Engine Missing

[SethD]

Hello everyone, this is too my first post, so be easy on me. I have a 95 explorer, and have a terrible miss is th engine once it has warmed up in idle. Local Mechanic told me that I should have only replaced plugs and wires with Ford products and not Bosch. Can anyone let me know in more detail about that, and let me know if that is even worth replacing the two of them to try and get rid of the "Missing"? Thanks guys. Seth

 

[Jason_25]

Hi! I'm from NC too. Welcome to the site!

As for your problem, yes you should always replace plugs with original equipment ones. The dealer is right. Stay away from that Bosch crap.

 

[Big E]

I am not so sure I would call Bosch stuff crap. I have used there products in many vehicles and have had no problems. And I am sure if you go down the line. Bosch makes Ford parts. I thinkk if you use a good name product then you should not have any problem. Could be you have a bad plug or maybe you didn't get the boot all the way on the plug or maybe you got a intake leaking. There are many things that could cause this condition. How long has it been sence your last tune up? Did you do plugs and wires? Ot just one. More details about the problem would help to solve the problem

Eric

 

[SethD]

Thanks Guys

Thanks Big E for your response. Let me tell you a little more here. My tune-up is fairly recent due to my new engine I just got. It will do it once it has been idling in park for a few minutes (until the engine is warm) Yes I did replace plugs and wires myself. However, I didnt have the problem when I changed the wires, it really has started doing it since my recent engine. Maybe that will help. Thanks guys. Seth

 

[01EB5.0]

Originally posted by Jason_25
Hi! I'm from NC too. Welcome to the site!

As for your problem, yes you should always replace plugs with original equipment ones. The dealer is right. Stay away from that Bosch crap.

Wow, I am dumbfounded by your response. You must be one of those guys that listens to every word from the dealer and believes it all...the type of peron that brings it in for a oil change and ends up paying for a replacement barometric pressure sensor. When was the last time you actually used a Bosch product..or any other non-ford part on your truck? I bet you have more then 1 non-ford item on or in your engine right now??? None of the crap on this board about the Bosch plugs was true. you must also believe everything you read. Well, just to let you know Bosch makes quality products, as does many other aftermarket (non ford) manufactures. i happen to run the bosch +4 plugs and Bosch premium wires and have had no problem whatsoever. Many people have on here also and found similar results. when I read posts like that it just really gets me that people can be so ignorant. Ford only says use ford parts so they can sell you their overpriced plugs made by the lowest bidder they could find. Please think about hwat your posting before you post...this is like a chevy guy saying he hates fords, yet he's never owned one.....I just don;t get people like that...

 

[01EB5.0]

Originally posted by SethD
Hello everyone, this is too my first post, so be easy on me. I have a 95 explorer, and have a terrible miss is th engine once it has warmed up in idle. Local Mechanic told me that I should have only replaced plugs and wires with Ford products and not Bosch. Can anyone let me know in more detail about that, and let me know if that is even worth replacing the two of them to try and get rid of the "Missing"? Thanks guys. Seth

Seth,
As long as the plugs were gapped to the correct gap (unless they were the +4 plugs, which do not require gapping) I would be almost certin it isn; the plugs. you say it didn;t start doing it until your recent engine. I am curious if this is a brand new motor or if it was sued. also were the bosch parts transferred to the new motor?
A cause I think would be a faulty coolant temp sensor or a faulty Idle air control sensor. I would replace both of those and see if it doesn;t fix your rpoblem. good luck!

 

[Jason_25]

Every single mechanic I have talked to (not just Ford) has told me to stay away from Bosch plugs. Also, last time I checked the OE plugs were around $2 a piece. Bosch +4's were $5 a piece. Talk about overpriced.........

Also, yes I do have experience with these plugs. I was fooled into buying them also. When my engine was replaced, the mechanic who pulled the plugs showed me the +4's that were in it. The electrodes crumbled in my hands.

 

[Big E]

First of all lets not throw parts at the preoblem untill we know the soulution. That just waistes money and you could still have the same problem. You said it started after you put in your engine. Was the engine used? LIke out of a wrecked Exxplorer. Or was it a remain from Autozone or something like that. It sounds like you have a intake leaking. But normally it does it all the time, or only when it is cold. You can try one thing to find out if the intake is leaking. Buy a can of carb cleaner. NOT brake cleaner. Take the carb cleaner the spray on the intake when the engine is running if you feel the miss go away or get worse then you have found the problem. Something else you can check. When the truck is running. Take out the pcv. Put your finger over the hole. If you feel vaccume, you have a lower intake gasket leaking. Seams you cannot see it or spray it this is a good way to check it.


Eric

 

[SethD]

Thanks guys

Thanks guys, I will check all those possibililites out! This is a good source of help. Thanks again. Seth

 

[01EB5.0]

Originally posted by Jason_25
Every single mechanic I have talked to (not just Ford) has told me to stay away from Bosch plugs. Also, last time I checked the OE plugs were around $2 a piece. Bosch +4's were $5 a piece. Talk about overpriced.........

