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I have a 98 Expedition, 4X4, 4.6L. A couple days ago when my wife started it, it idled real rough and the engine pinged and smelled of gas. After she punched it, it seemed to be OK. Today it seemed hard for the engiine to turn over. It finally barely started and I could hear poppng noise as the vehicle shook and had the fumes of gas. I tried to give it gas but it did not respond other than barely staying running. There is no check engine light on. I changed out the alternator a coulple of weeks ago but the battery seems to be charging. This is a secondary vehicle for my wife and she says this has done it several times recently but that it has always gone away after she starts driving it. Today it will barely idle and acts like it is flooded and the timing is off. Also, it has never seemed to have a hard time turning over before. Thanks for any help. Lee
Is there a way to make sure it's the crank sensor before I have to remove the AC compressor to get to it. It would be nice if I was getting a code to make sure it was the sensor.
According to pdqford here on this site, he said, while cranking, if the check engine light stays on that means the PCM is still looking for the crankshaft position sensor signal because it can't figure out which cylinder to fire or when.
I have never needed to try this myself so I cannot personal vouch for the method. I do trust that pdqford knows what he's talking about, so you might want to give it a try. If you don't get the CEL while cranking then you can go on the assumption the crank sensor is good.
Thanks for all the help but the check engine light goes out when the engine is cranking. I can get the engine to start but it acts like a coil or fuel injector is bad. It idles real rough, I wish I could get a code.
In the meantime, you can unplug the 2-wire connector going to each COP one at a time. When you find one (or more) that when disconnected don't affect the way the engine is running, then you've found a problematic cylinder. Just to give you a heads up, you will get a code every time you disconnect one of the 2-wire connectors. What you're looking for are any visual or audible changes in the way the engine runs.
I drove it around the block hoping to get a code. The engine had a hard time to keep running. The engine was pinging and sounded like a diesel if that is any help.
I agree with Alloro's suggestion to pull the electrical connection for each cylinder, one at a time, until you find one or more dead cylinders.
If you don't find a change after that, at least you've ruled out that aspect.
Keep it simple, even the most complex engines today still need 3 basic components to run properly. Spark, Fuel and Compression. If any of those are lacking or way out of spec it will not run properly.
If it's knocking and pinging that bad, you've got serious issues. The smell of fuel tells me that you have a dead cylinder or two (no spark or compression). How many miles are on this rig exactly?