How much should this cost? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

How much should this cost?

TexasJenn

Member
Joined
September 25, 2007
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
City, State
Houston, TX
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993
Finally took in my EX and had a diagnostic test ran. They said I needed to replace my mass air flow sensor then run other tests to see if anything else needs to be replaced (other sensors) because they can't tell until after that is replaced if anything else is failing. They also said it needs exhaust work. The estimated price they gave me for the air flow sensor and the exhaust is $362 plus tax. Does this sound about right?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





probably mostly labor. the maf you can do yourself, easy job. the exhaust, find a buddy with a sawzall and a welder.....save the money....
 






That isn't too bad.. a MAS from autozone is $100 + core.. Its not hard to change.. So firgure maybe $150-$200 shop price (part + 1 hr labor min charge).. + exhuast work (not sure what the work is) but it comes out to about $150 or so more which still isn't bad (couple hours labor)..

It really depends on what they are doing on the exhaust side, but the price isn't completly off base.

~Mark
 






Depending on the extent of the exhaust work, that is a very believable number. I would get a better definition from them (in writing) on the extent of the exhaust work that they intend to do for that price so there are no surprises later.

As mentioned, changing the MAF is very easy. You may also get away with just cleaning it. In any event, you need a security torx screwdriver (or bit). Do a quick search on this site, and you will find more info on this.

Hope this helps.

Mike
 






Thanks guys! Geez...I had no idea I could fix that MAF myself....they made it sound like such a huge job. Plus...I figured you needed all kinds of special tools and stuff. Might have to ask my friend if he will roll up his sleeves again and help me out. As for the exhaust. It's been like that for a few years...and unless it's going to cause other problems with my car I'm not too worried about it. It's a '93 and it's not like I'm going to be trying to sneak up on anyone anytime soon LOL. I just want something that works that can get me to where I need to go and back. Right now...it's not going anywhere LOL. Guess I'll grab my trusty Ford Explorer fix it book tonight and look this up. Thanks guys...you're the best!!
 






For that price, the exhaust was probably the muffler and tailpipe. You can do that yourself for about $100. If you know someone with a torch, get them to cut the old system off. Much easier than a hammer and chisel.
 






I've also done this with a grinding wheel. You have to be very careful to only go through the outer pipe...

Mike
 






I don't think the exhaust has anything to do with the muffler/tailpipe. It comes more from under the engine then from the back of the EX if that makes any sense. To me it only sounds louder from the inside then it does from the outside. But again...it's a '93...she ain't a youngin.
 






before you replace the MAS you may try simply cleaning it, it solves 90% of MAS code issues...try a search on here for that

What exhaust work is quoted in that price? new parts? fix a broken hanger? replace the cat converter heat guards?
 






Remove the MAFS and gently spray the sensor with carb cleaner.
If that doesn't work, just grab a MAFS at your local boneyard. Start there.
 






OK fellas....a friend of a friend cleaned it out. It blew smoke at first (it's never done that before) but all seems to be going well. He drove it up and down the street a few times then I took it for a spin around the block. Seemed like it was back to normal. Now if I can just not be paranoid to drive it in fear of being stranded. It's never stranded me before....so why should it now LOL. Thanks for all of your input...you really did help me out a bunch. So glad it didn't come down to $360 that I didn't have. It was actually less than $5 for the cleaner and a new pvc valve or something like that. Lets just hope this simple fix will keep me up and going for a while.
 






I'm sure you'll be a-ok.

Did you watch him do it so you can do it yourself next time?
It's really easy.
You should also clean out the IAC every once in a while.
 






I did watch him but I doubt I could do it on my own. Question....I just went to drive it to the store...and it started doing it again for about a minute...til I got down the street...then it started working fine. Do you think it's because it's still trying to get all the nasty out of it's system? OR....do you think what he did really didn't work? I will know more in the morning when I go to run errands. Just wanted to see what y'all thought.

And what is the IAC?
 






IAC is the Idle Air Control valve. When it needs to be cleaned/replaced, it causes an eratic idle. It may even stick so the idle stays high in the rpm's, like around 2000 or so.

It's cleaned in the same manner as the MAFS
 






The exhaust problem could be a flange. I had that happen, sounded like the exhaust completely fell off the truck. The flange was near the cat, I believe. It was very inexpensive to repair.
 












