check engine light

[trp66]

I BOUGHT A 97 FORD EXPLORER SPORT
MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON 2 DAYS AFTER I BOUGHT IT.I IMMEDIATLY TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALER
WHO THEN SENT ME TO HIS MECHANIC.THE MECHANIC SAID THE CODE WAS 306,AND I THINK 366,WHICH HE SAID WAS A MISS IN THE CYLINDERS.HE RESET THE LIGHT,AND TOLD ME IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A FLUKE.SO,AFTER 2 DAYS IT CAME BACK ON .I BROUGHT IT BACK TO HIM AND HE TOLD ME HE WOULD REPLACE THE SPARK PLUG WIRES, WHICH HE DID.ABOUT 1 DAY AFTER THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN.
I BROUGHT IT BACK AGAIN.THIS TIME HE SAID THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT IT MIGHT BE MY FUEL INJECTORS.
I TOLD HIM I WAS NOT GOING TO SPEND MONEY EVERY TIME HE THINKS HE FOUND A FIX AND THAT FIX NOT SOLVING THE PROBLEM.IT SEEMS TO RUN FINE.BUT SOME OF THE TIME WHEN I AM IDLE IT SPUTTERS.
ANY IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

THANKS

 

[Jason_25]

Your intake manifold o-rings are leaking. How many miles are on your truck? If you are under 72K, Ford will fix it for free.

Edit: Assuming you have an SOHC.

 

[Glacier991]

You have encountered every mechanic's nightmare... an intermittent fault.... and it seems usually impossible to duplicate while on some tester.

Code 306 is a cylinder 6 misfire. Misfires occur generally due to 1st, some ignition fault (hence the plug wire - maybe should look at the plug and distributor (sic, since there is not truly a distributer in the classic sense) cap. Next the major culprit is fuel delivery - too rich or too weak. Hence he was curiuous about a bad or sticking injector (not unreasonable). Finally you have mechanical problems (often first here might be some vacuum leak - check all your vacuum lines and I'd use an ultrasonic sniffer too - it hears em). Mechanical is the least likely.

Your mechanic is following a logical course on a tough problem. ( would consider a new plug and a replacement cap maybe though - not costly and even if it does not solve your problem it will give you just that much more service in the long run.) A quick once over with an unltrasonic detector on an operating engine might be a worthy thing too.

Good luck to you and your mechanic.

Chris