strange problem, need help

[NintendoKD]

Usmc

Should have mentioned the Marine thing a while ago, yeah...... we just don't get the meaning of the term "give up" The demons in the car are a crafty group indeed, but I am by far craftier, and will overcome adversity on top.

 

[AuroraZero]

This may fix your defrost only problem.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192842

Also may give you some help looking for other leaks that could cause the problems you are having.

 

[NintendoKD]

if it is indeed a vacuum leak for the a/c why would it get louder and more aggresive at higher rpm's? I was under the assumption that because of valve overlap, vacuum is strongest at idle and drops off at redline? I planned to dive into that tomorrow morning, and try to fix my radio problem too. BTW I know thiat this is a little off topic, but who, if anyone can grind me some custom cams for this beast? I also do not have a premier account so I cannot sell the extra PCM that I have from an 98' exploder sport what to do with that?

 

[NintendoKD]

This may fix your defrost only problem.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192842

Also may give you some help looking for other leaks that could cause the problems you are having.

I favorited this as soon as I noticed the problem, but seriously, thanks for the help.

 

[NintendoKD]

One More Thing

Turdle be da man, Jeeze! I see him all over this forum, like flies on $h1t seriouslyyou guys are all awesome, Merry Christmas, and Hapy Holidays

 

[AuroraZero]

Had a similar problem on my 92 f150. Turned out to be the vacuum line much like this one. I could not even tell it was cracked until I removed it and it crumbled. I guess you can never tell what vacuum will cause or how things will act. I do not know enough about the systems on these to tell you the truth.

The only thing I can think of with everything you have replaced, which is a lot of things, is a vacuum leak causing the PCM to think there is more air in the system, so it gives it too much gas. Okay this just came to me what about the IAC? Have you looked at that and cleaned it?

Ebay or Craigslist the other PCM if you can.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84220&highlight=98+IAC

Might be something to look into at least.

 

[NintendoKD]

Had a similar problem on my 92 f150. Turned out to be the vacuum line much like this one. I could not even tell it was cracked until I removed it and it crumbled. I guess you can never tell what vacuum will cause or how things will act. I do not know enough about the systems on these to tell you the truth.

The only thing I can think of with everything you have replaced, which is a lot of things, is a vacuum leak causing the PCM to think there is more air in the system, so it gives it too much gas. Okay this just came to me what about the IAC? Have you looked at that and cleaned it?

Ebay or Craigslist the other PCM if you can.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84220&highlight=98+IAC

Might be something to look into at least.

I cleaned the hel outta that thing, looked brand new, true story, a dealer mechanic I know too a look under the hood and thought it was new Quote: "a new IAC too???! maaan those are exspencive bro and dealer only parts, why didn't you call me?" A: "it isn't new, I just cleaned it really thouroughly" later after removing and inspecting it, "you really sure you just cleaned this thing???! I have seen a lotta these things before and they are usually full of carbon crud, dust, and whathaveyou" A: "DUDE! for the last time I really cleaned it, thats it" Sufficed to say I used the same method to clean all of teh other things on the intake, MAF, IAT, TPS, vacuum flap, IAC, wait, I said that one twice huh."

 

[Dono]

You definitely have an issue on your hands.
What are the odds of calling the old owners and asking them to come clean with you on the issues they had, and what was done? It might help point you in the right direction, and save you a few bucks in re-doing what has been tried already.

Do you think its possible the pcm was swapped out with the wrong one? It still doesn't make sense to me that the issue is always on the same bank though.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have not been able to get the rich condition to move to the other bank, correct?

So, the motor is running rough?
I'm starting to wonder if a plug isn't firing randomly, sending unburnt fuel thru the exhaust. That would cause your cat to glow red, and I would guess rich codes.

Can you do a leak down test of the one bank? Maybe even a burnt exhaust valve is sending unburnt gas thru to the exhaust??

Reason I say this, is that I mixed a couple of plug wires up once, and my cat glowed red from burning off the extra fuel.

I'm throwing stuff out there now. Sorry. Oh man, this would be a great puzzle if it wasn't your daily driver.

I do find it hard to believe its your pcm. I'm in the copier/printer repair biz, and on weird issues, the guys always go for a board. Its very rarely the board. So, the million dollar question.............What is it?

 

[NintendoKD]

You definitely have an issue on your hands.
What are the odds of calling the old owners and asking them to come clean with you on the issues they had, and what was done? It might help point you in the right direction, and save you a few bucks in re-doing what has been tried already.

Do you think its possible the pcm was swapped out with the wrong one? It still doesn't make sense to me that the issue is always on the same bank though.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have not been able to get the rich condition to move to the other bank, correct?

So, the motor is running rough?
I'm starting to wonder if a plug isn't firing randomly, sending unburnt fuel thru the exhaust. That would cause your cat to glow red, and I would guess rich codes.

Can you do a leak down test of the one bank? Maybe even a burnt exhaust valve is sending unburnt gas thru to the exhaust??

Reason I say this, is that I mixed a couple of plug wires up once, and my cat glowed red from burning off the extra fuel.

I'm throwing stuff out there now. Sorry. Oh man, this would be a great puzzle if it wasn't your daily driver.

I do find it hard to believe its your pcm. I'm in the copier/printer repair biz, and on weird issues, the guys always go for a board. Its very rarely the board. So, the million dollar question.............What is it?

next step, compression test, lets see if I have a burnt valve. I'll also take the inductive timing light to it to see what the sparks are doin. HMMMMMM......

 

[AuroraZero]

Here is another question you may or may not know, have they changed the motor in it? If so, is it from the same year?

I wish I was closer to you but I am all the way across America from you lol. Trying to diagnose this online is kind of hard.

