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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
I do agree about "demon truck". My explorer like's to sit in one spot just fine. And even likes to start and run in one spot. But when it comes to driving it it feels like it just doesn't want to. lol . Like it hates actually having to move.
If you let the trans run dry, you may have damaged it. Torque convertors are very important in the transfer of power to the driveline. Not only does it act as the clutch, but it also multiplies the torque going through to the driveline. If it has swelled at all or if the vanes have deformed then you can get the bogging down feeling you describe, or the motor can rev and rev with poor transfer of power to the trans. With that many miles and not knowing what has been done to it in the past, i'd say that trans has had a rough life. I would be easy on it and start saving for a complete trans overhaul.
BTW, Heat is a transmissions worst enemy, do anything you can to keep it cool.
I blew the fluid out of mine once. It took 6 qts to refill it (drove till it stopped moving) out of a capacity of around 13 qts, so I think that enough remained to keep it lubed without doing much damage. 1000 miles later that trans is still working just fine. Not something I'd do again but I think it can happen without catastrophic failure.
Seafoam is often not recommended for older engines because it blows all the crud out, and sometimes that crud is keeping places in the motor from leaking and also is cushioning old parts. I wouldn't do it if you have over 100K miles on a motor but it's a matter of opinion.
Band adjustment is hard to screw up. If you lose track of where the stud is at, just torque it in again and start backing out again. The torque point will not change so you can't lose it. The only way you can screw up if you follow the directions is if you accidentally set your torque wrench for a very high value and proceed to reef on the studs.
Is there anywhere I can take my car where they don't charge so much to fix it? I checked and it seems it's going to cost possibly several thousand to fix all the little problems with it and that's just nuts considering the whole car didn't even cost that. maybe theres like a school or something that'll fix it for free or something?
Just fix it yourself - you'll save lots of money, feel more confident in your car, and be able to use the skills on other cars in future.
"Tune up" is a pretty generic term. Most shops I have seen advertising a $30-60 tune up service actually just drop a $3 bottle of injector cleaner in the gas tank and call it done. Transmission tune-up is sometimes a bottle of Slick 50 or similar transmission additive... Point being, for both your engine and transmission, the causes of problems are generally not a whole bunch of things, just one or two bad parts or necessary adjustments. These are really cheap and easy cars to maintain.
Brakes and bearings can be done at the same time and aren't hard to do. I would never trust any shop with service that includes removing or installing my wheels/lug nuts, because most of the time they either use an impact wrench and damage the stud or they go too loose with obvious results.
The fuel regulator is a little more involved process but it's do-able. Look up the howto on these forums (there are how-tos for everything) and it shouldn't be too bad a job.
If you want to pay to have the work done expect to pay a lot and you will be left guessing whether it's done right or not. If you do the work yourself and use the collective experience of your fellow Explorer owners for tried and true fixes, you'll have better results and more cash in pocket. Besides, chicks dig guys who can fix cars (and know how to use their tools ).
The reason I probably shouldn't do my own engine work is because last time I got confident to change my own spark plugs , I broke a spark plug off and the tip of it fell into the cylinder head thus rendering my first pickup truck use less.
I then attempted to change my own rusty quarter panel on my second car , a jimmy. I ended up breaking the hood latch handle and breaking almost every bolt that held the panel on. I ended up reattaching the old panel with maybe only 4 bolts and used a bungee cord to hold the hood down.
It sucks that I can fix pretty much any computer problem , build and upgrade computers. But the moment I touch a car it breaks lol.
Seafoam is often not recommended for older engines because it blows all the crud out, and sometimes that crud is keeping places in the motor from leaking and also is cushioning old parts. I wouldn't do it if you have over 100K miles on a motor but it's a matter of opinion.
I've never heard of that I used it in my 95 explorer that had 200k miles on it and made it run better afterwards but again its all in opinion, there are several people on here that have used seafoam in their trucks. Also make sure the tire pressure in your tires are acurate, Make sure your MAF is clean that can be done with electronics contact cleaner (theres a thread on here on how to remove and clean it) think about switching to a K&n air filter if you haven't already.
I was going to mention teh Accelerator cable adjustment but you did it already and at 14 MPG... you got something going on there other then just tune up issues.
I'm wondering what the burn looks like on the Spark Plugs, I bet you have a crappy shooting injector or two.
The reason I probably shouldn't do my own engine work is because last time I got confident to change my own spark plugs , I broke a spark plug off and the tip of it fell into the cylinder head thus rendering my first pickup truck use less.
