Ok, well, I imagine if other folks are like me, their project vehicles are a 'work in progress' constantly. I don't imagine I will get to everything that needs to be done quickly (time, finances, life) but the critical stuff will be done before I need to actually depend on it for transportation. So the fun begins!

I posted recently about this 2000 V10 Excursion I found for sale nearby. After getting some good feedback from the nice folks here, I went ahead and purchased it. Some photos will be below.

The vehicle was in a tussle with a deer at some point. The corner of the bumper appears to be bent, a little bend on the fender area, not too bad. I removed the broken signal light, and the header panel is cracked in the corner. The damage doesn't appear to go any deeper than this. So it seems like a new header panel and light assemblies might be in order. I suppose the bumper can wait for awhile, being a more costlier item. Since the lights look to be original and past their prime, I'll probably go ahead and change all of them out.

I did some troubleshooting on the blinker issue I had previously posted about. I replaced the square relay located under the steering column. The flashers work. The right turn signals work, but the relay makes an awful racket when they are activated. I'm suspecting the multi-function switch could be the cause of this? That will probably be my next part to switch out.

Looking forward to having a second massive family hauler to utilize. The diesel excursion can be saved for making longer trips. This one can be used closer to home (especially to allow the opportunity for any unforeseen problems with an unfamiliar vehicle to manifest themselves).

 

That's always been my favorite color combo for these big wagons.
If you are looking to upgrade the headlights and you need a new header panel that allows for the opportunity to move up to the '05-'07 style headlights with the matching header panel which wouldn't require the cutting the original headers do to fit the newer lights.
I see that it has the factory style towing mirrors, do you know which gears it has?

 

Yes as w3zes has stated the 05-07 headlights are a noticeable improvement. I did this to mine and it was worth it, even cutting up the panel. However the bulbs are a different connector. Riff raff diesel sells the connector adapters though, so no cutting required,makes it plug and play.

 

Thank you both for the feedback/advice! I think doing the upgrade now makes a lot of sense. Question - could I do the 05-07 headlight/header with the existing bumper/grille, or would those need to be switched out to 05-07 too? The grille has a few broken spots but is serviceable. It appears that it would be fairly inexpensive to change out the grille vs adding a different bumper. I thought I had read somewhere in another thread that starting in 05 the bumpers were a different design/configuration.

I do like the color too! Needs a little touch up in places, but not too bad, considering it’s 21 years old.

I actually was trying to figure out the gears this morning. I looked at the tag next to the drivers door, but I didn’t see any codes listed next to the word axle. I didn’t try the chalk/tire method. Any other places to check? Carfax didn’t show anything with gearing either.

 

Yeah, it seems that most, if not all '00s didn't have the axle codes on the door jamb sticker. And the old rule of thumb of under 2K RPMs at 60 MPH is 3.73 and over is the optional 4.30s may not be reliable due to the later model wheels and maybe taller tires.
The header panel shouldn't affect the bumper at all, so you should be able to run the original bumper and either a stock replacement grille or one of the '05-'07 grilles that has had the bottom trimmed to fit an '00. Would make for a nice fresh facelift if you like that style. And yes, the bumpers did change to a different design in '05.

 

Thank you sir! I like a good plan, and this sounds like a good one. I'll plan to keep my existing bumper for now and purchase a new 05-07 header, headlights, and grille. I'll be sure to post a picture of the outcome.

I haven't gotten it back out on the road yet since bringing it home - just driving a little around the farm, testing switches and buttons, etc. I'll check out the tire size in relation to what happens with speed and rpms and see if I can draw a conclusion on gears. I know that gears can be important when towing with the V10. I wasn't planning on using this one much for towing, though I know it would be more than capable of pulling anything I have (2 horse bumper pull trailer and a 26' Keystone Hobbi toy hauler/camper). I think the Hobbi only weighs 4600 unloaded.

Thanks again!

Thanks again!

 

First order of small parts came in today. I’m missing one of the lenses on the front door. Since the clear/red ones are hard to find, just going with red for the time being. Shift lever was missing the top cap, so time to put that back on. The lever is really loose, so I’ll be taking that all apart and seeing if I can get things tightened back up.

Took a trip with the other excursion last week, about 800 miles round trip. All went well, except the master cylinder started leaking. Appears to be coming from under where it hooks into the hydro boost (I think that’s what it’s called). Kept a quart of Mercon V in the back and topped it off a few times. New one coming in tomorrow for replacement.

