supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport | Page 167 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

hi everyone, my name is tim . i live in selkirk, manitoba, canada and as if this date that i am posting this, i am 36 years old.

i bought my sport in jan 05 from a local ford dealer. it had 111,000KM's on it. this is the second sport i have owned. it was sitting on the lot for about 8 months before i came along. i am the third owner (i was able to track down the person that traded it in, and they got it from a friend, who bought it new in 98).

i started to do a few things to it after i first got it, then i found this site, and all hell broke lose! i've never been satisfied with something the everyone else has, so i started to tinker with it even more.

19_Medium_.jpg


15540626_10154060266577513_2405619719549828739_o.jpg


14242313_10153799452207513_5208987697549996496_o.jpg


50213558658671_547488670_7421875_7068292_n_Medium_.jpg




15_Medium_.jpg



evil_and_min_evil.jpg


DSC01337_Medium_.jpg


DSC01341_Medium_.jpg



DSC02874_Medium_.jpg


10660988_10152352316047513_1588917598_n.jpg


m122b.jpg


981349_256309931177894_674155846_o_1_Medium_.jpg



DSC04422_Medium_.jpg


mods include

interior

installed factory tilt, cruise, overhead console, auto dimming mirror, full length console, with a message center (it didn't have these from factory).

white face with blue flames indigo gauge covers (they light up blue)
blue l.e.d. everything
white l.e.d. interior lights
Kenwood DDX392 Touch Screen Head Unit
alpine 4 channel amp (all four speakers)
boston acoustic front and rear speakers
alpine mono amp (for sub)
2 12 inch jl audio subs
rockford fosgate cap
passenger side one touch window down mod.
custom transfer case shifter
tripple a pillar gauge pod, housing autometer boost, Innovate LC-1 wideband, and oil pressure gauge
12v power inverter with 120v plug in a 2 usb plugs built into the center console

exterior

BMW E46 projectors, mounted into stock housings using clear lens
6000K HID head lights
angel eye "driving" lights, with 8000k h.i.d.'s
clear parking/corner lights
billet grill (powder coated by Turdle)
blacked out ford emblems
custom front steel 95-98 bumper, with 4 inch round tubes welded in for driving lights
shaved radio antenna
shaved roof rack
black euro tall lights
l.e.d. license plate lights
smoked out 3rd break light
lund rear tailgate spoiler/wing (formally from the truck "blackjack" owned by EF member Spas)
hand made roll pan (made from 3 1/2 rear bumpers, with 1/4 inch diamond plate on the top, and it is removable)
aluminum T/A differential griddle/cover (powder coated by Turdle)
Motegi Mr107 20' rims
goodyear wrangler hp p245/50 r20
1 1/4 wheel spacer in the rear, 3/8 in front
and most noticeable, black with blue pearl paint, and blue true fire (ground effects are black with blue pearl as well)

Suspension

2 inch lowering blocks in the rear, reverse TT in the front (2 inch as well)
Explorer Express rear sway bar
4 door leaf springs
rancho rs9000 adjustable rear shocks
03-05 sport trac spindles with drilled and slotted rotors

performance

5L swap
347 stroker
TFS twisted wedge alum heads
comp gold 1.6 rockers
comp cams CCA-35-556-8 nitro cam
heavily modified edelbrock victor jr air gap intake (which serves as a valley pan now)
eaton m122 supercharger (metco 2.70 pulley, and ASP 8 rib 7 1/4 crank pulley) with custom made mount with bell intercooler core
8 rib serpentine belt conversion using pulleys from a 7.3 powerstroke
custom made 3 1/2 inch throttle body elbow
accufab 75mm throttle body
4 inch intake pipe
PMASS MH90 90mm Universal 3000 KG/HR MAF
amsoil cone filter
F.A.S.T. 60lb injectors
edelbrock fuel rails, trick flow specialties fuel pressure regulator with summit racing fuel pressure gauge
walbro 255lph fuel pump
1/2 inch steel braided fuel pressure line from tank to rail using 8AN fittings
torque monster headers
2 1/2 duel pipes with flowpro duel in and out 2 1/2 single muffler
accel extreme 9000 ceramic 45 degree plug wires with boot protectors
4R70W w/2600 stall with J mod
tuff stuff 200a alternator
tuning made possible with sct pro-racer package, and tuned with major help from member [MENTION=102869]Dono[/MENTION] and [MENTION=81804]4pointslow[/MENTION]
flex a lite duel 12 inch electric fans
big 3 upgrade (4 gauge wires)
meziere innercooler water pump
2 froozenboost innercooler rads

