Re: 1987 Ford Aerostar Woes - Need Help, Please

Thomas Moats opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

If this van is critical to your work.. assume you are going to be using it - on the job- I assume you REALLY mean critical.

So, IN THIS CASE and consdering the age and milage..the shot-gun approach is best IF you do it all yourself.

BUt it wouldnt be "shot-gun" it would be called "refurbishing"

Complete ignition tuneup. NEw fuel pump (once it gets loud it could fail tomorrow or last another

Junk yards for a complete throttle body.

DOnt forget to take off your TFI ignition module and make sure the backing dielectric grease is fresh... it (TFI) will fail if it's dry.

Once it runs halfway decent, you can have the EGO sensors checked out

And dont forget the EGR

DO NOT use off the shelf gas additives to clean injectors etc.. I think those casue problems more than they fix them.

TechRon may be an exception...

BTW: You didnt say if the CEL was on...

The fuel pressure I am not sure. Basic tune? It was running excellent up until a few weeks ago. I believe I would need a pressure gauge to check the full pressure. I have not got one. I may just end up taking this van to the dealer for a diagnoses and an estimate.

rr

The throttle positioning sensor I never went near. It's on the outside of the throttle body.

I have heard this too. See below.

I got this info from a factory trained technician. He has been repairing autos for over 25 years. He also teaches students and they work on these vans all the time. In fact, when I was talking with him, they had an Aerostar in the shop and it was undergoing the same proceedure, as well as a tune up.

Thanks for your help. Just going to read your next post.

rr

OK, thanks! I read all the above. Not sure what a "CEL" is?

You may have hit on a key point! A few weeks ago, I used an STP fuel injector cleaner additive in the fuel. And it seems to me that this is when my trouble may have started. My brother has an 1989 Aerostar and he uses these additives all the time and never has a problem.

Anyway, it looks like I may just end up limping the van off to the dealer and get an estimate for the repairs in the meanwhile. It has got high miles on the van, about 250,000 KM, so maybe it's time to part it out. We'll see.

rr

River Run opined

Odd... having been around them for 45 years.... my impression is just the opposite. LOTS of people drive their cars for 200 K Miles, now... 35 years ago they were done at about 120.

If you have a car that is really carboned up bad, the store cleaners won't usually get it all in one shot. Not strong enough for a bad case. If this started after you started the injector cleaner, it's quite possible that you are severely carboned up, and the cleaner is clogging the injectors. It's slowly cutting the crud, but it gums the injector tips as the gunk cools. "My theory anyway.." It's also possible you may be having intake valve problems due to the carbon. The cleaners you buy at the store work in general, but you have to use the right method. #1...Most of the deposits on the injectors are caused by additives gumming up during hot soak periods. This is when you cut the engine off, and it sits when hot. The cleaners work in the same way. They only do any good during hot soaks. They do very little if anything when actually driving the car. So to take full advantage of the stuff, you have to get the car hot, and then let it sit, over and over and over again. I had to do this on a 92 camry last summer. But in my case, I helped it along. I ran a carb cleaner/injector cleaner/ATF mix straight into the throttle body vacuum port before shutting it down to heat soak. This helped soak the carbon on the intake valves. It took nearly a week to finally get it clean. That car was BAD. Carbon was snowconed behind the valves. If you have a real bad case, it's much faster to use solvent and quickly clean the injectors. Even better, find a shop with a "Motorvac" machine. Carbon is a real PIA on these new EFI cars for some reason. BTW, if you can finally get it clean, I do recommend using cleaner every few tanks or so. Also, try to stick to good gas. Preferably chevron as it has some techron in it. MK

Dunno, I think it's all up to the upkeep. My 68 F-250 went 170k on it's first engine, and it was abused like a lost stepchild in it's later years. "I got it near the end of the engines life" It's still got the original gear box and rear end. I've got a rebuilt engine in it with about 3100 miles on it. With me taking care of this new engine from day one, I fully expect to get