Hello all. I own a 2004 Ford Explorer, V6 4.0, with 183,000 miles on it. Other the last year I've been having some issues. It started out with an engine code, I'm sorry I don't have the exact code but it seems fairly common, it said 'fuel rail pressure sensor high input'. That was it, just a code, I didn't notice any issues with how the vehicle was running or performing, except maybe a little oomph when accelerating. The code was reset, and sometimes it would come back right away, sometimes not for weeks. Nobody seemed to think it was anything to worry about at the time. About 4 or 5 months ago, I was coming up to an overpass and noticed that it seemed the vehicle wanted to decelerate awfully fast. I made it over the overpass, coasted to a stop light, and when I came to a stop the RPMs dropped instantly and the vehicle died. It started back up right away but I had to two foot drive it until I could pull over. Once I made it to a safe spot, it died, and then it wouldn't start again. The same thing had just happened to my dad with his Chevy truck and it ended up just being the fuel filter, so we towed it to his shop, replace the fuel filter and all was well. It drove fine, no more issues. About a month ago I started noticing a feeling like the vehicle wanted to stall out while idling at stops or while in park, it never actually did, but it would sputter, the RPMs would dip a bit then come back up, and if I gave it a little gas it would be fine again. Then it started not wanting to accelerate. I was trying to cross an intersection and could only go about 15 mph. I would step on it and it just wouldn't go any faster, it would kind of jerk a little, sputter, then speed up. It would do this off an on, and one day it would be fine, then the next nothing but issues. It finally started getting worse last week and I was noticing a really rich gas smell from the exhaust. I bought a fuel rail pressure sensor and we put it in yesterday. We test drove it on the highway and in town and it was fine. The engine light stayed off. This morning I went to work, came to a stop, and it started feeling like it was going to stall. I accelerated and it didn't want to go. After work, the engine light came on again It's really weird to me that it drove perfectly yesterday after the computer was reset and now today it's acting up again.
I'm not sure what the next step should be. My next maintenance item was replacing the spark plugs and wires, which hasn't been done since I bought the vehicle, but I'm not sure if that would be causing this issue?
I should mention also that at one point when we scanned the code it was also throwing an o2 sensor code. Could a bad sensor be causing this issue?

I have noticed sometimes while accelerating it suddenly seems to 'surge', like it's getting a random boost. The stalling feeling also happens while reversing. My dad said while driving it at 55-60mph he felt a bit of a shutter/jerking sensation.

I really hope it's not the fuel pump. Has anyone else dealt with this? I would appreciate any feedback on the problem. Thanks!

 

first, you need to get the engine CODE to determine the problem. It could be a weak fuel pump, but it could be spark plugs or fuel filter, or plug wires, or fuel/ air mixture, or ??? You need a code to narrow the problem down.. When was the last time it had spark plugs and fuel filter changed ?

 

Sure looks like the fuel pump. Or the fuel filter but you say you changed it out.

Plugs and wires are a good place to start, at least then you know where you are with them. I recommend NGK Iridiums but there are others who claim it's sacriligious to use anything other than Motorcraft.

I'd also look at the idle control valve and TPS seeing as though most of your problems occur at or approaching or coming off idle.

And as always, check for vacuum leaks.