240K *New Expedtion Owner*

[CableDawg]

Just bought a 98 with 240K on it. Purchased while deployed and my wife picked it up. It handles great and sounds great, but the guy said it will need a tune up soon. I would like to give it a 100% complete tune up. What are your suggestions? Also, the wife said that the heat isn't very strong and she smells antifreeze when she turns the heat on. Could this be the waterpump?

 

[Daveyj]

Smelling antifreeze with the heater on is likely going to be a leaking heater core which requires removal of the dash to replace. Is the carpet on passenger side wet / damp?

 

[1955moose]

Well first off let me say thank you for your service. Without guys like you, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the life here we do. Second welcome to the forum. As far as your full service, recommend new Ford sparkplugs, new wires for your 8 coils, I believe your year has wires vs coil boots.air and fuel filter, oil/ filter spray out throttle body, and maf sensor. Be sure to use proper spray on sensor. If you read about spark plugs, torque them proper. up to 2002 the threads are little lacking. Are you doing the work yourself? Heater core is doable, but a little on difficult side, that you may want to farm out. Lack of heat and coolant smell leads towards core replacement Use quality parts, and you should get plenty of additional miles.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[deweysmith]

Definitely a cracked heater core. The F-150s of this era were plagued with this as well. Some get bad enough that steam comes out of the vents. My buddy just did his in his 2000 F-150 a couple of months ago, it took him about half a day of pulling dash apart. He's a small engine mechanic, so he knows what he's doing and has tools, but it still took him some time. It's not hard, just tedious.

 

[Daveyj]

Here's a good video showing the heater core replacement.

 

[RonB1964]

Also check the coolant cross-over on the intake manifold. They are known for failing.

 

[CableDawg]

Smelling antifreeze with the heater on is likely going to be a leaking heater core which requires removal of the dash to replace. Is the carpet on passenger side wet / damp?

I’m not sure if it is wet or not. I will check next weekend to see if it gets wet. After reading yours and everyone else’s comments I am going to go ahead and change it out.

 

[CableDawg]

Well first off let me say thank you for your service. Without guys like you, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the life here we do. Second welcome to the forum. As far as your full service, recommend new Ford sparkplugs, new wires for your 8 coils, I believe your year has wires vs coil boots.air and fuel filter, oil/ filter spray out throttle body, and maf sensor. Be sure to use proper spray on sensor. If you read about spark plugs, torque them proper. up to 2002 the threads are little lacking. Are you doing the work yourself? Heater core is doable, but a little on difficult side, that you may want to farm out. Lack of heat and coolant smell leads towards core replacement Use quality parts, and you should get plenty of additional miles.

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

Thank you! I enjoy what I do and consider it a privilege. As far as the work, I’ll be doing it myself. My old man taught me a lot about mechanics growing up. Have swapped a few engines, completed some minor rebuilds, and have changed out many bolt on parts on a variety of vehicles. Nissans are my arch enemy but fords aren’t so bad. I was also thinking about growing a new alternator on as we will be using his bad boy for some road trips and I want to ensure we don’t get stranded. They guy owned it for two years and never had it swapped out. Think this is a good idea or a waste of money? As for the heater core, I will definitely be replacing this.

 

[CableDawg]

Definitely a cracked heater core. The F-150s of this era were plagued with this as well. Some get bad enough that steam comes out of the vents. My buddy just did his in his 2000 F-150 a couple of months ago, it took him about half a day of pulling dash apart. He's a small engine mechanic, so he knows what he's doing and has tools, but it still took him some time. It's not hard, just tedious.

Thank you! I’ll be changing it out in a couple of weeks and will let you guys know how it works out.

 

[CableDawg]

Here's a good video showing the heater core replacement.

Awesome! Thank you for this. I have been cruising YouTube since she bought it. There are a ton of helpful videos out there!