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Comments
another thing I would recheck all the work that was done, maybe something was done correctly or was left loose.
could be numerous things, alignment or balancing could be way off. check it all.
Steve, Host
I just read your message from Sept. 27. I have a 2000 Ford Explorer experiencing the same problems. Did you ever find out what was wrong with yours? Thanks.
Edmunds looks at the manufacturer recommended service and then looks at the rate books to see what the cost should be. The fine print says:
"*This Total Estimated Cost includes the preventive maintenance items recommended by Ford. The facility that services your vehicle may perform different, greater, or fewer procedures that can affect the cost you incur."
YMMV (and obviously does - maybe you can find an independent mechanic and save some bucks?).
Steve, Host
The ABS light is usually a wheel sensor not working right. There is a sensor on the rear differential which is a pretty common problem. To be sure, you will need to get the codes read.
Good luck!
As far as the heater issue - condensation on your windshield may indicate a small leak in your heater core. Do you ever smell a kind of sweet smell? - that would be antifreeze. Do you have to add coolant? You may want to get that checked. Fixing a bad heater core is a big repair.
Not being able to turn the heat off may be a problem with your controls, or it may be a problem with the valve under the hood that regulates the amount of engine coolant that goes thru the heater core. That valve is not too hard to replace, but you will want to confirm that is the problem.
thanks.
Should there any further information on this subject please advise me. My service department is simply GREAT and willing to assist in any way to cure the problem.
Thanks for all the help.
Your service department is obviously nice - not sure how competent they are, but I'm glad you like them.
Another way to look at your situation might be that your service department did not follow accepted procedure, assumed your Explorer had a bad expansion valve and ordered one because it would give them more money to charge to Ford. Why spend time doing diagnostics when Ford will pay the dealership more for multiple trips by the customer in order to correct a simple problem that might take some time to diagnose? If you think I'm being cynical, your right. I had my dealings with Ford dealership that made me that way. I am not saying that ther are no Ford dealership service departments that do a competent, honest job. There are, I think that in this case you are not dealing with one.
The FIRST step is to check and test the existing battery and electrical system. How old is the battery? Make sure battery is fully charged, then check the voltage across the battery with engine off, with engine at idle, with engine at fast idle, then repeat these three tests with LOAD on the battery (headlights on, A/C on, wipers on). The voltage should not drop to an abnormally low value. If it does, LOAD TEST the Battery. Charging Voltage at fast idle should be around 14 volts, 13 volts under heavy load. If charging voltage is low, check and repair charging system.
If the Battery check OK, and the Charging System checks OK and all your Wiring Connections are OK, and the battery still dies after it sit for 2 days, then TEST for and EXCESSIVE PARASITIC DRAW on the battery. I have pasted the procedure below:
Hard to gauge an old battery, sometimes new ones can quit on you too, and sometimes abuptly. They can fail in several ways:
1. Slowly run down until all the power is drained from them, like an alternator failure, or headlights or a light bulb or other load left on when the car is parked for a period of time.
2. Suddenly lose power due to an internal fault inside the battery, short circuit, open circuit or an electrolyte leak.
Check, clean and tighten all cables, clamps and connections. Start engine (jump if needed), place voltmeter across battery terminals, volts should read 12.7 volts or higher at idle, 14 to 14.5 volts at fast idle. 15 volts or more is too high. Check the battery after FULLY CHARGING with a battery charger, to be sure it is charged as much as it will hold. Testing a battery with a low charge will fail even a perfectly good battery. Use a LOAD TEST to test the battery, follow instuctions on the LOAD TESTER. In general, the load is placed across the battery and increased until the battery volts fall to 9 1/2. Keep the battery on the load test the shortest amount of time possible, as the load tester can get very hot or overheat. A good 12 volt car battery should be able to maintain an AMPERAGE OUTPUT of ONE HALF OF it's COLD CRANKING AMPS RATING without dropping below 9 1/2 VOLTS. If it drops to 1/4 of it's cold cranking amps rating while under load at 9 1/2 volts, it is weak, and should be replaced.
