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Eeek!!!! Generally we leave the shoulder free on certain highways. The GSP shoulder is left open for the most part. Some of the smaller highways people use the shoulder as a lane. Route 3 for a time had the local PD parked in the shoulder to ticket anybody using that as a lane.
My problem now is the swimmers; those who use heavy traffic as their own playground. I am beginning to see more of that in the passed couple years thanks to TikTok, YouTube, and other such media forums.
Got it home and sitting in the driveway. The left control arm is on a 8x8 block of wood. Looks pathetic sitting there, I was really depressed yesterday. I crawled under it tonight and found a dent in the frame behind the suspension. The bottom ball joint came apart and the car skidded to a stop on the lower control arm. The only tire that skidded was the left front and it skidded because it was sideways. My daughter and I discussed the accident today and now she understands all the strange noises she was hearing. This car has roll stability control with all wheel ABS. The loud rumbling noises she was hearing was the ABS doing it’s thing keeping the wheels turning. She was able to maintain control of the vehicle and steer it to keep it in the safety lane. It would have been catastrophic if the car had veered into oncoming traffic. Traffic runs 60-70 in this 55 mph zone.
If it had been worse I would be planning three funerals instead of going to a grandson’s wedding next week.
Keep the faith brothers!
I drove 350 miles Wednesday to purchase another 2006 Navigator to drive until I figure this one out. I truly believe this car kept my family safe and did it’s job. I will determine whether my original Navigator will ride again. Maybe with a different frame, the air bags did not deploy due to the angle of impact. I will scan the system and see if there are any triggers recorded. It runs fine, bled a little maybe the front drive axle.
The hood is open and the bumper cover doesn’t look near as bad as it did. It was tucked above the left tow hood and had a very twisted frown.
It looks like the bottom of the A pillar is pushed in where the bottom door hinge is. I plan to put the suspension together and see if it can be aligned before proceeding further. I can’t get it in the shop and up on the rack until it rolls. The left HID factory light is missing all three mounting tabs, that light was $1500 ten years ago when we hit a deer.
Does it have a full frame under it that you can actually swap, Andy? I didn't realize anyone had such a thing in these modern times! Hopefully you'll be able to get it squared away without it coming to that.
These are F150 based, cab on frame like the old days. At least the 2wd and 4wd chassis are the same. The front suspension is also the same, just different wheel bearings.
Back to the replacement Navigator today, spark plugs and coil boots. This one is at 161k and has a low throttle high load misfire. I purchased this car with a reported bad transmission and possible bad engine. The bad engine is the misfire and the bad engine was a faulty variable cam timing actuator. It has had a cheap spring conversion instead of repairing the air suspension, that I will address later. I suspect factory plugs are still in the engine. These are the two piece spark plugs that can come apart on dis assembly leaving the end in the hole. I have a removal tool kit for this condition, I have used it many times over the years on other 3 valve 5.4s and 3 valve 6.8s.
For all you gearheads out there that have worked on the early three valve Fords. This is a first for me in 20 years, prepare for a chore and it comes apart without breaking.
Almost looks like they wanted to be 100% sure that the spark jumped across the gap regardless of what direction, to reduce the possibility of misfires? But that is a huge gap. Is that because those plugs were neglected and not changed? Maybe it's just the picture, but it looks like you could drive a Lincoln Navigator through that gap....
They are not the original set in this engine. They are an Autolite plug, the same as I installed as replacements. They are worn from .045” to about .090”. This is a two piece steel design past the threads. The smooth sleeve with loop is pressed and maybe glued to the threaded part of the plug. This is the part that can get stuck in the cylinder head and remain after plug removal. The gray box is a removal tool set for this particular issue. They built this design plug and used them for about 4 years. They were used in a majority of the Ford v-8 and v10 truck engines from 2004-2007. They made a change in 2008 to a smaller diameter plug for the three valve engines. The spark plugs on the Triton series of Ford engine come down into the combustion chamber from the top between the twin intake valves.
This was different from the two valve Tritons that began in 1991. They all came down from the top near the intake manifold. Ford made several errors over the years with these engines with corrections coming following selling many thousands of problem models. The two valve engine came with 3/4” thread length plugs. Those engines that came with plugs threaded all the way works great. Then they changed to the same length plug but only threaded 3/8” of the plug and hole. Those tended to blow out of the engine and leading to an immediate repair. There is an approved repair kit for this and we purchased it for about $1500 many years ago at work. We had a 97 van with a v10 and it has 5 repair inserts in it. Possible improper plug torque, possible BS design.
😀
We have settled with PROGRESSIVE, they have been wonderful to deal with. The gave us over $3000 for the 245k mile Lincoln and the buy back was $300. I am going after another 06, a 4x4 Eddie Bauer Expedition this Saturday to use for parts. $1000 and a leaky trans, 200k miles. Exactly the same chassis as the Navigator. Basically the same rig mechanically, different transmission but another 3 valve 5.4 that runs well. The Ford door should fit the Lincoln just different trim.
The $800 Navigator is now a $3300 Navigator but it made the 600+ mile round trip to the wedding in style. We had a great weekend and it was great to see that daughter and family. We even got to meet our first great grandson.
Only 16 days left until I retire, I am so looking forward to it. I have worked part time since I was 15 and pretty much full time since I was 19. Monday I turn 70. Wouldn’t change a thing!
