Embalmer
New Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2011
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Amboy, Illinois
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 XLT
A friend came to me complaining about vague steering in her 2003 Explorer 4X4 and a noise from the right front suspension. The engine felt like it was missing, especially at idle. Also, she was leaking power steering fluid through the passenger side boot. Truck has 184K on it and still riding on the original shocks. I checked for codes and got 2, one telling me the coil was bad (PO 351) i think, and also a bad rear o2 sensor circuit (P2270) i think.
So, I checked for any vacuum leaks, and found the hose that runs around behind the intake was falling apart, so that was replaced, and the MAF was cleaned, the coil pack replaced and then I Seafoamed the intake and fuel. Since the rear o2 was bad, I replaced them all (still original at 184K) and, boy, that was a challenge. I rented the tools from my local Autozone, and using a torch to heat the bungs up red hot, and a breaker bar on the sockets, they all eventually came loose.
Next project was replacing all the shocks and mounts. The upper mounts were rusted badly, and everything went well with removing the springs off the shocks with a spring compressor and replacing them on the new shocks. The only issue I had was the front driver lower shock bolt was rusted into the metal sleeve through the shock. I had to use my Sawzall and cut through the bolt, then grind out the piece that was left.
Finally, the leaky steering rack was replaced. The bracket that the rack bolts to has to be removed, and of course, those bolts were rusted solid. Again, I had to cut one of them off in order to remove the rack. The new rack went in fairly easily from underneath the truck, angling it up and rotating it to slide it in it's place. I connected the 2 lines and filled it with almost a quart of Mercon V. Then I started the engine and turned the wheel from side to side bleeding the air out of the system. We were pretty close to perfect installing the new rack, the steering wheel is just a bit off center, which should get her to the alignment shop without an issue.
I've worked on a lot of Fords being a Shadetree mechanic, and I enjoyed working on this truck. I was able to get a lot of good information from this forum, especially regarding the vacuum issues some of you guys have.
So, I checked for any vacuum leaks, and found the hose that runs around behind the intake was falling apart, so that was replaced, and the MAF was cleaned, the coil pack replaced and then I Seafoamed the intake and fuel. Since the rear o2 was bad, I replaced them all (still original at 184K) and, boy, that was a challenge. I rented the tools from my local Autozone, and using a torch to heat the bungs up red hot, and a breaker bar on the sockets, they all eventually came loose.
Next project was replacing all the shocks and mounts. The upper mounts were rusted badly, and everything went well with removing the springs off the shocks with a spring compressor and replacing them on the new shocks. The only issue I had was the front driver lower shock bolt was rusted into the metal sleeve through the shock. I had to use my Sawzall and cut through the bolt, then grind out the piece that was left.
Finally, the leaky steering rack was replaced. The bracket that the rack bolts to has to be removed, and of course, those bolts were rusted solid. Again, I had to cut one of them off in order to remove the rack. The new rack went in fairly easily from underneath the truck, angling it up and rotating it to slide it in it's place. I connected the 2 lines and filled it with almost a quart of Mercon V. Then I started the engine and turned the wheel from side to side bleeding the air out of the system. We were pretty close to perfect installing the new rack, the steering wheel is just a bit off center, which should get her to the alignment shop without an issue.
I've worked on a lot of Fords being a Shadetree mechanic, and I enjoyed working on this truck. I was able to get a lot of good information from this forum, especially regarding the vacuum issues some of you guys have.