Also, yes I do have experience with these plugs. I was fooled into buying them also. When my engine was replaced, the mechanic who pulled the plugs showed me the +4's that were in it. The electrodes crumbled in my hands.

When your engine was reaplced? Maybe thats why the plugs went bad. what happened to your engine? if it went bad I'll bet that problem it had caused the plugs to get thatway?

 

[01EB5.0]

I don;t get it. Bosch plugs are the best selling plugs out there, yet "everyone" says they are bad...go figure. ther eis no hard evidence to prove the plugs are bad and a corporation like Bosch would not continue selling pugs that they know are faulty.

 

[kps36]

I have run Bosch plugs/wire for more years than most of you have been around. Never a problem. When you get around to R/R your O2 sensors see whose manu. name is on there besides Ford....betcha it's Bosch.
Oh, and this comes from experience, I run +4s in V config engines, and Platinums (non +4) on a straight config. For some reason the +4s fouls out a bit sooner on a straight set-up (BMW, Volvo Benz....), also use Bosch as OEM.
my .02

 

[01EB5.0]

Originally posted by kps36
I have run Bosch plugs/wire for more years than most of you have been around. Never a problem. When you get around to R/R your O2 sensors see whose manu. name is on there besides Ford....betcha it's Bosch.
Oh, and this comes from experience, I run +4s in V config engines, and Platinums (non +4) on a straight config. For some reason the +4s fouls out a bit sooner on a straight set-up (BMW, Volvo Benz....), also use Bosch as OEM.
my .02

Thanks for the backup KPS36. Hey did you see Bosch's new +2 plug? it's less expensive then the +4 but looks cool. I might try those after I change my +4's out at 200,000 miles

 

[01EB5.0]

Also your right. Bosch makes O2 sensors for Ford. the one in out 1988 E150 was Bosch and the 2 on my 95 are bosch.

 

[Jon_Herr]

You don't have to look far...

....to see that Bosch makes many of the oem systems and parts in any Ford vehicle.

I did notice a knocking problem created by Bosch plugs on my (now traded in) 98 Ex OHV.

It pinged at every startup. Ran fine after that, but it was a little un-nerving.

I don't know what the long term exposure to the ping would have done, but if I'da kept the vehicle they would have been replaced.

And no, it did not ping prior to putting in the Bosch plugs.

And no, I don't hate Bosch plugs either. I don't know if it's a good idea to let this type of pinging go on for a long time...

Please remember - as nice as I can say it - whenever you use aftermarket parts your are stating that the company making the parts has done the best they can to make an equivalent part. They may have made a better part, but it also may be marginal. In the case of Bosche, their generic parts are most likely provide OEM quality and performance. High performance plugs may be better or worse depending on the application.

Ford has a stake in the performance of their vehicles and the quality of their replacement parts. Other people may or may not.

I don't love Ford parts either, but as an example, it might be beneficial to buy a Ford clutch as opposed to a 'lifetime warranty' clutch from a discount store. What good does a lifetime warranty do for you if you must spend a large part of your life underneath your vehicle.

This example comes from experience...

Sorry 'bout the rant.

Jon

I suggest that you double check each plug and determine if it's a rich / lean mixture causing it or if the plug is cracked.

You might look at the engine in the dark to see if there are any sparks jumping from the wire due to a cut or open. Look at the plug itself and see if sparks are jumping to the block or other place.

There's a very good chance that if it's a new engine it might have a bad / bent valve or one that isn't seating correctly. Missing rings or a cracked cylinder is also a possibility. A compression test and leakdown test can tell you if either of these is the case.

 

[Jon_Herr]

Clarification

My vehicle currently has 'normal' Bosch platinums in it with no pinging.

The Bosch plugs that caused my pinging where the four prong type surrounding the center electrode.

As a by the way, I suggest that the pinging was due to the bosch plug having a better ability to ignite the air / gas mixture at startup than an oem plug. The pinging was probibly caused by the initial timing of the engine based on how well the oem plug can ignite the fuel air mixture at startup.

Likewise, other timing curves were probibly affected (for better or worse) by these 'better' plugs. I can't tell because once the engine was running and warm the knock sensor would have kept pinging at bay.

Also, the OHV engine doesn't know if any given cylinder is on the power stroke or exhaust stroke at startup so the computer fires a cylinder one way then the other. The computer then remembers for the duration of that run cycle which stroke the engine is on. This could also be why the Bosch plugs caused a ping....

 

[punkbek3886]

i seem to have the same problem and ive read that a coolant temp sensor could be causing both our problems. the reason it supposedly does this is the computer runs the engine rich while cold and if the sensor is sending the computer the wrong signals then it will continue to run it rich, which should cause the symptoms you described.

by the way, if youve already fixed the problem id like to know how you did it.

 

[Bill Kemp]

ENGINE MISSING

Quick, Call 911






Sorry, I couldnt help it.......

 

[punkbek3886]

haha

 

[Ross-N-Chicago]

me too laughy laughy. thanks for taking the post away from bosch killers. i use motorcraft but would use reg. bosch and not that +4 stuff.