Im gonna make a thread of things I've replaced on my car this year, so feel free to mute me because I'm about to spam but I'm proud of myself for doing the work, mostly myself. If this thread helps anyone fix their Found On Road Dead 90's - 2001 vehicle then it was worth the spam

For starters here is some back story:

I had a 2000 Mercury Sable LS, Green in color, or multi-colored if you consider the whopping amount of rust it had. The car sat dead for about a year, and then ran for about 3 years. It made many trips to DC and back by the grace of God -

and wasn't a bad vehicle, but it definitely lived its life and because a hunk of shit.

Some of you remember when I came on here and reached out for help, started a gofundme to get the exhaust fixed because I couldn't pass inspection. That was 3 or 4 years ago. Can't remember.

Anyway, it was a crowd funded effort and eventually I got the $400 I needed to fix the exhaust. Thanks for that, by the way. Some of you guys have been very good to me and I will never forget that.

About a year later, another inspection. Couldn't pass. Guy said too much rust.

He was absolutely correct. Lol. I bought some bondo. Some sanding tools, a wire brush, and a can of green spray paint, which, by the way, is the only year(2000) they made a green Sable. Any time you see a forest green colored mercury sable, the year is 2000.

Some pics:

I did a bad job, because you're technically supposed to remove all the rust, like - cut the rust out. Anyway, I made do with what I had and was able to pass inspection.

Yeah. Welcome to New England

Wash your car after every storm and every trip on a salty slushy road!!

Anyway, that worked. Next year I passed as well without any issue. It just took going to different inspection places and finding someone who would pass it.

That day was one of the last days I ever had that car. After getting inspection done, literally like an hour later,

And some of you remember what happened, my car was dumping coolant like a mofo. The engine overheated, and me, left to drive it home, scared to death it would blow up. I live streamed that day. The experience sucked ass. It's embarassing. But, I was broke and didn't know what to

do. I sat and sat, thinking for a while about how TF I was going to get it fixed. Being extremely low-income, and then with 3 kids who need me to take them places and take myself places, without a vehicle, is one of the most angering things. It makes you feel helpless and

fucks with your mental health really bad. I reached out to a good friend&had it car towed, where it sat for almost a yr at a shop

This was the end of the road for this car. Eventually I decided to junk it. The subframe was rotted, the car literally was a hunk of shit

Over that almost year, I tried to finish school, and I did, but it pissed me off that I didn't have a car to go anywhere. I found myself walking everywhere. As someone who also has agoraphobia, people would say to me, "Take public transportation" - and well, maybe that's easy for

them to do but I'm terrified of it. I won't do it.

I started to apply for jobs. One after the other, I sent my resume to every job that popped up in the area. And I prayed. I prayed hard. In January I finally got a call from one of the employers I sent my resume to. Finally.

They asked me if I could work x hours and x times. Yes. Yes I can. I'm free, as far as I'm concerned, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whatever availability they needed, I had it & if I didn't, I made it.

They called back. I got the job. Training starts in March. I'm

thinking to myself, well, shit - I don't have a car. I somehow have to make this work. Taxi. Uber. I don't care. I'll do what I have to and save my money to be certain I make it for training.

And I did - I made it. Many of you remember that day too - because I streamed it. I was

nervous, and scared, and didn't know what to expect. It was my first job since I was 16 years old that wasn't under the table and paid really good.

I was going to work for the Federal Government . How I got the job, I'll never know, but let's just say the Lord works in

mysterious ways.

Training day. March 11. Next training, a week later.
I was finally going to be able to get a new car. I was *elated*.

Cue coronavirus.

Training canceled. Me, panicking. Now I'm screwed, I thought. But it played out OK. We got to work and do training online.

April. My Dad calls. Tells me he lost his job. (He also worked for Feds but was laid off due to COVID). Dad was upset. So upset he decided to move back out of the Country - but the kicker is he had a car. And he wanted me to have it.

*Cue the tears*

My Dad, who I thought

hated me was about to give me the car he bought for himself, rather than sell it, because I didn't have one. My Dad was a good man, but always treated me different than my full blood sister. He paid for nearly everything she wanted to do growing up, including schools & cars etc.

