Parked at the side of the house here is a explorer that got parked in 2000. it's a 1993 ford explorer, 4.0 V6, automatic, (not sure about the rear end, but that doesn't really matter) I am curious what everyones answers would be to taking this truck out of mothballs.

All it's life since it rolled off the louisville assembly plant onto a train or truck transport to end up at gaudin ford, it's had cooling problems. a/c ran like hell all the time, barely would cool you down on a hot day, or even a cold day.

Taking it to gaudin ford never found anything wrong, even took it to tom coward lincoln mercury here (now a desert/autonation dealer, ugh), same thing. "it's okay!"

we put a fan onto it also to help, that did some, but I don't know how much.

a trip taken in 1996 also to arizona had a weird problem with it. I remember being I believe in boulder city just outside vegas, and it was a pain to start iirc. when it did, it was then "boggy" like it was choking to run. I don't know if this was just bad gas, or maybe related to the problem. was taken during the summer also iirc. all I can remember is that it seemed rough and idling funny, then went back to it's normal self (5 people onboard in the truck and some stuff in the back, luggage, etc)

so 2000 rolls around, it's getting worse and worse. my father did heaven knows what to it, I just remember the intake manifold coming off, a new head gasket applied, etc. next day my mom drove it to pay the water bill, and it wasn't running hot (well hot, but running in a bad way) limped home, and got the hood up in the garage, coolant is boiling out of the overflow tank like mad, and it was making a very high pitched whining sound as the coolant shot out and was poured all over the floor. at this point we decided to just park it.

also, if this helps any, (although it's my automotive genius of a father saying it, hah!) he claims running it on 4 cylinders was better then 6 when he took 2 spark plugs wires off at the boot end to get it parked in the back yard. it sounded to me like the engine was going to shoot rods through the block and heaven knows what else with and without the 2 wires hooked up. horrible idle also. a vaccum plug/cap was blown off also during this.

so my question is (and if you need more info, let me know and I will try to remember) any of you have a guess what the problem might be? I have a few theories I have read on other forums with people talking about the 4.0 v6, but I am curious what everyone thinks here.

also, assuming it might be a primary theory I have in my brain dealing with the 4.0 v6 from what I read, and assuming that's it, how do I take this truck out of moth *****? just repair and throw the key, or should I drain the transmission, etc? (I would change the oil/antifreeze (what little remains of antifreeze) and all that just to be on the safe side, but don't want to fry the transmission if sitting for 6 years is bad on it.

the interesting thing also is that my father when putting the intake manifold back on, didn't put it on right for some reason. when I look at the engine (could take photos if wanted, unless it is supposed to be like this, but I doubt it since engines are closed systems pretty much) I see a half inch or less gap near each of the "pipes" for the manifold. it looks like I can see "holes" with those, so that makes me wonder if the engine might be murdered by his mopar hand if grit got sucked into it, even though we drove it at the most 5-10 miles after it was "repaired"

thanks for your help! i'd love to get this back on the road as it is pristine in every other way except for some paint issues, the engine is the worst. to get the engine replaced we got quoted over $7K at the dealership, and even then I think a rebuilt is about $2-3K here, way over the resale value so it's a hard choice which way to go.