New guy checking in, and showing some progress

[Zorin]

Hey, gang, I'm Tim.....and I come from having a few Jeeps to the Explorer. Had a '95 Grand Cherokee, that I still have with 354,000 miles, and had a 2000 Grand Cherokee V8.

The itch struck me to get another SUV, and frankly, the Jeeps have not been my cup of tea for the last several years (hate how they look now), so I bought a nice 2006 Explorer.

It's an Eddie Bauer, with the 4.6L V8, 4wd, and nearly every option including the rear bucket seats, power sunroof, sat-nav, all sorts of stuff.

The first thing I had to do was a driver's outer tie rod end. The ball was ready to pop right out of the socket - this roasted the passenger front tire, cupping it badly, and after inspecting the date codes on the tires (2010), I put a new set of Falkens on it.

The next issue I found was a terrible roaring that I initially thought was the cupped tire I had rotated to the rear, however, that was not the case. It turned out to be the right rear wheel bearing:

The wheel had absolutely zero play.....but it sure made racket!

I searched on here for any advice to do this job beforehand, but no one shows how the 2006-2010 comes apart...it's all 2002-2005. See those three bolt holes in the lateral arm? Someone at Ford got really happy with the Loctite on those, and they required a torch to heat them up a little and release the Loctite. Once that came free, it was smooth sailing.

Right now, the Explorer is driving pretty close to a new one, however, we do have a few minor issues still to look into:
1. I have an illuminated MIL, the code is showing the EVAP circuit. Tells me the EVAP solenoid is likely bad.
2. The passenger side mirror has a broken standoff that holds the backing plate to the motor assembly....can't get just the attachment assembly that goes between the motor and the mirror backing plate, so I will find another mirror to put on it.
3. The biggest issue that I see, is that at exactly 44 MPH, it locks and unlocks the torque converter so much it feels like a gear hunt. I do a lot of highway driving, so it usually doesn't do it, but when I am in town, I kick out the O/D, and it calms it down. I will be changing the transmission fluid and filter, and having the latest calibration uploaded to it to see if this helps it out.

That's where I am for now, if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

Thanks guys!

Tim

 

[Partsman109]

Welcome to the site!...nice Explorer.

For the mirror, are you looking for the black, plastic that’s adhered to the back of the glass that snaps/clips on motor?

 

[Explorer_PL]

Welcome to the forum. I just rode a 2016 GC my cousin bought last year, and I was surprised how comfy it was, and what a great improvement it is over the square, boxy cheap looking ones from mid 90's and early 2000's - no offense

I have exactly same car like yours but black. You will find lots of info on this forum, just do a good search and if you run into some issue, most likely someone had it here already. I have had mine for 10-11 years, 254k miles. I f you can turn wrenches, good for you. They are great trucks but need lots of maintenance and small repairs here and there. I have done the rear and the front bearings probably dozen or more times - it's one of the most common failure on these cars. Since you have v8, I would check when the last time the spark plugs and coils were changed. I would change them anyway using Motorcraft parts. You would be surprised how many things the plugs and coil affect on the Explorers - including weird shifting, and shudder. Just be careful, the plugs tend to break in the heads requiring special tool to remove the bottom half. Radiators tend to crack at some point, mine did at 150k miles.
How many miles on yours ? Your torque converter may be bad, mine went south at 200k miles.

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Wow, I like those two tone seats. Looks sweet! Plus I like the white/chrome.

I too have that #3 issue you listed with the gear hunting. That's the biggest gripe I have with my Explorer. I can deal with my noisy manifold leak, but I do pretty much 99% of my driving at 35-45mph which is the prime area for the problem and having to toggle the O/D on/off is a PITA. I was logging in all my problems on this thread I found and hijacked -
Vehicle surging with shudder/maybe torque converter clutch?
Still haven't found a fix for it in over a year. My plan is to take it into the dealer to get the PCM updated but I've been saying/trying to do that for a while now... I'm willing to make a guess that it's my torque converter that needs replaced.

 

[Zorin]

Welcome to the site!...nice Explorer.

For the mirror, are you looking for the black, plastic that’s adhered to the back of the glass that snaps/clips on motor?

