'98 Ford Explorer - Sluggish starting?

Do a search on intake manifold gasket. It's a common problem with this model year.

There are a number of things you can check:

1. Clean your mass air flow sensor with a good electrical contact cleaner. They get dirty over time and sometimes become a problem.

1. Also remove and clean you idle air control valve. This valve controls the amount of air the engine gets at start/idle. If you have never cleaned it, I can guarantee you its dirty. It may stick or cause problems because it is dirty.

2. Listen for the fuel pump to run each time you turn the key on. Also, watch the check engine lite and make sure it illuminates as it should. Better yet, find the fuel pump relay and EEC (computer) relay under the hood, and swap them out with another relay with the same part number on it. ( Ford uses just a few standard relay types). This eliminates the possibility of a relay going bad as the problem - and they do go bad from time to time.

1. If you are still having problems, pull your plugs and examine them carefully. A plug with a lot of deposits on it is a sign that a fuel injector is leaking. This can cause hard starting. Put new plugs in it while you are at it - they're cheap, and gas is expensive.

2. Run a couple cans of Techron fuel system cleaner thru the tank. This cleans junk out of the fuel system, as well as water. After you have cleaned the fuel system, put a new fuel filter in the vehicle.

That should clear about 80 or 90 percent of hard start problems. If you still have a hard start problem after that, you will probably want to have the engine scanned to see if you can identify a more advanced issue such as a bad engine temp senor, cranking fuel pressure problem, etc. However, if it gets that far the mechanic should not have to waste his time on the basic stuff!

Thanks so much. This is great information.

Hopefully this will solve the problem before it leaves me stranded somewhere.

PS. CarKB.com - Love the username. :-)

Cheers,

Brad