I then attempted to change my own rusty quarter panel on my second car , a jimmy. I ended up breaking the hood latch handle and breaking almost every bolt that held the panel on. I ended up reattaching the old panel with maybe only 4 bolts and used a bungee cord to hold the hood down.
It sucks that I can fix pretty much any computer problem , build and upgrade computers. But the moment I touch a car it breaks lol.
Repairs go bad - it happens. You just gotta push through it. When I replaced my transmission modulator on the Explorer I lost the pin for it and had no working car to drive to the store. I panicked for a few minutes, then got on these forums, searched "lost modulator pin" and bingo I had dimensions of the pin from others who had lost the same part. I cut a drill bit down to size and it has worked great ever since
I used to get pissed off when a repair went south. I bought a nice 1990 F-150 with a lift, alloys, V8, etc, for $1000 from a friend. I did an oil change and new performance spark plugs and wires, then when I tried to start it there were some nasty crunching noises and a clunk... no start. Sounded like I dropped a metal chunk in the engine when changing plugs. Pissed off, I sold it to a guy for $500, he installed a $50 starter in 10 minutes and drove it away. I am still kicking myself.
arco777 is right. Besides, that stuff is part of the fun of working on your own vehicle. It does suck though when its your only means of transport.
I would only do what you are comfortably capable of doing, just remember everything takes practice and experience. If you got the time and another ride, then roll up your sleeves and get dirty!
I have some time but zero budget and it is my only car.... Like whenever I have to do body work I have to set aside a day to stay home to let the paint dry , lol.
you might have a dead cylinder, try pulling spark wires while it runs, if it changes idle the cylinder is fine, if it doesnt change idle that cylinder is dead. after that you need to determine why. try switching the injector to a different cylinder and then try the spark wire thing again. if it changes the injector is dead.
The more I think about it, the more I don't think there is a real issue here, or we just don't have enough information.
If the gear ratio is a 3.27 (I've even "heard" of 3.08s being available) with oversized tires that X is going to be slow. An X with 3.27 and 235x75r15's tires is already pretty slow compared to other vehicles. Once your up to speed, and you stomp on the gas, unless you (or the transmission) downshift too, its not going to push you in the seat any, and with the downshift it is only going to do it so much.
There are quite a few good suggestions above to help you get your power back if you are missing some, but you may be chasing something that doesn't exist (acceleration/power feel) without spending some money. I just don't want you to think they doing stuff to tune up the motor etc is going to give you the power you feel from lighter vehicles with different ratios/tire sizes if its not.
im running 3:73 with a 5 speed and 235/75r15's and my truck rips, i can pull 20 foot burnouts in it. so even if he is running 3:27's there is no reason his trcuk has less pull then a honda... my friend runs 3:27s and yes, his truck has a bit less power then mine from the line, but it still can roast tires.
Thats apples to oranges.. 3.73 with stock tires is a good ratio to have for acceleration and the 5 speed also helps.. With a 5 speed you can get the rpms into the power first or dump the clutch.. can't do that with the auto trans.
This is just one of those things that may or may not be an issue, its all personal preference and experience.. Our X with 3.27 and stock tires as far as I can remember (been a while since we had that combo) is way slower than our little 1.6L motor Honda Hx which weights much less than the X ever did.
I think they are 31 or 32 inches. The thing is though my explorer was still a slow poke when I had the old tires.
I looked through that band adjustment thread and it really looks like something I would mess up , I really can't be taking my engine apart since I have no idea what I'm doing , I think I would break something and not be able to get it back together lol.
My transmission also leaked all of it's fluid out this year a few times when it got hot and I replaced it maybe twice so I think I'm good on transmission fluid. It doesn't leak when it's cold now.
As for sea foam one of my co workers told me it burns up the inside of the engine and can wreck it, which didn't sound very good to me! lol.
people have different opinions about sea-foam but my experience is it works great when used according to the directions. I've done it a few times to my 96 explorer which has the first generation engine in it (160hp push rod engine) and it only helps it.
I've done it to many different vehicles and each time i've done it i see improvements..
Not saying that it will fix your problems but when there are several different issues with one engine, they all add up to a noticeable decrease in power.
If the gear ratio is a 3.27 (I've even "heard" of 3.08s being available) with oversized tires that X is going to be slow. An X with 3.27 and 235x75r15's tires is already pretty slow compared to other vehicles.~Mark
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