1997 Ford Explorer Repair Question
Ford Explorer Smoke Problem
Asked by (pending member)Answer
I've fixed many of these on a Ford and they are nearly ALWAYS a vacuum leak. Have it smoke tested if you have to but you are going to find a rather large leak, most likely on a rubber elbow connector.
It was smoke tested. There are no vacuum leaks.
Not sure why my original post says pending member, but the original question post and the response are both me. I thought there would be a leak at the intake manifold that we couldn't visually see or an exhaust leak somewhere. That is why I had him smoke check the vacuum system. No leaks anywhere. That is why I am stumped. I do not know what else it could be.
I think I would want to check it again. I've just seen it too many times. Also look for any air leaks in the intake snorkel between the MAF and the throttle body.
I will have it checked again by a different place. I think I may have found what it is. I am going to replace it later today to see. I forget what it is called, but it is a y kinda shaped elbow that is $384 dollars for just the rubber elbow thing through Ford. You can't get it anywhere else except a junk yard. I managed to get 2 for $20 dollars from a junk yard when I noticed it was ripped right after I got my truck. If it doesn't fix the issue, could it possibly have anything to do with the injectors? I do not want to add anything to the system for fear of what happened to my last car. I was told Seafoam was a good cleaner and ended up with a blown engine from it.
If that is a vacuum elbow, it's exactly what I was talking about. I don't understand the price though. Those vacuum assemblies are usually much cheaper.
It goes to 3 different lines, one of which is a capped off pipe that runs along side the motor, one of the other lines goes to the air cleaner box and the other I can't remember where it goes maybe the intake itself. Give me a minute, I will go pull it off and run the part number and tell you exactly what it is. It is an air intake something or another.
It is an Air Inlet hose. The price is because nobody but Ford makes them.
I do not think that is the issue now. It isn't ripped all the way through. it has a minor crack on the outside, but doesn't go all the way through. It is also on the end so the line that goes to the air box sits inside and covers where it will be ripped in the future anyway. Not sure what is happening now.
I looked at everything. Still going to have it smoke tested again, but I have a crazy question. My Explorer is a Florida truck. Has always been in the warm climate up until 2 months ago when we moved to New Hampshire. Since we have been here and I have had to park on an incline, this issue has been happening. I have parked on a flat street a few times and didn't have this issue when I started my truck. It seems to be happening ONLY on cold starts that I am parked on an incline. This morning, I started it on the incline and then backed it up onto flat surface. While on the incline it ran like it normally does at start up, rough and have to give it gas or it will stall. The second I got on the flat surface, the idle evened out and ran perfect. I have tried this a few times, and each time got the same results. Could the fact that I park uphill have something to do with anything?