Head Gaskets Replaced..........Engine runs like crap!!!!!

[zborntoride]

I have a 1992 Ford Explorer 4.0. So about a month ago.....I was experiencing some problems with coolant leaking and that, and to make a really long story short, it turns out that my head gasket on the drivers side had blown. The thing is that the vehicle ran great........and the family friend who has been working on it was even surprised at how good it ran.

Skipping ahead a few weeks.........I came down to pick up the vehicle from our friend and everything was going back in great......engine went back in okay and everything, all the connectors seem to be in place as well as all of the vacuum lines.......to make another real long story short, we started it up and the engine sounded like it was running on about three cylinders. We arent sure exactly what is wrong with it.......it sounds like it might be a timing issue. We ran codes and it came up with nothing. I mean it was running fine before and now its not......what would cause it to do that??? Is there any way to adjust the timing at all....or is there anything else we should look at?

I would appreciate any ideas....thanks guys!!!!

 

[Tbars4]

...I would again check the codes...Either something is disconnected/broke, you are sucking air somewhere (find with water bottle), or you have a vacuum leak...

...These items will give you a good place to start your search...Make sure your SPOUT connector is in place too...

 

[zborntoride]

Hey thanks for the reply.....yeah we checked the codes several times actually. It only came up with 411......becuase it is running rough (DUH) and some other one saying that it was too rich of a mixture. Well of course I would get those two because the thing is running like a peice of crap!

As for vacuum leaks.....we sprayed the lines down and found nothing as far as we could tell. We also thought that it might be spark plugs.....so we replaced those. Then we went to the fuel injectors.....but they seem do be fine too. Thats why we turned to a timing issue. So I just dont know what else it could be. we have been out there since this morning trying to figure it out......we just dont know. And yes the SPOUT is in place.

 

[Tbars4]

...Read the codes again and bring them here...

...I would also test around the upper and lower intake manifolds and pcv...

 

[TedJ]

You did make sure the plug wires aren't in the wrong order right?

Air intake tubing and the breather hose on good? See if running it with the MAF unplugged makes things better or worse.

Fuel injectors / wiring plugged in right (idk if it's even possible to swap the connectors around)

Did you have any "spare parts" left over? :

 

[zborntoride]

Yeah we made sure that the plug wires were in the right order.......even had a few other guys look at it to make sure that we werent just seeing things. All of the intake tubing is good (that was a problem before which i had fixed before the head gasket.....and they still look good), breather hose is in good condition too.....And our friend didnt even take the fuel injectors completely out......he just sprayed the actuall "injector parts" when he had the whole top off as a unit. It looked like everything was hooked up right there too. And as for spare parts......there were none.....all the parts are back in the engine....


I think the next step will just be to push the damn thing off a cliff!

 

[zborntoride]

411........157.........173 were the only codes that we got. Sometimes they all showed up.....sometimes none of them showed up. Dont know if this will help at all.

 

[Tbars4]

...Here is where I would start...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1934497&postcount=2

157 MAF sensor circuit open.
173 HEGO sensor circuit indicates rich. (Rear Side).
411 Cannot control RPM during KOER low RPM check.

 

[zborntoride]

Well the code of 157 for the MAF is about the only one that might make some sense.......because if those do go out you can have lots o' problems.......i find it odd that it failed just after we got the engine all back together.......i mean i had no problems before it got ripped apart. The other two of course come up because the thing is running like crap so of course it cant control low idle.......and its running rich becuase its running like crap. I get those two codes about ever time i have some sort of emissions problem. What I want to know is WHY the damn thing is running rough.....I dont need something telling me that it is running rough.....I ALREADY KNOW THAT. I can sit there and watch the engine fluctuate from 450 RPM to 900 RPM....and sometimnes worse than that.

So tomorrow yes I will check the MAF sensor......just to be sure......it might be something as simple as that. If you got any more ideas let me know. Thanks

 

[Tbars4]

...In my previous post, there is a link...Click it and read...

..The circuit being open generally means it is unplugged or the wires/sensor are bad...That should answer all your questions...

 

[Joe Dirt]

i find it odd that it failed just after we got the engine all back together.......i mean i had no problems before it got ripped apart

I've had parts break or go bad at the most odd times. Wire could be popped inside the insulator as a result of removal. Put the MAF down hard and something jarred it internally... anything is possible...

Check your BAP sensor as well- I had fits ocaused by one of those on one of my Mustangs...
Like this one:

As my buddy says "parts gotta break sometime..."

Hell- that pic is from a cool page. Check it out: http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Ford-5L-EFI-Installation.htm

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

Check your two electrical connections that are under the air tube, right next to the alternator. THat is where your MAF wires (among Others) will actually 'connect' with the body wire harness, and thus to the computer. There is a bracket that mounts to the two lower alt. bolts, and and that is where your two connector are. Make sure those are connected snuggly and not filled with grease or some other material that shouldn't be there. Also, I don't know the electrical off the top of my head, but do some searching and find the diagram for your MAF and start testing the 4 pins in the connector. Hope this helps!

 

[ExploringNC]

I know you said you checked the plug wire order but the right is a different order than the left. I had the same problem after replacing head gasket and went round and round like you are until I started pulling plug wires while it was running, double check the order with the manual.

 

[mikey67156]

Have you made any headway? I'm in precisely the same boat. I'm only getting a 173 code with KOER though. KOEO shows 111's across the board,but i had the battery disconnected, so of course it hosed me. Checked voltage/ohms on IAC, TPS, IAT sens. MAF (not the harness yet though, and checked vacuum lines. I am baffled!
'
Thanks for your help,

 

[rjfabian]

rough running

While I didn't replace the head gasket, though I really need to, had exactly same problem on my '91. turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator. Won't believe what I went through to find it out. Good luck!

 

[grandpaford]

how did you know it was the head gasket?

My 93 explorer is currently on the skids. It overheated driving home from work one day, died at the traffic light. I added water to the radiator and it started back up. I made it home slowly. It sat in the driveway for a week and then I started it again, and water from the radiator overflowed out of the...well, overflow component.

I brought a mechanic by on the referral of a coworker. (The mechanic is his buddy).

I was hoping it might be a stuck thermosat. I cranked the engine then he told me to turn it off immediatly, that my heads are blown. I asked how he could tell right away, and he said something about the pistons are pushing the coolant back out of the engine as a result of blown heads, that's why it was coming back out the overflow and radiator. He didn't hook up a code reader; which makes me think I might be being taken on the proverbial ride.
He said he would need to rebuild the engine and replace the heads.

Any thoughts?