Out done by a minivan

[shadowfigure]

So i am the owner of a 2000 xls 4.0 OHV. Its my first car, and i had the luxury of watching 100k tick by about 600 miles ago.
I love my truck, it has tons of character. but its slow. I got out-accelerated by yellow school bus.
Once i get to about 2500rpm from a stop, the engine is roaring, but no more power than originally is being applied.
I want to speed up. Iv heard some things about seafoam. Or maybe i just need a big tuneup?
(my mileage is also dismal, 200 miles to the tank.)
Any advice welcome.

 

[dcdyd]

Lots of tuning up you can based on the truck's histroy. I list several below.

- Fuel filter replace
- Fuel pressure check
- Spark plugs and wires
- seafoam
- MAF sensor clean
- Tanny fluid flush
- Coolant flush
...

 

[BubbaFL]

Was this the schoolbus?

 

[2TimingTom]

yeah, 200 miles to the tank is not good. You should probably be getting another 100 miles or so easily.

Check your air filter
Make sure no brakes are dragging (including the parking brake)
Might be time for new fluids all around- engine, diffs, transfer case, transmission
Air pressure in tires is around 35ish.

 

[tgreene92]

the explorer is not a quick suv by any means, but yes it sounds like your performance is well below what it should be defintely give it a full tuneup(plugs, plug wires, air filter, fuel filter, seafoam, MAF and IAC clean, throttle clean, oil change, etc...) 200 miles to a tank is very poor i get about 250 to 280 depending how i drive, and im running 31's with a CAI and exhaust. if your performance continues to suffer after a good tuneup you might be experiencing some real issues versus lack of maintenance.

 

[shadowfigure]

Yeah, im getting it in for a once over to see what could be helped

 

[jlsparky7]

Tons of how to vids in the link in my signature. Please check em out and if you like em subscribe

 

[Big Z]

d) all of the above.......I use engine restore lubricant

 

[alohamonte]

another proud OHV owner...

these engines dont like to rev high, so they have a tendancy to accumlate carbon/varnish faster than our rev happy v6 brethren. i remember reading something in the owners manual about rev'ing it something like 3500 once a week for this reason.

along with the tuneup, a good 100k procedure would be to do a proper carbon cleaning on the intake manifold and varnish in the fuel system/injectors.

 

[Dono]

I just checked mine, and last tank I saw almost 21 mpg (US Gallon). This is combined city/hwy and driving very gingerly.

If your in to the gas petal, its really hard on mileage.

Strange you say there's no power. My ohv does ok when I'm hard on it. Its no sports car, but I have beat friends with v8 trucks. I did have to check the rear view mirror after for parts that might have fallen off though. :

So, the above posts are correct. Somethings holding you back. If I can get 21 mpg with leaky head gaskets (Yup, they both leak now) you should be able to get to an acceptable level of performance.

One thing I learned the hard way, when replacing spark plugs, use anti seize compound on the threads, and di-electric tune up greade on both sides of the plug wire ends. I was going thru plugs like wild fire (engine would start missing after a plug being in for only a couple of months) until I did this. Strange, I know.