James McCluskey
New Member
- Joined
- July 2, 2019
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- Florida
- City, State
- Williston, Fl.
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 Explorer 4.0L XLS
So, here's the long version of my nightmare...
I just recently bought a 2003 Explorer XLS with the 4.0L Flex Fuel (K Motor). Two weeks after I bought it, I noticed a strong fuel odor. After searching, I saw that the #3 fuel injector was leaking very heavily, fuel was puddling up in the valley between the heads. I was a little concerned about tackling this job on my own because it was obvious that the upper intake had to be removed in order to access the fuel rail. ( I'm a pretty good maintenance and light repair back yard mechanic. ) But I just couldn't afford to take it to a garage.
I hoped that I could get away with just replacing the injector o-rings, no such luck, it was still leaking after I replaced them. I bought a replacement injector, removed the intake again and replaced the injector. Side note - the intake bolt on the drivers side closest to the firewall is a real pain in the @$$ to get to, combined with three intake bolts breaking off in the heads and having to drill them out and heli-coil them. Because of the breaking bolts, I ended having to pull the intake three times, finally got it back on and all bolts torqued to the proper spec's. Got everything put back together, it started right up, no fuel leaks, "YAHOO, I did it". Not so fast, my friend. Short trip (2-3 miles) test drive was perfect. Longer (10-12 miles) trip on highway, the check engine light came and it stalled when I tried to re-accelerate after coming to a stop, very poor throttle response when starting off, it was bogging down like it was flooded. Finally got it going again and got it home. I scanned it and got a P0102 and a bank 1 sensor 1 O2 rich code. I'm very confident that there is neither an O2 sensor or Mass Air Flow sensor problem, no fault codes (current or history) prior to this, so I figured I had a vacuum leak. I smoke tested the system and saw smoke coming from the intake, bank 2 side by the firewall. I was able to get a 1/4 turn on that pesky intake bolt. Smoke tested it again, no smoke this time. Now I'm feeling confident, suspected a vacuum leak, verified it and corrected it. NOT... Problem is still there, not as severe, it's not stalling out now, but is bogging down, the O2 fault has not returned, but I still have a MAF code. Still suspecting a vacuum issue, I started the truck and switch the AC from face vents to defrost and now it won't switch back (this definitely points to a vacuum leak, and was not an issue before I started repairs). I have smoke test again, and rechecked all vacuum lines, but can't find a problem anywhere.
Sorry for the long sad story, but that's where I am now, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks
I just recently bought a 2003 Explorer XLS with the 4.0L Flex Fuel (K Motor). Two weeks after I bought it, I noticed a strong fuel odor. After searching, I saw that the #3 fuel injector was leaking very heavily, fuel was puddling up in the valley between the heads. I was a little concerned about tackling this job on my own because it was obvious that the upper intake had to be removed in order to access the fuel rail. ( I'm a pretty good maintenance and light repair back yard mechanic. ) But I just couldn't afford to take it to a garage.
I hoped that I could get away with just replacing the injector o-rings, no such luck, it was still leaking after I replaced them. I bought a replacement injector, removed the intake again and replaced the injector. Side note - the intake bolt on the drivers side closest to the firewall is a real pain in the @$$ to get to, combined with three intake bolts breaking off in the heads and having to drill them out and heli-coil them. Because of the breaking bolts, I ended having to pull the intake three times, finally got it back on and all bolts torqued to the proper spec's. Got everything put back together, it started right up, no fuel leaks, "YAHOO, I did it". Not so fast, my friend. Short trip (2-3 miles) test drive was perfect. Longer (10-12 miles) trip on highway, the check engine light came and it stalled when I tried to re-accelerate after coming to a stop, very poor throttle response when starting off, it was bogging down like it was flooded. Finally got it going again and got it home. I scanned it and got a P0102 and a bank 1 sensor 1 O2 rich code. I'm very confident that there is neither an O2 sensor or Mass Air Flow sensor problem, no fault codes (current or history) prior to this, so I figured I had a vacuum leak. I smoke tested the system and saw smoke coming from the intake, bank 2 side by the firewall. I was able to get a 1/4 turn on that pesky intake bolt. Smoke tested it again, no smoke this time. Now I'm feeling confident, suspected a vacuum leak, verified it and corrected it. NOT... Problem is still there, not as severe, it's not stalling out now, but is bogging down, the O2 fault has not returned, but I still have a MAF code. Still suspecting a vacuum issue, I started the truck and switch the AC from face vents to defrost and now it won't switch back (this definitely points to a vacuum leak, and was not an issue before I started repairs). I have smoke test again, and rechecked all vacuum lines, but can't find a problem anywhere.
Sorry for the long sad story, but that's where I am now, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks
