New Mountaineer added to your collection...

[Mountaineer1113]

Hey guys, I'm kinda new around here. Found your site when I bought my Mountaineer a couple weeks ago and have been hovering and gathering information before now. Here's my vehicle specs:

Purchased for $900:

1997 Mercury Mountaineer 4-Dr
5.0 ltr Engine
All-Wheel Drive
Leather Seats with Power Adjustability
Factory Tape Deck with 6-disc Changer and Factory JBL Sub
Power Windows and Locks

Here's for the negatives:
1. Rusted rocker panels, rear passenger door, fenderwells, tailgate and right around the filler hole.
2. Exhaust was requiring some fixing but that's where I get to have fun.
3. There's an electrical problem. The battery gets drained after sitting a while and I can't figure out what it is.

After reading on your forums here, I found a thread from LD50 about how he replaced his rocker panels and it's got my confidence up on doing my own. I've found countless other posts that are going to help me do my own thing to this vehicle and I just want to say that this forum is possibly one of the most informative and easiest to use on the internet. Awesome work guys!!!

 

[XT]

Greetings from Amherst!

Welcome to the board

 

[Glen4X4]

Welcome To The Forum!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! All of the information is on this site. It takes months or years to read everything.

 

[ericautopart]

Stupid question (maybe not?) but did you test the battery? Could just be old.

 

[Mountaineer1113]

Greetings from Amherst!

Welcome to the board

Hello fellow Western NY'er!

Stupid question (maybe not?) but did you test the battery? Could just be old.

I have a spare battery laying around so I might try that but there was a problem with the dome light staying on when I bought it and the old owner said that was what drained the battery but I removed the fuse for the dome and all it's accessories so that can't be it.

Anyone else have this kind of a problem?

Thanks for the welcomes everyone!

 

[MrQ]

welcome to this forum! All of the information is on this site. It takes months or years to read everything.

YEARS....

Oh, and Welcome!!

 

[XT]

Hello fellow Western NY'er!



I have a spare battery laying around so I might try that but there was a problem with the dome light staying on when I bought it and the old owner said that was what drained the battery but I removed the fuse for the dome and all it's accessories so that can't be it.

Anyone else have this kind of a problem?

Thanks for the welcomes everyone!

A friend of mine had the same issue on his Ranger. Turned out to be the battery. They did a load test on it and it was shot. Never had problem with drain since.

 

[Mountaineer1113]

More questions!!!

Sorry to bring back my 2-week old topic, but I had some extra questions to ask.

The All-Wheel-Drive platform is going to obviously be a gas hog so I was wondering what kind of work was involved in converting to 4WD and how to go about it. I'm new to S.U.V.'s/Trucks. I've owned 2 Rangers, a Geo Tracker and many cars but never tried messing with the drive-train at all.

Also, I know the 5.0 is quite the popular engine amongst the Ford Community but what kind of mods can I do to help gas mileage and performance?

Will the PA-883 body lift kit work with my '97 Mountaineer?
What else can I do for a front end suspension lift besides the Torsion Twist? From what I've seen, the Doetsch Spindles are for 98-01 (I believe).

Are there any downsides to doing a SOA conversion on the rear end? Seems like there's only cutting and welding involved with possibly extending break lines.

Sorry for all of the questions but looking around this site gives me more and more curiosity and I don't want to just jump in on someone else's threads so I figured I'd just continue on with my own.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Welcome to the forum!

It would take years to read everything- but hey, at least you're looking through old material...

 

[Glen4X4]

Converting your awd to 4wd involves getting the bw4406 transfer case, linkage, and driveshafts. Here is one of the many how-to's for that http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166605&page=1&pp=20 As for body lift I believe you need PA853, check on performance accessories website because you require the same BL as the same year ranger. As for lift spindles you cannot use them if you have AWD or 4wd they are designed for 2wd applications. If you want to do an SOA in the rear you can order the front end lift kit from Superlift to raise the front end.