For those that missed cleaning a MAF.............
Fix for a Missing Engine

Posted by: Jack Lobdell

Many Explorer owners have experienced "bogging" or "missing" or just unsteady performance in their 4.0 engine and have been frustrated by lots of expensive "non-fixes". After riding on a plane next to a manufacturing trainer from a company that builds OEM replacement auto electrical components for places like AutoZone and CarQuest, I tried his tip. He says that Ford have these problems more than other makes and the 4.0 engine seems to be more susceptible to the problem than other Ford engines.

It seems that a "missing" engine culprit is actually the computer's sensor inside the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF). It eventually just gets a little dirty or builds up its own patina in the filament wires. A dirty or slightly patinated filament will send the wrong air reading to the computer, saying it is getting more air than it really is and the computer will tell the EFI to send in the wrong mix of fuel, thus, the bogging. The patina seems to form faster if you live in a damp climate. I don't so here in New Mexico mine went 82K before it developed a small "flat idle spot"…it would run just fine but the idle began to drop every few revs from 700 to 500. No big deal.

If you have had bogging or missing or idle spots, about every 25K miles plan on this quick cleaning job:
When your engine is cool, remove the wiring clip from the side of the black plastic sensor part of the MAF aluminum body. To remove the MAF interior sensor wire, you will need a Security Star (Size T15 or T20) screwdriver or screwdriver bit for a power screwdriver. Remove the two security star-head screws and carefully remove the sensor. You will see the two sensor filaments…they look almost like the filaments on a light bulb. Carefully spray the filaments with an O2 safe carburetor cleaner, such as Gumout. Let it dry thoroughly. I help mine along with a careful blast or two of canned dry air. While it is drying carefully wipe the aluminum mount surface of the MAF body if there is any dust there, but be careful not to get dust in the mount hole. When the sensor is dry, replace the sensor back in the MAF body and secure with the security star-head screws. These don't need to be torqued down, just simply hand tight. Replace the wiring clip. Then start up your engine. You should have solved any bogging or missing problems. My flat idle spot is ancient history.

_______________________________________________________________


Explorer MAF cleaning


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154711&highlight=cleaning+mafs

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154711

______________________

Notes:


Well, to start with, the MAF does not read "barometric pressure," as you've been led to believe. Really, it measures the the mass of air entering the engine based on speed and temperature.
What it does: There's a thin wire in there that gets quite hot, and depending on how rapidly the air entering the motor cools that wire (how much electricity is required to keep the wire at a certain temp.) the computer knows how much air is present in the chamber.
What goes wrong: After all that heating and cooling over and over a film of crud can build up on that wire, meaning it needs cleaning.
Watch out for: These things are made to go bad and be replaced, not cleaned. you'll need to remove the MAF from the tube which houses it. I've read some articles that recommend spraying electronics safe "MAF and Throttle body cleaner" (I use STP), and NOT wiping the wire itself, I've seen others that say the force of the spray can be too much, and that denatured alcohol on a cotton swab is best (just be REALLY careful, and avoid fibers left on the wire itself).
If you've not got anything left to lose, try it, and worse come to worst, you buy a new MAF- a costly, but perhaps necessary measure.
Good luck, and feel free to give me feedback on how helpful this was
~Ken

as an afterthought: I can't say what disconnecting the MAF would tell you, except that if the ECU stopped getting info from it, it would default to a a 'backup' setting. I would disconnect, see if the codes go away, and reconnect immediately- your mileage will be crap w/o the MAF connected, I'm sure.
Also: just found this in the forums (MAF cleaning for the SOHC 4.0L engine): http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65245
Aloha, Mark
 






Thanks guys!:salute: I got the hookup for another MAF ( :D ), but until then I have the "cleaned" version. I will be driving it tonight to see how it's working. It was cleaned on Saturday and after a slow start it seemed to be back to normal. Same thing on Sunday. Should it be an instant fix or will I have to run it a few times before it gets back to normal? Since I haven't really been driving it in a few weeks I don't know if I will remember what normal is LOL. I think I'm a little paranoid now!! Any further advice?
 






Disconnect the negative battery cable for 15 minutes. Everything will now be normal, provided the MAFS was even dirty.
Disconnecting the battery forces the computer to re-learn everything.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Oh snap I never thought of that. I'll have to see if I can get that done this weekend. Thanks!!
 






Back
Top