G'Day everyone,
Just got the family (Myself ) a 04 5.4 EB 4x4 , 130k kms / 80k+ Miles.
New on here so please be kind . Sharing in hope to get some kind advice/thoughts on what i have done thus far and also what i am planning to do.
So here we go.
Originally from New Zealand and currently working offshore in Australia, we do not have the Expy only Explorers and personally imported F150,250s and the big boy 350s. So when i arrived in the Philippines a few yrs back i saw for the first time the Expy and straight away wanted one, Fell in love with the damn thing.
Anyways, fast forward to last yr i got the stated EB 04. I have to admit i bought it out of excitement and was very impatient/impulse buy basically only looked at 2 others..
On initial inspection when purchasing it the things i noticed and thoughts at the time immediately were the following,
1. Front tires basically non existent thread and were a smaller size then the rear. Also left front had uneven wear..( no problem probably tierod or steering rack or something ) (different sized tires? wierd but meh..)
2. looked under the body, the front driveshaft to transfer case was missing , both front cv axle gone.(explaination given by the seller was "it was removed to save petrol....) I knew what a whole lot of shit this was but allgood help to bring down the price.
3. The interior smelt like it had lived in a swamp for ages the 3rd row seat had mold on everywhere. But the whole vehicle had no rust whatsoever so no probs.
4. it ran a bit rough missing a bit but plugged in the obd no codes popped up.
5.Engine sounded great,Engine bay looked clean, no heavy leaks whatsover under the vehicle very clean then again im not a mechanic just used my Jedi senses LOL.
6. the seller reckons it has had regular oil changes sparkplugs been down bla bla bla ... whatever..
7.The Stock Eddie Bauer sounds were/are amazing i was impressed to be honest.
8. Aircon was decent.
So thats all i checked and bought it.
So, my instinct tells me i will do what i will do, i started getting a lil anxious ( some may call it paranoid) at every lil sound that was or was not there..
To date these are the things i have done (off the top of my head), not sure if its the right way of doing things trying to atleast establish a personal benchmark of sorts but thats why im here to seek you're guys opinions.
*NEW/Replacement
1.Flushed the coolant with Motorcraft Yellow- proper flushed from brown looking **** coolant to that beautiful luminous green stuff.
2.Transmission Filter Motocraft/ Fluid Mercon v - the fluid smelt funky... real bbq style funky..but not much metal shavings though on the magnet.
3.Transfer Case fluid change Mercon LV - Bloody hell this was empty. I found a very very slight leak almost like a "bleeding type of leak" coming from where the transfercase mates with the transmission.
4.Engine Oil Motorcraft Fully Synth 5w20
5.K&N Oil Filter
6.Thermostat Motorcraft
7.Coolant Reservoir tank
8.washer pump motorcraft
9.Transmission oil pan Dorman
10.EGR (NGK) - cause i am a nobb head and snapped the plastic connectors whilst doing the spark plugs.
11.Heater Valve - Fourseasons - found it was leaking coolant all over my spark plugs position 3 and 4 a shitload of gunk...
12.Drive Belt Motorcraft
13.Turn signal switch - was totally broken
14.BFGoodrich All terrain T/A 265 70R17 - I feel slightly more of a man now.
15.Headlight assemblies R + L, LED Lamps
16.OEM wheel nuts - when trying to take off the wheels holyshit shit we had to weld onto the old lugs and get them off it was ********. nuts were seized up in there like force feeding a toddler brussel sprouts, hectic.
17.Front hood and rear window strutts Rugged Tuff
18.Both rear Aircon Actuators Motorcraft
19. Front wheel hub and bearing assembly
20. Both Tie rod end/arms - alot of play
21. Spark Plugs Motorcraft - Holy shit again im no mechanic but i think they havent been changed in a while..
22. Coils MAS
24. Cut the muffler out and welded strait through - I feel slight more of a man now x2.
25. Got the interior steamed cleaned - Doesnt smell like a smelly man now.
26. Both Puddle lights i cleaned out and DIY'd with aluminium foil cause the chrome pant has peeled off and they were filled up with mold.
27.Fuel Filter Motorcraft
28.Rear Driveshaft Pinion oil seal - National Oil Seal
Immediate Future Works.
