Zorin
Active Member
- Joined
- October 31, 2017
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 16
- City, State
- Milton, KS
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 Explorer Eddie Bauer
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
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