gegenator150
New Member
- Joined
- March 3, 2024
- Messages
- 1
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- City, State
- NORTHUMBERLAND, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2012 Ford Explorer Limite
Greetings everyone! My name is Tom. I'm a music teacher in central PA, but working on tractors/cars/trucks is my second passion. I own several Fords, including two restoration projects... a 1982 F150 and a 1965 Fairlane.
About two years ago, my wife and I bought a 2012 Explorer Limited from a very nice older lady who bought it when she was 60. Her husband worked for Ford, and it had all service done by Ford at regular intervals. Couldn't have been happier!
It's been a great vehicle for my wife and I, as we bought this to replace our 2016 Escape since we wanted something larger for our dogs.
About a month ago, the Explorer died on our way home.
A little back story... I've been chasing down the coil pack gremlin since we bought it. It had a slight stumble in the lower RPMs (but no CEL) that went away once I replaced the coil packs (with Dormans). No issues whatsoever for 8 months until right before Christmas. I was on my way home from school and passed someone (and needed to give it some throttle). Once it hit higher RPMS, I instantly felt a power loss and another coil pack go... this time there was a flashing CEL for coil pack D. Of course, it had to one of the packs under the intake manifold. I had read after the fact the these PCMs don't like aftermarket packs, so I bought some Motorcrafts on eBay... which ended up being knock-offs. Shame on me for buying them on eBay. The car still ran fine though until a month ago. On the night the Explorer, it ended up melting coil pack D. It also blew the 15amp fuse for the coil packs. After replacing the fuse, I was able to limp it home (that's when I discovered the melted coil pack).
I sent the PCM out to a company called Upfix, who said the PCM had some bad coil drivers. I had thought this is what would have melted the coil pack. I had also read this was a problem on Explorers. I've had Upfix repair ABS modules in the past, so I took their word. They sent it back, and per their suggestion, replaced all spark plugs and coil packs with genuine Motorcrafts from Rockauto.
I'm now getting P0351- P0356 (primary ignition coil wiring). The car stumbles badly at idle and I'm afraid to drive it anywhere so I don't melt my new (and expensive) coil packs. I actually sent the PCM back to Upfix to verify there weren't any more problems, and they said it checked on their bench test.
Since I blew the coil pack fuse, I'm leaning towards a melted wire somewhere along the harness, but I wanted to pick your brains to see what you thought.
I did check all modules with Forscan, and everything checks out except the P035X codes on the PCM.
I've also inspected the coil pack plugs themselves and don't see any issues. I don't have a noid tester for this vehicle, but unplugging the first three injectors or coil packs while the vehicle is running does cause the idle to change, so I know at least three of the injectors/packs are receiving a signal from the PCM. I would pull the other three, but as you all know... on the 3.5s they're under the intake manifold.
Side note... I'm REALLY good at taking off and putting on the intake manifold at this point.
I can literally have access to the back three plugs in under 3 minutes!
I apologize for the book... but short of calling Ford, I'm not sure what else to do. All fuses and relays check out. I can order a new harness, but at $250 shipped, I'd rather not throw any more money at the problem until I can get a better idea of what to do.
Thank you for reading, especially if you've made it this far!
~Tom
About two years ago, my wife and I bought a 2012 Explorer Limited from a very nice older lady who bought it when she was 60. Her husband worked for Ford, and it had all service done by Ford at regular intervals. Couldn't have been happier!
It's been a great vehicle for my wife and I, as we bought this to replace our 2016 Escape since we wanted something larger for our dogs.
About a month ago, the Explorer died on our way home.
A little back story... I've been chasing down the coil pack gremlin since we bought it. It had a slight stumble in the lower RPMs (but no CEL) that went away once I replaced the coil packs (with Dormans). No issues whatsoever for 8 months until right before Christmas. I was on my way home from school and passed someone (and needed to give it some throttle). Once it hit higher RPMS, I instantly felt a power loss and another coil pack go... this time there was a flashing CEL for coil pack D. Of course, it had to one of the packs under the intake manifold. I had read after the fact the these PCMs don't like aftermarket packs, so I bought some Motorcrafts on eBay... which ended up being knock-offs. Shame on me for buying them on eBay. The car still ran fine though until a month ago. On the night the Explorer, it ended up melting coil pack D. It also blew the 15amp fuse for the coil packs. After replacing the fuse, I was able to limp it home (that's when I discovered the melted coil pack).
I sent the PCM out to a company called Upfix, who said the PCM had some bad coil drivers. I had thought this is what would have melted the coil pack. I had also read this was a problem on Explorers. I've had Upfix repair ABS modules in the past, so I took their word. They sent it back, and per their suggestion, replaced all spark plugs and coil packs with genuine Motorcrafts from Rockauto.
I'm now getting P0351- P0356 (primary ignition coil wiring). The car stumbles badly at idle and I'm afraid to drive it anywhere so I don't melt my new (and expensive) coil packs. I actually sent the PCM back to Upfix to verify there weren't any more problems, and they said it checked on their bench test.
Since I blew the coil pack fuse, I'm leaning towards a melted wire somewhere along the harness, but I wanted to pick your brains to see what you thought.
I did check all modules with Forscan, and everything checks out except the P035X codes on the PCM.
I've also inspected the coil pack plugs themselves and don't see any issues. I don't have a noid tester for this vehicle, but unplugging the first three injectors or coil packs while the vehicle is running does cause the idle to change, so I know at least three of the injectors/packs are receiving a signal from the PCM. I would pull the other three, but as you all know... on the 3.5s they're under the intake manifold.
Side note... I'm REALLY good at taking off and putting on the intake manifold at this point.
I can literally have access to the back three plugs in under 3 minutes!I apologize for the book... but short of calling Ford, I'm not sure what else to do. All fuses and relays check out. I can order a new harness, but at $250 shipped, I'd rather not throw any more money at the problem until I can get a better idea of what to do.
Thank you for reading, especially if you've made it this far!
~Tom
