My 93 Explorer smells like a dead rat

[Curacao Steve]

In the Spring of 2012, a rat crawled into my Explorer and died. Now, whenever it gets warm here (it does that a lot in the Caribbean), the whole car reeks of dead rat. I looked everywhere for it, but couldn't find it. And, the smell is so pervasive that you can't get a fix on where it's coming from. Just somewhere between the front seats and the tailgate.

Actually, I have another problem that I wanted a lot of eyeballs to review, so I figured I would lead with the dead rat. Last week, I had a dead X. With everybody's help I was able to diagnose the problem (dead fuel pump) and the car lives again, but now it has a new problem. It "idles" really fast. Depending on the exact conditions, anywhere from 1800 to 2700 rpm and it bounces around a little. Wowza! But the longer the engine is on, the more it likes 2700 rpm and stays there.

At first it was throwing codes that indicated a MAF problem or a secondary fuel circuit problem. (Maybe they were left over from the earlier problem) Anyway, those went away and were replaced by a TPS high voltage problem. Checked the TPS voltages and all seemed ok, but the code persisted. Then I rigged a short from ground to the back of the plug on the TPS, but that didn't change anything while the engine was running. Removed the ground, restarted the car and it still "idled" like it was on crack. Checked for codes again and now I get a perfect score: 1 1 1 The thing is, it's still running like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

It surely seems like there may be one or more poor electrical connections involved, but why am I now getting 1 1 1? And what, short of removing two spark plugs, can I do to make it behave right? One probably unrelated piece of information: the voltage from the TPS sensor is 0.8V with the accelerator released. From what I've read, thats a bit low, although nobody said it was bad.

 

[arco777]

TPS voltage should be .95v or so. I believe exact spec is .96-.98. But a low voltage shouldn't make your idle spaz out. Is your throttle plate closed? Check the plate and see if it's closing all the way. I believe there's an idle stop screw that someone could have screwed in.

As for the smell issue. That will be a hard one because smells are made of small particles of the source matter. That stuff will be embedded in your car especially in fabrics. I would suggest removing all interior fabrics and plastics and scrubbing the bare body inside. You may want to replace the headliner and possibly even the carpet. You can get affordable carpet kits on RockAuto. I'm not sure about headliners but check a junkyard if you can't find them online. You might be able to use cleaning solutions and a pressure washer or steam carpet cleaner to salvage the carpet, and maybe you can gently clean the headliner but they tend to be fragile. If you have leather seats, take them apart and wash them as best you can. For cloth seats you can pretty easily remove the fabric and throw it in the washing machine. I have done it several times. The foam inside the seats may need to be swapped out with junkyard foams if you can't make them smell good. It may take removal of the dash and cleaning everything under it to remove the smell, but doing all the other work will help.

 

[Bobmbx]

Did you find the rat?

 

[malohnes]

My thought exactly, where is the dead rat?

 

[Curacao Steve]

Really!!? Seriously guys, did you only read the headline?

On line two I wrote ....I looked everywhere for it, but couldn't find it. And, the smell is so pervasive that you can't get a fix on where it's coming from. ...

I guess that explains why my more serious question about engine idle speed didn't get much response.

ARCO777: The throttle plate is closed all the way with the engine off. I haven't yet removed the ducting to the carb to see what it's doing while running. I didn't have this problem before replacing the fuel pump and it's hard to imagine how that could have caused this problem. The symptoms and lack of error codes are very confusing. Ideas? ANYBODY?

 

[Roadrunner777]

Hi,
Not a lot of time to talk today. Two things come to mind. First, disconnect the battery for 5 minutes to reset the computer. It needs to relearn idle. Second, I'd look into the Idle Control thing on the intake manifold. If it were stuck open, I could see this happening.

Too bad about the rat.

 

[Curacao Steve]

Roadrunner777 strikes again

Roadrunner777: You were right again. When the fuel pump was running weakly, the computer tried to open things up to allow more fuel to pass through. It failed to see that the new pump was (pun alert) passing much more gas and apparently it didn't know how to reprogram the idle setting on its own. I mistakenly thought that by pulling the diagnostic wire bridge out while the ignition was on (which clears all the existing codes) I was somehow also resetting the computer. After disconnecting the battery for some minutes and reconnecting it, the car went through a learning process to reestablish where the correct idle point was.

