95 Explorer 4.0l missing & stalling severely, Help please Anyone!

[happydave12]

I own a 1995 Ford Explorer 4.0l Eddie Bauer. I replaced the engine almost 2 years ago with a used one from a junkyard. For the past 2 months it's been he'll to start and just a pain to drive. Okay so the problem is that it is missing on cylinders 2 & 6. Compression in #2 is only 30psig and the other 5 are all roughly at 180psig.i cannot get it started anymore. I'm now permanently physically disabled and even though it is very painful to work on my car, I receive less then 1200.00 per month to live on so paying for repairs is out of the question.
So here are specifics.
Prior to shutting it off 2 days ago I usually had to jump my vehicle with another for it to finally crank over during attempts to start I get several, powerful, explosions in the air cleaner passages.
2. It won't stay idling In gear or out of gear.
3. My gas milage is severely bad (maybe 5mph).
4.i can't get it over 60 mph on freeway and it can't climb most steep Hills.
5. The weird thing is even after the hassle to start it every morning the first 10 mind drive time is pretty good. At 10 mind it gets very bad (the idle and the stalling.
I've checked all vacuum lines by ear and with carb. cleaning spray(there were 4 leaks to start with, all on the lines that control air conditioning and heat
) replaced all of those lines. Which in doing so corrected an issue with the A/C I was dealing with.
I have replaced all of the spark plugs & wires also. I'm can handle any repairs that are needed however my last ride was a 72 F250 and this electronic ignition and components are a troubleshooting nightmare for me. I was a plumbing, heating & air contractor for 27 years so I'm no stranger to normal components (relays and such). If you could point me in a direction I would be very thankful

 

[96eb96]

30 psi compression in cyl 2 does not sound good. These engines also have issues with cracked heads and head gaskets at high mileage. Does oil bring up the compression? If not either new heads or a "mechanic in a bottle" head gasket product may be a solution(at your own risk, they can clog other things). Are you losing any coolant? How is the temperature gauge when you drive? Any overheating?

Check for air leaks under the egr valve, they tend to leak externally. Being a 95 it is difficult to get a scanner, but those old MT-2500 red bricks are very cheap now and I believe they can show live data on EEC-IV

 

[happydave12]

I did put oil in the #2 and retested compression with 5psig improvement. Not sure what the valve issue yet. I also checked coolant system, I'm not leaking compression internally, the temperature gage comes up approx 1/8in on a hot day it runs very cool. Do you happen to have the location of the FPR?

 

[96eb96]

I did put oil in the #2 and retested compression with 5psig improvement. Not sure what the valve issue yet. I also checked coolant system, I'm not leaking compression internally, the temperature gage comes up approx 1/8in on a hot day it runs very cool. Do you happen to have the location of the FPR?

my temperature gauge also runs cool and cycles, been that way since 01 when I got it. A new thermostat and sender helped a bit. I cycle between 1/4 and 1/2. Never affected anything else. There are some benign issues with this engine that may cause that.

Another thing could be carbon buildup on the valve, maybe try some seafoam. FPR is on passenger side, toward front of engine, by the upper intake manifold. follow those vac hoses that you repaired for the A/C system.