Just bought a 2002 Explorer, which I am very happy with. I have a couple of questions that I hope you enthusiasts can help me with. Nothing major, just small stuff. Thanks in advance.

1) Except when I am on the open highway (only about 30% of the time), I lockout the overdrive on my 4.0 automatic transmission. It seems to drive "sportier" (it accelerates quicker anyway) that way, and, it seems to me, the engine doesn't lug as much. Am I nuts? Am I doing harm to the engine or transmission doing this?

2) The shift at 25 mph is sometimes pretty rough, regardless of whether the OD is locked out or not. The owners manual says that the adaptive transmission is supposed to learn, and shifts should be easier with time. I have about 4500 miles on it. Is my transmission stupid, I am impatient, or is there reason for me to be concerned? All other shift points are smooth as silk.

3) How do you get rid of that awful musty odor when the A/C is first turned on?

4) What product can be used to take wax off the plastic wheelwell trim? I accidentally got some on there when waxing the truck. I tried using a brush, but I can't get it off. It looks pretty bad on a brand new vehicle.

Thanks.

 

Well, you have had your explorer longer than I have, I only have about 600 miles on mine, but here goes.

1. Locking out the overdrive will obviously result in a sportier feel, the car doesn't have to downshift to accelerate. The only downside is that the engine revs slightly higher, so your gas mileage will be slightly lower (probably hardly noticable). Other than that, you aren't doing any harm. And because it is a 5 speed automatic, that 5th gear is there to satisfy mileage requirements pretty much. I personally leave it engaged, but to each his own. I think it would be interesting if you drove with it on versus off, and posted the mileage difference.

2. Hmmm, all of my shifts are really smooth. 4500 miles is more than enough for the transmission to be programmed. If you take it in for an oil change at 5000, take it to ford, and have them wipe out the memory of the transmission. Sometimes that can help (at least with other cars I have owned). Again, sorry I can't be more helpful than to say I haven't seen it myself.

3. Hmmm, I don't have any musty smell either. Does it have a filter on it or something? Do you have rear air, is it the rear air ducts, or all of them.

4. As far as the wax on plastic, I would try something like nail polish remover, or bug and tar remover. Be CAREFUL though. Those chemicals MAY damage the plastic. Test them in a discreet area first. I would start with bug and tar remover first.

Good luck!

 

I have basically the same engine in my '97. Here are my answers:

1) The reason it has a "sportier" feel is that you are higher in the power band via the higher RPMs with OD off. Under light acceleration, it will accelerate quicker given the same amount of throttle versus OD on. Under full throttle though, your performance will be the same. It will downshift to the proper gear for passing whether it be down to 3rd or 2nd depending on your speed. I tried an experiment a few months back regarding the O/D button. My daily commute is 60 miles round trip. 10 miles is on a 4-lane street where the speed limit is 45 MPH, 10 miles is on the freeway where the speed limit is 55 MPH, however it is usually stop and go most of the way due to rush hour, and 10 miles of my commute is on a highway where the speed limit is 65 MPH with little traffic. In my experiment, I kept OD off on all stretches except the highway where I exceeded 60 MPH. After several tanks of gas with OD off versus on, I averaged 17 MPG with OD off, 18.5 MPG with OD on. I leave it on from now on.

2) My shift at 25 MPH is somewhat rough as well. However it didn't used to be that way. It showed up at about 30K miles. I mentioned it to the service department once but they couldn't find anything wrong. I just turned over 75K and it hasn't gotten any bettor or worse in the last 45K miles. I just live with it. After 4500 miles, your transmission certainly should have learned its shift strategy. If you think it is too rough, it wouldn't hurt to have your service department look at it. Just don't be surprised if they say they couldn't duplicate the problem. It is a very common Ford comment.

3) Your A/C shouldn't have a musty smell. I live in Arizona, where it is probably less humid than where you are though. When I lived back east, I would run my A/C on "Normal" to get fresh air to blow through the vents. If you are using Max A/C you are recirculating the air inside which will get musty if you don't get fresh air. If you are using Max A/C, turn it to Norm a mile or two before you get to your destination.

4) Several washings with a tooth brush should remove the wax.

 

4)WD-40 should clean it up, don't worry it won't hurt you paint, as a matter of fact it is better for it (my $.02)

 

Hi,
As for your A/C concerns - my '97 EB does the same thing when you turn it on. Smells like hell. I read on this board once that someone said to turn the vent on a minute or two before you turn off the engine. This way, the compressor shuts off and you sort of dry it out. ??? Something like that. I do it but I still notice that musty smell. You're not alone!
Larry.

