Max's 93 XLT 4x4

Hi All,
I have finally gotten my own explorer after a long search for a midsize 4x4 suv. I come from a ford family and have owned fords most my life so it was natural to end up in an explorer. It's still in the early early stages but I wanted to get this started to document its transformation. It has 105k on it and a very clean interior to go with it. The paint on the hood and roof are faded beyond repair so at least the hood will get a new coat of paint. Before purchase the power steering and brake lines were replaced. It has the 3.73 LS rear end, premium sound, and power cloth seats. This will be a DD and camping/off road exploring vehicle for me so the modifications will be subtle by comparison to some of the full builds here.

The first step was to try to bring back the paint that was still ok. A good coast of ColorX helped a lot. It's got lots of little chips that will be touched up but it will always be a 5 foot car. I also painted all the wiper arms and the step part of the rear bumper. I also got a set of cheap floor mats to cover the tan carpet to keep it from getting too dirty. It needs a new right side ac vent and the cover for the rear sub and the headliner needs to be re-done. I pulled off the 3 of 4 remaining vent visors and the front mud flaps as well.

Then it was parts time. A new pioneer head unit with bluetooth and 4 6x8 speakers are on their way. It has the premium sound system with the sub so I'll have to look into being able to use that too. It’s supposed to come with the proper wiring kit to connect to the amp/sub so hopefully they still actually work. Currently there is an old Sony head unit that only plays out of the front speakers so let’s hope its busted speakers and not screwed up wiring.

Then I ordered a set of 31x10.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZs and wrapped them around Pro Comp series 5129 in 15x7. That should change the attitude of it.

Further down the line it will get a set of Bilstein 4600 front shocks and Monroe load adjusting helper shocks for the rear(it’s got a little rear sag). I'd also like to convert the interior lights to led, get clear turn and marker lights, and it will need a full fluid change some day.
The day I brought it home-

Cleaned up and shined up

 

[Madmaxwell]

No work done this weekend. Two issues did come up-
1. I have been getting a clunk when turning from what feels like right under my feet. My first thought is radius arm bushings. I crawled under there and the bushings seem to be in great shape. Nothing else near that area looked abnormal. so maybe front left axle u-joint?

2. My nice new monroe load leveling shock is leaking oil on the drivers side- fast enough to make a puddle after being parked there overnight. Time to order a new set I guess. Anyone know of a better helper shock? I know I should just replace my springs and get normal shocks but I don't have the money for that right now.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Replaced the leaking shock. It had surface rust on the shaft which must have messed up the internal seals.

I was gonna bleed the brakes because there is a lot of pedal travel before it bites but forgot to get a pipe wrench and didn't want to mess up the bleeders so that will have to wait.

The pedal also drops at idle when it's stopped (after coming to a stop the pedal will drop and the truck will inch forward until you put more pressure on it). It sounds like its a master cylinder leak either internally or vacuum.

I took a look at the gas pedal because it was sitting low. There was a lot of slack so I put some zip ties on the cable to take up most but not all of the travel. The pedal is much harder to push and the trans doesn't seem happy. It will shift at 4k instead of around 3500 and doesn't like downshifting. It also seems to be slipping every now and then in 2nd.

The truck seems a little peppier overall because it is shifting higher but I'd rather not put more heat into the A4ld than necessary so I'll probably cut off a few and see how it drives.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Cut off 4 of the 7 zipties (small ones). It shifts fine again and the pedal is still a little higher off the floor.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Finally got to finish painting the hood. When I re-did the color I only had enough clear for one coat. I waxed it when it was fully cured to help it but it ended up white and faded. So now that it has warmed up enough to paint outside I did a quick sand and prep wipe and put another 3 coats on. This coming weekend I will give it a nice wet sand and buff and should have a 85% match which is all I wanted.

I also finally got the exhaust leak fixed. Instead of just having them patch it up they put on a 4x9x14" Magnaflow oval muffler. Everything else stock. It's exactly what I wanted. It's 85% stock sound with a little deeper idle and more volume. If you roll the windows up and have the music at a normal level it's actually a little quieter at cruise due to the exhaust exiting in the proper location.

 

[Madmaxwell]

A couple of problems have cropped up recently.
My HVAC motor likes to stop working. Researching here says it could be the motor itself.

Also my windshield washer fluid pump has stopped working. I'm hoping it's the relay by the air filter.

And finally the blinker likes to stick on solid some times. It would blink erratically so I got a new flasher so now it blinks faster than stock (that seems to be expected) but now it likes to go on and stay on.