1. Aircon is gone, considering a whole compressor + condensor kit swapp out need opinion on this .
2.K&N Cold Air Intake
3.Delete current fan and install a Flexi-A-Lite Dual Fan
4.transfercase motor swapout
5.Front Driveshaft and Both front axle shaft new install
6.All pulleys, tensioner, starter motor swap( not often but has happened a couple of times where when i turn it there is like a "skipping sound " so i dont know what that is ive been told possibly a grounding issue or the starter is on its way out?
7.New Rear Diff Oil.
8.Rear Wheel hubs as the previous owners have butchered a couple of the studs
Not so immediate Future works.
1.Finding the rear tube line for the washer cause i have fluid spraying on the front window but none coming out my rear..
2.Power steering pump,water pump,alternator swap.
3.New Power Steering and brake booster reservoirs.
4.I need to source front seat motors, steering wheel(its tired,cosmetics) and some interior panels, the 3rd row seat belts.
5.Repaint the whole thing Original. cant see it in the photos but there a a few scratches and ugly bits
6. All the rubber linning on most of the doors and around the windows..
7.Install 12inch sub somewhere.
8. All 4 Wheels need to be resurfaced as there are wormlike corrosion on them.
9.and a few other things i cant think of at the moment
Why you may ask i am wanting to invest so much, well because in this short time of having it i have learnt so much from this tank, from not knowing nothing at all to now knowing something. I know now a nd been told from mates and online that these can last for ever if treated well. I dont need a bloody new car every couple of years, this will do for till im dead i reckon. The older Taxis (ford falcons)in Australia run the similar or same block with Boss Heads on them if not mistaken and reach well over 500k-1mil km no probs.
This may be common as heck in the Philippines or The United States but its not in Australia or NZ. Also what has encouraged me is the community that has guided me thus far extremely helpful and a bunch of overall good cnts when i have reached out various places and the most awesome youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/FordTechMakuloco amongst others.
The Plan is to restore this to a "fresh state" and also make it into what you yanks call a basic overlander of sorts. I want to bring this tank everywhere, initially around the Philippines and then across Australia.
Sorry for the Long "lord of the Ring" style post. Just wanted to share and really seek alot of advice in the near future.
Cheers In advanced Fallas, You bunch of legends!
p.s. Will post more photos in seperate posts.
Just got the family (Myself ) a 04 5.4 EB 4x4 , 130k kms / 80k+ Miles.
New on here so please be kind . Sharing in hope to get some kind advice/thoughts on what i have done thus far and also what i am planning to do.
So here we go.
Originally from New Zealand and currently working offshore in Australia, we do not have the Expy only Explorers and personally imported F150,250s and the big boy 350s. So when i arrived in the Philippines a few yrs back i saw for the first time the Expy and straight away wanted one, Fell in love with the damn thing.
Anyways, fast forward to last yr i got the stated EB 04. I have to admit i bought it out of excitement and was very impatient/impulse buy basically only looked at 2 others..
On initial inspection when purchasing it the things i noticed and thoughts at the time immediately were the following,
1. Front tires basically non existent thread and were a smaller size then the rear. Also left front had uneven wear..( no problem probably tierod or steering rack or something ) (different sized tires? wierd but meh..)
2. looked under the body, the front driveshaft to transfer case was missing , both front cv axle gone.(explaination given by the seller was "it was removed to save petrol....) I knew what a whole lot of shit this was but allgood help to bring down the price.
3. The interior smelt like it had lived in a swamp for ages the 3rd row seat had mold on everywhere. But the whole vehicle had no rust whatsoever so no probs.
4. it ran a bit rough missing a bit but plugged in the obd no codes popped up.
5.Engine sounded great,Engine bay looked clean, no heavy leaks whatsover under the vehicle very clean then again im not a mechanic just used my Jedi senses LOL.
6. the seller reckons it has had regular oil changes sparkplugs been down bla bla bla ... whatever..
7.The Stock Eddie Bauer sounds were/are amazing i was impressed to be honest.
8. Aircon was decent.
So thats all i checked and bought it.
So, my instinct tells me i will do what i will do, i started getting a lil anxious ( some may call it paranoid) at every lil sound that was or was not there..
To date these are the things i have done (off the top of my head), not sure if its the right way of doing things trying to atleast establish a personal benchmark of sorts but thats why im here to seek you're guys opinions.
*NEW/Replacement
1.Flushed the coolant with Motorcraft Yellow- proper flushed from brown looking **** coolant to that beautiful luminous green stuff.
