93 ford xploder

[swynx]

just bought a 93 ford xploder..
a4ld <- bleh..
152k miles
4.0 v6
$1500

got some rocksliders with it for free to.

checked the tranny fluid its over 2x full but its on a slight hill, so it might be reading a bit over full. it was like yellow/clear thought it was supposed to be red?

the oil is the same way 2x over full but its clear/yellow like it should be

i noticed that in o/d when it shifts it kinda clunks.. now im assuming thats because the tranny is to full.

it smells like oil after you turn it off because its got a bad head gasket but i only see oil on one side. and ive never smelt oil burn from a bad head gasket. now my question is.. is a head gasket hard to change? im assuming not but ive never done this before.

i noticed after i turned it off that it was making a noise like boiling water. so i checked the reservoir and the water was boiling over into there. so i let it sit with the hood open for about 10 minutes. came back and it had drained and was no longer making any noise... is it supposed to do this?

and last but not least... its got auto lock hubs...i put it in 4 low in a gravel/dirt lot and noticed that it was clunking when i started to move. im assuming this means there about to grenade or theyve got bad bearings or something..

 

[sfwjesse]

Clunking in 4 low could be front u-joints too....they tend to do that if the wheel is turned at all when they are dying. I found the auto hubs tend to snap more when they are slipping....sounds like thin metal snapping or clicking.

 

[adsm08]

Head gaskets are time consuming more than hard if you are mechanically inclined. You are right about the ATF though, it should be red, and should be checked at temp, with the engine running. Having the engine off can make it read much fuller than it actually is.

 

[swynx]

im a retard and said head gaskets when i actualley ment valve cover haha. as far as i can tell its just some bolts.. and i think im correct.

 

[adsm08]

Oh yeah. It'll take an afternoon if you are slow. I can do 'em up in about an hour or so.