phil.o
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- pondrejack@gmail.com
My 1998 Ford Explorer 4.0L OHV recently started misfiring erratically. I took it to the shop and had them take a look but since I'm rather low on funds I had them do my brakes and I decided to do the plugs, wires, and ignition coil myself. This is the first car I've ever worked on. I replaced the alternator last summer and now am trying to remedy this problem, so I'm a relative novice.
After getting those three things done-there was one bad spark plug that I could tell just from the difference in color-I started the engine and nothing significantly different. It maybe ran a bit smoother than it had before but has quickly deteriorated to the point where I'm hesitant to drive it any distance.
Now, I don't know if this matters but when it's sitting in park it runs rather smooth even if I rev the engine up to 4kRPM. It will smoothly accelerate and decelerate in neutral. As soon as I put it into gear I get an erratic knock and at high speeds while accelerating the occasional ping(sounds like its hitting the hood). But the acceleration in gear is awful and makes the car run worse; I can definitely feel a lack of power.
I took it up and had them run the computer on it. The computer read out cylinders 5 and 6 misfiring with the list of causes: intake manifold gasket, mass air flow sensor, plugs, wires, coil. After that I cleaned the mass air flow sensor and throttle control sensor but that didn't work either.
This brought me to the point of thinking maybe it was the manifold intake gaskets but people around me who know some things about engines don't understand how that would cause my car to run that bad. And also there is no liquid of any type on the pavement under my car ever.
So, the only two other things I can think to try before I have to take it to a shop are replacing the EGR valve and the fuel filter. The car was sitting undriven for three years before I bought it(very cheaply) and I know that neither of these things have been replaced.
Any thoughts or help would be great, it's killing me trying to figure this out.
Other things I've noticed since I've started working on it:
The fuel economy is atrocious, I would say that my fuel economy has been cut by at least 1/3.
There was a slight coolant smell every now and again after the car ran for awhile.
The transmission sticks.
There is some fluid that comes out of the tailpipe, though not much.
Is there any chance that this is a symptom of somebody putting something in my gas tank?
After getting those three things done-there was one bad spark plug that I could tell just from the difference in color-I started the engine and nothing significantly different. It maybe ran a bit smoother than it had before but has quickly deteriorated to the point where I'm hesitant to drive it any distance.
Now, I don't know if this matters but when it's sitting in park it runs rather smooth even if I rev the engine up to 4kRPM. It will smoothly accelerate and decelerate in neutral. As soon as I put it into gear I get an erratic knock and at high speeds while accelerating the occasional ping(sounds like its hitting the hood). But the acceleration in gear is awful and makes the car run worse; I can definitely feel a lack of power.
I took it up and had them run the computer on it. The computer read out cylinders 5 and 6 misfiring with the list of causes: intake manifold gasket, mass air flow sensor, plugs, wires, coil. After that I cleaned the mass air flow sensor and throttle control sensor but that didn't work either.
This brought me to the point of thinking maybe it was the manifold intake gaskets but people around me who know some things about engines don't understand how that would cause my car to run that bad. And also there is no liquid of any type on the pavement under my car ever.
So, the only two other things I can think to try before I have to take it to a shop are replacing the EGR valve and the fuel filter. The car was sitting undriven for three years before I bought it(very cheaply) and I know that neither of these things have been replaced.
Any thoughts or help would be great, it's killing me trying to figure this out.
Other things I've noticed since I've started working on it:
The fuel economy is atrocious, I would say that my fuel economy has been cut by at least 1/3.
There was a slight coolant smell every now and again after the car ran for awhile.
The transmission sticks.
There is some fluid that comes out of the tailpipe, though not much.
Is there any chance that this is a symptom of somebody putting something in my gas tank?