Next, if the battery test is ok, then you need to find what is draining your battery by checking "PARASITIC CURRENT DRAW" from your battery. Your car has electronic MODULES that draw current when they are first connected. After they "settle down", in about 2 to 5 minutes, the parasitic current drain on you battery should be down to about 25 ma (milliamps) (.025 Amp). Do the following test procedure, and if you find your draw is too high, pull fuses one at a time to see if you can isolate the source of the excessive current draw.PARASITIC CURRENT DRAW TEST:Start with a fully charged Battery. Turn everything in the car OFF, close the door, remove the light bulb from under the hood so that nothing you know of is on. Remove the negative cable. Place a 5 amp fuse & a 1 ohm/10watt resistor in series with the negative cable, then wait a few minutes to allow the modules to settle down, then proceed. Connect a Digital Volt/Ohm Meter across the resistor and do a simple voltage drop test. Results = for example, a .022v draw = a 22mA draw. When you have minimal computers/radios/etc a maximum of 25mA is optimal. If you have multiple computers/cell phones/alarms/etc expect a higher number to be normal, though the cell phones/alarms should be OFF for this test. Over 25ma should be investigated and Over 50ma should be corrected. Check manufacturers specs to be sure of what it should be for your vehicle.That ought to get you going for now.
Good Luck,
E.D.
A. Coming to a stop, it feels as if the clutch doesn't engage and my car tries to lurch forward until I put it in neutral (with my foot fully depressing the brake pedal)
B. When I am at a stop and the light turns green, I realize the engine died (For no apparent reason) while I was sitting at the light.
Anyone have similar experiences and solutions?
My 2c.
This is my first problem with this vehicle and was thinking of buying another Explorer, until I read the problems that everyone is having with theirs.
I know as an engine accumulates more miles, the octane requirements can go up. With the price of gas I'd hate to move up to a higher octane. According to the Owner's Manual, it shouldn't need a tune-up yet. Also since I'm from the New Orleans area, I'm kind of leery of the quality of work I may get right now. I'd also hate to get a tune-up, if it is characteristic of this engine. Any suggestions on tune-up cycle/items, other than what the owners manual specifies?
I have tried:
Cleaning MAF
Higher grade of gas
Cleaning Throttle body
Replaced EGR valve - checked other EGR related parts
Replaced intake gasket between air horn where EGR valve mounts and upper intake manifold (old one was cooked)
Colder range of plugs (Autolite AP103)
Seafoam in intake twice (an engine decarbonizer)
Replaced coolant temp sensor
These were the cheap / easy things to check. The truck runs much better, but It still pings in OD when the torque converter is locked up (1800 to 2600 rpm). I do not have an advanced scanner to do diagnostics on the MAF sensor or the O2 sensors, which I would try next.
My gut feeling is that in many of the V8's the EGR flow is too low at low rpms or the timing is too far advanced since this happens in quite a few of these trucks. There may be a computer (PCM) update which addresses this, I have not checked with the dealer as of yet. You may want to check with the dealer and see if they have any ideas, but I don't think I would turn them loose - I think I would specifically ask about PCM updates for this issue given the items I have tried which haven't worked. They can chase lots of deadends trying to fix this....
99's require plugs at 50k - yours have probably already been replaced? If not, a new set of plugs would be a good idea. Bosch plugs will make pinging worse if you have pinging issues. Autolites seem to work well.
Lastly, if your engine uses oil between changes, it is probably getting sucked into the PCV valve. Oil in the intake causes bad pinging, you can rule this out by removing the PCV valve and plugging off the hose. Then see if your pinging gets better. This will not fix the pinging in OD at highway speeds.
And if you figure it out, please post the answer here!
My estimate is yours has between 120,000 and 150,000 miles on it. I think at 150,000 you are approaching the end of it's "useful life".
IMHO!!
Good luck.
We bought this vehicle new in Sept '03 and in Sept '06 our Explorer will be out of warranty, and I'm quite certain that there is no way we will keep it much past that--due to high gas prices, many, many problems (gas gauge, power window motor, engine stuttering/hesitation, ABS sensor that took 4 days to fix, finicky remote fobs, etc, etc, etc) with the Explorer (many either fixed and/or ignored by the dealer). Off to Toyota we go for all of our new vehicle purchases (bought an '05 Camry this year, it is phenomenal as is the dealer!)
How do I remove the surrounding blind without braking it since there are no srews ?
Thanks
Good luck!!