2013 Sport !!CHECK ENGINE!! - P304 Misfire, O2 Sensor Low Volt, P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Low - Further Repair Help Needed

[thespfxman]

Hello fellow 'splorers... first time post here and I'm at that point surely many of us have become, when you gave it a shot after buying an OBD scanner and jumped to conclusions...

Specs:

• 2013 Ford Explorer Sport, 3.5L Engine w/ Ecoboost
• 107K miles
• Has had all outstanding recall services (think just two: rear suspension toe link and something about exhaust and CO2 levels leaking in when idling)
• No engine mods of any kind
• Driven moderately-aggressive but pretty mellow 60% of the time, however I am a habitual down-shifter in favor of engine braking (Side Q: Can this cause long term damage?)

The Happening: While heading downhill after about 35 miles from cold start I notice a new vibration, figure maybe the road but no, losing power, check engine light begins flashing. Smell of exhaust but really more strong smell of un-combusted gasoline, heavily noticeable in the cabin.

Symptoms:

• Slow to start, about 3-5 seconds turning over before ignition
• Flashing check engine light
• Loss of power and engine shuddering when moving at high speeds and in high gear
• Low gear high RPMs allow for more power
• Heavy exhaust smell but mainly gasoline smell in cabin of car, seemingly emitted from engine bay
• Black exhaust when accelerating (noticed when AAA drove up on a flatbed)
• White vapor or smoke that quickly dissipates out of exhaust pipe when in idle

OBD Codes (also see screenshots) Note: This reading was taken after the below repairs were made and I did NOT clear any codes (oops? idk)

• 3 Confirmed Codes
  • P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1
  • P0151 O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage Bank 2 Sensor 1
  • P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
• 2 Pending Codes
  • P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1
  • P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
• 2 Permanent Codes
  • P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
  • P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1
• 4 Powertrain Control Module Codes
  • P00C6-00 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1: No Sub Type Information
  • P0151- O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage Bank 2 Sensor 1: No Sub Type Information
  • P0304-00 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected: No Sub Type Information
  • P0316-00 Engine Misfire Detected on Startup (First 1000 Revolutions): No Sub Type Information

Repairs Made

1. Replaced all 6 coils AND spark plugs, cylinder #4 did have a heavy gasoline smell and the plug removed was soaked.
2. Replaced Bank 2 Sensor 1 Oxygen sensor (I think?**)

Outcome: Same exact symptoms. .

• After the repairs were made, I did not clear any error codes from the car's OBD. I am not sure how this may impact the most recent OBD codes above, which were taken AFTER these repairs were made.
• **The oxygen sensor I replaced was on the very lower left of the engine when facing it from car front and I was able to do it with relative easy standing in front of the car. Are there other possible Oxygen sensors I should also replace, or is this NOT the B2S1 sensor? Why would this oxygen sensor error persist after the remairs were made, should I have cleared the error? Would the fuel rail issue or something else cause the "Low Voltage"? Does "Low voltage" imply a faulty sensor OR possibly faulty wiring somewhere?

Thank you for reading to this point, if you have any solid (grounded in experience) suggestions as to what I may check, clean, tighten, repair or replace... PLEASE let me know.

 

[ProjectSHO89]

Clear codes and re-test. Too many "old" bits of data.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum the spfxman.
I doubt that downshifting is harmful to an engine unless it results in over-revving.
As for the rest, I cannot help you there but would suggest the same as member ProjectSHO89.

Peter

 

[thespfxman]

Thank you both!

Cleared the codes, it did say that two permanent codes remained, the P00C6 and P0304.

After confirming that the codes cleared (ran the test without starting the engine) I then ran the test once more. Note this time I only had it check only "check engine light codes" so as to not leave the car running too long. Seems the issue does persist.

Are there any recommended service manual for my vehicle?

New report after clearing:

• 3 Confirmed Codes
  • P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1
  • P0151 O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage Bank 2 Sensor 1
  • P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
• 2 Pending Codes
  • P00C6 Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low - Engine Cranking Bank 1
  • P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected

 

[Michael Blackburn]

Appears your #4 injector sticks on. Dumping fuel into the cylinder (wet Plug) causing rich running (black exhaust / gas smell) and since it's dumping in fuel, pressure could be low. Plus super rich exhaust causing O2 sensor alarm.
Seems like a fairly easy and cheap guess to replace the injector.

2013 FORD EXPLORER 3.5L V6 Turbocharged Fuel Injector | RockAuto

Fritz

 

[thespfxman]

Thank you @Michael Blackburn

Okay so here's a twist...

For long I've known about a faulty or failing?) PCV valve, when idling for a long while, blue smoke would emit from the exhaust for some time, something about oil that may have leaked due to the fault in the factory valve.

Anyway, I replaced the valve, started the car, cleared the codes and re-ran... Now the idle does seem pretty rough, I only let it run for a few minutes max, exhaust smell still present, worst in cabin...

Only one error:

P2198 Bank 2 Sensor Sensor Signal Biased/Stuck Rich


Absent a "misfire" now (which seems odd because it did seem rough, but maybe not as rough as before...) could the "signal bias" be related to residual excess un-combusted fuel in the system due to the issue caused by a faulty PCV valve and/or hose (which by the way I cleaned and lubed a little with silicone grease, the kind you'd use on a pool filter o-ring (that okay?)

