2000 Eddie Bauer 5.0 AWD progress and maintentance

[mattZ]

I found exactly what I wanted! After going a few years without my totalled 96 explorer, I found a nice rust free Eddie Bauer. From the looks of it not a lot of maintenance was done and a few sketchy things were done. Spliced spark plug wire and a very loud resonator only exhaust.

So here is the start of my maintenance work and small repairs.

To do list is:

• Post pics
• Put stock (possibly cat free?) Exhaust back on
• New plugs, wires and maybe coils if needed.
• All fluid change, oil, trans, diffs and transfer case, brakes and coolant (even the blinker fluid).
• New fuel filter (this one looks original)
• Fuel pressure test, it's got 200k miles and possibly the original pump so I want to rule that out.

Back burner to do:

• Fix small dent in rear
• Fix heat
• Buff/recoat peeling ClearCoat on roof
• Remove bullet (7.62?) over the antenna spot and install real antenna.
• Fix/remove LED strip on bumper.

If anyone has input on the cat situation, is there any performance (like engine running more as its meant to, not hp) reason to put a catalytic converter back on? Enough to justify the ~$300 a new one costs?

Excited to share my progress and get feedback!
This will be my daily driver unless it's a really nice day and I take my 78 continental out.

 

[mattZ]

Spliced spark plug wire:

Bypassed heater core. Unfortunately the metal heater tube is broken and jbwelded back (still leaks) I found a used one on ebay for $60 though.

And the rest of the photos. Body is in amazing condition and honestly the nicest car I've had so far. Heated seats, sunroof etc. I feel spoiled.

 

[410Fortune]

That is a gem of a truck! Well cared for to be in that condition at 200k

The primary cat converters are built into the exhaust Downpipes
The secondary cat converters are not necessary for it to to run

If the heater core is leaking inside the truck then the dash must come out

Spliced ignition wire… now I have seen it all! Perhaps it just got melted and they added their own shielding” lol either way those have got to go. Motorcraft wires are not terribly expensive on rockauto.com

 

[mattZ]

That is a gem of a truck! Well cared for to be in that condition at 200k

The primary cat converters are built into the exhaust Downpipes
The secondary cat converters are not necessary for it to to run

If the heater core is leaking inside the truck then the dash must come out

Spliced ignition wire… now I have seen it all! Perhaps it just got melted and they added their own shielding” lol either way those have got to go. Motorcraft wires are not terribly expensive on rockauto.com

Oh perfect, i was wondering why an entire exhaust kit with converters was $160 but the separate converters (probably downstream like you said) are much much more expensive.
Thanks for the response!

Yeah it really is in great condition. A few minor engine things to smooth out the idle. Actually kinda sad I am subjecting such a nice body to such harsh roads.

Yup, got new plugs and wires on the way!

I guess the heater core is going on the back burner till I have time to remove the dash. I was hoping I could just get to it from under the pass foot area.

 

[410Fortune]

No on this model the dash must come out

Luckily it’s not a huge job it can be removed in about 30 minutes w power tools and know how

 

[mattZ]

No on this model the dash must come out

Luckily it’s not a huge job it can be removed in about 30 minutes w power tools and know how

Oh not bad. Off to YouTube I go. Haha.

 

[Josh P]

Oh not bad. Off to YouTube I go. Haha.

I've learned a lot of tricks watching the how to videos

 

[mattZ]

I've learned a lot of tricks watching the how to videos

Same here! A lot of Chrisfix (super cool dude. Even posted one of my automotive clocks I make to his social for me.) And lately a lot more in depth stuff on engine building. Trying to rebuild a 460 to slap in my lincoln in a few years.

 

[410Fortune]

472 for the win! Pass everything but a fuel station

 

[mattZ]

Well I've got most of the truck inspected and ready for the work. Should get all my parts by the end of the week. Exhaust to manifold bolts have been soaking in PB blaster and I'll be hitting the ones I can access with Mapp gas first. Hoping they don't snap but I'm fully prepared if they do. I have clear access to drill them all and cobalt bits/extentions ready. Same thing I had to do with my old 96 sport.

Some cool things I noticed:

• They have the touch screen unit added and also have a backup camera added. Not sure if it works yet or I need to turn it on or something since it's aftermarket, but its there.
• They installed new ball joints, cv axles, control arms and front hubs. A few of those I completely missed when looking it over before buying.

Ready to remove this eardrum pounding exhaust:

The pan under there is from the transfer case drain. Looked real dark and nasty but no metal/water or anything odd in it. Just seems like it hasn't been changed in a while.

To make this post even longer, was trying to time it right and be able to run seafoam before putting the new exhaust on, but with this being the biggest project I want to get it out of the way first. I'll just clean the downstream o2s after and put the new upstreams in after I clean all the carbon out of the engine.