Thanks for the welcome and the compliment!

Yes, I think that is the part....it has the two yellow chingaleros that push into the motor, plus the connection that snaps into the center to hold the glass upright....and the mirror backing plate snaps around it to hold the glass to it.

Welcome to the forum. I just rode a 2016 GC my cousin bought last year, and I was surprised how comfy it was, and what a great improvement it is over the square, boxy cheap looking ones from mid 90's and early 2000's - no offense

I have exactly same car like yours but black. You will find lots of info on this forum, just do a good search and if you run into some issue, most likely someone had it here already. I have had mine for 10-11 years, 254k miles. I f you can turn wrenches, good for you. They are great trucks but need lots of maintenance and small repairs here and there. I have done the rear and the front bearings probably dozen or more times - it's one of the most common failure on these cars. Since you have v8, I would check when the last time the spark plugs and coils were changed. I would change them anyway using Motorcraft parts. You would be surprised how many things the plugs and coil affect on the Explorers - including weird shifting, and shudder. Just be careful, the plugs tend to break in the heads requiring special tool to remove the bottom half. Radiators tend to crack at some point, mine did at 150k miles.
How many miles on yours ? Your torque converter may be bad, mine went south at 200k miles.

Hey, none taken. The Explorer is a whole different world from the old Grand Cherokee.

My Explorer has 113,000 miles on it. Interesting back story to this car.....I'm decently known around here as a pretty good wrench, this particular car I picked out for the previous owner two and a half years ago when he came to me and asked me to find him an Explorer. During his ownership, I have done all of the service to it, the first of which was to replace a faulty electronic throttle, and to replace all of the spark plugs. I could probably stand to have a look at the coil springs/boots on this one, and maybe do a power balance test to see if we have anything oddball. Since then, I have done the brakes on it, and diagnosed the engine light. Then he decided he'd rather have a Mustang, and sold me the Explorer.

Wow, I like those two tone seats. Looks sweet! Plus I like the white/chrome.

I too have that #3 issue you listed with the gear hunting. That's the biggest gripe I have with my Explorer. I can deal with my noisy manifold leak, but I do pretty much 99% of my driving at 35-45mph which is the prime area for the problem and having to toggle the O/D on/off is a PITA. I was logging in all my problems on this thread I found and hijacked -
Vehicle surging with shudder/maybe torque converter clutch?
Still haven't found a fix for it in over a year. My plan is to take it into the dealer to get the PCM updated but I've been saying/trying to do that for a while now... I'm willing to make a guess that it's my torque converter that needs replaced.

Thanks, man! The interior is one of the things that really drew me to it. Plus I had never seen an Explorer with rear buckets.

I read your entire thread last night, and followed your diagnostic approach. I'll be sure to keep you updated with what I find on mine. Not to toot the horn, but I used to work for a Ford dealer as a driveability technician, finding these little odd hiccups and whatnot is exactly what I used to do. Maybe I can figure this one out....but I refuse to believe the torque converters go out as often as people claim. The Crown Vic/Marquis/Town Cars used to do a similar thing, and half the time it needed a good trans fluid change, and the other half, believe it or not, was the DPFE sensor causing the oddest miss you ever saw. Of course, one way to solve the issue is to get a tuner, and have them modify the TCC schedule.....this is where I like Chrysler's strategy on it. Keep it engaged until you reach x low speed, or the brake is depressed.

I'll let you know after I get it changed out with a new filter, and have the newest calibration uploaded to it, perhaps they have updated that little quirk out of it.

 

[07EddyB]

Looking GOOD! MY EX is also a white Eddie Bauer - white is a boring color but man does it hold up well over the years. I have the camel interior (2007) and have found Lexol to be a good cleaner for those almost white seat inserts. They are the worst part of the interior for me.
Glad to hear you've worked on Ford's professionally. I have several dozen questions.

I'll let you settle in first

 

[Zorin]

Ask away, my friend, people have been firing questions forever, LOL. It bothers me not.

However, I DO have a question for you.....you use Lexol on the seat insert? Mine is the Preferred Suede thing, and the driver's seat was badly pilling when I bought it. Oh, who am I kidding, it still is! However, I tried working the pills out, and then using our Bissell steam cleaner on it. It worked OK.....I imagine it would work better had the steam cleaner not burned out halfway through cleaning it.

