Engine Performance "lack of"

[Rugby3]

I have two Fords, one the 00 X and my daily driver is my 97 F-150. The 150 is in the shop and I have had a rental Ford Taurus for a week and hate every minute of it. My question is my X runs like a dog, it is dealer maintained, well cared for and still accelerates, sounds liek and overall performs like a dog. Feels like I am driving a KIA. The motor is the 4.0 SOHC. Now the rental Taurus I have is a 3.0 six as well and that thing screams relatively speaking.
The wife uses the X the most and I drive it on weekends when we go out as a family and hate driving it for that reason. It is nutless. Any ideas on where to start to get it some nuts? The dealer says there is nothing wrong.

 

[Jason_25]

Has it always been this way?

What gear ratio does it have? If it has a 3.27 or 3.55 ratio it's gonna be kind of slow.

 

[jssong]

i thought the xls had the 4.0 ohv wtih 165 hp. i used to have that engine and itz slow but not that slow. and the taurus is a sedan which weighs alot less.

 

[DarkFox1]

yea, a lot more info about the vehicles condition is needed before one can accuratly determine what it is/is not doing. axle code/ratio would be good info, along with any mods it has/had, maybe some 0-60 times.. theres a lot of guys on the forum with 4.0s I'm sure if theres a problem they could definatley give you a lead

I find that mine too is nutless.. but I'm working on it, it has the 5.0 tho so I dont think I can offer you any leads by that method.

 

[Majisto]

Hrm, SOHC's should haul you faster than any 3.0 Taurus. Trust me, read my sig Which 3.0 you got in the Taurus? Vulcan OHV or Duratec DOHC? If you have a 24V sticker on the side, then you got the Duratec which has 45 More horsepower (200) than the POS Vulcan.

I suspect you probably have a MAF problem and need to clean it out.

 

[shauste]

Don't know if this helps but it might be worth looking into. My wife's uncles owns a 95 EB and his seemed to lack power also. He took it to the dealership and the problem was in his transmission. I don't know what they found but look into. It can't hurt

 

[Rugby3]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have been working since posting the ??? first time to get back and respond. To further add, the rear is a 3.73 Trak Lock and yes it is an XLS with the SOHC. I haven't cleaned the MAF but will do that. The tranny has already been replaced under warranty about 4 months back. Stock everything. Also as perspective my other Ford is a 97 F-150 5 speed V-6 as well. It has the 3.55 LS rear and it moves on down the road. I realize there are weight issues with the Explorer but still it should perform better.
Thanks