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2013 explorer limited stumbling and pinging

wjfawb0

Member
Joined
January 18, 2008
Messages
39
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City, State
Chattanooga, TN
Year, Model & Trim Level
2010 F150 XLT Scab 4x4
2013 Explorer Limited 3.5L V6 ~60,000 miles

I changed the oil, oil filter, and air filter on my wife's 2013 explorer a couple days ago. Immediately after the service the car idled fine for 10+ minutes in the driveway before I shut it down (finally found the oil life reset in the menu again). Just an hour or so later my wife took off in the car, and a couple miles down the road it lost power, idled down, and she was barely able to pull into a driveway before it died. I headed over there figuring it was a vacuum leak where I had disconnected the hose to remove the top half of the filter housing. I tried starting the car and it rough idled and died. I reseated the filter and reconnected the intake hose again, not finding any obvious problems, and the car then started and ran fine.

So, 40 miles that night and 80 miles the next day the car ran fine. When she left church last night the car was idling rough and pinging anytime it got into moderate load. She drove backroads all the way home, coasting and keeping the load light to avoid the pinging. When she got home it had the two codes P0171 and P0174 (lean bank 1 and lean bank 2).

I took the intake completely apart looking to see if the PCV hose or other vacuum hoses might have come unseated or cracked when I lifted the intake hose up to separate the filter/MAF housing. I could find no damage or problems visually. I disconnected the battery, cleaned the intake tube of some oil residue from the PCV inlet and used some carb cleaner on the throttle blade because of what I've read here on throttle bodies.

After reconnecting everything I started the car and drove it up and down a 55mph highway. It was rough idling and would constantly ping (lean detonation) at moderate loads or higher. I ran the TORC app, but I don't have any idea what the Mass Air Flow sensor should be reading versus volumetric load and throttle position. It appeared that the MAF was reading low numbers to me, but it was varying with throttle and load. In short, it sounds like I do in fact have an air leak somewhere past the MAF.

Can anyone look at my TORC screen shot and tell me if the 36.9 MAF reading is typical for a steep hill at 20mph and 35% throttle at 90% load? It pinged like crazy when I was at 70 load, 36 throttle, and close to 40 MAF reading.


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I'm going to try using ether (starting fluid) around the hoses and intake tube while running to look for a vacuum leak this afternoon.
 












Check for black gook in the MAF sensor (the part inside the air intake) especially if you have an aftermarket air filter that uses oil (K&N for example).
A shot of WD40 on the sensors will take care of it. DON'T USE carb cleaner.
 






If your MAF is reading low that may be the reason why its running lean.

CRC MAF Cleaner works well, I used it on my Duramax and haven't had any problems.

I wouldn't use anything else since MAF's are very sensitive, you can pick it up at any Auto parts store or amazon.

I'm not a big fan of K&N Filters or any oiled drop in replacements, the factory filter may be a little more restrictive but its a dry filter to not contaminate the MAF sensor.
 






Check the purge valve (mine was just replaced 59k miles) and was lumpy at idle and threw CEL but no issues now.
 






Follow up on the problem:

I overfilled the engine oil and that seems to have been the issue. Always check and recheck. DOH! I had the car on a hill and ramps which contributed to the problem. I should have rechecked the dipstick once it was level and had idled. I ended up draining out a half quart or more of oil after about 150 miles of driving. The pinging and check engine lights persisted but reduced in severity and frequency. Google searches resulted in some hits on oil consumption and O2 sensor misreadings/damage.

The PCV valve is actually under the intake and hard to get to on the rear valve cover. The hose from the intake tube to the front valve cover appears to just be a straight vent with no valve--maybe a baffle on the cover. The PCV hose connects directly to the intake on the back. I used my cell phone camera to take pictures of it all and assist in removing and replacing the PCV valve.

When I first found and removed the PCV valve and tube, it was quite full of oil, and it appeared a decent amount had been pulled into the intake and fouled the cylinders and all that jazz. I sea foamed the gas tank as well as one of their "spray for five minutes in the intake while high idling" treatments. That and premium gas for a few tanks seems to have eliminated all the pinging and check engine lights. The car is running fine now.

As you can imagine, spraying ether around the intake hoses and cleaning the MAF did nothing. I suppose I am fortunate I didn't overfill more and hydrolock a cylinder or two. The car first stumbled and died when my wife was accelerating up a steep hill fast. That makes sense due to the PCV being on the rear head, oil sucked into intake, etc. Be careful when pouring oil out of 5 quart motorcraft jugs.

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How did you end up putting 7 quarts of oil in? Oil change is simple and the 3.5L engine takes 6 quarts with a new oil filter. No need to even check the dip stick. You should buy a one quart bottle of the brand of oil you use. After using it up the first time with the 5 quart jug, keep the empty quart container. The next oil change buy (2) 5 quart jugs and refill the empty quart container from one of the 5 quart jugs. Now you should never over fill the crankcase. (1) 5 quart jug and (1) 1 quart container.
 






Your post is uncalled for and unhelpful. There's no need for it. Nobody's perfect and everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

wjfawb0: Glad you got things working now. Hopefully you caught the overfill before any serious damage occurred.
 






This is uncalled for and unhelpful. There's no need for it. Nobody's perfect and everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

wjfawb0: Glad you got things working now. Hopefully you caught the overfill before any serious damage occurred.

The Wal Mart service dept is never perfect and always makes mistakes.
 






The Wal Mart service dept is never perfect and always makes mistakes.

Well thats just a known fact :)

Side story: Wal-mart didn't put ANY oil back in my friends Mazda a few years back. He didn't make it very far...
 






What app is it that you used to get the engine info on?
 












Which adapter did you use to hook it up to the OBDII plug? The prices are thru the ROOF!
 






Which adapter did you use to hook it up to the OBDII plug? The prices are thru the ROOF!

I see wifi ones for like 20-30 bucks out there. Are most of these OBD11 plugs the same? I want to find a decent one for iphone
 












How did you end up putting 7 quarts of oil in? Oil change is simple and the 3.5L engine takes 6 quarts with a new oil filter. No need to even check the dip stick. You should buy a one quart bottle of the brand of oil you use. After using it up the first time with the 5 quart jug, keep the empty quart container. The next oil change buy (2) 5 quart jugs and refill the empty quart container from one of the 5 quart jugs. Now you should never over fill the crankcase. (1) 5 quart jug and (1) 1 quart container.

I got in a rush and made a mistake. The explorer takes the longest. It's the only vehicle I have to pull up on ramps to change. I just slide under the F150 and Wrangler I have. My wife and I put about 3,000 miles a month on each of our four wheelers, so I end up changing oil on something about once a month.

I like the quart jug idea. I generally just check the marks on the 5 quart jugs, because everything I own takes 6 or 7 quarts even. Thankfully I'm a little more diligent with tire rotations than oil changes, though. ;)
 






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