Made the same mistake

[deamon3]

mistake being buying another explorer. lol

Ok so get this. I test drove an explorer last week , a 97. Drove great had plenty of power ran nice. Drove it home an hour and a half and parked in my driveway. Today i put the plates on it , went to start it, and it didn't turn over. Tried again and it started but wouldn't idle , had to keep my foot hard on the gas.

Eventually after pushing the gas enough it slowly started to idle on it's own. But now it sounds like it's running on SOME of the cylinders and idles real low.

I can't believe it only took one week , just one week and it's already dying. This is 100% my fault for having faith. lol

So anyway , where should I start , I'm guessing spark plugs. Course that right in the haynes manual for fixing explorers , "guessing".

 

[Thuggsy]

'97s only run for a week at a time. then itll be down for a month. rinse and repeat.

 

[colintrax]

^that's not true. Got my explorer 70,000 miles and 4 years ago. Still runs just as good as the day my mom bought it, and it's never left me stranded. Even when I hit a ditch at 60 mph, hell the truck tractored out of the snow filled ditch with bald highway terrains. Or when I overheated the trans in Tennessee/North Carolina. About an hour driving on twists pretending I have a mustang. Then hit the hilly highway. Smoked like hell but it still shifted through every gear and got me home.
I even sucked water up the intake, **** still ran. Needed a good intake cleaning and a new air filter but it survived, and didn't stall out!

I love my truck, it has bad days and it'll throw fits but thats just character. I can deal with a moody transmission so long as it gets me to work and school.

 

[Thuggsy]

when they run they run.

when you buy them old and used... prepare for a complete and extended tune-up.

his current problem could be many things.
id start by looking for obvious vacuum leaks, then checking the TPS and IAC.

check for codes too obviously.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

This is why when you buy a truck, you bring a scan tool, or bring it to somebody who has one, they can check for any stored trouble codes, and even the last time they where cleared. It scares the hell out of the dealership too. I am looking to get my mother to trade in her turd Grand Cherokee for a 98-01 Explorer, When I got to look at one I am checking the codes for sure. maybe it will lower the price as well.

 

[deamon3]

id start by looking for obvious vacuum leaks, then checking the TPS and IAC.

Where are the vacum leaks and what is the tps and iac. I should have stated I dont know much about engines. I can change spark plugs but thats about it.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Where are the vacum leaks and what is the tps and iac. I should have stated I dont know much about engines. I can change spark plugs but thats about it.

Vacuum Lines, are rubber lines, that simply move air around, to balance the air pressure, if any are cracked, have fallen off, or are disconnected, then the truck could run poorly. TPS=Throttle Position Sensor, and IAC=Idle Air Control Sensor. do a search on the forum here, there are thread all about checking those.

 

[deamon3]

Anything else I should check for? I'm gonna make an autozone/napa trip tomorrow so what should I get?

Would changing the spark plugs help at all?

 

[swshawaii]

As mentioned, check for trouble codes BEFORE buying and changing parts.

 

[deamon3]

Let me also explain a little better what it does.

From cold , it starts , idles real high for a second at 2k , then tries to dip down to normal speed and stalls at like 300rpm.

it will do this unless i hold my foot down and keep it idleing high until it warms up. once warm it idles rough at like 600rpm.

 

[Thuggsy]

Let me also explain a little better what it does.

From cold , it starts , idles real high for a second at 2k , then tries to dip down to normal speed and stalls at like 300rpm.

it will do this unless i hold my foot down and keep it idleing high until it warms up. once warm it idles rough at like 600rpm.

have Autozone scan for codes while youre there.
my previous suggestions still stand.
prepare to become a mechanic
buy the Haynes repair guide from Autozone.

good luck

 

[deamon3]

Ok so it's a code 0300. which apparently means random misfire. It listed possible fixes as a fuel filter and spark plugs , so I'm going to try those first and see if it does anything.

 

[buzz]

Pull plugs, check condition. Do compression test before dumping money into it. Check hot oil pressure also.

 

[crazymind]

Is it a sohc engine or an ohv one?

 

[deamon3]

Ok I changed the spark plugs and now it runs wayyyy better. Course I wont know for sure until I do a really cold start with it in the morning. But right now it's running great.

It's the sohc.

I honestly didn't realize the second gen had two different v6's.

 

[crazymind]

the problem you are saying when it starts cold and you have to keep your foot in it to keep it running. Mine did that too replaced the intake gaskets and now two years later still runs like a champ. Just have another issue to fix with the fuel pump.

 

[deamon3]

I reset the check engine light and drove around town doing stuff for like 30 mins and it eventually came back on.

 

[koda2000]

so when you say you made the same mistake, are you saying you owned a SOHC in the past and purchased a second one? now that is a mistake...

 

[deamon3]

well now that I found out it's was only a spark plugs I'm not so worried about it being a mistake anymore , but I still need to figure out why the CEL came back on. I'm thinking my new spark plug will just become dirty real soon again because of some other unforseen problem.

 

[FIND]

The OHV is the same one as you get in the first gens. That is the good/reliable one. The SOHC has much more power though.

Sounds like you need to change your fuel filter by the way, though, you might have other issues too.

Also, why didn't you try and find a V8 instead? The only way I was willing to get something other than a 1st gen to replace my old one was if I got a V8 second gen... and still I kind of miss my 1st gen. Oh well, good luck. We'll try and help you get her going good. You already know that if anything, we are full of answers on here, even if we do ***** at you a bit when you make fun of the first gens.