Thanks Roadrunner!!

Now I'm only left with two problems:
1) rat smell, but with the a/c broken the windows are always open for the breeze and that makes the smell (at least in the front seats) bearable
2) finding qualified yet inexpensive workers to help get my boat finished so I can escape from this (not paradisaical <-- I didn't know it was spelled that way but the computer says it is) tropical island and resume cruising the world

Thanks everybody who contributed.

 

[Roadrunner777]

I meant to follow up with this. Sorry, long week.

http://prontosales.net/index.php/ai...-strength/big-tree-new-car-24-units-pack.html

 

[Curacao Steve]

If it ain't one thing, it's the original thing!

Damn! As soon as I started driving, the previously "corrected" idle speed went back up again. This was after resetting the computer so it could relearn what the correct idle speed was. Anybody have any ideas what's going on? :scratch:

 

[Bobmbx]

Really!!? Seriously guys, did you only read the headline?

On line two I wrote ....I looked everywhere for it, but couldn't find it. And, the smell is so pervasive that you can't get a fix on where it's coming from. ...

Then I think we've solved the smell issue. There's a dead rat in your car. I suggest getting it out.

It could be stuck in your ventilation system under the dash, in a spot where it could fall into, but not get out of. I suspect the windshield defrost lines. In my shed, mice seem to love jumping into a certain bucket, then discover they can't get out. Gets a little ripe in there in the summer sometimes.

 

[Blue91Ex]

when you let it "relearn" idle, did you just let it do than and then not do anything else? i would asume that it only takes a certain amount of time to relearn, and maybe you needed to do a little regular driving as well so it coudl figure out how to do that too?

 

[Roadrunner777]

Are we back to a TPS problem? The challenge in solving your problems is that every part is a massive investment for someone with few funds, on a vehicle you plan to abandon in 6 months. Plus, you are in a seaside environment.

Are you sure the throttle cable is not sticking?

How long did it run with good idle?

What is the current high idle?

There is an octane jumper that bypasses a lot of the system. Have you worked with that yet?

 

[x5050160]

Damn! As soon as I started driving, the previously "corrected" idle speed went back up again. This was after resetting the computer so it could relearn what the correct idle speed was. Anybody have any ideas what's going on? :scratch:

Maybe I missed this but have you cleaned the MAF? Cleaned the IAC? Checked for vacuum leaks and loose lines? What is the pressure on the rail? Really the ONLY thing that will allow the idle speed to go up in more AIR gettin into the intake. If it was just slamming the engine with fuel and no more air was entering into the engine then it would run like it was being choked. You have to have AIR enteringthe intake from some where. Check the gaskets also.

 

[Curacao Steve]

Sometimes a coincidence is NOT a conspiracy

Sometimes a coincidence is NOT a conspiracy.

Apparently, just because I was giving one part of the car some attention (replacing the fuel pump) the rest of it got jealous and decided to throw problems at me. For no particular reason (aside from being filthy and never having been cleaned in 200K+ miles), the carbon build up on the walls inside the IAC cracked loose and fell into the narrow space inside the IAC where the little piston air-controller thingy (yes, that's the technical term) moves back and forth. Of course it jammed there and caused the high idle problem. I had not previously taken the IAC off and there was no reason (like a sledge hammer to the engine) that it should have chosen that moment to break loose, but it did. Now I don't believe the car was actually conspiring against me, but it sure is an un-funny coincidence.

I want to thank everybody on this forum, especially the responders to my problems. Since I am building a boat, I visit a number of boating sites, building, design, sailing, etc. They vary in quality but I have to say this Explorer forum is both professional, helpful and friendly. I just wish more of the boating sites were.

Thanks everybody. Hope I'm done here.

 

[Roadrunner777]

It happens. If you get your boat into lake Bemidji, you owe me a ride... LOL