Help, I just bought a lemon!

[Jayco81]

Hi all, I am new to the site and need some advice about a bomb I just bought. I recentely bought a 2001 Explorer Sport that I must say is very clean for the year with 130k miles. I bought it as a backup because my F-350 gets about 5mpg and my fiances BMW is terrible in the bad weather. The first issue I have is that I always start my cars and let them run for at least 5 minutes before I drive them and once the trucks electronic choke shuts off under temp the truck either almost stalls out and at times does stall.It does this only in cold weather and it will start right up again but the idle seems low at about 500. The truck sags in the back, the front end is tight, ball joints seem ok (pryed them) yet over any bump it feels like the entire front end is ready to fall out of the truck and lastly when I come to a stop theres a big thunk somewhere in the rear of the truck (driveshaft u-joints?). Either way, I bought the truck for $3k and like I said its nice and is fully loaded but if these issues are common and costly well then its either off to E-bay or a donation of the sort. Any advice?

 

[jremington59]

Take off and clean the idle air control valve and see if that helps with the stalling. I'd assume it probably has the original shocks on the front so new ones might help that problem, as would lowering the pressure in the front tires if they're to hard. They tend to sag, but you could add a leaf to it. As for the clunk, not a clue.

Didn't you test drive it before buying it?

 

[StryctNy9e]

welcome to the site. I dont know much about the 2001 but if you just start punching phrases into the search bar you will be sure to find solutions to your problems. Thats what I did when I first started and fixed about 95% of things that were wrong on my EX when I bought it. Good Luck.

 

[alohamonte]

those are all common issues.

for idle i'd check/replace the Idle Air Flow Sensor (IAC) and check for vacuum leaks especially around the upper intake gaskets.

for the front end, first check the sway bar endlinks (they could be clunking around). how are the shocks? bouncy? ride should be tight. balljoints also clunk when they're toast. these truck burn thru balljoints every 40-60k depending.

for the clunk, it's either a body mount or like you said the u-joint. i had a clunk on my truck, turned out the bottle jack in the back was loose and banging around. check to make sure eveything is tight (spare, jack, etc).

not a lemon, these are known issues with solutions found on this site. good luck

 

[gijoecam]

For the idle issue, it's the lower intake manifold gaskets. $30 and a couple hours on a rainy Sunday.

For the clunking, check the body mounts and sway bars. Beyond that, a good suspension shop may be able to troubleshoot it better with the wheels in the air. My knocking was, at times, the afore-mentioned jack, a busted fog light in the housing, a running board plastic cover flapping, and any of an assortment of loose bottles in the back.

For the clunk, it's the driveshaft slip joint. You can fix it with some fresh grease, but it'll be back eventually. It's nothing critical though.

 

[Jayco81]

I did test drive the truck but the seller pulled a fast one on me because he conveniently just happened to get back from picking up lunch with the kids so it was warmed up. The clunking in the rear and the front end were pretty much drowned out because the street he lived on was freshly paved and I didnt brake suddenly like I have after I bought it to get that clunk. I checked around to see if anything is loose but its definatley driveline related.

Take off and clean the idle air control valve and see if that helps with the stalling. I'd assume it probably has the original shocks on the front so new ones might help that problem, as would lowering the pressure in the front tires if they're to hard. They tend to sag, but you could add a leaf to it. As for the clunk, not a clue.

Didn't you test drive it before buying it?

 

[Jayco81]

I may just do a suspension in the truck all together. There a few lift options out there such as torsion bars and rear leafs but that seems to be a hack way of doing it, so ifI find an affordable lift kit I will do it but if not I will just get a set of new rear leafs. I will spray some starting fluid around the intake area and see if it is a leak but it runs very good and has some pep so id like to almost rule that out but time will tell. Just frazzled that all of these issues popped up within the first month of owning it. Thanks for the advice. J

For the idle issue, it's the lower intake manifold gaskets. $30 and a couple hours on a rainy Sunday.

For the clunking, check the body mounts and sway bars. Beyond that, a good suspension shop may be able to troubleshoot it better with the wheels in the air. My knocking was, at times, the afore-mentioned jack, a busted fog light in the housing, a running board plastic cover flapping, and any of an assortment of loose bottles in the back.

For the clunk, it's the driveshaft slip joint. You can fix it with some fresh grease, but it'll be back eventually. It's nothing critical though.

 

[alohamonte]

if the car idles better after warming up a bit, then it's the upper intake gaskets expanding when they're hot. when they're cold they shrink creating a mini vac leak which is what you're feeling. when/if you do the gaskets most people also remove and clean the injectors since they're exposed. be sure to replace the injector o-rings.

rebuilding the front end on an x with 130k isnt a bad idea. most people including myself recommend Moog parts for this job.

 

[ylecoyote]

I have an 02 Explorer with what sounds like the same clunking in the front end. That is if your steering wheel shakes badly aslo when you hit bumps. I checked everything and replaced the left inner and outer tie rods but the clunking or shaking is still there. I believe I may have a rack or steering shaft problem. I don't know how closely related the suspension parts are from 01 to 02 but I will post what I find out to see if it helps you. If cleaning the idle speed control didn't fix the idle problem try cleaning the throttle plate with carb cleaner (oxygen sensor safe) to see if that helps, if not it also could be the air temp sensor or the coolent temp sensor.

 

[Jayco81]

Thanks for the info, I should have added that if I snap the throttle when I first start it it wont stall out when its warmed up. Im sure its a gasket like you said though just because of the poor idle. Either I have decided to keep the truck, shes great on gas and other than the few 10 year old expectencies shes a good little truck.

if the car idles better after warming up a bit, then it's the upper intake gaskets expanding when they're hot. when they're cold they shrink creating a mini vac leak which is what you're feeling. when/if you do the gaskets most people also remove and clean the injectors since they're exposed. be sure to replace the injector o-rings.

rebuilding the front end on an x with 130k isnt a bad idea. most people including myself recommend Moog parts for this job.

 

[scucci]

The Stop thunk/thump may be:
It might be this: ( you can usually feel the clunk too)- remove the slip yoke boot and clean the splines and then apply grease and add 1 0z. of grease in the boot.

tsb 04-23-7 Driveshaft thump/clunk on light acceleration from a stop or when braking and coming to a stop.

This may be caused by axle wind up creating a stick/slip condition at the rear driveshaft slip yoke splines.

A new grease is available which will greatly reduce the sticking/binding condition.


Parts kits:
F87Z-4K277-AA Drive Shaft Slip Yoke Kit (Steel Shaft)
4L5Z-4K277-AA Drive Shaft Slip Yoke Kit (Aluminum
Shaft)

Sounds as though you need upper and lower intake gaskets too

 

[SoNic67]

Dying at idle and low rpm on my Exp was due to the IAC valve...