To mod or not to mod

- R
- randy pavatte
  
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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Aug 13, 2003 12:57 AM

Hello all. I have a 96 XLT I bought used, and am the second owner. It is nearing

150,000 miles, and while I know that's a lot it runs very well. Whoever owned it before me took very good care of it, and I strive to do the same. Anyway, I came across a website that sells performance parts for Explorers, and was considering some of them for mine. I believe my engine may be too tired to fully realize the performance benefits, but maybe it will become "revitalized" to some extent. The parts I'm considering are a throttle body, mass air meter, and maybe a cat-back exhaust system. Any thoughts on this? Given the engine's miles, would I more likely help or hurt things by installing these items? Thanks for your input, and while I'm on the subject, have any of you installed auxiliary transmission fluid coolers? If so, what are your recommendations? Thanks again.

Randy

96 XLT

We're living in a world that's been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth. Where are you, white rabbit?

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- J
- Jim Warman
  
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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Aug 13, 2003 5:25 AM

Increased performance comes from increased cylinder pressures. The increased cylinder pressures these modifications will give you wont signifcantly reduce the remaining life of you engine a long as you don't go impressing yourself with over-exhuberant use of the 'loud' pedal. I'm an old school guy and I firmly believe good cylinder sealing and a stout bottom end are the prerequisites to performance building... that means I likely wouldn't do much modding without freshing up the basics first.

Without knowing where you live, the loads you haul, where you drive and your driving style, I can't say much for the additional transmission cooling. It is important, however, to be sure that the fluid passes through the internal cooler BEFORE the external cooler.

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

- R
- rakster
  
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posted
20 years ago

Wed, Aug 13, 2003 3:02 PM

Can you explain why the external cooler should be 2nd in line? I tend to believe an external (auxillary) cooler should cool the fluid first, then go to the internal cooler to raise the temperature closer to normal if the air temp is cold.

I put a Flowmaster 3 chamber cat back exhaust on my '91 Mazda Navajo (Explorer Sport) and am quite happy with it. A little louder than stock, but not intrusive, and noticeable performance improvement. Good fit on installation, too. Good fix for the rusted out resonator.