The washer and the blinker both deal with the same stalk so that might be the root cause of all of this. I'll start with the relay to see if that fixes the washer fluid pump.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Well it seems the washer fluid and blinker are related to the turn signal stalk. I happened to wiggle it around (way too much slop) and the sprayers worked fine and the blinker doesn't get stuck anymore. That's good and bad as now I know what it is but that's not a cheap part to replace.

On another note I ordered a new window switch panel for the drivers side(one doesn't work and they're all almost faded away) and a new tailgate handle for the rear(the words are gone and it's faded). I also ordered a set of LED lights for the dome and cargo lights(i know its a weird bulb so i got one that should work) as well as the reverse and license plate lights. Hoping to put some new life into her. Headliner is next and then it should be good for a while.

I'm contemplating removing the lower rocker molding below the doors. For such a square body it seems weird to try to round out the edges just there. Makes it feel more grocery getter than old school square body. I know i will have to plug the holes which could look weird though.

 

[Madmaxwell]

LED's are in. I had to mess with the mounting posts on the cargo light to get it to hold the LED light but I think I got it set. Other parts get here Wednesday so this weekend should hopefully be a big weekend for the Ex.

 

[Madmaxwell]

I've been having a problem with the brakes. When I come to a stop it will lose pressure and the pedal will sink meaning I have to apply more pressure to stay stopped. My mechanic mentioned that the brake fluid water content was way too high so I figured step one was to get that replaced. I got it back yesterday and the pedal travel has increased greatly. I have to press almost to the floor to get real pressure. My mechanic and I agree that it is probably a master cylinder so that will be the next step.

Anyone else have experience with this issue? Searching leads me to similar situations but nothing exactly the same.

Also had him throw in the new plugs and wires I haven't had a chance to put in yet. He said the plugs looked old and tired. Nice to have some get up and go back

 

[Madmaxwell]

So the brake master cylinder was the issue. There is steady pressure for the whole travel and it comes on even earlier than it used to. There is no pedal sinking when at a stop.

Now I need new front coils because the braking is so good it's showing how soft the front end is with how much brake dive there is.

Slowly the check list is getting checked off. Now that it drives properly I can focus on smaller things like how my HVAC blower motor doesn't always turn on or will stay on after the truck is off. Then comes the headliner and fixing the radio issues.

 

[BigRedBastard]

This thing is a nice rig. Its way cleaner than mine, it looks like it will do what you need it to.I'm glad to see another 93 on here.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Thank you. Now that I am getting the mechanical figured out I can focus more on the appearance.

 

[Madmaxwell]

So as part of general maintenance I pulled off the air cleaner to clean the MAF and check the filter condition. Well the filter lid has two stripped out bolts and the tabs at the back are broken off. The cleaner lid to MAF gasket broke into pieces. So instead of trying to find another stock set up at a junkyard I ordered a KKM Tuning MAF adapter and filter and pre filter. I don't expect more hp, just a simpler to repair and service set up.

Next up is audio repair. The drivers rear is staticy all the time instead of just over bumps now and the passenger rear door is super muted.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Pictures finally!
Installed the KKM tuning intake adapter and filter this weekend. The directions say to take out the extra intake tube that goes from the lower font of the truck to the bottom of the intake box but I didn't see a need for that as the tube doesn't move much and don't really see a need for removing it. Other than that it's perfectly straight forward and easy to do.

Next up is the stereo issues and headliner

 

[Madmaxwell]

Bittersweet day today. I inherited a new truck so now the Ex has to go. I need to get the rear door speakers working and get the alarm to stop trying to lock the doors all the time. I also replaced the blower motor in hopes of fixing my randomly dying fans but to no avail. So I'm thinking either the resistor or the switch. This has been a great truck but it was a chance to get a 08 Colorado crew cab with 35k miles on it so I couldn't pass that up.

If anyone is interested I will sell as is for less or I will fix it up and sell it for more. I will make a proper classified post when the time comes.

 

[Madmaxwell]

New blower fan went in fine. Everything seems to be fine but occasionally it still dies on big bumps. Its about 98% less frequent but still bugs me. Going to look at the actual connection to the motor next.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Well got the stereo fixed so all speakers are working again. I got a blower motor resistor to hopefully fix this irregular issue. If that doesn't fix it I'll just sell it as is.

 

[Madmaxwell]

Truck is officially for sale in the classifieds. Make me an offer

 

[Madmaxwell]

Finally had enough of the HVAC motor being intermittent, especially because it has fully stopped recently. Took it to my mechanic to help troubleshoot and it turns out the relay in the underhood box burned out and then burned out the portion of the fuse block that it sits in. Couldn't see it until the relay was removed.

So the search begins for a used fuse block...