 

Larry is close. For the a/c, turn it to "vent" before you turn the truck off and leave it there. This way the vent to the outside air is open while the truck is sitting and the moisture in the vent system can circulate outide. When you leave it set to a/c the vent is closed and the moisture builds up. My 93 Bronco and my 02 Exporer both do that and with the vents open, it goes away. During the times when you don't use the a/c, leave it set to vent instead of "off". This will help the musty smell and help to limit the amount of "fog" on the windshield in the morning.

Good luck.
Kurtis

 

see my post..
"RE:F150 mildew type odor"

 

thank you.

 

Basically because NipponDenso engineers are some kind of idiots.

Shortly after A/C became common in automobiles some bright young engineer realized that in the process of the A/C cooling the incoming airflow it oftentimes also dehumidified it. And that of course helps prevent and remove condensation from the interior windshield surface. So from that time on, until about the mid-eighties, it became pretty standard to use the A/C, supplemented by lots of heat, whenever the defrost/defog/demist function was activated at least as long as the A/C was functionally effective, usually only above about 50 degrees F.

Then some idiot decided that if a little bit of something was good then a LOT would be excellent!

NOT!!!

If you wish to use the A/C below 50F (when the RH is usually below 50% anyway, with a few regional exceptions)to dehumidify the airflow then the system must become SUPER EFFICIENT.

The A/C evaporator, the device that does ALL the work, cooling and dehumidifying, cannot be chilled below freezing. So that leaves very few ways to increase its efficiency, my 92 LS400 evaporator is extremely dense and complex, over 10,000 square inches of surface area. The longer the air molecules take to move through the evaporator the colder they become, so in order for the system to work the airflow must be very low.

The entire Lexus product line uses the A/C system EXCLUSIVELY to help prevent and remove condensation from the interior surface of the windshield in defrost/defog/demist mode, a system which is entirely NON-FUNCTIONAL for this purpose with outside temperatures near, at, or below freezing.

So if you hear of someone inexplicably leaving the roadbed and being killed on a snowy and cold day driving a Lexus or Toyota think about this. Maybe s/he lost sight of the roadbed because his/her windshield fogged over virtually instantaneously.

And now along comes toxic mold to further muddy up the issue. Prior to the mid-eighties there was no reason to run an A/C below about 50F, so heat was used exclusively heat the windshield and evaporate condensation from its surface and to lower the relative humidity.

Above these (50F) ambient temperatures when the A/C was used what moisture that was condensed onto the evaporator vanes but didn't run out the drain tube would evaporate away fairly quickly and not cause a problem.

Remember that extremely dense and complex A/C evaporator in my 92 LS400? It came from the factory coated with a porous nylon film into which was embedded an ant-microbial substance.

In the summer of 1991 Lexus already knew that their use of the A/C in already cool climates for these purposes was creating an environment, cool, damp, dank, that encouraged mold and mildew growth.

Look around on the internet at just how many products that have been developed in the last ten years or so to combat the "gym sock syndrome", the mold and mildew smell we all now have to live with because some idiot engineer decided to try a new gimmick.

Remove you A/C compressor relay when the ambient temperature fall below an average of 50F. And turn up the system heat when you activate defrost/defog/demist mode. The response you get for removing condensation from the interior surface of the windshield will be one damnsight quicker than the A/C can EVER be, and it will continue to work that way all the way down to sub-freezing levels.

AND you won't have to worry about toxic mold.

 

According to Popular Machanics:
Avoid getting wax or polish on rubber and flat black plastic areas (clean them with a nongloss product), door handles and emblems. If you do get a wax stain on rubber trim, spray it with a mist-and-wipe product and wipe it down with a terry cloth towel. If that doesn't do the trick, this usually works: Microwave some peanut butter and apply it to the stain with a soft toothbrush. Peanut butter's oils dissolve the wax and it's abrasive enough to lift the stain (but it can stick to the roof of your car).

I've also heard that warm vineger works to disolve the wax.

 

On the A/C odor, if you can keep the interior cool enough on normal a/c as opposed to max a/c, that will keep fresh air coming in to help keep down the mold buildup. And the suggestion of switching to vent only a few minutes before shutting down is good also.

I always run mine on normal, to help prevent moldy smell as well as prevent the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning (long trips) in case exhaust fumes leak inside. Most of the time if a vehicle has been sitting outside in 95-100+ temperatures, it will cool faster on normal because the ouside air is actually cooler than recirc air.

If I ever have to switch to max to keep cool, I only do it for as long as necessary.

On the wax on vinyl problem, I use armor-all and a small brush. It usually takes care of it in one pass. WD40 is also a good suggestion.



Winford

 

BE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION.

I had 10k miles on my '02 Eddie Bauer and needed a new transmission. It barely made it into the shop. I am still having the same problems with it and am looking at it as a lemon.