What was it.

[deamon3]

I test drove two second gens the other day.

The first one had plenty of power and torque , got up to speed nicely and was quiet. Like a normal car.

The second one however was very slow , low on power , and the engine was very noisey and sounded like I was pushing it so hard. (not exhaust noise , but just the engine itself)

That second explorer reminded me of EXACTLY how my JP explorer drives. And I need to know why it was so bad. It's gotta be a common problem of some type because it was exactly like my old explorer. Almost like the engine was literally half the size and working twice as hard to go half the speed.

 

[colintrax]

Maybe it's running on half the cylinders

 

[corkey]

maybe one was driven much harder than the other,
my 96 had 375,000 kilometers on it and was driven pretty hard,,
my 99 has 245,000 kilometers on it and was lady driven and treated very well, mostly slower city driving, and the 99 is way faster, smoother and quieter, than the 96 was before i modded it,,
after the lift and the tires and stuff the 96 got way better, but the miles were enough to put the engine over,. and it spit a head gasket,,

so i would think the way it may have been driven previous may have been the difference,,

 

[deamon3]

Would the check engine light come on if it was running on only a few cylinders? cuz both the low power second gen , and my jp ex dont have the check engine light on even though they drive awful.

Even funnier , the second gen that drove like a dream had the check engine light on , lol.

 

[colintrax]

Check engine light is really just emissions, there could be a problem that wouldn't set off the check engine light. However, no sparking cylinders would set off the light

 

[deamon3]

I suppose it just drives me nuts that I couldn't figure out why my jp ex ran so poorly.

I figured if this second gen ran exactly the same then maybe there is a common problem between the two.

 

[01STrunner]

Not all codes throw the CEL. They're considered gray codes although they're usually not detrimental to the vehicle but they could always lead to something more major

 

[drdoom]

Maybe it was an OHV?

 

[my98nnj]

Two different engines. Did you open the hood on either and get the specs?

 

[koda2000]

it could be a lot of things... i once had a fairly new muffler that had a piece come lose inside and it blocked the exhaust flow. that really cut the power output of the engine (probably around 40-50%). a clogged cat would have the same effect. and engine is just an air pump. if you block the air in or out it won't make power.

 

[deamon3]

All three had the same v6

 

[Turdle]

Check engine light is really just emissions, there could be a problem that wouldn't set off the check engine light. However, no sparking cylinders would set off the light

It also will show misfires due to a dead injector--coolant temp out of spec, cam sensor-trans codes. It is not only an emmission warning. Ignoring it could lead to engine damage.

 

[colintrax]

^I understand that, but there can be performance issues it's not checking. Carbon filled intake will not set off a CEL, clogged air filter will not set off the CEL, and well you get the point.
Also, just because the CEL isn't light doesn't mean its working. Half my dummy lights won't work when the headlights are on...

 

[colintrax]

It could also be the gear ratios, and tires (how heavy/size)

 

[IAmTodd]

Two different engines. Did you open the hood on either and get the specs?

Betting this was it.

All three had the same v6

You've provided only 2 details on these trucks. Gen 2 and V6. Gen 2's depending on the year had two V6s available. The SOHC found in later models had more power and less NVH. Pretty much sums up what you are talking about in your first post.

 

[Dono]

Yes, Im with the guys saying OHV.
Out of the box, the OHV's are not exactly rockets. Reliable, but slow.

A worn 4.0 OHV v6 will have lots of push rod/rocker valve train noise. Makes sense.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

A misfire would cause the truck to perform poorly, and in most cases not throw a code. engines misfire, but by the next time they are fired it is fixed, unless the plug, wire, or coil is damaged in some way. we had a trailblazer in the shop the other day where the #1 cylinder would not fire, it ran great, had power, we pulled of the boot and noticed that it had a crack in it, and that it was jumping from the boot to the side of the engine, replaced the boot, the truck ran the same, maybe a little bit less shaky, but I really did not notice anything. clogged, or dirty injectors would do the same thing.