I thought I would post an update to this forum about my latest new-to-me 2006 Navigator. I traded in my pearl white 2005 Navigator with 165k miles on it for a black 2006 Navi a few months ago. Both trucks were fully loaded. The 2006 has power running boards and only 85k miles on the odometer.

I snagged the '06 Navi as a trade-in at a suburban Chicago car dealer. The price was reasonable and they gave me decent money for my '05 Navi. I knew there were a few issues, but nothing too major (I hoped).

I got to experience the all too common snapped off spark plugs the 3V engine is notorious for on the '06. Somehow I escaped that on the '05 when I changed the plugs and COP boots.

After purchasing the extraction tool, it was a breeze to remove the 2 broken plugs. 8 shiny new Ford spark plugs later, the engine ran worse than before. I had a minor misfire when transitioning from open to closed loop with the original plugs. Now I had a 100% solid dead miss.

After some head scratching and a sleepless night I built a redneck spark plug tester using a COP and a 9 volt battery with some test leads. A few minutes later I found one of my shiny new spark plugs was bad. Go figure!

A quick trip to the store for a warranty swap and everything was good with the world. The previous small misfire was completely gone.

Next item to fix was the power adjustable pedal gear. I ordered and installed a new gear from Curless. Problem solved.

One of the HID lamps was shorted internally and blew the fuse. I replaced both with some aftermarket 6k bulbs from flea-bay. The shorted bulb was also a 6k aftermarket. I hope the new ones I installed are longer life.

Next on the to-do list was replacing the broken ignition cylinder. It looks like someone tried to use a slide hammer at some point to steal the truck. I knocked that out on Sunday using a real Ford replacement ignition cylinder. Unlike a few of the Youtube videos I watched preiously this cylinder was very different. There was no internal pin you could push to remove the tumbler assembly from the outer cylinder.

When I finally found the correct video there was mention of using a special "included" tool to keep the tumblers compressed. The Ford version did not include this tool. As luck would have it once I removed the retainer lock on the back side of the tumbler assembly it literally fell out the front side. Another hour later and a severe case of cross-eye I was done.

Now I need another key since I only got the one when I purchased the truck. I have Forscan so I can program the PATS.

Next item to figure out is why the TPMS system always flashes a system fault when starting the truck. I think the PO did not install any TPMS sensors when the new looking tires were installed. I snagged 4 new Ford sensors from flea-bay. I am in the process of scheduling a time with my local service/tire shop. I have a tire that loses 1 lb. of pressure a week. I'll use that as an opportunity to see if there is a sensor in that tire. If not, or it's bad, I have the 4 new ones to hopefully fix the problem.

The last known problem is the driver side heat/cool seat. It will cool for ~3 minutes or ~30 seconds on heat before shutting off. I have an error code from Forscan that indicates a problem with the dual differential circuit. I think one of the thermo-electric devices is bad. I just need to figure out which one.

I'll post some pics soon of my 2006 Navigator, aka Black Pearl. It's in very good condition considering it came from the midwest/rust belt. The underbody/frame is very clean. It looks like the last several years it was a fair weather vehicle. Very little signs it ever saw salt.

Sorry for the novel, but wanted to give the group a glimpse of the ride that now resides in my garage.

 

Sounds nice, post pics?

 

I snapped a few photos. I will upload to my gallery soon.

In the meantime....




I sprayed the grille with gloss black removable paint. Sort of like a rubber coating to see how it looked. So far I like it.

 

A few more items knocked off the punch list today. I paid the wallet biopsy for a real Lincoln key from the local dealer. i only got one key when I purchased the vehicle. I get a small discount, so it was worth getting one local within 30 minutes.

When I got home I used Forscan to re-program both keys as Masters. I love this App/program.

Next Monday I have an appointment to figure out the cause for the slow leak in one tire and the TPMS monitor failure message. As posted earlier I have 4 new OEM sensors ready to go.

 

Looks great. I wish i would have waited for a black navi. I also repainted the fins on my grill. Here are some before and after




Haven't gotten around to repainting the lower bumper yet

 

Your repainted grille looks like mine. I like the black-out effect.

My first Navi was pearl white. It was nice, but I just went through 2 black SUVs previously. It was a great introduction to what the Navigator had to offer. I am hooked!

I love the air suspension. It's really a simple design. You have to figure out how to service it. Aftermarket support is there so no worries.

 

I uploaded some more photos to an Album: https://www.ford-trucks.com/g/album/7406703