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03 4.0 No power Video Added

Number 4 plug won't go in. FML.

Have to wait til tomorrow to get the tool to rethread.
 

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Plugs from driver side. Like I said above they look ok to me but I don't know as much as you all do.

Also I did not use motorcraft plugs as I said earlier. I put motorcraft in my f150. I used the autolite plugs for the Explorer.

Install Motorcraft SP500's OReilly's has them at the rip off price of $5 each. (RockAuto is $3.16 each)
 






Plugs look good

Same plugs I use

Take care not to strip out the spark plug hole in the heads it happens easily

I found out the hard way once. Plugs can look good but the internal resistor can be bad and grounding out internally. One thing I hate about resistor plugs which all are these days. (I have another vehicle that uses special non-resistor plugs).
 






Cylinder 4, 5, and 6. Posted in order. I'm kind of stuck until I can retap the spark plug hole so I used my endo camera to take a peak insides the cylinders.

These look ok for 110k miles or worse than they should?

Valve cover removal tomorrow. I'll throw up pics of that too.
 

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Wow; you're really going in deep on this one; all manner of sensors and data!

It worked fine, and then suddenly didn't, with no knocking or smoke or overheating or other drama. That suggests (to me) an electrical failure or a computer failure. You also might look very closely at all vacuum tubes and hoses for splits.

Failing all that, I'd suggest that one of your timing chains has slipped/jumped/whatever somehow. Running normally at idle but abnormally on load / vice-versa is a classic indicator of cams out of time. The noise you're hearing might be timing chain slap: ot's not lifters, as your car has no hydraulic lifters. In your video, it sounds like it's coming from the forward end of the driver's side engine bank, which is precisely where the cam timing chain is for that side.

Unfortunately, the only way I know of to confirm is to time the camshafts. Not SUPER-hard, but it does require a special tool set, and once you get in there you will likely find that all the timing chain guides are trashed as well. Timing chain guide failures are a classic problem on these machines.


I've done this job many times, and my Explorer has exactly this engine. If you wanna tackle it, happy to help.

That is way over my head. I highly doubt I could pull that off without screwing it up.

Also I did not mean lifters I mean rocker arms or follower arm rather.
 






How did you strip that spark plug hole?
I see it happen all the time but never happened to me knock on wood
Did you thread them in by hand or ?
 






I found out the hard way once. Plugs can look good but the internal resistor can be bad and grounding out internally. One thing I hate about resistor plugs which all are these days. (I have another vehicle that uses special non-resistor plugs).
How would you test them other than a continuity test just curious
 






How did you strip that spark plug hole?
I see it happen all the time but never happened to me knock on wood
Did you thread them in by hand or ?

I put them in the spark plug socket and start them by hand.
 






I screw them in by hand all the way no socket. If it's hard to get to I put a rubber hose on the end of the plug to help guide
but you can't cross thread that way
Then I tighten it with a wrench
I also put some antiseize
 






I screw them in by hand all the way no socket. If it's hard to get to I put a rubber hose on the end of the plug to help guide
but you can't cross thread that way
Then I tighten it with a wrench
I also put some antiseize

I didn't have anything small enough. I normally keep an old spark plug wire boot around for this but must have tossed it.

Without the socket I can't even get it into the hole, no room for my fingers and the plug.

Soon as then rain stops I am rethreading it. Valve cover gasket will be here some time today so I can finally yank the cover off and get a look at the cam, valves and such.

I ran my endoscope cam down the oil fill hole and got a little look at the passenger side. Looks fine to me but the passenger side is a mystery box still.

I found out the hard way once. Plugs can look good but the internal resistor can be bad and grounding out internally. One thing I hate about resistor plugs which all are these days. (I have another vehicle that uses special non-resistor plugs).

Would a plug that is grounding out as you said cause the issue I'm having?
 