 

[99SportX]

Man, this is one heck of a thread. I admire your patience with this one. I don't think I could handle it for as long as you have.

I once helped a friend swap engines in a ford ranger he recently bought with issues since he said it was bad and the 'trusted mechanic' he deals with said he needed a swap due to some valve issue. Well, I didn't question it since it sounded like he was swapping sensors and parts and spent a lot of time to come to the conclusion. I just helped him swap and when we started it up, it ran just as bad as the old engine did, even though it had 100k less miles on it. I asked him if the plug wires were hooked up right. He said he hooked them up the same as on the old engine. He drove it home and it was sputtering and coughing the whole way. Wasn't able to go very fast. I lent him a ford repair cd and convinced him to check the plug wire layout. Sure enough, I think two cylinders were swapped. This was likely the issue since the day he bought it. I have my doubts as to whether the old engine really had a problem, although running with swapped cylinders for an extended time can't be great for the engine.

Sometimes a seemingly major problem can be the result of something relatively simple. I am not saying that is whats going on here since you seem to have covered everything at this point, but is just a thought.

Pending results of a compression test, your issue seems to be electronic/sensor related. I would fix the vac leak(s) sooner than later though. Any issues you know of at this point should be corrected.

 

[NintendoKD]

Man, this is one heck of a thread. I admire your patience with this one. I don't think I could handle it for as long as you have.

I once helped a friend swap engines in a ford ranger he recently bought with issues since he said it was bad and the 'trusted mechanic' he deals with said he needed a swap due to some valve issue. Well, I didn't question it since it sounded like he was swapping sensors and parts and spent a lot of time to come to the conclusion. I just helped him swap and when we started it up, it ran just as bad as the old engine did, even though it had 100k less miles on it. I asked him if the plug wires were hooked up right. He said he hooked them up the same as on the old engine. He drove it home and it was sputtering and coughing the whole way. Wasn't able to go very fast. I lent him a ford repair cd and convinced him to check the plug wire layout. Sure enough, I think two cylinders were swapped. This was likely the issue since the day he bought it. I have my doubts as to whether the old engine really had a problem, although running with swapped cylinders for an extended time can't be great for the engine.

Sometimes a seemingly major problem can be the result of something relatively simple. I am not saying that is whats going on here since you seem to have covered everything at this point, but is just a thought.

Pending results of a compression test, your issue seems to be electronic/sensor related. I would fix the vac leak(s) sooner than later though. Any issues you know of at this point should be corrected.

This was my thought as well, which is why I assumed the PCM, if it is a sensor, why no sensor code? DPFE? or the EGR? maybe? The intermittent power thing leads away from compression issues and leans more torwards an electrical issue, more specifically ground, or a short somewhere in the wire loom "PITA!" I am literally pulling the dash apart right as I type. If there is a vacuum leak beneath, I will find it, and I will kill it. I promise pictures coming soon.

 

[AuroraZero]

Okay check the FPR. Start the truck and pull the vacuum line and make sure it is not squirting fuel. If it is not then clean the MAF. If you can take a reading of the MAF do so and post back what it says please.

 

[NintendoKD]

first check fuel pressure reg. then check maf readings, ok, will do. Also I found a small, and I do mean small vacuum leak there was a pin sized hole in one of the lines that is on the drivers side. I patched that, interesting fact, my sploder idles better with a large vacuum leak, and the throttle position sensor removed. Point in fact, I removed a large vacuum line from the manifold and it ran better with no misfire. It still will not throw a code for a misfire, and is currently not throwing any codes save for the TPS code. I used the vacuum guage and am getting around 15 inches at idle. The inductive timing light shows a consitstent misfire on all cyl, my guess is due to too much fuel. When it runs well, it idles VERY High, and chugs along at 35mph without any gas .

 

[NintendoKD]

ad fpr

Ok, so disconnected fpr and now it still runs, even runs the same. Problem, I have one of the stupid FPR's that cannot be replaced. It is part of the braided fuel line that runs all the way to the underbody connection. I don't want to gamble on a junkyard maybe, so now what?, get a different fuel rail setup with a replaceable FPR? or can I do an inline deal. It is crunchtime, and I need it smogged today, so I can register it otherwise I'm out a car till mon, at least. DMV isn't open on sat and niether is the smog place.

 

[AuroraZero]

No fuel out of the FPR? Did you run the MAF test and clean it?

 

[NintendoKD]

No fuel leaking out of fpr. I have cleaned the maf, twice, with maf cleaner, but I am not sure how to test. Can't tell you how much I would love it if the maf was the problem. I pulled the dipstick, to see if there was any oil missing, and level is the same, however, the oil is very dark for how many miles is on it, less than 500 since last change. I ran a flush in it before the change, I wonder if this is just leftovers from previous abuse? How to test the maf? Multimeter?

 

[AuroraZero]

Usually have to have a code reader with live data for it. If the pulling the line off the fpr did not change the way the motor ran it could be stuck open I guess. Which would just dump fuel and regulate it of course. Do you have a pressure tester? I don't want you to replace it and have it not be the problem.

 

[NintendoKD]

bout to run to the shop to pressure test it. pm me your no? I also don't want to replace good parts, however, it may be more complicated than it seems, since this is an intermitent issue. Every diagnosticians nightmare.

 

[AuroraZero]

I pmed you my number man. It is like 8:30 here now. If you don't get a hold of tonight call me tomorrow. When you pull the line off the fpr put your thumb over it and see if you have vacuum. That occurred me to me also. You might be losing vacuum which is causing the fpr not to work.

I don't think it is your MAF in all honesty. When you pulled the line to FPR it should have had some effect on the truck. Since it did not it leads me to believe it is either stuck wide open or you have no vacuum to it.