Picked up an 01' Excursion, V10, about a week ago. The price was right, along with the mileage of 46K. Has 4.30 gears, new tires, and the interior is overall like new. Wanted a vehicle with more space and occasional towing. Like many I fought the gas vs. diesel idea but for what we need, and purchase prices, the V10 was the right choice. New rear airbags and brake controller are nice too as I would have been adding them.


Its not immune from the common issues however as the list below shows what needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later.


1. Door Lock Actuators - all of them are weak and only work sometimes


2. Stock leaf springs are soft - planning on X code and B code swap soon, new shocks if it needs it. I can't believe how easy the front end bottoms out on this thing!


3. Exhaust cracked between CAT and Muffler - going to weld as from I
have read the V10 isn't the "best" sounding engine with an aftermarket muffler


4. Dent in driver rear door - will be fixed and look like new soon


5. Swap from 265's to 285's, more for looks than anything. The stock size looks way too small in my opinion. Would love to go to 35's but makes no sense since it will be used in the hills of CO with a trailer occasionally.


My biggest concern at this point is I did have the vehicle die on me at a stop light. This was after about 30 min of driving so it was warmed up. No warning whatsoever, just shut off. No rough idle or stumble of any kind. I didn't notice any lights on the dash and it started back up like normal. Overall it runs strong, idle is so smooth and quiet its hard to tell its even running. I have scanned it and there are no codes etc. I have read about the COP's, plug boots, and IAC valve, hoping to figure it out soon as reliability is key to me. I may start another thread on this even though I'm not the first to experience this type of issue.


Look forward to learning more from this site, looks to be a great resource with great people!


Happy Holidays to all!

 

Welcome to fte! If you get a the torque app and a blue tooth dongle you would be able to see the number of misfires for each cylinder. The spring swap made a huge ride quality difference for me. Maybe old gas or water in the gas/tank? Merry Christmas

 

Welcome to the EX family!
Sounds like you found a nice one! Post up some pics, we love looking at EXs here.
The V-10 is a very reliable motor and mated with the 4.30 gears it should pull well for you.

 

Congrats and welcome to the club! Be sure to post up some pictures soon. We all want to see your rig.

As far as the Torque app and dongle, they are awesome, but I cannot seem to get mine to read the cylinder misfires, so read up on all of that if you are going to get them.

You mention you are in Colorado and want 35 inch tires. I tow in Colorado with 4:10 gears on 35 inchers. Where are you located in CO? I live just outside Colorado Springs.

 

I will get a couple pics up as soon as I can, obviously today is not the most ideal day to do so. It looks like every other stock 01' Excursion Limited in White with the "gold" cladding. Has stock wheels with 265 BFGoodrich Rugged Terrains.


I am in south Littleton, so not far from Colorado Springs. This is my first V10, and most of my buddies have 7.3's or newer tow rigs, so from the limited research I have done the step up to 35's is a big killer in the mtns when towing. The 4.30 gears were a requirement for me and I'm really glad this one had them with the super low mileage.


Interested in hearing input on the towing with stock 4.30's and 35" tires. My load should be about 7K most of the time, possibly 8K. If I were towing 10K+ a diesel would have been my only option.

 

With your higher than most elevations (normally aspirated motor loose some umph in thinner air) I would stick to the stock or 285 tire size as going up to 35"s would push the effective ratio back down to almost 3.73. An effective 3.73 pulling 7 to 8k in the mountains would be less than fun, been there done that at lower elevations! The V-10 loves to rev and it makes some very usable power/torque above 2200-2300 RPMS so those 4.30 gears are a great match!
I run 35"s with 4.88 gears giving me an effective ratio of 4.39. We pull a 12k travel trailer all over the East, of course our mountains aren't quite as tall as your's but it handles them pretty well keeping up with traffic at the summits. My EX also has Banks headers and Y pipe as well as custom tunes from 5Star, both big pluses to get the most from a V-10. I have modded X and modded B codes as well, using the taller F-350 rear blocks and 2 sections of the cut up factory traction bar (+3 7/8" front and +4.5"+ rear) it sits nearly level with our 1450lbs tongue weight hitched up via our Hensley Arrow WD hitch.
Looking forward to seeing your buggy and following along as you get into your mods, we can help with any questions, we love to spend other people's money!

