Explorer suddenly stopped running

[djur]

I was at a Wendy's drive through today, and my explorer just died. It has been running perfectly fine before that. I started it up, and it had a surging. It is almost like it runs for 1 second, and doesn't run for a second. I think it's thirsty.. It keeps going. RUM - RUM - RUM. So I pull it over, look around, nothing looks bad... It starts to smoke black from the exhaust pipe. Checked coolant and oil, doesn't look like anything is mixed. So I try to get back to work (lunch hour). No power. doesn't want to go... surges forward, sputters more, come to a stop sign... dies. If I maintain 35+ MPH it goes, but with intermittent power. got a ride, came back after work, took it to a coworkers friends shop who was closing up. He cleaned the air sensor and ran codes. Returns air flow sensor code (after cleaning even), and returned a throttle position sensor code. He also felt something could have come loose in the CAT that could be clogging it. I removed an oxygen sensor and started it, still wouldn't run for anything. After chugging all the way home (died at a stop sign and restarted, idled at 400-500 RPM (couldn't hear it running) and no amount of accelerator would make it rev up... finally it slowly sputtered to 2500 RPM, and I dropped it into drive and puttered through the intersection. Got home, and white smoke came all over under the vehicle out from all the fender wells. Coolant is still full.

I've read up on some posts here. I did recently (last week) have to replace my battery. I'm thinking this could be a fuel pump relay problem. If it is sticking open then it could have caused the battery to drain? Additionally, in my picking when it first happened there is a hose (exhaust gas reuse maybe?) that runs from the exhaust manifold to the bottom of the air intake. This hose was being cut by the serpentine belt. It has a very small hole it in now, could this be my problem?


I'm pretty lost at this point, any suggestions?

 

[djur]

Okay... Here's an update. After checking relays, fuses, vacuum hoses, etc. The vehicle will no longer start. (turned on a fuel rich vehicle too many times I suspect, or maybe the part that was going out kicked the bucket?)...

 

[96limitedX]

try unplugging the MAS(mas air flow sensor)..if it runs well without it..its your problem. we just replaced it on my moms '94..it had been giving us problems for about a year. it had no power an ran poorly. so its owrth a try.

 

[MrShorty]

I know someone else pulled the codes, but did they give you any more detail other than, "it threw an MAF code"? Was it a KOEO code, CM code, KOER code? Which code specifically? If you want, you can pull codes yourself with only a jumper wire -- see www.troublecodes.net/Ford, www.fordfuelinjection.com, any of the other websites with EEC-IV self-test instructions, or any self-respecting repair manual.

A bad MAF could certainly explain your symptoms. A bad FPR will also cause it to "flood" out like that. Check the vacuum line to the FPR for gasoline and check the fuel pressure.

 

[marragtop]

At this point, you may have fouled the plugs. So once you find the root cause, it may still run rough until you pull the plugs.

 

[MazdaGreg]

My first bet would be the MAF sensor. Unplug it and see what happens. Also, if your belt cut a hole into the hose that is between the Throttle Body and the Mass Air Flow Sensor, you will need to plug that hole. That will allow Unmetered air into the engine, which will confuse the heck out of the system, and will cause drivability issues.

A bad Fuel Pump Relay will not cause the car to flood. If your talking a possible flooding problem, it could be a bad Fuel Pressure REGULATOR. That can be tested with Fuel Pressure gauge. But, if that was the case, you would have also possibly set a Over Rich Condition Code, (These can sometimes take a little while of driving to set).

Battery is probably unrelated.

First step is check your codes. MAF is common on Explorers to die. If you need to replace, spend the money and go to the dealer. I bought an Autozone one, didnt solve my problem so i though it was something totally different. took it to a specialized Fuel Injection shop, and they bought a dealer MAF ($170 i believe) and lo and behold, it works great!

TPS could cause a lack of power issue, because the PCM wouldnt know what you were doing with the throttle. to some extent, it would compensate, but that will definately cause it to do funny stuff.

the white smoke under the truck. sounds like water. When you pulled the o2 out, did you leave it out? Did it melt somethign under there with the hot exhaust? i've heard of exhaust leaks cutting radiator lines, melting harnesses, etc...