 

[mattZ]

Well I'm glad Ford upgraded their exhaust to manifold bolts since 96. I swear nothing is snapping them. Breaker bar and a 2ft extension and I got two of 4 bolts out. Had to cut off their custom exhaust to get to the bolts.

 

[mattZ]

Well it's becoming a bit more than I had hoped, but at least the parts are cheap!
New water pump on the way from rock auto. This one may still work but the insert is corroded so much it just crumbled when I took the hose off. There was a small leak there so I was planning on replacing the hose/cleaning the fitting off.

Exhaust system should be in today so I can spend some time this weekend getting that on and draining some more fluids.

 

[mattZ]

Well after all the to do list was tackled, I started it up and let it learn the idle process again. Still very rough idle. The only thing I didn't yet do is the 02 sensor replacement.
Doing that today and while I was at it this morning I plugged my smoke machine in and found a huge leak around the pcv valve. That sucker is really tucked in back there!
Busted it trying to pull it off, but I have a new one on the way and a new boot for it to go in also. So far that seems to be the only leak, but it was bad enough to probably cause the rough idle. After that and the 02 sensors I'll be running low on things to tackle. Possibly the TPS? I did unplug it during idle and and it got much worse so I'm thinking it's at least partially working.

Hopefully my next update is it being a very smooth idle!

 

[mattZ]

So the PCV valve and o2 sensor swap seemed to help just slightly with the rough idle. Still has the whole explorer shaking at idle. I hooked a cheap reader up to it and all the live data looks fine (to my knowledge).
Next step is:
Fixing one last small vacuum leak that's buried under the intake somewhere.

If the rough idle still persists I'm going to pull the fan etc off and check the cam positioner and sensor. Not sure if this would hint at it being slipped, but the "spark timing advance" on the live data was around 19° at all times...

After that, possibly motor Mounts?

I've checked or replaced just about everything else at this point and very thorough searches here and everywhere else online doesn't show me anything I'm missing.
If anyone is following or has some ideas, here is the live data from the scanner.

Seems to not be "searching" for the right idle rpm (~750) at all times and accelerates smoothly, plenty of power. Just shakes the whole car at idle.

 

[410Fortune]

Sounds like a possible dead miss?
Check plugs and wires carefully firing order
A 5.0 running on all 8 is smooth like butter

 

[mattZ]

Sounds like a possible dead miss?
Check plugs and wires carefully firing order
A 5.0 running on all 8 is smooth like butter

I'll double check it tomorrow. I was pretty diligent about wiring them all up when i swapped the plugs and wires but ill check again.

I'm hoping it's not the motor Mounts like some others have mentioned in other threads. Looks like I'll have to pull the front diff to access the Mounts.

 

[410Fortune]

The motor
Mounts won’t usually cause it to shake, but a worn mount will allow a missing engine to shake more
If the 5.0 is running on all 8 it can sit in a pile
Of jello and it will still run smoothly and I mean smooth, no shaking. Shake is usually a dead miss. These suckers love to eat spark plug wires. Watching it run in the dark can be a great way to spot the blue arching from bad wires
But first check fuel pressure, check firing order, check wires and connections, your small vacuum leak is not gonna cause a dead miss

 

[mattZ]

The motor
Mounts won’t usually cause it to shake, but a worn mount will allow a missing engine to shake more
If the 5.0 is running on all 8 it can sit in a pile
Of jello and it will still run smoothly and I mean smooth, no shaking. Shake is usually a dead miss. These suckers love to eat spark plug wires. Watching it run in the dark can be a great way to spot the blue arching from bad wires
But first check fuel pressure, check firing order, check wires and connections, your small vacuum leak is not gonna cause a dead miss

I appreciate that! Well it's got new plugs, coils, wires and I checked the fuel pressure. 60psi all the time.
I'm wondering if it's a possible fuel injector issue. Going to check that out while I have the intake off to find that small leak.
I'll check the signal coming in to the injectors and pull out/test each injector also. I'd rather not buy all new ones, but im hoping I find the issue!
I was thinking I would get a code, but stupid me saw a check engine during my first test drive and didn't check the codes, just pulled the negative cable so I could work on it and the code went away.

I'm glad to hear that about the Mounts. Those things are hella buried up in there. Visual inspection looked fine on them and I didn't see a crazy amount of movement from them either.

 

[Josh P]

Does the engine run fine going down the road? A dead miss at idle would mean a dead miss rolling down the road.

 

[mattZ]

Does the engine run fine going down the road? A dead miss at idle would mean a dead miss rolling down the road.

It seems to have plenty of power, but it does still have a shake that's noticeable when cruising around 25mph.