New to the expedition

[white7wolf]

Hey all, I just registered here. I'm trading away from my Dodge Ram to a 98 Expy EB with 5.4L. Anyways, it has a few quirks and I tried searching around looking for similar problems but no luck so hoping you all can help me. I've had a lot of good luck with getting help from users in forums who beat on their vehicles all day.
Anyways, problem number one is the instrument cluster. All the lights work on it but none of the actual gauges seem to work. The previous owner has told me that after he drives it around for awhile (about 30-45 minutes) the gauges will start to work. I've read there are some saudering issues with these and I'm hoping to get away with possibly just doing that. Any thoughts?

Problem two is the four wheel drive. Four years ago the truck was placed in 4LO and it got stuck in that. A local shop then "put it back" into 2wd and it really has not been touched since. (this truck has barely been driven the past few years). Today I tried using it. When put on "A4WD" the light will blink. When put on 4HI the 4x4 light will illuminuate and stay solid. I tried driving it in both spots and the front axles did not feel like they were engaging either time since the rears were spinning super easily (we just got 6 inches of snow overnight so I had plenty of testing ground lol) . Thinking it may be the solenoid?

Any help would be great appreciated thanks!

EDIT: I also forgot to add that there was a generic code for the check engine light. It said the system was running too lean. I dont remember the exact code... but I'm thinking 02 sensor?

 

[GAINMOB]

welcome to the site...sorry i cant help with your probs

 

[white7wolf]

Thanks! Yea I know it's kinda a lot to take in. I'm hoping I can get some help... there's an issue with the truck choking up under hard idle like it doesn't want to shift from first to second, but a transmission shop checked it out and said it was ok.

 

[FordandPolaris]

http://www.expeditionforum.com/f27/rough-idle-p0171-p0174-heres-what-you-need-check-first-4926/
That is a good place to start with the running lean code. Otherwise I would say change the O2's.

The 4WD could be the transfer case motor as well. As far as the instrument cluster goes, that sounds an awful like something is not making contact when cold and then as it warms up it makes contact. Unfortunately I think it is a bit of a project to get the dash apart and I do not know how to do it. I am sure some googling will yield a how-to though. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[Thermo]

Wolf, your instrument cluster problem sounds like the infamous solder issue. The fix is easy. Getting to the fix is going to have you cussing. In short, the fix is pulling out a soldering iron and touching up the solder joints to where the cable joins the instrument cluster (if you look at the solder joints, you will see a black ring in them, this is where the solder has cracked and is no longer making an electrical connection). But, to get to where you can solder, you have to remove the instrument cluster. To remove the instrument cluster, you pretty much have to remove all of the decorative trim from around the instrument cluster. Plan on about 90 minutes if it is your first time just to get the cluster out. Then probably 75-90 minutes to get it all put back together. This is not counting the time to do the soldering. So, a 4 hour job all said and told.

As for your 4x4 issue, it is sounding like the actuator on the front differential. If the transfer case motor was not moving the gears around to engage the 4x4 system, the dash lights would flash at you, telling you that there is a problem. But because the lights are going on solid, the motor is reaching its final position. With that being said, this is also assuming that the chain is still in 1 piece.

The easiest check that I can tell you is to lift both front tires off of the ground at the same time. Get into the truck and start it up and then switch it over to 4HI. Verify that the 4HI light comes on the dash solid. Then, crawl under the truck and attempt to turn the front drive shaft by hand. If it turns, problem with the transfer case. If it is solid, problem lies with the actuator in the front differential.

 

[BakerEdition]

Welcome to the family

 

[superexpy]

I have had problems like this with mine too. One of the problems I found was the vacuum lines that run from the pass firewall sylinoids and along the air condition lines to a plug by the radiator were melted. I believe these are the lines the go to the 4wd actuator. I fixed those and wala! all was good till I didnt use 4wd for a year and when I went to use it the dash light would turn on but my 4wd would not be working and if I switched back to 2wd the 4wd would still stay lite up. the fix for this was to put it in 4wd, shut down my expy and restart it and then all would be normal and stay this way if I use it at least every other week or so. still not sure why it does it but at least I know how to keep it going now.

 

[white7wolf]

Hey guys thanks for all the responses. I am glad to hear that you are thinking like me with the instrument cluster. I am hoping I can get away with saudering it because I really don't want to do a swap. I'm no stranger to pulling dashes apart (I replaced a heater core in a Jeep Grand Cherokee in the middle of February here in Montana) and there are some good write up's out there on how to get it apart. I think I should be okay.

I will also try what you said with the jacking up the front. When moving the switch I could hear no type of engaging like I could on my dad's push button F-150... but then again his is a 94 so it's probably totally different.

