I would like to say WOW, this site is great and filled with knowledge. I need some information. My van 94XLT has, to my knowledge never had a tranny fluid changed. Thats not good, lol. I need to know if i need to have a entire rebuild of what. It has just this past month started shifting in and out going down the road, no matter OD or not. Also, HEAT, there is none i replaced the core a couple years back and well it worked so so for a little while and its getting cold and i need to know what are some things to check for. Also i have a couple questions on stereo's and engine performance for this model. Im a 16 year old in highschool and lol the van is actually kinda cool.

Thanks for the help in advance.

Oh, and if any one would like to talk easier to me my AIM name is omunckensruleo

 

Do the gentle flush, by basically disconnecting the two lines at the radiator, or if you have a cooler, you can do it there...

The best way I heard of, was to get two of those big water bottles, and some 5/8 inch hose, and clamp the hoses to the steel lines, and have one go to an empty jug, and the other one to the supply...

the trick is to figure out which one is which... I think with them disconnected you can tickle the starter, and the one that has fluid coming out, is the one that goes to the empty jug, and the other goes into the supply jug, in which you pour some new fluid...

the nice thing about this, is that you can do it as a one person job, and see the progress... and also, you can shut the car off, if something goes wrong, etc (hose comes off, or you run out of tranny fluid on the intake side, etc...

I myself haven't had time to do this, but this is how I will do it... be carefull on the fittings though, as you don't want to round them... best to use a flare wrench...

I do have a cooler on mine, so I will most likely take the 2 rubber hoses off, and do it that way... my fluid is a dark red color, so I know it needs to be done - early spring for sure...

RE: Heat - easiest and cheapest way, is to do a reverse flush - look that up on here, and they will give you details.... if you haven't done a complete flush, you should do this anyways....

you can also just take the two heater core hoses off at the Tstat and WP and run a SLOW running hose through it, both ways - slow though.... do that 2x in each direction, until the water is clear coming out

if you are thinking about an AM stereo - you will need to rewire all the speakers, and of course, replace the speakers too... you can't really get away with using the stock wire, since they use the ground of the van as the neg side, and you have to deal with that stupid remote module... best to start over... one thing - buy the wire harness though - it will be short, and allow you to just plug in the factory plugs into it, and then this will plug into your new Stereo's head unit... the key here, is to only connect the power wires though, and have it ignore the other wires for speakers, etc... of course, if you are planning on a separate amp, then you'd use the pre-amp outs anyways...

Good Luck

 

only pull the pressure out ATF cooler line off on the radiator cooler or the aux. air cooler in front of the radiator. nipple and hose extend this line into a gallon milk jug.
the AT pump will not suck ATF back in thru the in line.
change pan filter if old...fill with 3 qts new ATF....
run engine and use AT pump to pump out 3 qts into milk jug or until line starts to bubble....
stop engine...
change to empty jug
put approx same new ATF into fill tube as was pumped out into milk jug....
repeat until min. 10 qts are pumped thru and the ATF out is nice new titty pink color, may require up to 15 qts or more if tranny is extremely dirty inside with old oxidized mud...
put in an inline ATF filter such as Microfine...replace ATF and aux. filter every 20k to 30k miles.
Aero autos will last longer than the engine with care and no overheating especially with the low torque 3L and no towing

to backflush cooling system
pull radiator and use a long plumbers brush to rod out the ends of the radiator tubes both tanks
remove thermostat and line to heater core
use house hose with at least 50 psi to blow thru thermostat opening back into block to blow out rust and goop in back of block
do several times and let drain thru lower hose inlet on water pump
then hose blow thru water pump
turn hose nozzle down to less than 30 psi and blow out radiator, heater cores and hoses.
good time to check thermostatic fan clutch

is the heater damper air flow door working?
vacuum controlled, lines break and come off common aero failure

check the heater core when engine is hot. core should be too hot to hold hand to.

 

Thanks, any other suggestions. Its a XLT, so it has a AM/Fm radio.

 

Hey spruce goose where abouts do you live? I added you, my aim is soulfire320.

what exactly are you wanting to do with your sound system?

 

I need to know the ins and outs of the air bag helpers, my van likes to squat.

 

Hi Mr. Goose

A belated welcome to our FTE forum

My van likes to squat too until I put these in. I don't know how long it'll last, but my rear end is off the grass for now.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...atalogId=10101

 

Ok thanks, and could somebody tell me whats better. Springs, or the Air Bags? And does anybody make headers for the Aerostar?

 

air lift shocks, easy to put on, easily adjustable, adds extra load carrying capacity, neg. shock section wears out 20k>30k miles, inner air lift bag blows out

helper springs, easy to put on, low cost, neg. can be noisy, not adjustable

air bags, adjustable, no rebound effect, adds sway control and damping, neg can be difficult to put on, some report blowouts

i use air bags pulling 4K lb trailer, stable and long life, lots of sway damping

 

Well, the most i'm going to be carrying is about 1 riding lawn mower, and on school days 4 or 5 friends 1000 pounds, i've got big friends. I wanted to know what will make it more fun to drive.

 

[QUOTE=copper_90680]
My van likes to squat too until I put these in. I don't know how long it'll last, but my rear end is off the grass for now.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ProductBrowse?storeId=10101&Pr=p_Product.CATENTRY_ ID:2005887&productId=2005887&catalogId=10101[/QUOTE]

Which vehicle did you choose? (it does not list Aerostar) And is it for the whole spring, or just that yellow part on top?

 

Any one of those will fit the Aerostar. It's two whole springs with the base and you clamp it onto the axle. The yellow rubber part bears against the frame. I got the 1500lb one, middle of the road for me.

It rides a little better now and my hitch no longer hits concrete when I come out of the gas station.

 

Ok, so Chirstmas is just around the corner and i want some stuff for my van. I'm thinking some 12's and a cold air intake/exhast upgrade. Any body have any experience with these things on the star? And oh, if theres like a "mini turbo" sound coming from the hood, is that the powersteering?

 

A turbo sound could mean that you have an exaust leak right before the cat, caused by a plugged cat. I looked at an Aerostar that sounded like it had a Turbo, looked under the passenger side and saw a giant hole right in front of the cat, not good.

As for cold air intake, you already have one, it came stock from ford, but as for a free mod to get more cold air in, pull your air box out and you will see this plastic "horn" thing (which is known as a silencer.) Remove that, and you will get more air into the air box, plus you will hear your engine more.

Not quite sure what you mean by 12's?

 

Can somebody go out and measure the distance from the ground to the top of the fender for me (front and rear), so i can see if my van's sitting right?