Well I finally did it! Got the EX fixed!

[Stinger357]

I was debating on wether to buy a new car with 1000 down or use 500 to fix my exp to working order. I chose the later. I went to my shop which btw have great prices. They did the following to fix my explorer. They still have 4 or 5 things left to do on my payday on friday but this is what they fixed:

1. ALL plugs and wires High performance Ones. Come to find out the last mechanic threaded the plugs in wrong and they were cross threaded no wonder I was getting misfires. Also the wires he used where the cheapest kind and were already having issues.

2. Fixed my Gas pedal that came off the firewall...it took him like 4 minutes with the proper drill which I don't own.

I must say the improvement on what they did made A BIG difference in performance on my truck I can actually pass a car on the highway now LOL.

Friday they are going to change my upper and lower intake manifold gaskets since I am burning lean on bank 1. Also they are going to fix the air conditioner cause in Texas 110 degrees out I NEED air! Also the Heat shield is loose and they will fix that so the rattling will stop finally. And last but not least they are going to do a front end alignment.

So overall I am very happy with their work! It took them 5 hours to get it all done to the sum of 277 dollars which imho is great! Considering the shady shops around here wanted 445 dollars just for the tune-up. But come friday my truck will be running like a top...it brought back new life into a truck that I was going to get rid of, but now I am very happy with it!

Thanks for reading

P.S. Would you all agree that my gas mileage is suffering because of the gaskets? Also white smoke is coming out the tailpipe so that makes me think the intake manifolds gaskets are leaking gas bad. And please don't say you could have saved 100's or 200 if you did that stuff yourself, I am not handy with my hands, and I have money to spend so why not get it done right!

 

[lounge lizard]

excellent!

another 97 lives on to tell the tale!

good to see you made a very wise decision!

 

[Pensa]

Your front end alignment could cost you more than just the alignment if you have worn ball joints. Trying to align the front end won't be of much use if they are worn. I replaced my lower ball joints and upper control arms (you can't just replace the ball join in the upper control arms) and the parts at Autozone came to around $250. What a shop would charge to change them I don't know.

 

[BrianDye]

Ive heard roughly $1000+ for all 4 BJ's done, I did mine myself, parts from RockAuto.com

both side upper control arms (MOOG)
lower balljoints (MOOG)
Tie rod ends (MOOG)

I did all the work myself, never have touched a balljoint before, but it was very easy, and I wouldnt ever hesitate todo it myself again. I spent under 280$ for all the good quality parts. I reccomend MOOG over Duralast or anything you find on eBay...

Congrats though on getting some work done! I would definitely say yes to your bad gas mileage because of the gaskets...

 

[Stinger357]

Well come to find out I am using a 15" spare on the right passenger side right now and all the others are 16" so the tech said thats probably why it is pulling to the left with unmatched tires. Which I am going to get fixed on friday!

LOL I have to hold the steering wheel to the left a little bit in order to drive straight very annoying now!

 

[Stinger357]

The only things left to do in the near future are the following...mostly cosmetic:

I am going to get the truck detailed and carpet shampood and entire inside of truck cleaned out. Then I need to get this gehtto box in the rear of the truck out and proper speakers put in the back panels. I also need a new right side passenger side mirror replaced since it is cracked on the mirror and casing. Also I need to get the armrest fixed since it is majorly broke, and while i am at it fix the back cup holders so they work and not lifted so a drink wont go in them.

And of course a wax job. That is about it. Once I get it all done I will post some photos and maybe a video showing how a 97 beat the heck truck can shine again and work like new!

 

[mojoe]

Bad intake gaskets leak air not gas so the white smoke is probably unrelated to them. Does it do it all the time or just when you first start it? It's really important to have all tires the same size and preferably the same tire, esp if it's 4wd. It's not just bad for the vehicle, it's dangerous. Good choice fixing it - no payments!

 

[Stinger357]

Well today I had the following done:

1. 2 new tires, put the spare back under the truck, had the front end aligned.

2. Fixed the AC system, the accumulator had a major leak. Now it blows ice cold air just in time for the texas heat!

That cost me another 620 bucks but it was well worth it, I am now into about 900 for the fixes. BUT I still need to get the upper and lower intake manifold gaskets replaced that is gonna run me another 408. But next payday I will get that done.

Overall I am glad I invested into the truck to get it up to snuff. Saves me 3 years of payments.