'98 Explorer sport rough at idle

Apr 30, 2004 4 Replies
M

Howdy,



My girlfriend says that she filled up her tank at Sam's Drove home and didn't notice any problems, then this morning the engine is all jiggly, i.e. the gear shifter is bouncing all over the place, and she can feel a bouncy feel on the accelerator pedal. The Check Engine light also came on after about 5 miles of driving



It's not making any odd noises or any odd smells



Is this just bad gas, and if so, what does she do to fix it? just burn through it? add some additive? drain it?



Thanks,



Mike


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M

One of the techs at the dealership said it sounded like one of the cylinders was either missfiring or not firing at all. Apparently it's not just vibrating at idle but as she accelerates.

Does this sound like symptoms of a missfiring or nonfiring cylinder? Or would those conditions have other symptoms?

Thanks,

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J

Not knowing how far the dealership tech went with diagnosis, it's just plain too hard to say. Going from memory (notoriously inaccurate, at times) I would expect a misfire to set a code identifying the suspect cylinder. If one is identified, there are tests that can isolate the exact problem. These things are notorious for intake sealing failures but I would expect the CEL and the infamous P0171/P0174 combo......

Makes me ask, is the CEL lit... if not, does it prove out when you turn the key on?

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S

I had a similiar problem on my 99 XLT. Turned out the coil pack was bad.

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M

Ok, turns out it was a dead cylinder, somehow coolant is geeting onto the sparkplug and corroding it. So, now they are trying to figure out how coolant is getting into the cylinder.

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