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My 09 Exp had similar symptoms (not identical but perhaps worth looking at)

Somewhat rough idle which also created extra noise in engine.
Wouldn't accelerate and would have difficulty getting to 35mph.
Made it to the Autozone where they did a free OBD scan.
Code was intermittent misfire on #3 cylinder (pass. side rear.)

Turns out that cyclinder's plug wire was very near the EGR pipe coming from rear of exhaust manifold and even tho the wire insulation/casing looked fine, the casing had a small crack and was arcing against EGR pipe.

Plug wires had about 15k on them.

$30 new wires from Autozone - problem solved.

Hope that helps.
 






How would you test them other than a continuity test just curious

I usually just replace them if there is any doubt. I do have a 3000 volt transformer out of a bug zapper I have done testing of plugs, rotors and distributer caps with.
 






2003 XLT 4WD
4.0 SOHC
110,231 Miles

Will not go over 5mph but it wants to die out. Max rpm is 2000(even at almost wide open)then it bogs down to around 500 rpms then back to normal idle.

It's not missing at all.

I went to Lowe's yesterday it was fine. Left the store stopped at a red light and it took off as usual but on the entrance ramp it started to bog down. I barely got it on the shoulder. Service Engien Soon light was on.

Got it home and after some reading I decided to replace the TPS. Remove the battery cables, removed the TB, swapped the sensor out, replaced everything, put the positive on but not negative to reset it. Waited 45 minutes. No change.

Today I remove the blue cap and checked to see if it was getting enough fuel. I do not have a gauge but I'd find it hard to believe that what was there wasn't enough.

There is a rattle but my ears are not good and I cannot pinpoint it. I can hear it while under the hood with the engine running or from the driver's seat with the door open.

I ordered a Blue Drive scanner on Amazon last night and it got here today. No codes except the P1000.

I've found videos, threads, and other sites that say timing chain, clogged cat, O2 sensors, and a bad pcm.

Plugs, wires, coil pack, fuel filter all done within the last 12 months.

I'm not a mechanic really and 85% of what I have learned has come from this forum so I can't offer much.

Can a dealer pull codes that my scanner cannot see and find out whay that SES light was for?

I can take screen shots of whatever data my scanner can provide if that'd help.
 






Cut the cats off ...or un hook from the heads and see if exploder will run. If it does new ones or cut off.
 






Cut the cats off ...or un hook from the heads and see if exploder will run. If it does new ones or cut off.

At night you might want to look at Cats to see if they are glowing cherry red which probably indicate they are clogged. On my '03 Ford Sport 4.0 SOHC original engine had a bad passenger head gasket which caused pure gas pouring into the Cats. It would idle OK but as soon as you put it in gear it would die. The Cats choked out the engine and I chased the problem for months before I swapped a low mileage Mustang engine and replaced the bad cats. Some say you can drill a hole before the Cats and test to see if any difference. The hole can be patched back up temporarily with a big screw(s). GL.
 












Yeah, the cat is the next object. Since I did all the hard stuff first.

Compression test
1-155
2-160
3-150
4-???
5-150
6-155

Still haven't rethreaded the spark plug hole. Hand plus tools gives me no room.

Timing chains are tight and no broken guides. Everything in the head seemed solid, nothing broken or loose.

About to lose my $&÷&!
 






Timing chains are tight and no broken guides. Everything in the head seemed solid, nothing broken or loose.

Plugged exhaust

Worth a look imo

My original engine also had no signs of wear on the timing chains or guides. It didn't show the classic oil in radiator bad head gasket signs and I changed plugs, wires and etc thinking I was close to resolving the problem. A wet spark plug and the glowing red hot cat finally put me on the right path.

Donald I overlooked your earlier posting about the plugged exhaust, I think that was a good early call. :)
 






Donald I overlooked your earlier posting about
It only takes one glowing cat for one to remember lol
In my case moms car set tall grass on fire
Same problem loss of power will not go over 2k rpm etc
Drilled hole that I could have welded up and found my problem
 



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