catmandu
Well-Known Member
So my 97 F250LD was not responsive when I did some pre-snow checks of the 4x4 ESOF last month. Don't know why, it only has 268,000 miles on it! And earlier this year I parted / scrapped the '96 Explorer with 214,000 miles. Knowing from previous experience the ESOF is no fun to work on, I decided to look around for something else to use as the "must get to work in the snow" vehicle.
Not too far away, there was a 2000 Expy EB AWD with only 82,000 on it. But, there was an ABS light, an airbag code, no odometer, a really stiff shifter, lost the code for the keypad, tape jammed in the radio, and a rough idle with no DTC's ("Local Joe's garage says it needs a new PCM"), and a nasty squeal from the engine ("Joe says probably needs a new PS pump"). Plus, the exterior was 'fair' at best, black paint not cared for, and a minor swipe of the driver's front that showed up on Carfax. Lots of tread on relatively new Toyo tires (although noisy). Nice interior, although one seat belt had been sliced off in the back. And the dreaded Maryland Vehicle inspection to go through.
Lucky for me, this guy does not know about the internet, and the support you can find for problems if you can turn a wrench or two. After looking at the car, I got online and did a little research, a lot of it here. Pretty confident in what I was facing, I went back, and his original $7k asking price dropped to $4,800 firm, but I moaned and groaned about all the lights on the dash, and eventually $4k cash got me a title.
Drove it home, replaced some of the fluids, took a shot on the differential speed sensor for the ABS light (worked!), replaced the neutral safety switch to ease the shifter (worked!) unplugged and replugged ABS connections to deal with the ABS code 36 (worked!), replaced the factory original serpentine belt (no more squeal!), banged on the dash to get the odometer back (worked!), looked under the dash to get the keypad code (worked!), all within about three hours time, thanks to parts in stock at NAPA!
Took it in for the inspection the next day, and happily only got hit on the front brakes and rotors. Again, parts in stock at NAPA, by the afternoon I had an inspection in hand! Popped the radio out that night, broke it open, and eventually ripped out the cassette (Soundtrack from "The Producers"!?!?!?!?).
Waited for the weekend to look into the idle issue, checked all the vacuum lines, replaced the PCV, cleaned the IAC. No luck. Drove it around pretty hard all weekend, finally got it to pop a 'cylinder 5 misfire'. Ooo, lucky me, right up front! Looking at the coil, seems someone stripped out the ferrule from the intake and did not mention it to anyone. Slapped some JB weld into the hole, tapped some threads, pulled a 'possibly good' coil from previous truck troubleshooting off the shelf to replace the one that had been banging around for who knows how long, and tightened it down. No more rough idle!
So I've got a new to me ride with low miles at a good price! Sometime soon I'll hit the junkyard for a seat belt and some other trinkets. And eventually I'll pull the instrument cluster and solder the crack on the odometer connection. But for now, I think I'll just enjoy my ride (Even more so now, as yesterday I did the Aux input mod, and can now listen commercial free to my favorite podcasts!).
Thanks to everyone in general for asking and answering questions, makes life easy for those of us who don't mind a little wrench turning!
Now if I can only motivate myself to look into that transmission on the plow truck, since it is snow time (must . . . not . . . look . . . for . . . Expo . . . plow . . . )
Not too far away, there was a 2000 Expy EB AWD with only 82,000 on it. But, there was an ABS light, an airbag code, no odometer, a really stiff shifter, lost the code for the keypad, tape jammed in the radio, and a rough idle with no DTC's ("Local Joe's garage says it needs a new PCM"), and a nasty squeal from the engine ("Joe says probably needs a new PS pump"). Plus, the exterior was 'fair' at best, black paint not cared for, and a minor swipe of the driver's front that showed up on Carfax. Lots of tread on relatively new Toyo tires (although noisy). Nice interior, although one seat belt had been sliced off in the back. And the dreaded Maryland Vehicle inspection to go through.
Lucky for me, this guy does not know about the internet, and the support you can find for problems if you can turn a wrench or two. After looking at the car, I got online and did a little research, a lot of it here. Pretty confident in what I was facing, I went back, and his original $7k asking price dropped to $4,800 firm, but I moaned and groaned about all the lights on the dash, and eventually $4k cash got me a title.
Drove it home, replaced some of the fluids, took a shot on the differential speed sensor for the ABS light (worked!), replaced the neutral safety switch to ease the shifter (worked!) unplugged and replugged ABS connections to deal with the ABS code 36 (worked!), replaced the factory original serpentine belt (no more squeal!), banged on the dash to get the odometer back (worked!), looked under the dash to get the keypad code (worked!), all within about three hours time, thanks to parts in stock at NAPA!
Took it in for the inspection the next day, and happily only got hit on the front brakes and rotors. Again, parts in stock at NAPA, by the afternoon I had an inspection in hand! Popped the radio out that night, broke it open, and eventually ripped out the cassette (Soundtrack from "The Producers"!?!?!?!?).
Waited for the weekend to look into the idle issue, checked all the vacuum lines, replaced the PCV, cleaned the IAC. No luck. Drove it around pretty hard all weekend, finally got it to pop a 'cylinder 5 misfire'. Ooo, lucky me, right up front! Looking at the coil, seems someone stripped out the ferrule from the intake and did not mention it to anyone. Slapped some JB weld into the hole, tapped some threads, pulled a 'possibly good' coil from previous truck troubleshooting off the shelf to replace the one that had been banging around for who knows how long, and tightened it down. No more rough idle!
So I've got a new to me ride with low miles at a good price! Sometime soon I'll hit the junkyard for a seat belt and some other trinkets. And eventually I'll pull the instrument cluster and solder the crack on the odometer connection. But for now, I think I'll just enjoy my ride (Even more so now, as yesterday I did the Aux input mod, and can now listen commercial free to my favorite podcasts!).
Thanks to everyone in general for asking and answering questions, makes life easy for those of us who don't mind a little wrench turning!
Now if I can only motivate myself to look into that transmission on the plow truck, since it is snow time (must . . . not . . . look . . . for . . . Expo . . . plow . . . )
