I got a call today from a lady I had text a couple months ago about a new upper/lower Billet grille she had. I never heard back so I assumed it was gone. Anyways she called and said they were moving and if I wanted them, $25.00. Yeah I bought them. I doubt I will use them, but they r here if I decide to. Nice HD, not the flimsy ones you see.

lack w chrome accents

 

Brand new? Nice deal!
I still have the set that was on mine when I got it. The pieces are pretty oxidized, so I would need to get them dipped & powder coated. Would probably cost as much or more than buying a new set.

 

Soooo.... the tow truck came and took the little Escape to my Buddy's shop last night. A really, really strange thing happened. It moved to the parking spot that it was moved from under its own power, although it was slipping and making a grinding noise. It sat there for 2 or 3 weeks (I've lost track of the time). So I started it yesterday, and noticed immediately that it was running rough. I put it in neutral to be pulled up onto the truck, and it did not shift. No noise, no change in RPM, nada. I thought that was a little strange, but WTH, you know? Well.... then he started pulling it up on the flatbed, and the front wheels were locked up. No idea what the hell is going on with it. I called my Buddy, and he seems to think that we are not only rebuilding the trans, but also putting a new differential in it. He thinks the diff is locked up. The tow truck driver lives out by me (20 miles from my Buddy's shop), so he isn't going to take it over to my Buddy until late morning today. I'm not too sure how the hell it is going to get moved to my Buddy's lift - as it is in the shop a ways. My Buddy reassured me that he "has ways of getting it to move", lol. Not sure what he means.....

This was NOT a burnout in the Stang. This is the tracks of a Ford Escape saying "I don't want to go"...... "leave me here".....

 

Like trying to take a dog to the vet!

Man, White. I hope it's something more simple than not. At what point do you say "forget it?"

 

Idk but I sure hope he doesn't find out that answer soon. Whitey the comment with the pics made me chuckle, but I hope it's nothing too serious!

 

Just talked to my Buddy.... he's still waiting for it to get dropped off. I am going to leave work here in a couple and meet him over there. He said to me though "I was thinking about this, and thought maybe the vibration and it locking up is from a broken flex plate". Let's hope.

We are going to go junk yard hopping for a bit and see if we can get a decent used core for it.

 

I've had a chance to drive the truck a fair bit since installing the Bilsteins. On-road, they are *much* smoother over expansion joints and imperfections, making hours-long trips more bearable. On gravel and washboards they are a lot more forgiving with things "buzzing" where they used to "rattle," if that makes sense, and abrupt transitions are soaked up much better as well.

Rating: Two Thumbs Up
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What a job it was getting this bastard in the shop. Sat and fiddled with it for an hour or so..... got it to go into drive, but still locked up in reverse. Where it was dropped by the tow truck was past the garage door..... so after it was all said and done, it is a good thing the tow truck driver and I started talking about doing some webpage/radio/advertising/marketing for him, because we had to use his truck to drag the damn thing back 10 feet. Got it in there, and on the lift. Also went and got a core trans for parts. The only cores we could find were AWD cores.... so hopefully everything is all the same, lol. Got this for 75 bucks... and hopefully scored my Buddy a new source for trans cores. For several years I've known the guy that owns and runs one of our wrecking yards.... his yard is nice - and not a u-pull-it yard, so it's good to not have a bunch of broken stuff. He lets select people go in the yard, and just so happens I am one of them. Anyway, we are trying to work a deal out for picking up all of his cores.....

 

One thing I was wondering is why it is said that the 2.3 and 3.0 versions of the CD4E are not interchangeable. Answered that question today, lol. My Buddy was showing me that the starter locations are different. As you can see, this is also a 3.0 core that we bought.

 

?Well I hope everyone, yes even you, had a great Thanksgiving.

Damn Whitey. That sucked. At least he can build a complete while you pull the slug out of your Escape. lol