Exhaust manifold, EGR pipe replacement

[NotAFixer]

I have a 2000 Ford Explorer Sport XLS, V6 4.0L OHV with 128,000 miles.

I recently started having a problem with rough idle and sluggish acceleration and CEL came on. A complete stranger walking by said it sounded like I had a vacuum leak. I had the codes read and it was P1151 and P0174. I took it to a shop and they said I had two problems. The cheaper problem is the spark plug wires have burns on them and should be replaced. The not-so-cheap problem is the EGR pipe has a small hole in it. That pipe and the exhaust manifold are so badly rusted that they need replacing.

Money is an issue (imagine that), so I wonder if I can just fix one problem now and the other problem can wait a bit longer. Replacing the plugs and wires would be cheaper, obviously. But would that kind of defeat the purpose if the EGR pipe and exhaust manifold are what's causing the problems?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[AP9]

I wouldn't be surprised if the scorched spark plug wires were caused by hot exhaust gas leaking onto them, especially if the left rear cylinders (5 and 6) were the worst. If money is really tight, maybe put a heat-shield wrap over the affected spark plug wires?

Try to get your hands on the parts beforehand; you're sure to at least save on parts cost that way. In the future, new OEM parts will only be more expensive and more scarce.

EGR tube (for 1998-2000 4.0L OHV): F87Z-9E469-CA
Compression nut connecting to exhaust manifold: F87Z-9F485-AA

 

[ccm2001]

Pretty sure 5 & 6 have a heat shield as well as the egr pipe. It does on my 4.0 sohc

 

[NotAFixer]

Thank you

Thank you very much for the responses, especially for the parts numbers. I'm having the spark plugs and wires replaced first. Everyone I've talked to said that should take care of the performance issues in the short term. I can buy the EGR pipe and exhaust manifold parts ahead of time and then have them installed when I can afford to do it. Someone suggested I buy a tube of JB Weld and hit the EGR pipe with that in the meantime, but I suppose if I'm going to replace it anyway, slopping goo on it isn't going to hurt.

Anyway, thanks again for your advice and for the parts information.