 

[07EddyB]

Ask away, my friend, people have been firing questions forever, LOL. It bothers me not.

However, I DO have a question for you.....you use Lexol on the seat insert? Mine is the Preferred Suede thing, and the driver's seat was badly pilling when I bought it. Oh, who am I kidding, it still is! However, I tried working the pills out, and then using our Bissell steam cleaner on it. It worked OK.....I imagine it would work better had the steam cleaner not burned out halfway through cleaning it.

Oh - I forgot about the preferred suede option. Mine are run of mill pleather that I use the Lexol on. I don't believe it would work on suede.

 

[Partsman109]

Thanks for the welcome and the compliment!

Yes, I think that is the part....it has the two yellow chingaleros that push into the motor, plus the connection that snaps into the center to hold the glass upright....and the mirror backing plate snaps around it to hold the glass to it.

I changed my wife’s passenger mirror assembly on her ‘09 a few months ago, the glass was still good...but I’m not sure if I tossed it or not. I’ll check and let you know.

 

[Zorin]

I changed my wife’s passenger mirror assembly on her ‘09 a few months ago, the glass was still good...but I’m not sure if I tossed it or not. I’ll check and let you know.

Partsman, that would be KILLER if you happen to have that laying around. Let me know, and we'll work something out if you have it!

Thanks again!

Tim

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I so wish I could have found a white v8 not having that bench for row #2 is badass and would kill for that..... I got that pueblo gold that nobody makes a not expensive rattle can for paint touch up .... i found a couple websites but $20 or more for a rattle can geeze

 

[Zorin]

Thanks, Motor City! My Explorer did come with a few little scrapes on the Pueblo Gold. Luckily, I was able to work most of it out with my buffer:

Tim

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Thanks, Motor City! My Explorer did come with a few little scrapes on the Pueblo Gold. Luckily, I was able to work most of it out with my buffer:

Tim

I was pretty sure the EB brown is "arizona beige" but maybe 06 was different.... but even from your pics it looks totally different from my color

 

[PotatoExplorer]

I was pretty sure the EB brown is "arizona beige" but maybe 06 was different.... but even from your pics it looks totally different from my color

Off topic, but I love how bull bars look on these explorers! I was toying with the idea of plasti dipping the slats around the Ford logo black and adding a chrome/black bull bar.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

ive since used 63 cans of brake cleaner to remove my trial of gold duplicolor pretend plastidip and added a 22" lightbar...i wish I could color match but that would cost $90,000.....i love the look of the bullbar but dont believe for 2 seconds it would protect anything but it covers the hack job drill holes from the ohio front plate BS

 

[PotatoExplorer]

That's a boat load of brake cleaner! Didn't it strip the chrome coated plastic grille? I've got a weird ripple in mine... I'm assuming its from one of the previous owners tapping into something.

So you don't think it would even protect the bumper from light taps? I'm not trying to plow over a deer at 35-45mph, I'd just like some added protection when I'm pulling into a spot and I have to pull in tight up against a cement wall or a wooden fence, or maybe one of those parking spots that has one of those light poles with the cement bases on the line. I push on my front bumper a little (usually to do a rock test when it's up on a jack/stands) and I swear to god that my bumper is going to break apart.

 

[Zorin]

I thought about picking up a chrome cowtipper to go on the front of mine......but with those things having the headlight guards, I found that no one makes the taillight guards to match.

So I figured it wouldn't look complete.

Tim

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I didn't mean it as 0% protection.... just if it hits something I see it bending at the mount tabs and helping the destruction of the front end..... I watched many youtube vids and break clean was the winner and it didn't hurt the fake chrome one bit and the exaggeration was more like 5 cans and I still have the slats to clean and lower where the bar hides it

I find that nobody makes anything for the rears on the 4th gens .... I dont tow anything but I keep a hitch and ball in the back and it scares people!

 

[Partsman109]

Partsman, that would be KILLER if you happen to have that laying around. Let me know, and we'll work something out if you have it!

Thanks again!

Tim

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