2.Transmission Filter Motocraft/ Fluid Mercon v - the fluid smelt funky... real bbq style funky..but not much metal shavings though on the magnet.
3.Transfer Case fluid change Mercon LV - Bloody hell this was empty. I found a very very slight leak almost like a "bleeding type of leak" coming from where the transfercase mates with the transmission.
4.Engine Oil Motorcraft Fully Synth 5w20
5.K&N Oil Filter
6.Thermostat Motorcraft
7.Coolant Reservoir tank
8.washer pump motorcraft
9.Transmission oil pan Dorman
10.EGR (NGK) - cause i am a nobb head and snapped the plastic connectors whilst doing the spark plugs.
11.Heater Valve - Fourseasons - found it was leaking coolant all over my spark plugs position 3 and 4 a shitload of gunk...
12.Drive Belt Motorcraft
13.Turn signal switch - was totally broken
14.BFGoodrich All terrain T/A 265 70R17 - I feel slightly more of a man now.
15.Headlight assemblies R + L, LED Lamps
16.OEM wheel nuts - when trying to take off the wheels holyshit shit we had to weld onto the old lugs and get them off it was ********. nuts were seized up in there like force feeding a toddler brussel sprouts, hectic.
17.Front hood and rear window strutts Rugged Tuff
18.Both rear Aircon Actuators Motorcraft
19. Front wheel hub and bearing assembly
20. Both Tie rod end/arms - alot of play
21. Spark Plugs Motorcraft - Holy shit again im no mechanic but i think they havent been changed in a while..
22. Coils MAS
24. Cut the muffler out and welded strait through - I feel slight more of a man now x2.
25. Got the interior steamed cleaned - Doesnt smell like a smelly man now.
26. Both Puddle lights i cleaned out and DIY'd with aluminium foil cause the chrome pant has peeled off and they were filled up with mold.
27.Fuel Filter Motorcraft
28.Rear Driveshaft Pinion oil seal - National Oil Seal
Immediate Future Works.
1. Aircon is gone, considering a whole compressor + condensor kit swapp out need opinion on this .
2.K&N Cold Air Intake
3.Delete current fan and install a Flexi-A-Lite Dual Fan
4.transfercase motor swapout
5.Front Driveshaft and Both front axle shaft new install
6.All pulleys, tensioner, starter motor swap( not often but has happened a couple of times where when i turn it there is like a "skipping sound " so i dont know what that is ive been told possibly a grounding issue or the starter is on its way out?
7.New Rear Diff Oil.
8.Rear Wheel hubs as the previous owners have butchered a couple of the studs
Not so immediate Future works.
1.Finding the rear tube line for the washer cause i have fluid spraying on the front window but none coming out my rear..
2.Power steering pump,water pump,alternator swap.
3.New Power Steering and brake booster reservoirs.
4.I need to source front seat motors, steering wheel(its tired,cosmetics) and some interior panels, the 3rd row seat belts.
5.Repaint the whole thing Original. cant see it in the photos but there a a few scratches and ugly bits
6. All the rubber linning on most of the doors and around the windows..
7.Install 12inch sub somewhere.
8. All 4 Wheels need to be resurfaced as there are wormlike corrosion on them.
9.and a few other things i cant think of at the moment
Why you may ask i am wanting to invest so much, well because in this short time of having it i have learnt so much from this tank, from not knowing nothing at all to now knowing something. I know now a nd been told from mates and online that these can last for ever if treated well. I dont need a bloody new car every couple of years, this will do for till im dead i reckon. The older Taxis (ford falcons)in Australia run the similar or same block with Boss Heads on them if not mistaken and reach well over 500k-1mil km no probs.
This may be common as heck in the Philippines or The United States but its not in Australia or NZ. Also what has encouraged me is the community that has guided me thus far extremely helpful and a bunch of overall good cnts when i have reached out various places and the most awesome youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/FordTechMakuloco amongst others.
The Plan is to restore this to a "fresh state" and also make it into what you yanks call a basic overlander of sorts. I want to bring this tank everywhere, initially around the Philippines and then across Australia.
Sorry for the Long "lord of the Ring" style post. Just wanted to share and really seek alot of advice in the near future.
Cheers In advanced Fallas, You bunch of legends!
p.s. Will post more photos in seperate posts.