94 Eddie; Carbon from exhaust; carbon fouled plugs... | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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94 Eddie; Carbon from exhaust; carbon fouled plugs...

Last entry for tonight. I got the new Duralast ECT Sensor installed with no leaks. I used teflon tape on the threads. Started her up. Same story, although I knew that would happen. She did run better for longer though. Vacuum roughly at 15 and jumping up and down. Ran a lot smoother than earlier today. Still had smokey exhaust. Wife was drinking beers with me but had to go inside due to fumes.
Tomorrow morning I will deal with the O2 Sensors.
 



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Replaced both O2 sensors. No Go.
I'm out of time and don't know what to do. I have to have this vehicle out of this garage by noon tomorrow. In the morning I'm going to have a tow truck pick her up and drag her over to the Auto Skills Center here on Fort Benning where she can sit until I get back to town on Monday. Then I can figure out what to do with her.
Thanks for the help I got, and no thanks to the help I didn't get...
 






Any codes, either KOEO, CM, or KOER?

Also, what lead up to these conditions? Did it get worse and worse, or all at once? Any modifications done not long before the problem?

I have a 90 Mustang that was giving me fits. Problem had gotten progressively worse, a low RPM misfire and acting like it wasn't getting fuel. I checked EVERYTHING, and it was all good. Compression, spark, fuel, timing, you name it. Replaced almost every sensor in the whole motor at a cost of several hundred dollars. Gaskets, vac lines, and more. Finally took looking under the hood at night to find the problem. A piece of aluminum tape I had wrapped around a spark plug boot to protect it from header heat. Thought it was a great idea at the time and it worked for a while apparently. An arc had formed and gradually burned a hole through the tape, then it arced all over the place to the head and block.

Moral of the story, besides don't throw parts at a problem (which you know already), is that sometimes the cause is something stupid - the loose nut behind the wheel. :)
 






Haha! I like that one!
Thanks arco777. This particular event happened all of a sudden. I didn't read any codes because I inadvertently packed my code reader in my household goods that are headed to Germany and I was too impatient read doonze's tutorial. I was short on time and thought for sure it would be a simple fix. Troubleshooting is always the hard part. The only reason I went ahead and replaced the O2 sensors without testing is because they were the original ones and chances were good that one of them could be bad. Had more money than time.
I called the Auto Skills Center on Fort Benning to see if I could get some help with it but wasn't sure how it was going to go. We fly for Germany on the 18th and the X isn't going anyway. Fortunately for me the tow truck driver was retired military and offered to tow it to my mother's house in Augusta, GA for $345. I would probably spend that much trying to fix it and then driving it to her house myself. Anyway, she's going to store it for me in her garage while we're overseas and hopefully I'll get a chance to figure it out when we come home for vacation. If not, I'll get it when I come back to the states. Just the way it goes sometimes. I'm gonna miss my truck....
So, thanks for all the help and I guarantee you I'll be hitting you guys up again soon. You guys are awesome....
 






I had something similar happen to mine last year. Left it parked for several months. Drove it to work one day, came out in the afternoon and it didn't want to start. Acted like it was flooded. When i got it started, it was blowing smoke. Limped it home. Parked because I was so frustrated by it. Every so often over the next few months I would start it just to keep the fluids circulated. Over the last couple of years that I have owned it just about every sensor on it has been replaced. The one thing I hadn't replaced was the MAF. I'm telling you this thing acted like the motor was blown. Black smoke, soot out the tail pipe, surging up and down. Replaced the MAF, crossed my fingers, turned her on, and magic. Check your MAF.
 






I had something similar happen to mine last year. Left it parked for several months. Drove it to work one day, came out in the afternoon and it didn't want to start. Acted like it was flooded. When i got it started, it was blowing smoke. Limped it home. Parked because I was so frustrated by it. Every so often over the next few months I would start it just to keep the fluids circulated. Over the last couple of years that I have owned it just about every sensor on it has been replaced. The one thing I hadn't replaced was the MAF. I'm telling you this thing acted like the motor was blown. Black smoke, soot out the tail pipe, surging up and down. Replaced the MAF, crossed my fingers, turned her on, and magic. Check your MAF.

It's true, the MAF can cause a lot of problems. It won't always indicate that it's bad by codes either. I went through that dance myself... hey if you replace the MAF and that wasn't what it was, at least you have a spare!
 






ground pounder

hey guys, need a little help here.
I'm in the army and just recieved a new assignment. I have to clear my living quarters by friday but the poor x doesn't want to go. Here's where i'm at right now:

1. 1994 eddie bauer 2wd 4.0l ohv 153k started running really rough like it was misfiring. I limped her home and noticed black soot in the driveway beneath the tailpipe.
2. Removed #4 spark plug as it's the easiest to get to and discovered it to be carbon fouled.
3. Removed #5 spark plug (again for ease of access) it also was carbon fouled.
4. Decided to change plugs ans wires.
Old plugs: Autolite app7 65
new plugs: Motorcraft sp 486
old wires: Accel red 8mm
new wires: Duralast p/n 4144
5. Before changing plugs and wires, i tested for spark, compression and fuel pressure. Results:
Spark verified at all cylinders using craftsman inline spark plug tester.
Compression test: #1 - 170
#2 - 165
#3 - 160
#4 - 160
#5 - 180
#6 - 180
test conducted with all plugs removed, coil and fuel disabled. Wet test not conducted.
Fuel pressure held steady at 38psi.
6. Replaced plugs and wires and started the engine. It hesitated a lot at at first and then felt like it was trying to even out. Then it just got progressively worse and worse. Again i have black carbon soot on the driveway under the tail pipe and carbon fouled spark plugs.

Could this be an injector problem? If one of them fouls, could it cause the computer to increase the "on-time" of the others creating a super rich condition?
Now she won't even start. I really need a mechanic buddy right now. I have to get this vehicle out of here and i know i can get this worked out, i just need a little help. Anybody willing?

Respectfully,
john h. Panowich
sfc, usa

old airborne man 101st vietnam sounds like mass airflow sensor good fuel peasure any code in computor?
 






Wish I had seen this before as I also would believe the MAF needs a look and a cheep try is a cleaning. I say that as I had a snorting monster that felt like it was running on 3 holes one time all from a speck of oil getting on the sensor wire inside of it. pulled the black box sprayed it with MAF cleaner and wala ran like a bat out of hell for a time tell a new trouble making gremlin showed up that is . For some reason these explorers attract the gremlins big time LOL.

Also if it will be stored I hope someone will do the few things for you to set it up for that as correct me if I am wrong but is it still normally a two year tour? no matter even 6 months one should set the battery up and at lest put it on blocks to keep the weight off the tires and springs plus cover the tiers as it helps with UV break down when there not driven but will do nothing about Ozone. Last but not lest thank you for your service and if I was closer and had seen this I would have come over and tried to help you out. Enjoy Germany by the way.
 






Black Smoke

1993 Ford Explorer

A later date but maybe my story will help the next guy.

Problem: Vehcile running real rough, low power and lots of black exhaust smoke. At idle to keep it running you had to give it more gas.

Having trouble codes checked at local auto supply showed no problem.

Making a long story short. Umplugged the Mass Air Flow sensor. The vehicle ran 99.99% better with no MAF sensor connected. Replaced the complete MAF sensor unit. No gasket came with the rebuilt unit so made a gasket.

End result is a normal runninng vehicle. Now smoke free and runs great!

And have a good day!
 






Thanks for posting the update!
 






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