Transfer case

4406 manual shift from a 97 F150
modified stock trans cross member to accept 93 mustang 5L polyurethane tans mount
double cardan rear drive shaft

because of all the "fun" i had doing the bodywork, and some other things to my truck, i have nick named it "evil dora" or if you like, just plane "evil"!
and now the thank yous

my buddy gord leiss, who let this thing sit in his garage for 3 months while i did the body work to it. he also gave me a hand with some of the prep work, and painted it for me

kevin willson for doing the true fire http://affordableairbrushing.ca/

Joe Bukoski for letting me do the 5L/4406 swap in his garage

now people from this site, weather they knew it or not, they helped

BIG THANKS to tara a.k.a. explorersport77 for pictures of her truck. wouldn't been able to build the roll pan with out them!

ExplorerSport77's X "Hotness"

jon a.k.a. Turdle for selling me some real swanky rear shackles, as well as powder coating the diff cover and sending them up to canada. as well as much needed info on v8, and 4406 swaps as well as doing the grill and showing me how its done.

don aka dono for the help with the tuning, and wideband, as well as the supercharger

andy aka ahodges for some parts, and any help i needed for all the go faster goodies

5.0 swap - w/ 4406

jad2411 for finding me a link for my hidden antenna

ryan a.k.a. MustangP51 for doing his write up on making l.e.d.'s for interior lights, and how to make projectors

P51's HID Headlight (Projector) and Fog Conversion (PICS)

and N3ELZ cardomain page for L.E.D. switch and cruise pod mods

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-6
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-12
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-23

bob a.k.a. rwenzing for showing me speedhut's sit for the gauges

Gauges, Custom Gauges, Tachometers, Speedometers, Shift Light, Pod

Buzz4x4 for his write up on blacking out ford emblems

How to Make Your Own Custom Ford Emblems

the late aldive for his write up on one touch down passengers window mod

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141027&highlight=touch+passengers+window+mod

BIG COUNTRY, for his write up on how to install a auto dimming mirror

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84968

BIG COUNTRY, 98formulaLS1, and Ryon40 for there write ups on how to install a message center

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225017&highlight=BIG+COUNTRY
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80670&highlight=message+center
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245085&highlight=Ryon40

MountaineerGreen for his 4406 swap write up and "Custom" Driveshaft for a 4406 and 4" Superlift on the Cheap " (even tho its lowered

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166726&highlight=awd+4x4+swap
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185232

Simon, aka blueka for his "pickle" thread, and help anytime i picked the phone up the phone on the 5L swap

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271813

Jon, aka 4pointslow for any MAJOR technical advice i have needed

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219092

i wish i could find who did the write up on the overhead console install, but here is the link

http://www.explorer4x4.com/overhead.htm

Russ aka NICE59FORDF100 for his help on the wiring, and what to watch out for electronically.

hopefully one day, i will be able to help people on here just as much as the people that i have mentioned above!

picture.php

plus you know you have done something right when.....

your truck (as well as corkey) wins truck of the month

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=296023

is the feature truck on the fun hump day radio show (starts roughly around the 30 min mark)

http://explorerforum.podbean.com/2011/03/23/19-vroom-zoomboom/

and you drive 26 hours ONE WAY to the carlisle all ford nationals in june 2010 and 2011, and grab second place in the s.u.v. all category!

