What did you do to the expy today

[RMARTIN]

Drove my 2004 xlt,5.4l 4x4, with 170,000 miles for the first time today after purchasing last Friday.
I had it delivered to me by the seller.
Also own a 2000 e.b.,5.4l 4x4 with 178,000 miles.

 

[JExpedition07]

Fluid Filmed the undercarriage

 

[Plati]

Nice day here in Rainchester, so after a round of golf (on December 11th)
Gave the old Gal a good hand washing, the only way to get fully clean & good exercise.
Found an issue, another advantage of the hands on experience.
I always wash the wiper blades , definitely improves performance.


Golf courses were all closed, so I had to TRESSPASS & Walk to get my 18 holes in!

 

[sjwelds]

Saturday, took the roof rack off.

For posterity, M6x1.00 is the thread size.

Wife and I both like the look.

 

[Machete]

Just did the follow up treatment after having the Restorefx process a year and a half ago.

Nothing sticks to my paint.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

It's been cold AF most days, so I procrastinated getting plug #8 out as a small pebble had prevented me from getting the socket on it. I finally managed to get that out and thought that was the hard part since I used anti-seize last time I did the plugs. Nope. I soaked the plug in rust penetrant AND still had to add a u-joint and 3 extensions to get enough leverage to break the plug loose. I applied firm, steady pressure, but avoided hammering on it out of fear I would break the plug. I know it's very uncommon with the 1-piece plugs, but that thing felt like it was red Loctite'd in there and I have a habit of using too much force. It took over an hour to get the MF out (maybe 15 min of actual wrenching and 45 min of me stepping away to curse the engineer that made that plug so hard to reach in the first place), but it's out.

 

[Thunderbirdsport]

I put a bug deflector on.

Then I pondered the newly cracked tail light and the dent in the hatch about an inch below the glass. My dear sweet girlfriend back into a trash can this morning... No, I didn't yell at her but she was pretty upset and there were tears. It's just a truck..glad she didn't back into a person or another vehicle. (have an aftermarket backup cam, not connected yet, gotta tuck the wires under carpet and console etc)

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I put a bug deflector on.

Then I pondered the newly cracked tail light and the dent in the hatch about an inch below the glass. My dear sweet girlfriend back into a trash can this morning... No, I didn't yell at her but she was pretty upset and there were tears. It's just a truck..glad she didn't back into a person or another vehicle. (have an aftermarket backup cam, not connected yet, gotta tuck the wires under carpet and console etc)

I got clipped on the highway the other day and I didn't even file a claim. The truck is 10 y/o now and I'm to the point where scratches and dings are of little importance.

 

[Trainmaster]

(have an aftermarket backup cam, not connected yet, gotta tuck the wires under carpet and console etc)

Good thing you have... awww never mind.

 

[Thunderbirdsport]

Good thing you have... awww never mind.

Right!? LOL

I'm like..I'll be damned. I can't be mad, she's never had a big....vehicle...like this, until she got with me last April.

And of course I about hit the damned thing too, a couple of days before.

Bad thing was, she was just taking the kids to the end of the driveway to wait for the bus so they didn't have to stand in the snow and cold.

It'll be ok. It's a 9 year old truck, though it has held up pretty nicely. I'm just glad it didn't bust a window, there's a lot of glass on that ass. LOL

 

[00XTL]

The odometer turned 400,000 today so as a gift I installed new headlights and fog lights.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Oil change. Almost 182K.

 

[Machete]

The odometer turned 400,000 today so as a gift I installed new headlights and fog lights.

Daaaaamnnnnn

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Last night I checked for an exhaust leak after the truck threw a code for an O2 sensor. With no leak found, I opted to replace the sensor. 50+ miles later and the code has not returned. That is only the second time in my 26 years of driving that an O2 sensor code was actually for a bad O2 sensor. The sensor right behind it might be next in line soon as it has been sluggish.

 

[00XTL]

So i decided to send in an oil sample to be tested and analyzed when i changed the oil at 400,000 miles. These are the results.PS some things to keep in mind are that my engine the 5.4 has the passenger head gasket leaking oil. Hopefully next month it will get fixed.