I also feel like I need to start it up again and test more.... It's late though and my garage smells like it could blow up.

 

[mguy13sport]

Time to do some data logging. You can use Torque or ForScan apps.

What is the fuel rail pressure at idle and Pressure when accelerating? Normal values would be around 200psi at idle and 1500 under some load.

I would pull the plugs and see if there any visible signs that correlate with the misfire codes. Check for oil blow by inside the plastic intake tubing if the PCV is bad it will be dirty.

Welcome to the world of twin turbo troubleshooting

 

[thespfxman]

Time to do some data logging. You can use Torque or ForScan apps.

What is the fuel rail pressure at idle and Pressure when accelerating? Normal values would be around 200psi at idle and 1500 under some load.

I would pull the plugs and see if there any visible signs that correlate with the misfire codes. Check for oil blow by inside the plastic intake tubing if the PCV is bad it will be dirty.

Welcome to the world of twin turbo troubleshooting

Thanks mguy! Yeah there was visible signs of cylinder 4 misfiring, the plug was wet when I took it out, smelled like gas and also seemed like it oozed a little from the piston into the cylinder where the plug coil goes after I removed the sp plug.

Also, the old PCV valve was very dirty

I'm going to try replacing the fuel injector, however need to figure out how to remove the intake first... also wondering if it's worth it to just go ahead and replace all injectors

 

[PlatinumOwner]

Thanks mguy! Yeah there was visible signs of cylinder 4 misfiring, the plug was wet when I took it out, smelled like gas and also seemed like it oozed a little from the piston into the cylinder where the plug coil goes after I removed the sp plug.

Also, the old PCV valve was very dirty

I'm going to try replacing the fuel injector, however need to figure out how to remove the intake first... also wondering if it's worth it to just go ahead and replace all injectors

I would agree, it's not a bad idea to replace them all. Also, hello neighbor! I'm in MV.

 

[utilitytristin]

Now I'm no mechanic but for spark plugs misfiring. You can start with the basics, swapping ignition coils for cylinder 3 and cylinder 4. If the code moves to cylinder 3, ignition coil is bad, thus dumping fuel if it's a bad coil. You can swap spark plugs as well from cylinder 3 and cylinder 4 if the misfire stays at cylinder 4. I don't have much knowledge to give. Good luck.

 

[Exploder321]

I've been doing battle with by '01 Explorer 5.0, similar symptoms, though I didn't have the fuel pressure problem (you may need a new fuel pump) - I replaced the spark plug wires, several engine sensors, the coils, the fuel injectors, new intake gaskets - after all that, same symptoms... it may be the crankshaft position sensor, I won't know until next weekend when I have time to go after it.

 

[thespfxman]

Appears your #4 injector sticks on. Dumping fuel into the cylinder (wet Plug) causing rich running (black exhaust / gas smell) and since it's dumping in fuel, pressure could be low. Plus super rich exhaust causing O2 sensor alarm.
Seems like a fairly easy and cheap guess to replace the injector.

2013 FORD EXPLORER 3.5L V6 Turbocharged Fuel Injector | RockAuto

Fritz

I'd like to close out this tread with a HUGE thanks to @Michael Blackburn for the 100% spot on assessment of my car's issue. The number 4 fuel injector was indeed stuck open. While removing the fuel rails, bank 1 clearly had gas in it and spirted out of the high pressure connection port with the slightest movement of the rail (injectors compressing w/ o-ring flex). The bank 2 rail did not behave this way and did not seem to contain much fuel at all which gave me great hope after making it all the way to this part of the disassembly. Confirmed with my own mouth to injector suction "test", tasting the bitter tinge of gasoline in my mouth but realizing the difference from injector 4 which did not hold suction, vs other injectors did.

After installing 6x new Bosch fuel injectors and cleaning basically every part and surface in the engine compartment that I could reach throughout the process, I reassembled everything and it fired up like a champ. Initially I was concerned at the huge amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust but held confident, later attributing that to the catalytic converter doing it's job and ultimately the car pushing out the large amount of un-combusted gases that must have been in the exhaust system. I took it for a solid test drive this weekend and the OBD cleareds the permanent misfire codes, also the o2 sensor stuck rich bias that was likely caused by the excessive gas in the exhaust.

Except now I seem to suffer another common issue, turbo "Turbocharger/Supercharger "A" Underboost Condition" (P0299 as confirmed by OBD after some drive time). I'll look into that separately, seems it may be an easy fix, replacing a flange in the turbo. I do notice a rattling at cold start and later loss of boost power and higher RPMs to make up the lost power, especially when carrying a full load of camping gear uphill...

In the end I replaced:
6 spark plugs and coils
6 fuel injectors <-- THIS SOLVED MY ISSUE
Bank 2 Sensor 1 Oxy Sensor
PCV valve
Vapor Canister Purge Valve (CP826)

Also, an added benefit my car's exhaust no longer smells terrible at startup, I'd attribute that to perhaps more efficient injectors and plugs, but maybe mainly the PVC and vapor canister purge value. FWIW I was not able to confirm via suction/blow test if the purge valve was defective, it did not seem so, but wanted to replace it nonetheless.

Huge thanks to this community, adding this detail in the hopes to help someone else down the road.

 

[peterk9]

For the P0299 issue, check out my reply in this thread; P0299 & P0430 Catalytic Converter and Turbo underboost on newly purchased 2014 Sport

Peter