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06 Eddie Bauer V6 Explorer Sputtering...

topnotch86

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Year, Model & Trim Level
06 Eddie Bauer
I have an 06 Eddie Bauer Explorer with the V6 engine with about 38,000 miles, and in the morning when i first start it up for the day, it kind of sputters/rides rough for the first like 15-30 seconds or so and then is fine. Always does this when starting up after being left off for a few hours, but rides fine when being used more often. There are no check engine lights on or anything like that, is this something i should have looked at? or is it a quick fix i can handle myself? I just dont want it to escalate into something bigger. Thanks for your help!
 



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anyone out there experience anything like this before, or know that the problem might be?
 






just want to make sure i get this taken care of before it gets cold out, figure it might get worse then...
 






Honestly...I learned a LONG time ago that one of the biggest issues with rough idleing in newer cars is from buildup in the throttle body. It's the last piece coming from the air filter into the intake in the engine. This vehicle is fairly easy to remove it too, so I would certainly recommend trying this at home, unless you're still under warantee.

You'll need to have some deep sockets, and throttle body cleaner, and some toothpicks for the hard to reach areas around the butterfly, but it's really about a 1 hour job max....and NORMALLY will fix many idle issues.
 






warantee ended at 36k miles problem started at about 37k lol go figure...is this something that would be expensive for the dealer to do? if its under $100 id rather just pay it because im bringing it in for a transmission flush next week anyways
 






It shouldn't be expensive if you're lucky enough to find a very reputable dealership, but I would be afraid they would be inclined to tell you that it needed replacing, and replacing the throttle body is much more than $100.

You can do this really. Just locate the box where the air filter is. There should be a clamp that holds a hose to that, and a plug that's clipped in. To remove that plug you need to slide the red clip out, then the plug can be pulled out. Then the other end of that hose ties directly into the intake and has a clamp on that end. I THINK there are 2 plugs clipped into the throttle body, one is to the throttle position sensor, which would be a great time to replace that for cheap....but the screws tend to break, so you may need to be familiar with creative ways to remove scres if you do that too....I had to heat mine up with a torch to unscrew them with pliers.

then there are 4 bolts (actually 5, but one is to hold a bracket on one of the bolts) that remove the throttle body. you will notice a lot of black carbon built up in this. You may also see a small ridge of it where the butterfly is closest to the body....THAT's whats causing it to run rough at first idle I suspect. I used a whole can of throttle body cleaner on mine a couple of weeks ago....and a toothpick to get all the carbon out of it, including along the edge of the butterfly. Don't worry...you can just puch that open as needed to clean it. When it's clean, just reverse the order to put it all back together.

May also be a good time to pull the MAF sensor out of that rubber tube you removed...it's the thing that had the plug in it near the air filter box. You WILL NEED SPECIAL cleaning spray for that, it's called mass-air-flow cleaning spray.

When you're done, I'm certain you won't have spent $10 (unless you do replace the throttle position sensor) and about 1 hour....and it'll run much better.
 






doesnt sound too bad, hope this works, ill take a look at it this weekend. thanks!
 






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