scan00012.jpg


then in 2014 you go back to the same show you have been to 5 years in a row (nothing by most, but its one hell of a long drive) and take first!

scan00014.jpg
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





So glad to hear it!!!!!! It’s alive!!!!!
Winning the war
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





not out of the woods just yet!
a few days ago i had it idling in the yard while i played with the 3 1/2 screen setting up what i wanted to see on it. figured i would go for a ride. backed onto the street, gave it a little gas, and it started to stumble (followed by a big ol' cloud of black smoke). get onto a different street, same thing. as i sat waiting for a light it stumbles then stalls.....great, if it doesnt start i am so screwed. get it home, pull the plug, all are black soot. change them, and wait till saturday. thats when i had another session booked. explain what happen to marty and jeff. they tell me to start the truck. after about 3 mins, jeff tells me i have zero vacuum (which i also look at the gauge, and hit my brakes to make sure). that session is now a wash. so i smoke the motor. nothing, no signs of any smoke, even after 10 mins and also using the vacuum line going to the booster. i figure i would start it and have a look around. start it, runs great. me being confused start to look for things when i notice i forgot to hook the vacuum line back up the the booster. when i plug it in, truck runs rough with little to no vacuum. when i unplug it, runs great WITH vacuum. now here is when it gets weird, after it has warmed up, i hook the line back onto the brake booster, and all is well. have vacuum, and idles fine.

i swear either god hates me, evil hates me or they both combined forces.
 






Your booster has a vacuum leak?

With line unplugged the one way valve is Doing it’s job?
With it plugged in you lose vacuum, sounds like your booster may have a large leak?


Valve maybe sticky which is why it works at times not at others?

Just thinking out loud here
 






Does holly ahve the same style open loop/closed loop system, meaning when cold its in open loop?
Didn't the guys tune while you had a vacuum leak?
I'm wondering if thats somehow part of the issue you are seeing.
 






Your booster has a vacuum leak?

With line unplugged the one way valve is Doing it’s job?
With it plugged in you lose vacuum, sounds like your booster may have a large leak?


Valve maybe sticky which is why it works at times not at others?

Just thinking out loud here
now that i have seen a couple of pictures, i never knew that part was a valve lol. i had to put a different one on (black not grey if it matters) because the grey one grew legs. i did notice when i drove it the last time (with the grey one that vacuum would drop when i had the brakes on.

Does holly ahve the same style open loop/closed loop system, meaning when cold its in open loop?
Didn't the guys tune while you had a vacuum leak?
I'm wondering if thats somehow part of the issue you are seeing.

that i am not 100% sure of if it has a open/closed loop system in it.
i do believe it has a leak when they were tuning it, just not sure when it happen, or if it was like that all along.
i have also wondered that as well.
i will say that they are pretty patient. every time a problem has came up they respond as "hey, dont worry about it, we will get it. this is part of the process, this is what we do."
 






well don, you were right. i called marty and jeff today. i had told them i tried a bunch of things all coming back there are no problems. i had also brought up about the possibility that i had some lines come loose or were not connected when they originally started tuning. i also explained to them that all these new problems started after i found those lines off, and put them back on. jeff came back and said that the learn part of it is off causing it to over fuel, and they will have to scrap the original tune and start over (whoops). they also said no big deal, it happens. not the first, not the last. hopefully we dont have rain on Wednesday, thats when they will start over.
 












they did a retune, or did some changes on the tune they built today, which ever way you want to look at it.
it started off not so great. backing out the the driveway, it died, and while they were on the phone. all i heard was "i didnt do anything!". i answered with "me either! i didnt even give it gas!" started it back up, then my laptop cut them out, and wanted to do a update.....like really???
after letting it do its precious update, back to business. drove around town a bit, took it for a quick hop down the highway (and up to borderline arrestable speeds, found a few ecky spots they fixed, then home. truck fells like its running good. no leaks that i can see or find. will have to drive it a bit so it can learn, then call them back for a recheck. cant remember if i said this, but i got the factory tac to work, speedo works, fuel gauge works, and even the cruise control works as well. once again, i cant upload a video and i dont want to put it on youtube then link it here so ya'll have to take my work on it!
 






