What to look for when buying a gen 1 expy

Follow up on the 98. The dealer/owner actually emailed me asking what went wrong, so I told him. about an hour later I had the codes. Misfire cyl 4 (probably the Coil Pack), and too lean both banks. That could be the fuel filter, the line itself partially blocked, or the fuel pump going south. Anyway, since it's in Cedar City, it's too far away for me to play with. I'll keep looking.

I'm new here, my first post!

"My" 2000 EXP AWD has 168k on her, and is a California car in nice shape, all original, silver.

I've had the flickering ODO light, not gonna fix that anytime soon.

Coolant leaking onto the #3 and #4 cop's, found a busted fitting at the heater core nipple on the firewall, an easy fix using a $15 Dorman plastic connector piece.
I replaced two coil boots and packed the boots internally with dielectric grease to repel any future leakage. I set the gaps at only .045 for coil longevity.

A broken fuel-level float at the fuel pump, was reading Empty so several of the smog monitors would not set! I replaced the entire pump unit, bought from RockAuto.

Front swaybar/stabilizer links were gone, made the cab tilt violently when the rear tires bumped over driveway entrances. Some NAPA replacements were cheap enough and really improved the steering feel.

I was given this car because some poor repair shop had mis-wired the ECU plug wiring, probably guessed at the wire colors using a bluish LED light instead of reading the pin numbers! Their bill was to $1600 and they left the engine light still on, so the car's owner gave it to me. I filed a complaint to the Bureau of Automotive Repair but they didn't actually help the car's owner in any meaningful way. There was a solid written trail of evidence of mis-diagnosis and they had charged three hundred dollars for a tank pressure sensor that takes two minutes to replace and which wasn't actually bad (just appeared bad because of their mis-wiring mistake).
Shop claimed that the ECU was bad and was replaced, which I doubt. I think they gave up on their efforts because they didn't understand why they couldn't get the monitors to set.
I haven't registered the vehicle in my name, will be giving it back to the owners who will compensate my expenses. I have enjoyed driving it.
Currently no codes/lights and it just passed California's strict smog inspection.

I have one lingering problem though, perhaps someone here can help?
There is an intermittent gurgling sound from the cooling system near the dash. It happens when I rev the engine. Coolant isn't low at all, and isn't dropping. It never goes away but I would expect the air to have purged out by now! Any ideas?

walnuts4x4 said:

the 90 deg elbow "thingy"...lol and make sure coolant hose is not leaking on #4 COP

Click to expand...

Yes, out of ALL of these fine Expy Forum members, not one ( including myself) can not give a proper name nor nomenclature to this questionable but vital curvy “ L” shaped cooling pipe that seems to be critical when this area fail due to a coolant leak on # 4 COP , which in turns may or may not bring a code to follow.
This “ L” shaped pipe thingy has changed places over the years, seems to have something to do due to block / head difference’s.
I’ve attached 2 pictured of which the first one has the L shaped water pipe that extrudes from what seems to be the passenger rear of the intake.
Can ANYONE name this “ L” shaped tube connected to what seems to be the passenger side rear intake manifold and the heater hose cluster in the same area. Please ?
I have ordered a replacement intake for my 1998 EB 5.4 4x4 Expy 2 times and I continually seem to get the intake shown in the second picture with the heater hose outlet from the intake manifold that is located on the front passenger side of the intake pointed directly straight up.
I should the have OEM intake off this 1998 5.4 Expy with rear heat and this “ L” shaped tube protruding from the passenger rear of the intake, this evening.
I hope the “ L” shaped coolant pipe will rear its ugly position of which I will place pictures of, and HOPEFULLY put an end to this mystery.
Meanwhile, why do I keep getting the Dorman intake with the coolant hose pipe that seems to connect to the heater core on the firewall ?
So can ANYONE name and Identify the function or use for the
“ L” shaped metal tube connected to heater hose that protrudes from the passenger side rear intake manifold ?
And the same for the intake coolant hose pipe that is located at the passenger side front of the intake (in the picture to the right) that seems to perform some function with the cooling system.
With all the years of experience located within the confides of the forum here SOMEONE must have the answer!
Thank you for your patience with my trying to be exact as possible with location and description of the parts in question.
Please reply to my e mail as I can not change it on the forum.
[email protected]
Many many thanks
JP

Is the coolant crossover on your old manifold at the front, like the newer manifold?
I can't tell from your photo where the metal L-pipe sits, is it at the front like the newer setup?

I can see why Ford would have updated the design to eliminate a rigid, cantilevered metal pipe from the intake manifold, since it would seem likely to fail and leak right where it was attached to the manifold.

Perhaps the newer arrangement can be functionally duplicated using various pre-bent hoses, so you can then use the newer manifold. You will need to be sure that the plumbing remains functional as far as supplying the heater cores with hot fluid from the heads.

Thanks a lot for posting your second photo, it is useful for my understanding of what all of the hoses are for on the 2000 5.4l Expy.

Has the heater core been replaced yet? Since we are talking 20 year old cars here, if it hasn't been done at some point you can pretty much plan on it giving up soon. Complete dash removal. When it starts leaking depends on how well the cooling system was flushed and kept clean the last 20 years.

Hey all! New here. Just got my first expedition. 2001 EB 136K miles. Its a utah truck so its seen some salt, but it generally looks to be in solid shape. I do have the dreaded windshield leak and i did have to fix the heater core. but I only paid 2k for it. pretty happy with it so far.

Got a parasitic draw somewhere in my expy. Been through 3 batteries in the 2 years I’ve owned mine. Dash is cracking and broke in some places. o2 sensors have gone back. Don’t know which 2. Whole truck shakes around 35-50 but only when pushing throttle. Chugging noise anything over 2000 rpm. Would like to lift it but can’t find a lift that will fit. Can anybody help with cheap replacement part places for some of those problems.

Pull the fuse for the rear wiper and check the parasitic draw. You do know that the vehicle needs to be locked up, armed for about 45 minutes for all the computers to shut down?

The fuel filler inlet hose can rot. Found mine to be badly deteriorated. This is the one ... though their price has almost tripled in the last couple years https://www.carid.com/spectra-premium/fuel-filler-hose-mpn-fnh167.html

Check for breather hose connection behind the intake on top of the block that connects the pcv valve. Mine was bad for a long time and didn't get fixed till it started hissing like crazy and caused a really rough/weak idle. Super easy fix but goes bad on about every expy at some point and can seem like a really big deal if you don't know what the problem is.