 

Thanks for the info WE3ZS, appreciate the firsthand experience. While I wont be getting close to the 12K pound load like you the hills here in CO can be brutal.


Snapped a pic this morning with the new snow that started last night, I will try to get it posted up today at some point.

 

I think I am little short on posts as well as time (since registering) to post pics. I will get some up as soon as I am allowed.

I have made a couple changes thus far, however none of them major by any means.

I swapped the rear liftgate struts as the old ones wouldn't hold up the door. No issues there, work like they should now.

Tore into the pass rear door and did the "free" resistor mod to the lock actuator motor. Struggled a bit as I have never done one before but got it all back together and it works now. With the amount of effort it seemed to take I am going to just replace the actuators on the other doors.

Looking into springs now and hopefully order some here very soon. Still thinking 285's are the right choice...even if 35's would look SO much better. If anyone has pics of a white limited with 285's or 35's with the X code front and B or C rear I would love to see them. I have looked through the entire "show your lifted Excursion" thread but Im sure there are more pics out there

Onto another issue I need to address sooner rather than later...

I have a driveline vibration that starts at exactly 65 mph. It is not RPM specific, does not vary based on load (on or off throttle), and seems to lessen a bit as I increase speed beyond 65 mph. The Ex has a CV rear shaft and it looks like it has been freshened up recently as it is much cleaner than the rest of the bottom of the truck. I also have the "clunk" when stopping or starting and have found through the forum that the splines may need some Ford lube. I have the lube so will start there. I found the info on rebuilding the center ball of the CV and may do that while its out.

 

If you don't have a rear sway bar, you may want to add that to your wish list. Huge improvement for little work & money. (Got mine from PicknPull off an F350 for less than 30 bucks).
Good Luck!

 

Sounds like a nice rig.

 

Sounds good - especially being able to find one with such low miles! The exhaust note can be a bit of a taste thing - I experimented a bit before finalizing mine. I'd recommend the Y Pipe mod first as it actually helps with performance and then see if you want it any louder or 'different' sounding. I ended up with a Magnaflow catalytic converter and muffler and it's a little louder but no drone or obnoxious sounds. You will love the way the Ex tows - tow a 30 ft Sea Ray and a 25ft enclosed trailer - both over 10k and it's great. Glad I don't have the hills to deal with - just the occasional bridge!

 

Been driving the Ex daily for the past two weeks and am liking it more and more. There are some issues to deal with for sure but its livable as is while updates are made.


New leaf springs have been ordered and I will get them installed hopefully in the next couple weeks. 285's are the plan as I think it will be best for all around use and towing.


This thread helped a lot with getting a better idea of how everything might look with the 285's.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-33-tires.html

 

So another minor issue hopefully fixed. I recently tried to use the rear wiper and noticed the washer portion was not working. After doing a little searching I found what many before me have, the connection had come undone at the passenger kick panel.

I reconnected it and the leak is now gone. Unfortunately it has been miserably cold and I think the line may be frozen as well. Once it warms up I will check it again but hopefully that's one more thing off the list!

 

Mine had unconnected near the firewall AND back above the headliner near the rear hatch. Didn't realize the 2nd problem until the waterfall/puddle formed after the first discovery didn't fix it!

 

Got two more of the door lock actuators replaced. Finally getting the hang of it, did the last one in about 10 minutes. Now only the driver door and rear hatch to do.

And a picture since I can post one now...yeah the same as every other stock Limited with gold "cladding"


I have searched and from what I have found I can't replace the missing grill insert on the passenger side without getting a whole new grill. If I am incorrect I would love to know where to get one. I like the newer grill conversion but don't really want to spend the money...