2003 XLT 4.6 V8 erratic codes

[Wigwaam]

Okay, so I bought this Explorer recently and am now having a few issues, I am hoping someone can direct an approach to attack it and give me some feedback on what my thought process is. So, I have put about 100 miles on this Explorer, it does already have 165K, but we needed a family vehicle for camping trips and whatnot, so I figured what the hell the price is right. I have a cheap little OBDII reader that I have been using and what it is telling me is very erratic. I receive code P0307, P0316 the most consistently and received the P0775 code once. I have had the OD light flashing at me twice, both times on the freeway, however, not always above 55 MPH. I do also occasionally have a lag (about 3k RPMS) between shifting 1-2. Sometimes whether driving or at idle, the vehicle will throw 0 codes and then SES light flashes, stays on and upon rescan I have code 307 and sometimes 316 as well. And sometimes (driving or idle) SES light will flash again and light turns off, now throwing 0 codes. At startup though, the vehicle always idles rough, or "bumbly" as my daughter so eloquently put it. Not a lot of noise - in fact the vehicle is always quiet and this rough idle is only in park, at stoplights, drive and reverse, the vehicle is very quiet and smooth.

Since it does have higher miles and I have no idea how previous owner treated the vehicle AND I'm not made of money (just bought an 11 year old vehicle), I want to try cheapest solution first and work my way up. I am not too mechanically inclined, I can only really do basic repairs. So I am hoping for some feedback here. I am thinking to test TPS and replace if necessary > maybe reflash PCM? > Test & replace plugs and wires? > Fuel Injectors? After this, the only other items I have found in my little research has been torque converter and band adjustments (which are both beyond my experience and for the OD light). LOL Help please! Is it possible something like outdated software can throw all this stuff off? Sticky fuel injectors? TPS? I'm lost. Sorry for the novel.

 

[pet575]

I'd go and get a scanner at a place like O'Reilly, Autozone, whatever parts store is near you that scans for free. That way you can verify the codes you've gotten so far. Once you get those, Google the codes for your vehicle. You can usually find them pretty easily to get you started down a path. Someone here might

As for the O/D light, I'd go to a transmission shop or a mechanic who has the ability to read the tranny codes and pay them $30-ish to give you a printout with ALL of the codes the vehicle is producing.

 

[pet575]

Check this page out:
http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/

With the P03XX codes you have, I'd bet on you possibly having a bad Coil Over Plug (COP) on your #7 cylinder (driver's side, 2nd one from the firewall) or maybe something going on with the injector. Easiest way to check that is to take that COP off of the #7 cylinder and take a look in the hole where the plug is at. If the end of the COP boot is wet, you've got a leaky intake manifold and the coolant in there is causing the COP issue.

Your P0775 code shows that you might have a bad shift solenoid in the transmission. But again, I'd get ALL of the codes on the tranny read to get a better handle on that one.

Take some time to search through the numerous transmission threads on here. The tranny on this vehicle is a known issue.

 

[Wigwaam]

Thanks guys. My gut was telling me injectors causing misfire, solenoid pack on the 775, I've looked all over and can't really find where it is intermittent like that, so I'm guessing it is something that is just starting to fail and hoping that I don't have to sink too much $$ into it. I learned about these transmissions - of course after the purchase. I figure with the higher miles it probably has already been repaired/replaced once. Unfortunately I have no service records. Anyway, I'm thinking to fix the misfire and then see if I can duplicate the 775/get transmission codes read. At which point tackle that issue. Thoughts?

 

[pet575]

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

 

[name420420]

check to make sure your injector plug is actualy snapin in. on my #8 I was having tthis random misfire. too a look and wiggled the injector plug and it just fell off lol. so I zip tide it to the cop and wireharness to hold it down