 

[djur]

The 02 sensor was out for maybe 20 seconds of running, then replaced. Like I said the vehicle no longer starts. I pulled the plug on the MAF sensor, and it won't start. Replaced it and pulled the one on the TPS, still won't start. I'm beginning to suspect fuel or ignition system due to the fact that it won't start now... I can't find my little ford code reader.. I'll pull the codes and include results in the next post.

 

[djur]

The codes I am getting are as follows:
KOEO:
These actually read out at this point as 443 and 442 (but these don't exist) So I'm assuming that either the system is reading them out wrong, or I suck at taking codes.
543
542
Continuous Memory:
122
157
158
542
543

My notes are as such:
1111 1111 111
1111 1111 11

1

1

1 11 11
1 11111 1111111
1 11111 11111111
11111 1111 11
11111 1111 111
1 11 11
1 11111 1111111
1 11111 11111111
11111 1111 11
11111 1111 111

Couldn't find my code reader (which makes noise and is very helpful) so I did the check engine light scenario. If there are any discrepancies... let me know, I'll be happy to recheck it (this is the result of a 4th try

 

[92exploderxlt]

It may have just killed itself in fear of you not using it anymore with gas prices bein as high as they are, if I was an SUV, that's what I would do.

 

[djur]

Probably heard me talking about getting a volkswagen jetta TDI (they get 50 MPG) and got angry. Unfortunately for it, I get to decide when to stop driving a vehicle, not the vehicle So it's going to get fixed.

 

[djur]

Out of curiousity... When an electric motor burns up, does it put off lots of white smoke? Maybe the fuel pump roasted itself, and that's why there was white smoke everywhere.

 

[djur]

Here's another update.. might have it fixed. I swapped the big black fuse/relay or whatever the heck they are in the power distribution box. I did this already and it didn't fix anything. But today I did a big swap around, and now the vehicle is running (though roughly because I removed the torn hose and am about to get it replaced). Apparently two of those black suckers were bad, not just one... Now my ABS light is on, but the vehicle is idling on its own. Now I'm off to buy new plugs and seriously consider a MAF sensor (I'll flush codes and rerun after all known problems are taken care of to make sure it is still setting a code).

 

[budwich]

that would have been my guess.... fuses especially when you see a large number of codes. hoepfully you are on the way to the solution.

 

[djur]

believe it's MAF.

It was running better because the hose was off of it, it was getting more air to offset the tons of fuel the system was dumping into the cylinders. This time disconnecting the MAF made it run significantly better. I'm going to stick one on there and see what happens.

 

[92exploderxlt]

before you buy an MAF, take yours off and very carefully clean the wires with a cotton swab and some alcohol, and dry it off, unless you've already cleaned it and I missed that

 

[MrShorty]

My analysis:
KOEO 542 and 543 point to something in the fuel pump circuit. In switching play8ing with the relays, you finally ended up with the bad relay in something other than the EEC or fuel pump relay slots. This woke the fuel pump up, which allowed the engine to run (engine wasn't running previously due to a bad fuel pump relay).
Be sure to clear the CM codes, so you're not reading old codes when you get back to it. Also note that it is often easier to diagnose from the KOER test rather than from CM codes.

 

[djur]

The mechanic who looked it over for a minute took it off real quick and cleaned it, how well I don't know as I wasn't watching. He frowned when he took it off because it already looked very clean and he wasn't expecting that. I do have a K&N so it's possible it could be residue. It just doesn't make sense that it would just outright die and do this without warning if it was a build up of something.. I think the sucker just went out.

 

[djur]

So here's the update. A guy from this forum lives in my area and sold me a used MAF for a reasonable price. We stuck it on there and the idle smoothed out considerably. He went fishing, and I put new spark plugs in (guess who had a better time?) After the fouled plugs were replaced the idle smoothed out the rest of the way. Problem solved. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[MazdaGreg]

Great set of Updates, DJUR. Glad you got it Fixed. This thread will now help others when they have this issue. Now, you get to run down and spend all of your money that you have left on gas!