08 BlackAndTan
New Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2016
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Kenmore, WA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 08 Eddie Bauer 02 Sport
Hi all!
Yes, I'm finally making a first post, thanks to a friend of mine who is a total Shaming me.
I ended up with an OK Blue Oval project.
We both hang out with the Gambler 500 crowd and do runs with them, as well as a similar crew from Jalopy Journeys. We're not under the category of the $500 extremists, but we do like taking older, beat up cars and playing with them (buy them cheap enough then if you really mess it up it's not like you killed a valuable car).
In my case, a good friend killed his car and to keep his job I long term loaned him my previous Gambler rig in December, but my daily '08 EB needs some work that i can do (thank you Explorer Forum) so i needed another vehicle while it was down. So the search started for another gambler / gambler recovery vehicle and the Craig's list gods smiled upon me, there was this really clean looking, almost no visible damage 02 Sport that has sat in a Junk yard as a builder for almost a month. So i go look at it with my wife and she just wants to go back to what we were doing before but it fired right up with a jump box and ran and idled well, but there was this smell... so we left and i talked with my gambler Friend (EverVictorious) about it and we went back to look again, no death rattle (seriously i think that the previous owners had the engine pulled and the timing chain tensioners replaced) in a 245000 mile sohc 4.0 v6, 4wd engaged both 4 high and 4 low, go into gear and moved forward and reverse, chaging system was good and no check engine warning light. So i pulled the trigger and they took my first offer ( if I hadn't bought it, EverVictorious would have)
So what did we find? A surprisingly solid start. No death rattle. A bit high on the miles, but a smooth motor and trans. some rust but looks to be mostly the hitch receiver. Gauge cluster appears fully functional but only one bulb still worked. a radio that when turned off still drew a lot of power and would randomly thump the speakers until it killed the battery.
Once we got it out of the yard, stored at a friends place until the state would inspect it, tried to dry it out with some of those moisture absorbers. So far here's what we've found wrong with it and fixed if i have. (and none of it is really that bad):
1) Center console that was filthy, like never wiped up after spilled drinks ( already cleaned).
2) the smell of a car that had let the PNW weather inside (removed both the back and passenger area carpets, running with just some rubber floor mats now and until I test for leaks, but have replacement used carpets that don't smell.)
3) There is a slight smell of oil from the running engine but looks like a head gasket leak. will need to investigate more with like a bore scope since there is very little line of sight into where the smoke is coming from
4) shocks, Springs well really the whole suspension not sure if its all factory original equipment but it sags to the drivers side. see #6 below for reason
5) Driver seat replacement while the fabric is in great shape(wow those were some ugly Neoprene seat covers) there is still some of the smell and the fact that the seat seems skewed. Like a very heavy/ large person sat in it and bent it / messed up the lever for seat back adjustments
6) both power mirrors seem to have issues with the same direction of movement ( already have a second Junk yard switch)
7) Hood struts won't hold the hood up ( second set of hood struts i have done, my '08 first) can't do other work under a hood that will KILL you!
8) Brake light never lights. to remind you that the parking brake is set, and that is probably the reason i have no parking brakes ( parts are being purchased, for a day of lift time and inspections, then shocks and all brakes replacement and adjustments plus flush / bleed)
9) Left rear tire leaks. Also, three different brands of tires on the truck.
10) Alloy wheels seem to be badly corroded. Possibly why #9 is occurring.
11) The floor mats 2 sets look great one is heavy rubber and are the only ones i'm using now with out carpet.
12) The radio tunes and plays, but kills the battery. (removed and used a blu tooth Speaker for a little while installing an after market stereo this weekend
13) Cruise control system works but doesn't always light up the dash indicator
.I'm looking to change out my D4 3.73 lsd for a D2 4.10lsd axle on my '02 Sport, and lots of questions about what i need to do to the front axle
In the mean time, enjoy a picture of my friends Trac in front and my Sport in the background. more picture to follow stupid phone cable where are you...