This is huge!!! You are driving your truck!!!
 






too bad its going to rain small farm animals in the next few days. may have to sell the truck for a ark.
 






was able to take if for a quick run around town, and to a buddys place to return his smoker (he laughed because he said it didnt get any quieter).
some things that i have noticed so far. it has a hard start, however jeff and marty explained it will be like that. the holley system doesnt know where tdc when you first start it and will have to find the missing tooth to determine where the motor is. it may take a few seconds depending where the motor stops when you turn it off. i will also have to see how much timing is thrown at it cranking. when its cold, it cranks easy. when its warm i can tell it has a struggle.
still getting a little sputter here and there when i slowly lay into it. more tuning will solve that i am sure.
im going to have to figure out how to do the transmission stuff. it will start in first, then a second or 2 **** to second. i also doesnt seem to want to down shift to first unless you hammer it.
i think it also wants to run too rich went on a warm up idle as well. have to pull a plug and look because if i let it run idling when cold, then back out of the driveway, and goose it, i can see black.
once again, i am hoping and thinking some more tuning will solve it all. after all, there might be a total of 10kms (and i mean 10) on this tune so time will have to tell.
 






I'm sure the guys at Mo's will get you closer, and help you understand the changes you need to make as you tweak. Your moving on from the mechanical frustrations to tuning frustrations.
 






today i took evil on its longest drive i have done in a year and a haft, went to my folks with it for thanksgiving (you us people have yours on the wrong day 🤣). its about a hour ish round trip drive. starting from the begging, i put new plugs in once again because the old ones (ya, old. like maybe 45 mins on them old) didnt look so great. i figured out if i bring the rmps on a cold start to let it warm up, they dont foul, or act like they fouled, which worked. drove to the folks, no problems with the exception the datalogger disconnected its self somehow along the way.
going home i wanted to stop in at dono's and show him evils newest toy, and because i havent seen him in a while but i wasnt feeling so great, so i had to continue home (not before making a throttle blip past his house, sorry, not sorry don, had to!). that also when drama started.
me just wanting to get home as i pass dons street, a few blocks down is a traffic light that takes you to the highway to my place. stopped no problem. as i turn onto the highway, i feel the truck shift to first, then second....but wont shift up to third. back off the throttle, try again. this time i free revs....look at the hollley display, it says or thinks its in 4th, but its not. i pull over, and try again from a dead stop. shifts to first, then second, no higher. at this point i think god hates me all over again for stomping it past dons house and this it the revenge.
pull over again, this time shutting the truck off, wait a few seconds, start it, put it in gear to drive away.
first gear, second gear, third gear, forth gear.
sweet! guess it was some glitch, until i get to the next light and it happens again. wtf, this time instead of hanging onto second and free revving, it just free revs after a certain rpm. pull over, shut the truck off and try everything all over again. same thing.
now i start thinking i should have not sold my spare trans with the transgo shift kit in it, and what is the tow truck going to cost.
shut truck off again, check the fluid, its up, not dark, doesnt stink. cant think of anything thats in the programing because havent gone there yet.
try starting it, and put it in gear. this time once again i get all my gears back, and drive it the 20 more mins home not knowing what happened, or was happening. at least the datalogger stayed on, and will have to ask marty and jeff if they have heard of that happening on my next session with them.
but i drove it, it made it home, and burnt more gas then i remember, but i DROVE it!!!!!
 






My black Limited I lost 3rd and 4th gears one day going home, about four years ago. I noticed no 4th on the highway, stopped and gently took off to pay attention. Then it had no 3rd gear, and never had 3rd or 4th again. I drove it like that for another 15-18 months, it stayed at work and I worked it on two different routes like that, just two gears. The water pump began to whine(bearings), so I finally stopped driving it and bought my white 98.

