94 Explorer Dead Cylinder Question...

[Bookem]

I have a 1994 Eddie Bauer Explorer that somebody told me has a dead cylinder. Does anybody know how this could have happened and what I need to do to fix it? Or if it's even worth fixing?

 

[checkedout]

we need more info, milage, symptoms, anything you already checked......

 

[chris c]

what is the meaning of dead cylinder by the person who told you...

your problem can be simple to very complex. that being stated fixing the truck would depend on the problem.

is it dead meaning no spark or fuel or is there a ring / valve problem.

it could be a bad plug, wire, coil pack, fuel injector, etc...

it could also be a broken/bent valve or a bad ring.

how did the assesment of a dead cyclinder come about. was a compression check ran on the engine or were plugs pulled while the engine was running?

 

[Bookem]

I took it to a service station to have them look at it because it had this hissing thumping noise (no better way I can think to describe it) coming from underneathe the car by the exhaust. I thought it was some sort of exhaust leak at first until I noticed that the pick up was very sluggish. They told me that all of the plugs had spark. I don't think they did a compression check. Every once in a while the noise goes away, but only for a second and not very often. The truck has 143,x.. miles on it.

 

[chris c]

they may all have spark, but one cylinders spark may be weak. one cylinder may not be getting fuel.

if your are infact getting spark i think the first step is to find out if they did a compression check and if they did not get one done.

 

[MrShorty]

Another "obvious" possible cause of a single misfiring cylinder is a bad/clogged/misfiring fuel injector.

 

[Robb]

I will second MrShorty. If all cylinders are sparking, it is probably (and hopefully) a bad, or clogged injector.

 

[Bookem]

So, do you guys think the first thing I should try is a fuel injector additive to my gas as a cheap experiment?

 

[Exploder160hp]

yes, but don't get your hopes up. Clogged fuel injectors usually aren't the problem. The filtering system works. Injectors don't just "clog" all of a sudden. A malfunction of the injector would be more likely. Do all of the cheap and easy stuff. (fuel filter, air filter, plugs, wires, clean MAS, etc.) Give the truck a tune up and reset the computer and see what happens.

 

[chris c]

Originally posted by MrShorty
Another "obvious" possible cause of a single misfiring cylinder is a bad/clogged/misfiring fuel injector.

heh, it's pretty "obvious" that you did not read my entire post...

 

[Bookem]

Okay. So I put some fuel injector cleaner in and ran it for about a half an hour. The noise that I mentioned before has slowed down but has not completely gone away yet. Maybe it's doing the job. I'll let everybody know. Thanks for all of the advice.