Missing when accelerating & under load

[okk9]

Got a problem. A few days ago I went to pass a guy and my Explorer began missing and jerking as I went around him. I also noticed that when going up hills at highway speed it misses and sputters. Today it did the same thing and when I pulled in the check engine light came on. I ran the test and got a code 14, electronic control assembly has detected an intermittent loss of profile ignition pick-up signal during recent operation. Any ideas? I've checked all the vacume hoses, reset the computer, cleaned the MAF & throtle body. The truck starts and idles fine. It's a 91 4.0 4 speed w/ 145k. I've owned it for 4 years and until now haven't had any problems with it.

 

[fordkrazy]

you have a wireing problem with the ignition system. more than likely its a coroded or frayed wire. start at the coil pack and check the connector for corrosion. if its ok then youve got a very involved diagnosis needed. i had the same code on my old 85 crown vic. what i did was get the wireing diagram and study it good before you start. locate the wires for the coil pac in the diagram use a highlighter and trace those wires to the componets they are connected to. some may go to other sensors and some may go to the computer. after you have done that then locate where the wires terminate on the vehicle based on what you found on the wireing diagram. unhook the battery and get a volt/ohm meter and swich it to test ohms. if you have a continuaty alarm on yours use it so you dont have to look at the display to see if the wire is good. you may need to make some jumpers with some extra wire and some straight pins. just connect the wire from the coil pack to where it terminates and as long as you either get an alarm or a low resistance reading your fine. test each wire and if they are all good then you need to look into the items that the wires connect to. well hope this helps if you have any questions just ask. i know its kind of complicated. good luck

 

[SteveVB]

CPS

PIP signal is generated by the EDIS using input from the crankshaft position sensor (refered to as the CPS or CKP) , I would check the wiring harness and the sensor. Its on the front of the engine at the harmonic balancer at 11 oclock or so. Then the EDIS module.

Good luck

Im mixing my acronyms- What I refered to as the CKP is the VRS sensor at the front of the engine. VRS- variable reluctance sensor.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Could it be something as simple as plug wires?

 

[rmrakt]

Check your #5 plug. If it is wet or cruddy you might have the same problem I had as with others on older model explorers. Very common problem.

Good luck!

-Rick

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=144114#post144114

 

[fordkrazy]

he is getting a code from the computer saying something is wrong. its not really that simple. i looked up the wiring diagram for the 91 and i think that you should check the wires coming from the coil pack to the ignition control modual(ICM) or as its labled on the unit EDIS6 it is located infront of the battery(at least on my 94 it is) if you take off the connector and look on where it plugs in there will be numbers on each hole, the wires that are coming from the coil pack are wires #1, 2, 3. there is also a radio noise capacitor that is mounted on the valve cover below the coil pack that shares a circut with the ICM(wire color is red/lt green). check to see if this connected properly cause if its not it could cause a build up of a charge in the ICM that could cause the intermitant los of PIP. one question is you tach working alright? you should also check the wires going from the ICM to the engine computer. the wires are tan/yellow, grey/orange, yellow/light green, and orange. connector numbers are from the ICM to the engine computer 11 to 4, 12 to 56, 10 to 36, and 5 to 16. these #s are respective to the colors i gave you as well. the ICM could also be getting bad power but i doubt that is what is causing the problem cause it would run bad all the time. if you want to check it its the good ol red and black wires going ito the ICM, the red comes from the EEC power relay and the black is just grounded out somewhere. also in regards to what stevevb said, i agree that part of the PIP comes from the crank position sensor you should check these wires too but the ICM takes that information and along with what the coil pack is doing and sends a new strand of info to the computer. well good luck. by the way im using a chiltons manual that you can get at an auto parts store. ive found that they are way more detailed than the haynes manual. well good luck.

 

[okk9]

sounds like alot of fun

My tach works fine. The truck starts fine, seems to idles fine, you can even take off and accelerate as hard as you want and it doesn't stumple or hesitate. When your crusing at highway speed and then try to accelerate it does the hesitation and will even shutter until you take your foot out of it, like running 60 and accelerating to pass some one, or going over hills on the highway. The plug wires and plugs are 30k old, the fuel filter is only about 5k old, it has a K&N air filter that is fine. The engine light only came on once and went off, and thats the only code that was stored. Please keep giving suggestions because on Friday I'll be able to spend the whole day working on the problem. If the ICM was going bad wouldn't the truck just not start, or run really bad? The ICM went out on my mustang and it just wouldn't start. I just changed the wires on my wifes 95 explorer and kept the old wires, so I'll try swaping them out one at a time and see if that makes a difference. If not I'll check the sensor at the crank, then start tracing wires. Could the coil pack be going bad? I'll keep you guys posted on what I find out.

 

[fordkrazy]

your exactly right the ICM isnt bad....yet. since the code says that its intermitant then you have a wiring problem or as i mentioned that capacitor that is under the coil pack is bad or disconnected somehow causing that extra energy generated by the coil pack to corrupt the data being sent to the computer. my hunch is that its the wireing between the ICM and the computer (EEC unit). another question...did you have any continuous memory codes? well never mind i guess you wouldnt since you reset the computer. what speeds does this start at? well i would arm yourself with a ohm meter and get a friend or make some jumpers and start testing wires. i dont know when ford stopped using fuseable links but if there are any on those wires in question then one may have partialy melted down. that is quite common too. on my old crown vic i got tired of troubleshooting wireing probs all the time and replaced all the fusable links with regular inline fuses and it actually solved some of my problems. well again good luck

 

[fordkrazy]

hey i just noticed you live in shawnee!! thats pretty close to stillwater isnt it? just east of here? well any way good luck and if you are close maybe i could help you out if you need it. i love working on cars....to some that makes me crazy.

 

[okk9]

Eskimo Joe?

Nope, the only code that showed up after running the whole battery of tests was 14. Usually if your going about 50-60 mph and push down on the accelerator is about when it does it. I'm sure I'll have a fun time on friday when I tackle this one. Hey, I did my own RA bushings, so surely I can do this (ha ha). I'm about 50 miles south of you on Hwy 177. I go through Stillwater allot heading to KS and my vet lives there ( I think he's crazy for driving back and forth, but he likes sports, "go pokes"). I do allot of work with dogs and deal with the vet school there. I'll keep you informed as to what I come with.

 

[okk9]

Think I got it.

Well I spent about 6 hours going through the wires on the old Explorer. I did learn where every wire goes for future reference. I couldn't find any shorts, borken wires, or loose connection. I spent the previous night searching posts that might even be remotely close to what I am getting. After looking at the wiring I decided to pull the plugs because I saw a post where a guy said he lost the little tip of of one of his Bosch platinum plugs and it cause it to hessitate under full throttel. Guess what! I had 2 plugs that were missing the little metal tip. Instead of the metal dot on the end of the insulator, there is a little hole instead. I went and got some new plugs and I've only gotten to test drive it once, but it seems to be running much better. I'm a little disapointed in the Bosch platinum plug since I only had about 35k on them. I assumed that they would last a little longer. So my fingers are crossed that this was the problem, I'll know more tomorrow when I get to drive it more. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Netlans]

I have the same dam problem but my plugs are new

I have the same problem but the plugs are new??

 

[fordkrazy]

you might want to make sure that the metal piece isnt still in the cylinder.