Rough engine, what's the deal with this?

[explorer2go]

Hi Folks,
Here's the stats: 2000 ford Explorer, 4.0 OHV, Auto, 4WD. New plugs, wires, air cleaner. About a few months ago I had a problem with it starting. After releasing the key, it sputered, then died. Had to hold the foot down to start it. Weird. I then noticed that during start it would have to catch before reaching idle. When I mean catch, what I mean is the engine would have just a momentray shudder, then idle OK. A few months past, then two days ago I was sitting in traffic and it started to run real rough and almost stall. Reaching cruise speed, the truck seems to run smooth. Then when you let off the gas, the RPMs drop and you can feel the truck slow...almost like the trans downshifting but it's not. Ford can't fit me in until 2013 sometime, so off to Pepboys this morning. I had to double pedal the car to get her over there today and foot to the floor to start her. Thing runs worse than my 67 GTO with 3 deuces!! Which surprisingly runs very smooth. Any idea what I might expect the techs to say. Saw previous posts that almost describe what happened to me. Fuel regulator? MAS? O2 sensor?
The check engine light finally came on this morning on the way over there so hopefully that will reveal the problem. Thanks for the help.
Dave

 

[performancenut]

Pull codes? Idle air control valve can malfunction. Any strange sounds? Check fuel pressure?

 

[explorer2go]

No strange sounds. I'll let everyone know what the problem (codes, etc) is when they call me. Just wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts about an expected problem. Hopefully it's something simple.

 

[PPro]

Some cheap and easy ways that could result in a fix before dropping any more money:

Clean the IAC and MAF. Get a good electronic sensor safe spray cleaner and get all the gunk out.

Seafoam the engine. Aldive has a huge post with great info on it. Run it through the IAC tube that comes off your intake hose. Its the hard plastic one right in the middle, cant miss it. Run the engine, pour in the seafoam, cut off the engine. Let it sit for about 15 min, then start it up and go for a drive. You'll get a ton of white smoke that will clear after about 10 minutes of driving.

You're looking at about 10 bucks for the seafoam and electronics cleaner. Even if this doesn't solve your current problem it is always a good thing to do.

 

[explorer2go]

Seafoam? Never head of it. Is that basically a carbon and deposit cleanser? I'll do the search and see what it says. Interesting. I thought the same about the MAF but that was totaly clean. Maybe internal fault? They should be calling shortly here with a diagnosis. Stay tuned.

 

[explorer2go]

well, to all: EGR valve and a leaking intake manifold gasket as well as fowled injectors du to inop EGR. that's according to Pepboys. I am asking for the codes that the computer gave them tomorrow. Get it back around noon tomorrow so I hope it doesn't develope any of the other problems talked about here. Thanks for the help

 

[PPro]

Seafoam? Never head of it. Is that basically a carbon and deposit cleanser? I'll do the search and see what it says. Interesting. I thought the same about the MAF but that was totaly clean. Maybe internal fault? They should be calling shortly here with a diagnosis. Stay tuned.

Heres a link to the best thread on this forum about it (IMO). Do yourself a favor and devote some time to read the WHOLE thread. (Its prob about 10 pages). Then go out and perform the recommended treatment. It works wonders, seriously. Best 5.99 you can spend on your truck IMO.

Edit- Whoops, forgot the link.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120853&highlight=seafoam

 

[IAmTodd]

Sea Foam helps. Its not a miricle liquid. As far as idle, skip cleaning the IAC and buy a new one. Cleaning it is only a cover up and the problem will shortly return.

 

[PPro]

Well of course there's no 'miracle' fix.

But for 6 bucks, it will gain you the best results.