My trans has most likely killed the forward drum and clutches. I shifted it constantly from D to 2 o 1, to keep it from throwing the error code in 3rd/4th(to stop it from making the attempt to shift up which would cause more damage).

Tim, check your CEL's, hopefully something there will point to a solenoid you can change. That's the easiest possible repair, hopefully it's not any clutches or other hard parts. Other than that, the VB might have some unknown issue, a sticking valve or odd big leak(if it was a V6(5R55E) I'd guess the VB gasket). The 4R70W is very solid and reliable, usually problems are minor VB or solenoid issues, or else clutches.
 






Well he has a Holley ecm so not sure about trouble codes
I would first do a full visual of all trans wiring

I think you can watch the Holley command the shift solenoids and see if the trans responds

I’m hoping it just needs a shift solenoid

Works sometimes doesn’t work others had me thinking it could for sure be a tuning issue
Maybe those dudes will come up with a solution! IM still happy you are driving it around!!
 






will have to drive it more to see what happens. i know i had to pull everything for the harness up into the cab. they give you a ridiculous amount of wiring in those harnesses. i text marty today about that, he immediately said its an internal problem in the trans. when i called my trans guy (have known him since i was 14, and has done every trains i have ever had......but this one.....) he thinks it might be a tune issue but has never heard one doing what mine is doing.
either way, for now i am going to drive it to see what else pops up. after all this is the bug working out side of it.
 












took it for another quick drive tonight.
nothing. acted like normal....well...until i turned around to head back home while on the highway. its never spun the tires 3/4 of the way through 3rd, only 1/2 way through second.
another thing that don probably saw when he would tune the truck but i never did was IAT's. one of the gauges i have set up on the holley screen is to show IAT's. its cool up here right now, i think it was 11C or around 55F tonight. i would watch that readout. it didnt get higher then 155F. when driving, would read around 130F. when they started tuning, it would read 180 while sitting, and drop down when driving. when i cam home it was reading 145 idling in the back yard. however, if i touched either rad up front (have 2 of them for the innercooler) they were cool and not burning hot. also when i touched the blower mount where the cooler was in, something. i am trying to figure out how to keep that sensor from being heat soaked. my problem is i dont know where i can put it because of space. i might be able to place it higher up in the mount below the supercharger. i think its all open to the rear of the mount, just higher then where it sits now so air can flow around the sensor itself.
 






I'm not sure the sensor is heat soaking Tim (well, maybe its part of what you are seeing).
At idle, your blower is still creating boost (heat), and that bypass valve is open. With the valve open, the boosted (heated) air is recirculating.
Honestly, at low load you have nothing to worry about. Its higher load stuff that can ruin a motor with high iat's.

The heat soaking thing can be debated all year long. It would obviously help if you could get that air filter out of the engine bay. but then again, temps go down when moving. Is it worth changing anything?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I'm not sure the sensor is heat soaking Tim (well, maybe its part of what you are seeing).
At idle, your blower is still creating boost (heat), and that bypass valve is open. With the valve open, the boosted (heated) air is recirculating.
Honestly, at low load you have nothing to worry about. Its higher load stuff that can ruin a motor with high iat's.

The heat soaking thing can be debated all year long. It would obviously help if you could get that air filter out of the engine bay. but then again, temps go down when moving. Is it worth changing anything?

now that i see the iat's it makes me edgy seeing that little red box light off when they get up in temps. the reason why i say heat soaked is there is zero airflow where that sensor lives. once again with those rads being as cold as they are somethin aint making sense to me. i think that sensor sticks out 3/4 of a inch. i also think its that round as well. if i can put it where i now want it, i would have to think it would be worth it. from sitting to moving and watching it drop 20 degrees with not much airflow around it, i makes me wonder how much more it would drop with airflow.
ive also been racking the brain trying to find a way to get that air filter out of the engine bay. would need a big ol hole for that, and i would then worry about it getting soaked if i ever had to drive in the rain.
 






Back
Top