Let me know what you guys think

 

[Plati]

I did a baseline measurement of the battery voltage on my 2014 & 2003 5.4L
(measured at battery posts)
both batteries are about 1.5 years old - top quality - 850CCA (OEM old style, flooded)
both Expo's have been driven under various conditions over past month

I like to do this periodically, to check the health of the system … see how it changes over time … and have an idea what to expect as normal if "things go wrong".

resting (no headlights) 2003=12.4 2014=12.2
resting (headlights) 2003=11.9 2014=11.7
starting (no headlights) 2003=10.3 2014=10.1
running (no headlights) 2003=14.3 2014=14.6
running (headlights) 2003=14.2 2014=14.6

I did my annual battery health check today. 2003 & 2014 Expy's
I would rather know how the battery/charging system is doing, than have it be a surprise.
2003 is daily driver, 2014 sits around a lot this year due to COVID
resting (no headlights) 2003=12.0 2014=11.97
starting voltage drops to 2003=9.4 2014=9.9
running (no headlights) 2003=14.6 2014=14.6
running (headlights) 2003=14.6 2014=14.6

update 1/21:
I put the Battery Tender on the 2014 and let it cook overnight. It charged up to 12.6V. Last year I put the 5amp trickle charger on it and it went up to 13.4V. I dunno if the difference is Tender vs Charger or if the battery (being 3 years old) is just starting to have reduced capacity and that shows up in the max voltage. I think I'll let it rest for a day, see where it ends up and then maybe do a run with Trickle Charger and see what happens there.

I put the Battery Tender on the 2003 for 7 hours and it charged it up to 12.6V. Will let it rest for a day (may drive it) and measure again.

I think I may put the Schumacher 6A trickle charger on both these batteries in a couple days, fully charge and see what I can get out of that.

 

[IIGood]

Had to change the battery yesterday, kinda suddenly. Wasn't getting any indication that it was about to go out...the truck started right up all the time, but it was a Duralast battery and I don't know how old it with. Its a 2010 and I've only had the truck for just over a year and it had that battery in it.

It sorta stranded me, we were out running errands, we came out from one store and it wouldn't turn over. My fiancé called her mom to come get us and then we went to get a battery for the Expy.

I went with a Diehard Platinum AGM this time around. Starts like a charm again.

 

[Kevin08]

Still detailing the interior while I look for a transmission. Found some close enough silver spray to recolor the upper console sides. I haven’t corrected the finish yet, just placed the panel in to compare color. Top pic without shifter trim is the after I took today. Panels on table are after respray.

 

[Kevin08]

There is a Navigator in the local junk yard with black carpet. Looked like it might clean up good, but the truck it sitting in a mud hole and I didn’t feel like removing all those seats to get the carpet out standing ankle deep in water/mud. F-150 Crew with very clean gray carpet plus seats already gone. So I bought it’s carpet for $10.

took a few days to completely dry after pressure washing it. Sprayed the drivers half with first coat of Duplicolor flat black. I think a second coat will have it perfect. Pics of original carpet and dyed one.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Two weeks ago I found a small puddle under my truck of what I thought at the time was trans fluid. It had already soaked into the pavement though and my nose isn't what it used to be after getting COVID last March, so I wasn't certain. Several days later I noticed a squeal in the engine, but it was primarily only at cold start and only after the truck had been sitting for a bit. I finally was able to catch it with a stethoscope and found it was coming from the water pump. I decided to pull the belt, so I could try to spin the coolant pulley by hand to see if it made any noise. No noise, but it was dragging a little. Satisfied it was indeed the water pump, I put the belt back on. Then I crawled under the truck to make sure the belt was sitting in all the pulley grooves and wouldn't you know it, there's orange coolant dripping off the frame plain as day. I look over and see it coming down the crankshaft pulley from above. Son of a ...!! Well, better to find this in my own driveway then while I'm out in the woods or 200 miles from home on a job. Luckily, I already had a water pump, gasket and pulley on hand as it was on my to do list when I changed out the coolant in the spring. Now what I want to be doing when it's 20F outside (and about 40F in the garage), but that's how I spent my evening. Water pump had a bit of rust, was indeed dragging a little and the gasket had lost most of its pliability - but I still couldn't get it to make a peep. Nonetheless, the whining is gone and no more leak. I do need to finish bleeding the system in the AM, but I'm out of steam for the evening.