Okay heres my problem. In the mornings when I go to start it my 97 explorer starts right up but after that it idles very rough and almost shuts off on my. This only does it in the mornings or when i havnt drove it for awhile. Now after about a week of this the service engine popped up and I went to ford to see what the problem is and they want 70 dollars just to check it out. I use to own a dodge neon and all i had to do was cycle the key a couple of times to get the codes. Is there a similar way to get the codes from this ford? Also what could this problem be with the idle?

Thanks for any help!
Chris

 

Get your truck to the local "Autozone", they'll read your code(s) for free and tell you the error message. Just be careful with what the message is and what they might try to sell you. Personally look at the error readout from the code reader. A salesman tried to sell me a gas filter for a EGR error message. It depends on the salesperson.
Good Luck

 

Okay I went there and they did it for free. It gave me a code saying Something is running to lean. I forgot really what it said word for word but the code number was PO171. He told me it was my O2 sensors. He also said to try using this injector cleaner to clean out my system. I thought I would come here first before thinkin of going to buy a O2 sensor

 

If the O2 sensor is bad, fuel injector cleaner won't work, the damage is done.
Verify the correct code (might have to go back to Autozone) and try to find someone with a similar situation here at the forum.
Hope it helps.
Arturo

 

Is your engine the SOHC (pop your hood and look for the letters SOHC on top of your engine)? If it is, then there is about a 90% chance that the error is due to leaking lower intake manifold o-rings. The two codes that typically show up when they leak are P0171 & P0174. The Ford description for these two codes is:

P0171 System Too Lean (Bank 1)
P0174 System Too Lean (Bank 2)

This is not caused by your O2 sensors. There are several codes that deal specifically with your O2 sensors that will indicate which sensor and whether it is switching fast enough, often enough, shorted to ground, not reading at all and several other parameters. Another situation that can cause these two codes is a contaminated or faulty mass air-flow meter (MAF). Your symptoms though with the rough idle when your engine is cold points to the o-rings though. If it was your MAF, the problem wouldn't go away when your engine warms up.

Now for the possibly good news (depends on your mileage). Ford extended the warranty on the SOHC lower intake manifold o-rings (& camshaft tensioner) through Owner Notification Program 00M12. The warranty has been extended to 6 years, 72K miles if either of these items fail. The $70 diagnostics fee would also be covered under the warranty if they verify that it is your o-rings. If you have over 72K miles on your Explorer then expect to pay $300-$400 at Ford or $150-$250 at an independant garage. The parts kit costs less than $50 at Ford and takes 2-4 hours to install depending on who does it.

 

Okay. My explorer has 108,000 miles on it so throw out the warrenty and I did go to ford for a check on the engine light but they wanted 70$ so i went to autozone for free. But now should i go back there and say i "think" its my manifold o-rings or should I just get the diagnostics? I really would not want to spend 70$ on it. Also, is it bad to drive around with it leaking or could i wait a couple days but not drive as much only when needed? thanks for that information!

 

For short term driving, it won't hurt anything. I drove mine for about two weeks after my CEL first came on. If you drive it for weeks on end then you may cause other problems. Basically your engine is getting air into it that isn't being measured at the front end. This results in your engine running lean. Your O2 sensors detect that your engine is running lean and will try and richen up your engine by dumping more fuel into it. The extra fuel will eventually cause your O2 sensors to fail (don't know how long it would take though). The O2 sensors run about $50 apiece. You have 3 if your have the OHV) or 4 if you have the SOHC or V8. I diagnosed mine myself with my OBD-II scanner and a small bottle of propane per the instructions that Ford published in a TSB. Once I confirmed that mine were leaking I took it to my local mechanic and had them replace the o-rings under my extended warranty. I would have let them diagnose it if it weren't for the fact that my warranty company (Warranty Gold) didn't cover repairs for emissions related failures. Half of the reasons for a CEL could be emissions related and I didn't want to possibly get stuck paying for diagnostics fees so I did it myself. Once I confirmed that my o-rings were leaking I called WG and verified that they were covered under my warranty. My mechanic charged WG about $130 to replace them.

If you don't have the ability to verify it yourself, try going to a trusted mechanic as opposed to Ford. The Ford procedure called for spraying propane around the lower intake manifold while monitoring the short term fuel trims. A sudden change in fuel trims when the propane was on versus off was a sign of a leak. I used an $11 propane torch (not lit of course) that I picked up at Wal-mart.