Undiagnosed Engine Bogging '02 XLT

[Nightkil13r]

I Have a 2002 Explorer XLT with the 4.0 SOHC, this previous weekend i had a friend of mine drive it out to me from Davenport Iowa to Jacksonville NC, it had just come out of the shop friday from a transmission rebuild and had one of the Bank 1 o2 sensors replaced.

The only problem on the trip was the mountains in VA, it would not accelerate going up them.

When i got it out here i drove to Raleigh and back and only had the problems with accelerating, when i got back into Jacksonville i stopped and got out at an Auto Zone and heard a hissing, well after about 20 min i found a crack on top of my intake manifold. That was fixed yesterday(tues).

This morning i drove to work and everything was good, i had no problems what-so-ever. About 30 min Later i left to go to a class, i got about 4-5 blocks away from work, and had to slow down for traffic, when i pushed the accellerator i got very little, My engine had bogged down so bad that it wouldn't over 1800 RPM at first, it got to the point where i couldnt do over 8 MPH, i had to pull off the road and park it in my Barracks Parking lot(luckly was a half block away from me). From when the problem started to where i parked it, my engine died about 4 times while i had to stop for traffic, but would start right back up. Idling was very rough.

At lunch today i pulled to codes with my friends code reader. I got P0300 and P0304, Random/Misc cylinder misfire and Cylinder 4 misfire, respectively. I started it up to see how it would run, and it was like nothing was wrong, but after about 3 min it was up to running temp, which was faster than ive ever seen it happen before, and was expirencing the same problems as this morning. It sputters at idle and when i push the gas, it wont get over 2000 RPM. I cleaned the MAF with no results.

My recent maintenance for it is; Oil Change including filter 1500 miles ago: Transmission rebuild 1500 miles ago: Spark Plugs Changed 4000 miles ago(i checked them again today): Air Filter about 2000 Miles ago. If i missed something i will post it later.

Also today i noticed a rattle coming from around the back of my front drive tire just beyond my engine compartment down low, it only happens as my engine revs, i cant hear it at idle.


If someone has any idea of what might be wrong i would very much appreciate that, for the moment i dont have much money(i can thank the gov't for that one, small paychecks)but would like to at least know whats wrong.

LCpl Murphy

 

[jlsparky7]

In the mountains it is normal for most vehicles to run poorly. The higher you get the less dense the air is so your engine doesn't run as well.

Few questions.
Hows the oil level/pressure?
Air filter clean?
Mileage?
Last time plug wires were replaced?

 

[nitro71]

The codes are telling you something I would think.. Clear em first off. Check your plug wires are going to the correct spark plug. I'd make sure all your plug wires are seated. Maybe it's a time issue also. I'm not sure how to check that..

 

[Nightkil13r]

Plugs and Wires are all good, they are all brand new with less than 3000 miles on them. I just got off the phone with a mechanic from back home in Iowa that has been doing the maintenance for the past 4 years and has been a good family friend, from every thing i described to him(same as on here) he thinks its a bad Cat. Converter. I think the problem with the mountains was the cracked air intake not allowing it to get the power needed to accelerate up the hills. It has made the trip before in 2006 and we never had that problem with it.

Either today or tomorrow i will be taking it to the Auto Hobby Shop on base and have the exhaust checked with a vac test to see if its going into suction mode before it hits the cat.

oil level/pressure = Gauges are reading normal for pressure, and level is good
Air filter clean = Filter is brand new with around 3500 miles on it, i already removed it to check it last night
Mileage = Roughly 165000

 

[Nightkil13r]

Its the Catalytic Converter

Ok im almost 100% positive that it is my driver side front Cat my symptoms are identical to 2 other threads here on the site.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229340
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228709

I was under my X a little earlier and noticed the rear cat is fairly new, i dont know how old it is though.

What would your recommendations be as to replacing the one rear cat, i am obviously going to replace both front cats, id like to go with a Magnaflow, or the Catco system i found, id like to know if this will work for my X and also how hard is it to replace them, if welding is needed i can either do that myself or have one of my friends do it for me, also which one would work/be better

The link will not work for the Catco Cats, so here is the information on them.
2001-2002 Ford Explorer - Catco Front Catalytic Converter - Stainless Steel
Part Number: cat1044
MFR#: 1044

And here are the Magnaflow ones
http://www.stylintrucks.com/part.aspx?partid=527306&x=129172&scid=FROOGLE

Thank you very much