2001 Ford Explorer Sport Fluid Changes

[radtech91]

So my little brother got his first car. Its a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport with 143,000 miles on it. Inside and out is pretty nice. I don't think maintenance wise it was very taken care of.

So far we did:

Oil Change: Harvest King (Rural King) 5W-30 with a Motorcraft FL-820S Filter
- Oil was disgustingly black and dirty and the filter wasn't the right spec and was half the size of the new one we replaced it with. Also put a new oil drain plug on as well

Air Filter: STP SA8243
- Very black, could tell it hadn't been changed in awhile

Coolant: Flush with Prestone Coolant flush. Drain and filled about 8 gallons of distilled water out of it all together. Lots of rust and the fluid was a blackish dark brown at first. Refilled with Peak Coolant. Green colored one.

I picked up Valvoline Transfer case fluid to put in the transfer case, it meets the Ford specs. Haven't got to do it yet. I've been spraying the bolts with Liquid wrench penetrating spray for the transfer case, rear differential, and transmission pan bolts. They are really rusted and I figured that would help out when we got around to changing them.

We need to put front stabilizing links on and it needs 1 stud needs replaced. And also needs some new tires, especially for winter. Doing that this coming week.

Now to my main questions, will these work?:

Transmission: Valvoline MaxLife Dex/Merc ATF

Rear (open) and Front Diff: Valvoline 80W-90

Does anyone know the part number for the Motorcraft transmission filter?

Any certain procedure besides a pan drop and filter change for the transmission?

Any recommendations on a certain type of brake fluid that would be good?

I think those are all that I have at the moment. Any other things that I should look at to help him change?

 

[Bluestream]

For tranny only Mercon V
Diff front: 80W90 conventional
Diff Rear: 75W90 synthetic (75W140 if its making noise)
Watch out for the 2-3 shift flare, there is a repair kit for that, just need to drop the valve body and replace gasket/separator plate as it blows by the reverse servo
Read this thread:
http://www.explorerforum.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/5r55e-valve-body-rebuild-diary.140987/
Slow to engage in revers? replace o-ring on reverse servo with Viton D ring
No 5W20 for that engine, it has 4 timing chains and shears oil like crazy
Transfer Case: Mobil 1 ATF is fine
Use only Motorcraft air filters, as they have a larger lip to seal air box from snow ingestion

Join this forum:

http://www.explorerforum.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/stock-2nd-gen-forums-best-threads.386329/

 

[Doc8404]

What engine? There was only one?

 

[radtech91]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
For tranny only Mercon V
Diff front: 80W90 conventional
Diff Rear: 75W90 synthetic (75W140 if its making noise)
Watch out for the 2-3 shift flare, there is a repair kit for that, just need to drop the valve body and replace gasket/separator plate as it blows by the reverse servo
Read this thread:
http://www.explorerforum.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/5r55e-valve-body-rebuild-diary.140987/
Slow to engage in revers? replace o-ring on reverse servo with Viton D ring
No 5W20 for that engine, it has 4 timing chains and shears oil like crazy
Transfer Case: Mobil 1 ATF is fine
Use only Motorcraft air filters, as they have a larger lip to seal air box from snow ingestion

Join this forum:

http://www.explorerforum.com/xenforo/index.php?threads/stock-2nd-gen-forums-best-threads.386329/


Thanks for the suggestions!

Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
What engine? There was only one?


Sorry it's the 4.0 V6

 

[Bluestream]

Notice the lip on the motorcraft:

Mann:

 

[Dufus2]

Its sad that people will not spend a penny on regular maintenance to keep their vehicle in decent operating condition. My suggestion would be to repeat your fluid changes to purge the crud you have discovered. The A/T will benefit from flushing the converter through the cooler line (requires a lot of fluid).

One thing I did to my Tahoe was to add MMO to the differentials before changing the gear lube, it loosened up the burnt on sludge in only 1K miles before refilling with new oil. MMO also works great in the Power Steering as a clean-out flush..

Another thing is to use a turkey baster and replace the brake fluid because it absorbs moisture and can affect the brake performance and lead to a master cylinder failure. Almost any kind of brake fluid is acceptable, some dealer products have better additives but not sure if its a concern.

Check the water pump for leaks around the weep hole, if the coolant was nasty, its a possibility the WP may not last. Belts & hoses should be inspected to be on the safe side. Grease the ball joints, steering and drive lines while under the truck (most of these are sealed but should be checked).

*I'm not a Ford fan but these are general guidelines for a newly purchased vehicle as you described.

 

[Bluestream]

ironically in neglected cooling systems, its the flush and new coolant that often dislodges crud around the pump shaft seal and causes a coolant leak. Hopefully that doesn't happen here..

Have a look at the brake line where it goes over the differential. Ford used a steel clamp in the line, and it retains moisture under the clamp and the line will rust out right there. Pry the clamp open and remove the brake line. Take a plastic ty-wrap and secure the line to the back of the clamp. Spray some oil on as well to prevent rust.

