Team Stampie flips an Explorer

Stampie said:

I hate Ford Explorers with a passion now. Their only purpose in life is to donate 8.8 rear ends to other vehicles. 

Since the last update we stopped working on it because of the Challenge. After the Challenge we finished putting the engine in only to find out the fuel pump had died in the mean time. Got another fuel pump got it installed and finally tonight she started up for the first time in the 18 months since we started this asinine flip. We've lost the egr valve in the meantime and the battery is berking sol so we'll hit the junkyard this weekend.

Lessons learned. Don't flip by committee. We've had long talks about how we should have cut our loses 17 months ago and sold it to a junkyard for $250.  There was too much talk and worry about losing money. Instead we loss 17 months where we could have made the at loss back and 10 fold on other flips. 

The 02 is by far the worst of the explorers and the SOHC is a bastard of an engine. My wife has one that i will destroy with fire soon, it has a stupid amount of idiotic problems and im not fixing it anymore, im bandaiding it. You literally could not have bought a worse vehicle. For funsies look at carcomplaints.com about how bad it is.

Now...earlier ones with the OHV 4.0 are great. That engine isnt fast but it is reliable and long lasting. I have 2 vehicles with it and my dad has one as well

maschinenbau said:

Oh wow you still have this! That's a long job!

Yeah it's like a case of the herpes, it keeps hanging around. 

In reply to Antihero :

Now that I know these more I think I'll never get another one but I betcha I could diagnose a broken passenger time chain from the exhaust sounds while trying to crank. 

I hate it when things go awry like this because I always think to myself "gee, what percentage of my life did I just waste?"

In reply to JamesMcD :

Oh that thought has occurred. Now there's cool things like Lil Stampie searches CL for cars with timing chain problems because well Dad did it on the Explorer so it must be an easy fix right?

So is it fixed and sold now?  

In reply to xflowgolf :

Fixed mostly.  Got to button up a few things.  We've decided that we've waited this long we might as well wait till lend of January and sell it for some tax return money. 

WoW.  Reading this thread make me realize I my have unintentionally dodged a bullet when I didn't have room for a no-start 2003 Explorer Sport that a coworker offered me a year ago.  I was feeling bad about passing up a simple fix until I read your travails.  Hope you are able to get out from under it soon.

Hey Stampie -valiant effort. Whoever knows on these projects?... it's a crap shoot.

" the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat."

Author: Roosevelt Quotes

Stampie said:

In reply to Antihero :

Now that I know these more I think I'll never get another one but I betcha I could diagnose a broken passenger time chain from the exhaust sounds while trying to crank. 

The OHV 4.0l is a much better engine, really. Its utterly insane that you have to pull the engine to do a timing chain with the SOHC.

On paper the SOHC is rated for more power but driving them back to back......in any rpm you would normally be driving the OHV has more power and gets better mpg. Above 4k though the SOHC has more hp

Because I don't want to disappoint Dusterdb13.

In reply to Stampie :

FINALLY!!!!!

Did chris buy y'all out?

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

I think I talked him out of it. 

We got the EGR valve at the junkyard. We spent an hour removing a berking $3.74 part. It would have made me feel better if the part cost more. First time I've used a ratchet strap on a wrench to break it loose. Can't really blame Ford but berk them anyway. 

Put the EGR in this morning before having lunch with Angrycorvair and pimpm3. Grabbed a battery after lunch, filled up fluids and attempted a test drive.

First try

We messed around with the brake switch and then we able to get it out of park.

Try number 2

So no power brakes stopped that attempt. We looked at it said berk it and drive around the block.

Around the block

Got it back and it started to over heat. The upper radiator hose was cold but in squeezing it heard a burp and all of a sudden coolant started flowing. Ended up swapping the brake vacuum love with the EGR line and got power brakes. And now it's nap time. 

Sold $1550 within 12 hours of listing it on CL. Glad this piece of E36 M3 is out of my life. It was definitely a learning experience and I think the positive coming out of it was we pushed ourselves in doing things we weren't comfortable doing but did it right. 

In reply to Stampie :

Congrats!

Wanna buy mine now? Lol

In reply to Antihero :

Only if I can light it on fire and walk away.

Congrats for finishing it up and making the sale. I know how hard it can be to wrap up a stalled project. So, are you ready to go into the used car business now?

Stampie said:

In reply to Antihero :

Only if I can light it on fire and walk away.

This is currently the option i have for it lol

In reply to AAZCD :

No. Well I say no but I currently have two other flips that I need to sale. One thing I learned is that I'd rather focus my car time/efforts on the fun projects. I have four nonrunning projects that I want to get on the road. The time spent on this Explorer would have been better spent on them.

Although seriously if you did want to light it on fire after buying it, go ahead