94 ford exploer issues

[blobman]

my wifes uncle gave us a 94 explorer and it shot craps today.my wife was driving and said it just died while goiung to oreilleys to get some freon..its got 210K miles on it and thecheck engine light had came on this weekend when we went to pick it up.i called my buddy and we went to get it about 45 minutes after it died and it fired right up and drove about a half mile then crapped out again,i put it in neutral and coasted home and it started agian .i thought it might be the catylitic conv. but it seemed toi have good pressure out the exhaust...ill change the fuel filter tomorrow as it sat for over a year ......any suggestions?

[Kadmos]

......any suggestions?

Yeah, read the code for that check engine light.

A lot of the parts stores will read those codes for free, I know Autozone does. That'll give you a hell of a better idea what's going on.

[vit]

Wasn't 94 the first year for the old Exploder?
Almost sounds like when the TPS went bad on my Olds.

[blobman]

yeah .ill check the codes tomorrow,oreilleys machine is a post odb one tho<if i remember corectly

[Kadmos]

Ah, forgot it was a first gen.

You need a highly specialized piece of equipment for that.











A paperclip


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255962

[Helen Keller]

shuttin off like that.

as said

Throttle position sensor.


It gets dirty and turns to shit real quick. can clean but for the vehicles age just get a new one.

Check the PCV too.

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Had a broncoII the wife drove, it would die intermittently then start up again...Needless to say she was scared to death to drive that in rush hour traffic , turned out it was the electronic ignition module.

[L1A1Rocker]

I had a 95 cougar that did that. It was some sensor in the air box.

I remember, it was the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) I had a Chlymer (sp?) repair book that talked me how to check it with a contenuity testor - no computer test needed.

[Ronwicp]

Replace the fuel filter before you do anything else.

[Sherman]

Get the CEL codes checked FIRST and FOREMOST. Don't start replacing things by just guessing. Replace what the CEL shows what has failed and then move on to fixing other things.

[Helen Keller]

Replace the fuel filter before you do anything else.

my 99 explorer turned to total shit when the fuel filter went bad.




Just remember to get the plastic snap releases.

[Ronwicp]

My computer codes said I had all kinds of shit wrong. Replaced the fuel filter and it all went away. Apparently lack of/dirty fuel causes a lot of problems.

Had a friend that had a problem with his 4 wheeler. it would just shut down. After weeks of TS and rebuilding carburetor and a bunch of other crap, it was a bad spark plug.

Sometimes its the simplest stuff. a 10 dollar fuel filter could be all it is, and if not it wont hurt anyway.

[Goodman]

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/166103-iac-repair-help.html

I had a similar problem with a 1990 F-250 a few weeks ago.
In my case, lousy low idle (which developed over time) to include stalling. Engine ran Okay above 1000 RPM.
First I tested the IAC valve for function- something like 7-12 ohms is normal IIRC. Next I cleaned the black gunk out of the IAC valve with an entire small can of throttle body cleaner & q-tip then blew it out w/compressed air. Voila- no more stalling.
Total cost: 2 bucks for the can of cleaner. Total time: 15 minutes plus a trip to the store.
It may take a few minutes for the computer to relearn what makes a good idle.

I can't find the link I used but the one above is good, though the pics are long gone.

ETA- a new IAC valve runs around $90 bucks. If it tests good, cleaning is probably worth a try as opposed to replacing.

[Kadmos]

That's kinda funny I just did a throttle body cleaning last weekend to cure a stalling issue, obviously cleaning the IAC also.

Didn't quite cure it, ended up having to replace the ignition coil as well to finally cure it, but it did make a hell of a difference, it's amazing how much black gunk can end up crusting into a throttle body.

I wanna know where you found a $2 can of throttle body cleaner, I think I paid closer to $7

Man I wished I had a check engine light at the time, ended up doing plugs, cap/rotor, wires, cleaning the throttle body, crank position sensor, and finally the ignition coil before I really got it straightened out.

[Goodman]

@ Kadmos:
Well, two bucks and change, and it was about a half-size can.
Still, this little farm town is really something. People seem to actually give a damn about what each other think- there's some amazingly modest pricing here.

Sounds like you dropped a few bucks into that engine...yikes.....!

[Kadmos]

Sounds like you dropped a few bucks into that engine...yikes.....!

Yeah it sucked, but thank god it was only about 100 degrees out and so much humidity that you could only nearly swim through the air rather than drown trying to breathe.

I knew the plugs were nearly done, cap/rotor didn't look so good, but that didn't solve the problem, noticed a slightly fried wire, tested ok but not great, but you gotta figure in heat and vibration, that didn't solve it so on to the throttle body, ran a hella lot smoother after that but still stalled, checked a bunch of sensors and the crank came out as marginal, so did that. Coil tested fine on the jeep, retested it hot and couldn't get a good reading, I knew it was making sparks, so pulled it and did an ohm test on the bench and the secondary was about 15-20% out of spec.

I've really come to hate newer cars, my Jeep is actually kind of primitive compared to a lot of the really new stuff, but a 1998 still has a ass load of sensors and crap that act up.

On any old car that 20% or so out of spec wouldn't have caused any trouble at all, but the computer gets the data off that and starts fucking with other stuff.

Thankfully I had the weekend to track that down and could do it myself, but with that and some overdue fluid changes (tranny and axles) I guess I only spent $300 or so...which considering all she's done for me and how much I've sadly neglected her the last couple years since the divorce I don't feel put off.

[TheMrMitch]

Dodge Ram Charger...1990....died often, no reason. Changed Knock Out Plate....which I'd never heard of....never stopped again.

[Kadmos]

Dodge Ram Charger...1990....died often, no reason. Changed Knock Out Plate....which I'd never heard of....never stopped again.

I'm curious on this...what the hell part was that?

The only knockout plate I've ever heard of on a car is those little trim pieces that cover where a switch would be if you bought the nicer model.

[TheMrMitch]

New to me also. A plate in the distributor I was told.
Neighbor told me about it and I told the Dodge Mechanic.
Came back fixed. No more trouble.

Now...let me add. This was in Louisiana and I was considered a low bred
Kentuckian (they had it backwards). It may have been a "left handed monkey wrench" case.

[Kadmos]

New to me also. A plate in the distributor I was told.
Neighbor told me about it and I told the Dodge Mechanic.
Came back fixed. No more trouble.

Now...let me add. This was in Louisiana and I was considered a low bred
Kentuckian (they had it backwards). It may have been a "left handed monkey wrench" case.

Well, if it worked and didn't cost you too much then it was probably worth it.

[TheMrMitch]

It might have been called a "pick up plate" $85 dollars if I memberlate right.