The Black Hole

[MidnightRebel07]

Pretty!!!

 

[Turdle]

that's better.

Looks real good!

 

[gmanpaint]

Woke up to everything covered in frost. It warmed up nice this afternoon tho, so the interior got a good scrub, & shine. Door jambs & weather stripping suck to clean by the way!

I still have some Black Magic Turtle Wax cleaner & wax, a couple big clay bars and detail spray, along with my new handheld buffer.

Mother nature will determine when that will happen.

 

[gmanpaint]

Rear axle, Leafs, skids, all got prepped and freshly painted today.

Now to figure out something for those rusty shock cans. :scratch:

 

[Turdle]

Don't know if you noticed how fast the rancho finish failed. My friend installed a set of those to his blazer and they started rusting in a month of pavement driving.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

Turn your shock bodies around so the adjuster knobs are facing the front unless you like replacing them (he says from experience)

 

[gmanpaint]

The Rancho shocks are a few years old now, and they are just now starting to get some rust. They look great new, but look terrible with rust. I might remove them, and paint them with some xlm bonding primer and a color of choice.

Since they will be off, I will install them as you say Phil. Guess I have been lucky to not have busted them knobs off. Maniak has told me about having to replace his as well over the years. I just never got around to it. I'm sure the 3" raised mounts have helped somewhat.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

I think mine are a little higher than yours. If you don't back up, no problem.

They are about $15ea IIRC.

Total Chaos U bolt plates with tabs welded on. Notice the missing knobs

 

[gmanpaint]

Not sure how much higher those mounts are from stock, but these mounts are 3" higher than stock, with 1/4" skid plates.

 

[gmanpaint]

These are a set of ICON II skids I installed on the FJ Lower control arms. They were tested in MOAB last spring and worked amazing. I have been talking with a certain member here to try to fabricate a set for our 2nd gen LCA's but with a 45* slant on the front of them to help slide over better. Stay tuned folks, these could be a reality for us soon!

 

[Keeper0311]

Those would be an interesting addition.

 

[gmanpaint]

 

[gmanpaint]

 

[gmanpaint]

Not much to post up about this rig as it has been sitting for a long time.

I tinkered around with it and got the left rear window working again, and cleaned the right front moving smooth like it should.

Had one door speaker not working, just a wire connector come off. All better now, and sounding great as it should.

Engine has seemed to pick up a rough idle. I disconnect the battery with a throw switch, so it wont drain from sitting as a precaution. Not entirely sure the rough idle is associated with this, as the PCM has to learn every time I connect the battery for it's weekly run time. I ran the codes, and it spat out a open spout code. So with the help of a friend, he sent me another ICM to try. Since the codes have been cleared, I am going to install the ICM, and see if it spits the code again, and if it cleans up the idle.

And yes... I have already done the usual tests and cleaning of other parts & sensors relating to a rough idle.

Update:

So the 95 ICM has been replaced with a 93 (I think) ICM. PITA on this year. If anybody is needing to know, it is located behind the DRIVERS headlight, behind a mudflap thingy, in front of the battery. You have to remove the battery, remove the mudflap, unbolt the fat wire harness in 3 places along the core support, remove the relay box on the fender, and pull them out of the way in order to remove the top bolt (5.5mm) holding the ICM on the core support. Once that bolt is removed, you have to pry the bottom rubber grommet off to pull the ICM out far enough to remove the wire harness connector. The connector release tab is on the side you can't reach, and you will most likely break the tab off trying to remove the connector with the ICM bolted on still. Getting it back on is fun too.

Idle is still way too low, but has smoothed out some. It now takes a little longer to return to a lower idle, and the idle is still too low. I'm thinking of getting another IAC for it. Cleaning it might not have been enough. After a few WOT tests, it stumbled and almost died. :frustrate

If anything, I was able to clean up a bunch of the wiring with the battery out, and figured a way to use a 1" ratchet strap for a battery hold down.

 

[gmanpaint]

So I couldn't find the Spout connector anywhere in the engine bay, or close to the ICM to remove for a test. I was just reading the Going Full Manual thread again looking for something when I spotted the Spout connector in a Picture I posted. LOL, crazy!

My Full manual swap thread for easy finding as doing a search for it doesn't come up for some reason.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254763&highlight=full+manual

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

Crazy 95 Explorer owners

 

[gmanpaint]

Crazy 95 Explorer owners

Hey now, I resemble that remark!

 

[gmanpaint]

We have a meet at SMORR coming up in a month. This rig will be seeing some trail time again. Might be the last time out for me & this rig.

 

[gmanpaint]

So.... That old saying of do one thing, and it leads to others has come true.

I decided to remove the roof basket and paint it as it was sun faded pretty bad. The spinner nut on the U-bolt mount was too tight to remove by hand, so I used a pair of pliers to loosen. Snapped it in half under the spinner nut.

I have the rest soaking in Power Blaster, but have to replace the broken one somehow.

Always something.....

 

[GRNMACHINE]

So true! Same thing happens to me Every time I go to replace something-maybe its just us Crazy 95 owners....