The engine is gonna be last issue. It does not idle rough or anything, it seems to be fine when just driving it easily it's only when you really get on it that it chokes up. A buddy of mine had a similar issue on a yukon of his with the MAF sensor. Luckily, most things can be tested to see if they're transmitting or not with a stab light =D

I'll be getting the expy here next week probably. I have to shuffle a lot of paperwork, I'm doing a straight trade for my 99 Dodge 1500 and haven't owned/worked on a ford truck in about 5 years. I'm hoping I can put off the hard work like the spark plugs until next summer when it's warmer.

Oh I do have a random question, there's an empty access panel in the roof above the second row... is that supposed to be for a dvd player or something?

Thanks everybody!

 

[white7wolf]

clusters out

okay guys I have the cluster out (I think it took me about an hour... pretty sure somebody has had this dash apart before because there was stuff broken that I know wasn't me). Anyways, this is gonna sound like an easy question but are the connections under the circuit board? and do I have to remove ALL of the lights in order to get the board out of teh way?

Thanks!

 

[white7wolf]

nevermind I figured it out... have to take the plastic outer shroud apart

 

[white7wolf]

okay so I've got the cluster torn apart into a million pieces... what solder joints do I need to fix? are the bad joints the one's that have sort of fallen over? I don't see any that are 'black' necessarily...

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

Mine broke off as I was backing it into the driveway fresh off the highway. Is there any way to replace the spare tire holding system once it breaks?

 

[white7wolf]

Bang,

It depends on what broke... I have not looked under these expy's at the spare tire mounting system but if it's like my dodge was there's a steel cable that "winds up" to winch the tire up. If that cable or the mount broke you should be able to get a replacement from a junkyard.

In other news, to update anybody who is interested I got most of my issues figured out. The cluster problem ended up actually being that the printed circuit wasn't seated all the way, I think somebody previously messed with it and didn't put it back together right. Unfortunately I took all my needles apart without indexing them so while everything is now working my speedo reads 10 mph over. I'm just gonna buy a used one from a salvage yard here for 65 and stick it in I think that should do it.

As for the 4x4, we determined the T-case is working so most likely culprit is the vacuum actuator. However, does anybody know if there's a vacuum canister on these trucks that holds auxilary vacuum for operation of things like blower doors and what not? I think the system most likely has one I just can't find the dumb thing.

Lastly, I'm decently sure one of my vacuum lines has a leak in it and that is why the engine is running lean and throwing codes.

If somebody could answer my vacuum question that'd be great. Thanks everybody!

 

[toms89]

I believe the vacuum canister is hidden behind the battery.

 

[white7wolf]

Thanks Tom, I'll have a look once the weather warms up and time permits

 

[1997SCEBFEX]

Mine broke off as I was backing it into the driveway fresh off the highway. Is there any way to replace the spare tire holding system once it breaks?

just a couple of bolts & the cotter pin for the drive shaft. Mine seized many years ago and was about 30 mins start-to-finish to replace.

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

Bang,

It depends on what broke... I have not looked under these expy's at the spare tire mounting system but if it's like my dodge was there's a steel cable that "winds up" to winch the tire up. If that cable or the mount broke you should be able to get a replacement from a junkyard.

Duh didnt think of going to get it from the junk yard.
The little ball on the end of the cable that holds the peice that goes in the middle of the tire to lift it up is what broke off. The cable is still there just that very end peice broke off. I'm going to check into just getting the cable from the junk yard or the whole thing if I have too. Thanks a milli.

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

just a couple of bolts & the cotter pin for the drive shaft. Mine seized many years ago and was about 30 mins start-to-finish to replace.

Excellent.
Thanks for the info.

Banger

 

[white7wolf]

Ok so I think I found the vacuum leak. On the top of the passenger side valve cover back next to the firewall I believe is where the PCV valve is? it seems to be warn right there and if I wiggle it I can hear the whistling change to different pitches. Would this cause the engine to not want to, or not have enough power to be able to really go over about 3k rpms? I found, for example, if I floor the throttle all the way to the floor it will not hook up and go it seems to just rev up to about 3,000 rpm but won't go over. It also will not seem to want to increase in speed. However, if I keep my foot out of the gas and always drive below that RPM threshold I get around fine with no issues. It hasn't been that big of an issue, but it's annoying when hitting a small hill on the interstate and cruise control kicks off because the truck can't accelerate the way it wants too. It's really weird, any body think it could be anything else other then the vacuum leak and it running lean? I have a really dirty and unoiled K&N filter too... hoping to fix that this weekend

 

[BANGEREXPO76]

Wolf

Sounds like you need to replace the infamous PCV hose & boots. It runs from the PCV to the back of the intake where you were rubbing aorund. Trace that hose from the PCV valve to the back of the intake. Replace that assembly and your problems should be over.