Went ahead and started replacing the front shocks with bilstein 4600’s. Got drivers side one out and replaced. Lower bolt on passenger side wouldn’t budge, even after soaking with PB blaster overnight. Sawed it off, new one ordered from local Ford dealer.

Drivers side shock was still serviceable, but the passenger side never pushed itself back out at all, so it definitely made the ride rough.

 

So after getting a few other projects done, I'm finally getting the V10 going. I took it to my local trusted mechanic to do an initial go-over and change the oil (I'll probably do it myself in the future, but I like to have another set of eyes look over things since they know what they are doing better than I do).

I mentioned checking the torque on the spark plugs. I figured since it was being looked at already, they could see if any were loose. The mechanic didn't have anything nice to say about the 2 valve V10 engines (or 3 valve, for that matter, either) which I found discouraging, since there seems to be a strong following here of folks that really like them and get good service from them. He didn't want to touch the spark plugs unless there was an obvious ticking sound, which he said would indicate that there was a loose plug/loss of compression.

The consensus I have read here says to go ahead and tighten them up, which I can do on my own when I get the Excursion back. I guess the question I have is can a plug go even if the ticking noise is absent? And once you start hearing the noise, how much time do you have to make a correction before the plug would go anyway?

 

If the plugs and boots are unknown to you, just go ahead and freshen them up and follow the torque procedure for the lower thread count plugs, before they start to have that ticking sound. Well worth the time.

I did this on my 2003 long before any issues, but found some that were questionable torque and had never made a sound. Ejecting a plug usually results in needing the plug hole repaired with time-sert or calvan..so get ahead of it to avoid unexpected issues.

 

^^^This^^^

 

Thanks for the advice. I'd rather error on the side of caution. I'll check the plugs out once I get it back from the shop. Drove by this evening and saw it was off the lot, so hopefully will get a call tomorrow that it's ready to go.

 

Got a few things done in the past year - new motor craft spark plugs, front end changed out, new front shocks, brakes, u joint and bearings on passengers side, tie rod ends, etc. Got computer repaired and hooked up rear screen to the newer head unit.

Tires were shot, so found someone local this summer that had a set of OEM 16” rims from a 2004 Excursion with Michelins in them with about 80% tread left, so they were swapped on.

Just tackling a little bit at a time as funds permit. I have a set of newer running boards to put on after I get to the rockers. The list never ends, but it’s fun!

 

Dropped the fuel tank and got the old hitch off today. Hitch was rusted through in several spots (will post pictures soon) and really scary looking! New Curt hitch is sitting in the box ready to go on after I hit the rear frame with some sanding and rustoeum. Pretty yucky looking back there, but no where near as bad as the hitch itself. PB Blaster and a cheater bar were my best friends. I removed the bumper to make things easier. The two 'permanent' bolts were the biggest pain, as many people have previously indicated. I cut the passenger's side one off with the reciprocating saw (used a 12" blade) and then rotated the hitch 90 degrees so I could cut the driver's side bolt from the rear of the vehicle. Made it easier since the fuel tank connectors are all on the driver's side and make access harder underneath.

Side note - I did coils a few months back. Used the TRQ's from 1AAuto. I couldn't replace one of the coils - the boot was too long and wouldn't fit. I figured out that it was on the cylinder that had a repair from a blown plug. I did not change out that coil, as it was newer (replaced in the last 10,000 miles or so). I didn't pull the spark plug either for further investigation. Are there different length plugs that fit? Or do the repair kits use plugs that are a different style than stock? Has anyone experienced an oddity like this before?

I probably should have investigated further when I was working on it but didn't.

 

Yes, there is a Dorman plug repair kit that uses a big self threading adapter in the hole then a plug with a longer threaded section and extended electrode is used (I think they are actually 3V plugs….?) so all of that would result in needing a shorter boot I would assume. Personally, I would look into replacing that whole setup with theTime-cert oversized hole repair kit which still used the factory style plugs and boots and has a very good track record for longevity. How did the old plugs look? Does it rum better with the 9 new plugs?

 

Thank you for clearing up that mystery. I'll look into doing the proper repair in the near future. It definitely does run better with the new plugs and coils. It was struggling to idle at stoplights before the changeover. Runs much smoother. Not perfect at idle, but much better. Occasionally the airflow sensor tried to pop out. I tightened that up a bit with some electrical tape.

Going to try and learn Forscan a bit and look at some of the live data to see if that gives any other directions to go.