 

[radtech91]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check all these.

 

[radtech91]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Notice the lip on the motorcraft:

Mann:

Do you have the part number for the Motorcraft filter?

 

[bdcardinal]

The MC Air filter for the 2001 Sport Track was a FA-1658 and now is a FA-1744.

 

[NH73]

I have a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, came with a marriage. I saw you say the 4.0 shears oil like crazy. Would using a synthetic oil allow you to use longer than 5000 miles? I also saw that 75w90 for rear differential, 80w90 for front. Why not just change both with 75w90?

 

[radtech91]

So I did find that I can get the genuine Motorcraft Mercon V at Oriellys Auto Parts. So I'll pick that up there instead of the MaxLife Dex/Merc.

Trying to figure out what transmission filter. I believe its Motorcraft FT-134. Does that sound right?

Does anyone know the part number or have a link to the gasket for the transmission pan? I would like to replace that while I'm doing the change as well.

 

[bdcardinal]

The transmission filter is XL2Z-7A098-DA / FT-134. Pan gasket is F5TZ-7A191-A.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
The transmission filter is XL2Z-7A098-DA / FT-134. Pan gasket is F5TZ-7A191-A.
bdcardinal, I've always wondered, do you really have all these part numbers memorized?

 

[radtech91]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
The transmission filter is XL2Z-7A098-DA / FT-134. Pan gasket is F5TZ-7A191-A.


Dude you are awesome! Thanks!

 

[barkingspider]

I would use ST 80w90 (can be purchased in 1 gal jugs for cheap) in the front and rear diffs. Run it for 1k-3k miles as a flush, then replace it w 75w90 syn of your choice and u are good to go for another 100K. This is what I did w my escalade to clean up the gears

 

[radtech91]

Originally Posted By: barkingspider
I would use ST 80w90 (can be purchased in 1 gal jugs for cheap) in the front and rear diffs. Run it for 1k-3k miles as a flush, then replace it w 75w90 syn of your choice and u are good to go for another 100K. This is what I did w my escalade to clean up the gears


That's a good idea. I may just do that.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
The transmission filter is XL2Z-7A098-DA / FT-134. Pan gasket is F5TZ-7A191-A.
bdcardinal, I've always wondered, do you really have all these part numbers memorized?


Some yes. When you do Ford/Mazda parts for almost 10 years, you memorize some of them. For most parts we bill out the long number, so I have to look up the cross to the short numbers. FWIW when you stick it out, the pay is really good. I made more this year than most of my classmates did that have 4 year degrees.

We switched to SnapOn for our Ford cataloging at work earlier this year. The week before we were switching my work computer died. I was using my personal laptop at work for a month or so while higher ups figured out what to do for a computer for me. Meantime the SnapOn dude came in and my laptop got the online access version instead of the DVD based version. So I can access all our catalogs from home when I need to. So ya while sometimes I know the numbers off the top of my head, I can look them up really quick also.

 

[radtech91]

It's taken awhile for me to get back on, it's been crazy around here. This is what we've got done since:

Front stabilizer links changed out

Installed a front stud that was missing, along with 4 new tires

Transmission line blew, so we changed two of them and put in all new Valvoline Mercon V with a new filter and pan gasket.

Transfer case drained and filled. Was really black. Replaced with Valvoline Transfer Case Fluid

Rear Differential drained and refilled with Harvest King (Rural King) 80W-90. Fluid was really nasty, most of the fluid was a dark runny green/gold color. The fluid at the bottom resembled a silver metallic paint. The new fluid reminded me of neon yellow/green. Used RTV Ultra Black as the new gasket for the cover.

Sunctioned out the power steering fluid and replaced with Valvoline Mercon V. The fluid was very dirty that came out.

I'm planning on helping him do a tune up on this thing as well.
Could someone supply me the Motorcraft part numbers for:
1) Spark Plugs
2) Plug Wire Set
3) PCV Valve
4) Fuel Filter

I tried to find them myself but I keep finding conflicting numbers on things.

 

[radtech91]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
ironically in neglected cooling systems, its the flush and new coolant that often dislodges crud around the pump shaft seal and causes a coolant leak. Hopefully that doesn't happen here..


I was a little concerned with that as well but it has been keeping the level perfect now. After the first week of driving his level dropped a little from the resovoir, which I'm thinking that was just extra air in the system that finally got escaped, and after filling it to the proper level it has been keeping it at the same level since.

Originally Posted By: Bluestream

Have a look at the brake line where it goes over the differential. Ford used a steel clamp in the line, and it retains moisture under the clamp and the line will rust out right there. Pry the clamp open and remove the brake line. Take a plastic ty-wrap and secure the line to the back of the clamp. Spray some oil on as well to prevent rust.


I still need to do this, completely forgot about that until I revisited this thread.