My 1993 Aerostar lacks power above 50 MPH.

[rickhicks]

hello and thank you for letting me scribe here. i have a 93 ford aerostar van good to me but lately having a problem. i have a van that loses power around 50 mph and gets worse as i drive it. i have cleaned the mas and replaced the fuel filter. i need someone with experience with this. next would be the pcv or the spark wires and distributor. help help help

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've renamed your thread, and moved it into the Aerostar section. Do you have a 3.0L or a 4.0L engine? Do you get a check engine light while driving?

 

[mmerlinn]

One possibility is a weak fuel pump. Is it original? How many miles? Check your fuel pressure at the tap in the gas line near the motor. If out of specs, replace your pump.

 

[rickhicks]

aerostar

4.0 litre 155k. the van idles weird kinda chuffs. has a serious motor vibration once it shifts to overdrive. if i drop it in 3rd the vibration stops and power is restored until i drop into lower rpm's. the van was pulled behind a rv for years i am the second owner. will the 02 sensor have a effect on this. weak fuel pump is a good answer but i just want to be sure. i just hate parts changing. i do know it set for a long time and when i first put it on the road the van would blow white smoke at first and burn oil. i had to replace the oil pressure sender and that was good fun lost 3 quarts of oil and had to clean the entire underbody. the loss of power just started after the big rain storm i also thought i had water in my gas tank. but i just poured some gas treatment in and no change. oh yeah i get no check engine light what so ever

 

[BrooklynBay]

Does the transmission feel like it's slipping?

 

[jlh3rd]

Make sure your converters aren't plugged....

 

[rickhicks]

aerostar

transmission seems fine no clunking or super hard shifts. hell it will accelerate up to about 50 no problem. soon as the rpm's drops it just lags like a tired old horse. it will go smells like a real rich burn will it is idling.

 

[rickhicks]

what converter are you talking about let me know i will check them also

 

[BrooklynBay]

The catalytic converter in part of the exhaust system.

 

[eric97cargo]

I had experienced the same loss power problem in the past. As it turned out, the problem was the front catalytic converter, as is mentioned in the above postings.

How it happened rings bells to your heavy rain situation. I had taken my Aerostar, which I had just purchased, to one of those car washes that sprays "cold" water underneath the vehicle.

It took me a couple of months to figure out what really happened at the car wash. But what happened was the "cold" water that sprayed underneath the vehicle, shattered the interior ceramic part of the catalytic converter (because the temperature of the catalytic converter was super hot).

My 93 Aerostar has two catalytic converters. What I did was crawl under the vehicle and tap on them using a hammer. The rear catalytic converter seemed ok, but the front catalytic converter sounded like marbles inside (which is the broken ceramic pieces and chunks).

Advice: In the mean time, do not push your Aerostar too hard. You may end up boiling your transmission fluid into oblivion.

 

[rickhicks]

aerostar

i banged the converters they sounded fine i was sure hoping that would have been it . damn.

 

[eric97cargo]

i banged the converters they sounded fine i was sure hoping that would have been it . damn.

I am still leaning towards an exhaust restriction.

How to test for an exhaust restriction

 

[BrooklynBay]

The link didn't work when I clicked it.

 

[JohnAerostarXLT]

Did you ever get this van figured out?

 

[rickhicks]

man o man

i went to sears and they flat refused to even screw with my van because it was a 93 and before they could scan. waaa waaa waaa. they tell me to take it to a transmission shop cause that is my problem.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Have Autozone or another auto parts store scan it for you.

 

[JohnAerostarXLT]

Have Autozone or another auto parts store scan it for you.

They won't scan a '93 vehicle, they only do OBD II (1996 and newer). You can buy a scanner or take it to an independent repair shop and see if they can do it.

At the very least, take it to Ford, or call a dealership and ask them what their diagnosis fee would be on a run-ability problem in a 1993 Aerostar. Probably above $100, but it'll be worth it. They will trace down the problem and tell you exactly what it is. You could also try an older Lincoln dealer instead.