Popping sound around exhaust?? also loss of Acceleration around 50mph

[bullinerfamily]

Hi, i have a 92 ford explorer and appx 6 months ago the engine went out and i bought a brand new crate engine and had it installed. Ever since that day i have had numerous problems. I had electrical surges,batteries die,altenator wasnt connected properly had constant sparks,Transmission is now going on the truck. Also before finding out the engine was the problem of my breakdown ,firestone told me it was my fuel pump ,so i paid them 600.00 to put a new one in,which didnt help because the crankshaft in the old engine split in two.

Let me get to the current issues i am having trouble with. i was driving the truck the other day and all of a sudden i had loss of acceleration and it would ride real heavy. had a really hard time getting over 50mph, then right after that i now have a popping sound coming from what seems to be around the exhaust system. This popping sound mainly is when i am coming to an idle no matter what gear it is in, it is about 1 pop every second, and what i mean by pop is like a miniature backfire as it is not loud like a backfire.once i accelerate it almost stops completely, i can still seldomly hear it as i am driving but that also could be because of road noise??? not sure.Also the last month or two have had a really bad gas smell,but no leaks

Here is a list of things i have done to try and resolve the issue :

1- i first started by cleaning my MAF - didnt help

2- i put in new spark plugs and wires - one of the plugs was totally burnt up/helped a little now have a steady idle

3- Changed the O2 Sensor - when i removed the old one found out when the engine installation company put back in the engine they left the wire hanging on the exhaust pipe which melted it/ Also it seems like the gas smell is gone now

still have the popping sound and poor acceleration and kind of a chugging when i try and drive. can someone please help me

right now i am not financially able to take it somewhere to have all kinds of tests run to find out whats wrong. Also i dont have any of the electrical equipment i hear about within this forum.

I will leave you with my last thoughts and ple for someone to try and help me as this is my family's only car ,i have a wife and 2 kids and desperately need this problem fixed before the whole thig dies completely.

I am thinking it could possibly have something to do with the fuel injectors or possibly the FPR?? im not sure if they replace the FPR when they change the fuel pump?

 

[9XLT3Explorer]

Hey i dont know how much help i can be of.I had the same problem not to long ago.When i took it to get a test done they ran the codes and said it was a missfire on the #6 plug.Seeing how you just replaced yours might not be the problem.Before i found this out i was going to replace the FPR also.

But i did a quick tune up and it fixed the problem instantly.Like i said not to helpful here.I understand about it being the only car you have and having a family and needing to get around.Goodluck on this and i hope you get it fixed.

-Mike

 

[Critter92X]

OK,I just woke up and haven't had my coffee yet but it sounds like a misfire,maybe a burnt valve.I just noticed this is your first post.Welcome to the site.I'm sure you'll get some helpful feedback on here when everyone gets on here.I'm off for the coffee pot

 

[bullinerfamily]

Problem Solved !!!!

Let me just start by saying thank you to everyone for helping. I got very lucky today, i searched online in superpages for a local mechanic and found only 1 mechanic that had a user review which was excellent. so i called him and took my explorer down to his shop, after talking with him for about an hour or so about everything that has been going on, we went out and looked under the hood. within 5 min he figured out the problem, would not suggest doing this yourself though. he took a screwdriver and inserted it into the spark plug wires coming off the coil pack and noticed one of them had very little spark. He told me i needed a new coil pack and asked me if i wanted him to do the work or if i wanted to do it myself. he then went on to actually tell me it is very simple and i would save alot of money doing it myself. so without a fight i agreed. all he asked for was 10.00 !!!! WOW 10.00 for over an hour of his time and finding the problem. i went to my local auto parts store and bought the coil pack and 4 screws later and an electrical connection My explorer doesnt pop anymore has more power than i have ever experienced with this truck and get this The transmission works perfectly. this whole time i thought the trannie was bad but the coil pack had screwed up the whole truck.

for anyone her locally in the Tampa,Fl area :

Thunder & Lightning Automotive
Bill Hand ASE Certified Master Auto Technician
3320 Bay to Bay Blvd
Tampa,Fl 33629
813-839-8877