Random bursts of acceleration,"check engine" light, and bad idle!!!!!!

[Simon WIlshire]

I own a '94 eddie bauer explorer its a 4.0 and recently i was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden with no pressure on the gas the car took off. the "check Engine" light was on for about 20 minutes before this. I felt something was wrong so i pulled into a parking lot at the light i felt the car shake rather violently. it sounded a lot different than usuall. also when the speed got to about 15 mph the car started to jerk and the speedometer was jumping. i talked to one of my friends who used to own a '94 explorer and they said they had a random acceleration problem. anyone else had this problem?? and if so what is it and how can it be fixed? you guys really seem to know explorers inside and out its completly stock. with about 59,000 miles on it. any help is greatly appreaciated. Thank you.

Anyone else think this site is the greatest!!!!

 

[Darin]

If I were you, I would purchase a codes scanner. I have an Actron which I paid $30 for. This will pinpoint your problem by giving you the codes the computer has stored. You can get the unit at a local parts store.

Good Luck

Darin

 

[Darin]

If I were you, I would purchase a codes scanner. I have an Actron which I paid $30 for. This will pinpoint your problem by giving you the codes the computer has stored. You can get the unit at a local parts store.

Good Luck

Darin

 

[car 36]

I agree with Darin. Get a scanner. I got mine at Sears for $30. The Haynes service manual outlines a way to jumper the test connector and use either an analog DVM or the "check engine" light to spit out the codes, also. (the check engine light will flash out the codes). I've done both and the $30 for the scanner is well worth it for the ease and convienience.

I'd be willing to be you'll find a code suggesting the "throttle position sensor" has been out of range. (codes 122 - 125). This is a very inexpensive part (auto-zone) and takes 3 minutes to replace.

 

[Explorerdude]

Hey guys,
I had the same problem with my 94 very recently... I had put a KKM filter on it along with Exhaust... I took mine into the dealership and they told me that it was codes 181-189 and told me to replace my MAF sensor. Now with mine the light would come on and stay on for a while then shut off. It would drive perfectly fine but every now and then when I'd push the gas pedal to the floor it would accelorate very violetly and the RPM's would bounce. I checked my trans fluid and had it changed and the problem's still there.

What I think is happening though with mine is that the KKM is so effeicent that it allows too much air in causing my MAF to read higher amounts of oxygen throwing everything off. Now what I don't know is, if I replace my MAF with a bigger one if it would then in therory throw my gas mixture off and make me have to replace more things. Oh yeah and the dealer wanted 260 bucks to replace my old one. I told em I'd take care of it. I found a new one for 170 and it puts out 700 CFM. Do you think that'll make my fuel mixture too lean?? or do you think my throttle body will adjust?? I only have a stock throttle body on it.... Would that effect my emissions that drastically?? Please let me know.

Happy fourwheeling!

Joe Dead Link Removed

 

[oh_good_grief]

I see the thread is a couple years old...

We have a '96 eddie bauer with 64K miles. It just started the random acceleration thing this week. It MAY be tied to hot weather? we just started consistently breaking 90's this week. The two times I've seen it, the engine had been running about 5 minutes. Once we were in a fast-food line, I put the transmission in park, and the RPM's wound up to around 3000. Today, we pulled into a parking lot (in front of an industrial size gas meter, no less), and just before It was going to stop, the engine surged. Luckily I already had my foot on the brake and was able to hold the car back. No idea what is happening. No check engine light. We had the throttle body worked on a few years ago when the engine was dying in cold weather (also a known issue on the explorers).

It's a HUGE safety issue, and all I can find on web searches is that Ford has gotten away with denying it occurs. I don't really want to take this to the dealer so they can make me pay to hide their problem... help?

I plan to report the issue to nhtsa, but I think I'll also try to get some video of the symptom.

 

[Glacier991]

I'd check out the Throttle position sensor (TPS). It could be a root cause. Do a search and you will find a lot of info on it.

 

[shamaal]

Another really stupid possibility is the carpet mat rides up on the accelerator and keeps it depressed; the little spikes in the bottom of the mat holds it tight. This happened several times and would go away when I goosed the accelerator. One time that didn't work and the RPMs wouldn't come down. Boy did I feel stupid after pulling into a parking lot and pulling the plastic engine cover off with a pair of finger nail clippers.

There was never any CEL, just high revs.