Mystery misfire

[Damo]

Hi there

Great forum - nice to hear some enthusiasm about the Explorer - it's had a lot of bad press. I'm hoping it's not justified, but I have had a bad experience lately, and I would be grateful for some advice before I go ahead and spend a lot of money...

I recently had my tyres changed, and almost immediately experienced shuddering between about 35 and 50 km/h. I assumed it was a wheel alignment / balancing problem, but my mechanic test drove it and said it was definately the engine. He couldn't find a problem. It has since been with Ford once, who said they had reset something (GEM) and it was now OK, but the problem has come back (less than a week later). They now say it it the computer which they will need to replace $$$$$. I am suspicious. Here's the thing:

The engine does seem to be misfiring. Strangely this has conincided with a crackingling over the radio at the frequency of the engine (changes tone when I change gear) I'm convinced it's an electrical problem but I would be very grateful if anyone who may have had similar experiences could give me some advice.

Thanks

Damo

 

[00sport4x4]

I had a 90 f150 and felt a misfire from 35mph to 45mph with radio interferance,,,Turned out to be a bad spark plug wire,,, hope that helps ya.

 

[Damo]

Thanks

I've recently had the HT leads replaced - but I'll certainly check that, thanks.

 

[EBInterceptor]

Have you thrown any codes? My friends Sport has misfires in cylinders 1-3. Was time to change out all the plugs, and he was back in business within a couple hours.

 

[Damo]

Thrown codes? Sorry, mate, I only speak 'stralian, and I'm not even very good at that! My "usual" mechanic changed the leads and the plugs in an effort to fix the thing, but that didn't work. Just don't reckon it's the computer, though. The Ford dealer recently did something with the GEM (which I have only just learnt is the General Electronic Module) and I suspect that that is why I now get the interference on the radio.

Thanks for your suggestions - keep 'em coming. Great website - can't get over how many people are out there.

Cheers

Damo

 

[EBInterceptor]

I mean threw a check engine light, then you can pull your codes. You'll know when you've thrown a check engine light because it'll be lit up on your dash and say "Check engine" then you have someone with a code scanner check what the problem is. Interference can be caused by your spark plug wires I believe.

 

[Damo]

Thanks for that, Mike - I'll have it all looked at. No check engine light coming on, though.