Sons new to him Sport Trac

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tpriest

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Dec 10, 2019
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Location
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Hello,
I'm a new member here. I just traded my sons 02 Camry in for an 02 Sport Trac. Truck is pretty solid, for a truck it's age. Runs and shifts good. Has 124,000 miles on it. Needs tires soon and some exhaust work. So far what I've found that doesn't work is the cigarette lighter and the compass/temp display. Hoping these are simple fuse issues. Some of the lights in the gauge cluster are burnt out as well. The gauges seem to work, however you can't see your speed below 35/40 at night. So it looks like we have some small projects ahead of us.
Any pointers or helpful hints about any of these minor issues would be great guys!

Thanks!
Todd
 
Congrats and welcome.

Check out the projects forums. Here’s a link for dash instrument cluster bulbs https://www.sporttrac.org/threads/replacing-instrument-cluster-bulbs.121233/.

Searching www.explorerforums.com and YouTube can be helpful too. The 2001-2005 Sport Tracs share a lot of parts with the 1995-2001 Explorer.

You can find some of the old projects (from before the website changeover) by using the Internet wayback machine at https://web.archive.org/web/20170912002616/http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/. Click “projects” from the list to the left of the screen.
 
^ EXCELLENT Duncan! Didn't know that web archive for the former MyST site even existed. Great stuff and bookmarked. Thanks!
 
It’s a 20amp fuse. It’s also the same fuse for the ecu plug so if you hook up a scanner it needs that fuse to be good so you can pull any codes. The display problem can be a easy fix. Pull it down and out and just run a soldering iron over all the solder traces, it’s very susceptible to cold solder problems


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Thanks for the information. All these items are taken care of now.
Had an exhaust shop cut the bad muffler off and run new pipe out the back, left the resinator. Probably about the same decibel level but a cleaner tone...reminds me of a Pontiac Grand Prix sound....
New tires going on Thursday, found that the engine has quite a bit of oil leaking. Friend of mine is a mechanic and he says that honestly, he'd live with it and keep it topped off. Say's I'll spend a grand chasing oil leaks around on that engine.
Truck could use some new shocks all the way around...One thing at a time, the 16 year old is more interested in getting a sub under the back seat than anything...
Here is a picture of the truck, the topper came off shortly after this picture was taken...kids.
 

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^ Great to hear! What was the fix for the cig lighter and overhead display?

These 4.0L SOHC engines are notorious for leaking valve cover gaskets and sometimes PCV valve leaks on the back of the drivers side valve cover. Took me a while to find mine when I found oil stains above the rear hydraulic tensioner on the passenger side. My 80,000 mile ST developed a very slow but annoying rear main seal leak I almost completely stopped using AT-205 stop leak additive.

Your 16 year old's sub woofer story sounds all too familiar to me from a LONG time ago except I was using 6x9 Jensen triaxials with 40 oz. magnets, and a Pioneer 8 track under dash deck with a "booster" amp. LOL
 
^ Great to hear! What was the fix for the cig lighter and overhead display?

These 4.0L SOHC engines are notorious for leaking valve cover gaskets and sometimes PCV valve leaks on the back of the drivers side valve cover. Took me a while to find mine when I found oil stains above the rear hydraulic tensioner on the passenger side. My 80,000 mile ST developed a very slow but annoying rear main seal leak I almost completely stopped using AT-205 stop leak additive.

Your 16 year old's sub woofer story sounds all too familiar to me from a LONG time ago except I was using 6x9 Jensen triaxials with 40 oz. magnets, and a Pioneer 8 track under dash deck with a "booster" amp. LOL

The Cig lighter was the fuse, that was easy. The overhead display was a broken solder joint on one of the resistors. It's common on the Ford overhead display. Heat gets to the solder joint and it breaks, you literally just re-solder it. There are videos on youtube that show it.
Interesting on the AT-205 Stop Leak additive, might just have to give it a try to see if I can tame the leaks down a bit.
 
Cool Deal, Glad you got it...
 
Cigarette lighter/OBD2 fuse is a somewhat common failure. Had to laugh at an old post where Todd mentioned that dimes fit perfectly in the lighter socket causing the fuse to blow. Kids will be kids. LOL

Guess you're just another "victim" of the solder or "510" resistor failure. Here's a 21 page thread from EF.
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/overhead-console-display-fix.187953/

I've NEVER been a believer of "fixes in a can" or additives except for Techron fuel injection cleaner that I use once in a great while. Techron is an additive already mixed with Chevron and Texaco fuels. Only reason I resorted to using the ATP AT-205 Re-Seal additive is because oil would drip on the exhaust causing that awful smell, and I'm not equipped to remove the transmission to replace that $20 seal. Surprisingly, I tried the highly regarded Bar's Leak/Rislone RMS additive before the ATP, and it made the leak worse. AT-205 slowed the leak down to about one drip every two days. For under $10 for an 8 ounce concentrated bottle it may be worth a shot. Personally I like repairing things the "right way" and replaced the valve cover gasket.
 

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