Yes, I'm finally making a first post, thanks to a friend of mine who is a total Shaming me.
I ended up with an OK Blue Oval project.
We both hang out with the Gambler 500 crowd and do runs with them, as well as a similar crew from Jalopy Journeys. We're not under the category of the $500 extremists, but we do like taking older, beat up cars and playing with them (buy them cheap enough then if you really mess it up it's not like you killed a valuable car).
In my case, a good friend killed his car and to keep his job I long term loaned him my previous Gambler rig in December, but my daily '08 EB needs some work that i can do (thank you Explorer Forum) so i needed another vehicle while it was down. So the search started for another gambler / gambler recovery vehicle and the Craig's list gods smiled upon me, there was this really clean looking, almost no visible damage 02 Sport that has sat in a Junk yard as a builder for almost a month. So i go look at it with my wife and she just wants to go back to what we were doing before but it fired right up with a jump box and ran and idled well, but there was this smell... so we left and i talked with my gambler Friend (EverVictorious) about it and we went back to look again, no death rattle (seriously i think that the previous owners had the engine pulled and the timing chain tensioners replaced) in a 245000 mile sohc 4.0 v6, 4wd engaged both 4 high and 4 low, go into gear and moved forward and reverse, chaging system was good and no check engine warning light. So i pulled the trigger and they took my first offer ( if I hadn't bought it, EverVictorious would have)
So what did we find? A surprisingly solid start. No death rattle. A bit high on the miles, but a smooth motor and trans. some rust but looks to be mostly the hitch receiver. Gauge cluster appears fully functional but only one bulb still worked. a radio that when turned off still drew a lot of power and would randomly thump the speakers until it killed the battery.
Once we got it out of the yard, stored at a friends place until the state would inspect it, tried to dry it out with some of those moisture absorbers. So far here's what we've found wrong with it and fixed if i have. (and none of it is really that bad):
1) Center console that was filthy, like never wiped up after spilled drinks ( already cleaned).
2) the smell of a car that had let the PNW weather inside (removed both the back and passenger area carpets, running with just some rubber floor mats now and until I test for leaks, but have replacement used carpets that don't smell.)
3) There is a slight smell of oil from the running engine but looks like a head gasket leak. will need to investigate more with like a bore scope since there is very little line of sight into where the smoke is coming from
4) shocks, Springs well really the whole suspension not sure if its all factory original equipment but it sags to the drivers side. see #6 below for reason
5) Driver seat replacement while the fabric is in great shape(wow those were some ugly Neoprene seat covers) there is still some of the smell and the fact that the seat seems skewed. Like a very heavy/ large person sat in it and bent it / messed up the lever for seat back adjustments
6) both power mirrors seem to have issues with the same direction of movement ( already have a second Junk yard switch)
7) Hood struts won't hold the hood up ( second set of hood struts i have done, my '08 first) can't do other work under a hood that will KILL you!
8) Brake light never lights. to remind you that the parking brake is set, and that is probably the reason i have no parking brakes ( parts are being purchased, for a day of lift time and inspections, then shocks and all brakes replacement and adjustments plus flush / bleed)
9) Left rear tire leaks. Also, three different brands of tires on the truck.
10) Alloy wheels seem to be badly corroded. Possibly why #9 is occurring.
11) The floor mats 2 sets look great one is heavy rubber and are the only ones i'm using now with out carpet.
12) The radio tunes and plays, but kills the battery. (removed and used a blu tooth Speaker for a little while installing an after market stereo this weekend
13) Cruise control system works but doesn't always light up the dash indicator
.I'm looking to change out my D4 3.73 lsd for a D2 4.10lsd axle on my '02 Sport, and lots of questions about what i need to do to the front axle
In the mean time, enjoy a picture of my friends Trac in front and my Sport in the background. more picture to follow stupid phone cable where are you...
