, but now its doing it almost all the time... The only time it dosen't do it is when I'm coasting or REALLY light on the gas... But ANYTIME when I start moving from a stop it does it... and when I acelerate so that I can get up some speed it does it A LOT... and it keeps going... So any other ideas??? I'd like to get this fixed soon...
 






Re: Not sure of what is causing the problems...

Originally posted by wabbit

As for the front end issues, you gotta crawl under there and take a good look at the suspension setup. It should be easy to tell if it's just a broken or bent plastic trim piece or if something bigger is broken or missing. Look for scrunch marks on the suspension components. If it all looks OK, jack up the front by the frame and try pushing and prying each wheel to see if there is play on either side.

C,mon Heath, all we can do is guess. You gotta get down there,"get dirty", and see if something is loose or bent. A recurrent clunking would indicate something is loose or perhaps a very wasted balljoint. If something is loose, it should be easy to find, and little to no cost to fix. If it's a ball joint, you'll only know by jacking it up and pushing each front wheel up, down, side to side, and look for loose joints. If it's loose enough to "clunk", you should be able to see it wobble when you push on the wheel.

PS: Get the Chilton's book. The book is your friend...
 






Yeah just get under there and start looking. You will find it eventually. Thats how I fix most things on my truck that go thunk. :) Although from this last trip I do not have any thunks yet which surprises me.
 






The THUNK./...

My father in law was having a ver lound thunk from the front end. It turned out that the T-case was binding up and engaging the front tires while he was on the road. He had to buy a new t-case.

He has the same truck you do.
 






Heath did you ever figure this out? I am having the same problem.

I am going to jack up the front end tonight to see what i can find..

Also as far as the x-case theory goes, just disconnect the shift motor and if it still does it you can rule out that area!

I know for a fact since my shift motor is not connected it is not an x-case problem.
 






Originally posted by COMMOCOZY
Heath did you ever figure this out? I am having the same problem.

I am going to jack up the front end tonight to see what i can find..

Also as far as the x-case theory goes, just disconnect the shift motor and if it still does it you can rule out that area!

I know for a fact since my shift motor is not connected it is not an x-case problem.

Since he has the 5.0L/AWD he doesn't have a shift motor because he has no low range.
 






Originally posted by Jason_25
because he has no low range.

HAHAHAHAHA you have no low range you have no low range. Sorry I couldn't resist. So did you ever get this problem fixed???
 












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