I was shocked. And so happy. Dad rescued me. I saved up enough money from training work to have the car transported to me from the West coast.

And this is where the car fun began for me. I wasn't unfamiliar with fixing Fords, mostly because the Sable was such a POS it always

needed something.

May. The car was here. And so was my Dad.

I love my Dad. He's a Navy veteran and has been through some tough shit in his life. In his 60's, he's still going strong. He got his Master's degree on a few years back, and I look up to him as an example of how I

am supposed be - a warrior that never gives up no matter what.

Got the car. Only a few problems with it. He put $6K into it before I ever had it. And whoever the mechanic was that touched it, severely ripped him off. The A/C didn't work and it had issues with turning the heat on

and the car shutting off for no reason.

My Dad saved my ass. And I owe him, deeply.

2001 Ford Expedition

Mint condition

Beauty

No Rust

Clean engine

Just a beautiful car all around

First thing's first.

The air conditioning.

This car has a HUGE air system. Because it's limited edition, it has the *works*. Like fully loaded stock, leather interior, a friggen TV, navigation system (mind you this is a 2001 which means it was made in ancient America, 2000 &

they had GPS! Lmao! Who would've guessed ? Not me!

Dad already paid about $2k to have the A/C fixed. He lived in the desert, and so it was incredibly important he had A/C, where temps get well above 100F. It lasted for a few months, he said, but then it stopped working.

Weird.

I took it to Jiffy Lube and had the whole system flushed. It took about an hour and a half of flushing the whole system and recharging it, but eventually it started to work again. Cold as ice. Literally freezing. *chefs kiss*

At the time, I didn't think about the heat.

I didn't even try it to see if it worked or not because it was hot outside, summer, and who tf puts the heat on in the summer? Not me.

Zero issues. I now had a car to get to and from wherever my heart desired. And most importantly, to and from work. I started working in the

office. I got a promotion for working hard to ensure our operations went smooth, and they out me on the phone lines to troubleshoot for employees who worked under and below me.

Some of you have no idea what a change it is to go from single Mom, literally broke down to your

last pennies every single month, to making over $30/hour and staying busy. That was me. Working 8AM to 4PM and sometimes longer, every day in the office. I loved it. Eventually I was able to finish operations in my zone with the help of some unnamed people who worked in

coordination with me, and then, the opportunity came for me to travel out of State. I jumped at the chance. And this card, this Ford, is the car that took me there. Now named, "The Beast" by my coworkers, the vehicle gave me no issues yet. Until about 3 weeks into out of state.

The first problem I started to experience was a loss of power. The car would idle and jump randomly from 1k to 2.5k RPMs and then back down to 1k. It would also drop below 1k and catch itself. I thought maybe throttle issue but wasn't sure.

One day, I went out to the car and tried to start it in the hotel parking lot. No spark? Umm. The car wouldn't start. It scared tf out of me. See, in a Ford like this, when it loses power, the alarm system automatically cycles itself.

The interior lights start flashing on and

off, and the door locks cycle. Almost like resetting a key FOB, but not. It did it on its own - and if that happens to you, you'd better be careful nothing is locked inside (like your keys) because you're not getting in the car without calling AAA for a lock out haha

So why was it doing that? Why wouldn't the car start?

Duh. The battery died. Yikes. Old as shit. Not sure what year it was installed but the battery had been leaking and that's what caused the loss of power.

I called my insurance, because they have roadside assistance and if

they can't get to you, they'll find a company that will. I had a company come and install a new battery on the spot. I joked with the guy because we have a "Done Right" in Massachusetts too, different company, but we always used to call it, "Done Wrong" when I did towing w/my ex

Anyway, that was that. No other issues at that point.

Driving back home in October was OK. But I still ahd the issue of RPMs spiking randomly while driving. Again, I thought throttle issue. It's sticking, right? It is very frustrating when your car does little shit & you can't

really pinpoint the issue. I made it home in one piece though. I was thankful for that.

Still having RPM spiking issue. Car also started to hang while accelerating. So I'd reach like 60 MPH and I would feel the car *stick* at 2.5kRPM. No idea why. I ignored it. Got home one day