Hey fellas, this issue has been plaguing me for over a year now and I desperately need help.
Here is my situation!
In brief: for over a year I was having problems starting my explorer (4.0L SOHC) from cold. Revving the engine for a few minutes or simply unplugging the MAF sensor for a few miles fixed the issue. We attempted to fix the issue by changing the Intake Manifold Gasket and Intake itself and it's worse.
If you're still interested in helping, I'll go in more detail below (fair warning, I know nothing about cars. My mechanic just suggested I try asking someone online)
Ok, here we go!
The rough idle issue has been around for a while. My dad initially thought it was the MAF sensor and tried several at the junkyard; none worked. For around a year I just warmed her up in the driveway. I wasn't a big fan of unplugging the MAF as the brakes felt funny and that scared me. Anyways, this summer I worked with a new employee who, after a long day, heard the explorer start up from cold. He had the same exact explorer and it had the same problems. He suggested a quick fix could be the MAF being dirty, and we proceeded to clean it. That didn't work. He then told me it's the Intake Manifold Gasket. I decided enough was enough, and before school I was going to have my mechanic fix it. He put in the gasket and it was worse. He said he found two cracks in the lower intake manifold so he put in a new one, and guess what? No improvement.
Now warming up amounts to nothing. The kicker according to my mechanic is when you unplug the MAF sensor it doesn't miss at all but idles very high (close to 3,000). You can try to run it, but it stalled on him randomly. With the MAF plugged in, forget about it. I would have troubles backing out of the driveway without stalling.
So, the obvious problem(for him at least) would be the MAF sensor itself just needs to be swapped with a new/refurbished one. It's very possible that the ones my father got from the junkyard were just that--junk. We have two in possession now and he isn't sure which one is the original. From my research I know that the numbers have to match up EXACTLY. I'm going to check on that tomorrow.
In the meantime, what is everyone thinking? Again, he wanted to emphasize the high rpm when MAF sensor is unplugged. The fact it runs smooth I guess rules out any vacuum leaks or problems with the fuel injectors.
I've read countless threads online and did research for hours and hours and hours but would love to know what you guys think.
Thanks for any input!
Here is my situation!
In brief: for over a year I was having problems starting my explorer (4.0L SOHC) from cold. Revving the engine for a few minutes or simply unplugging the MAF sensor for a few miles fixed the issue. We attempted to fix the issue by changing the Intake Manifold Gasket and Intake itself and it's worse.
If you're still interested in helping, I'll go in more detail below (fair warning, I know nothing about cars. My mechanic just suggested I try asking someone online)
Ok, here we go!
The rough idle issue has been around for a while. My dad initially thought it was the MAF sensor and tried several at the junkyard; none worked. For around a year I just warmed her up in the driveway. I wasn't a big fan of unplugging the MAF as the brakes felt funny and that scared me. Anyways, this summer I worked with a new employee who, after a long day, heard the explorer start up from cold. He had the same exact explorer and it had the same problems. He suggested a quick fix could be the MAF being dirty, and we proceeded to clean it. That didn't work. He then told me it's the Intake Manifold Gasket. I decided enough was enough, and before school I was going to have my mechanic fix it. He put in the gasket and it was worse. He said he found two cracks in the lower intake manifold so he put in a new one, and guess what? No improvement.
Now warming up amounts to nothing. The kicker according to my mechanic is when you unplug the MAF sensor it doesn't miss at all but idles very high (close to 3,000). You can try to run it, but it stalled on him randomly. With the MAF plugged in, forget about it. I would have troubles backing out of the driveway without stalling.
So, the obvious problem(for him at least) would be the MAF sensor itself just needs to be swapped with a new/refurbished one. It's very possible that the ones my father got from the junkyard were just that--junk. We have two in possession now and he isn't sure which one is the original. From my research I know that the numbers have to match up EXACTLY. I'm going to check on that tomorrow.
In the meantime, what is everyone thinking? Again, he wanted to emphasize the high rpm when MAF sensor is unplugged. The fact it runs smooth I guess rules out any vacuum leaks or problems with the fuel injectors.
I've read countless threads online and did research for hours and hours and hours but would love to know what you guys think.
Thanks for any input!
. However, it got little attention. It WAS of great use during my 'research'. There are certainly many people having the exact same problems. Unfortunately, it seems people stop posting once they figure it out so that no one really knows what fixed it.