2001 Explorer running lean

[djschick88]

My buddys explorer started acting up and when he brought it to a mechanic he said it was running lean. The mechanic said the intake was proubably cracked.

I am wondering what i can do to eigther confirm or deny the mechanics diognosis.

Any help is help so please if you have any ideas let me know.
Thanks

 

[Big Jim M]

My buddys explorer started acting up and when he brought it to a mechanic he said it was running lean. The mechanic said the intake was proubably cracked.

I am wondering what i can do to eigther confirm or deny the mechanics diognosis.

Any help is help so please if you have any ideas let me know.
Thanks

You can get a can of carb cleaner and while it is running spray the carb cleaner all around the intake to see if it sucks in the carb cleaner... If it DOES the engine will rev a bit. Also you could use a propane cannister instead of the carb cleaner. Doing this also will isolate the crack where it will be easier to find.
If the crack is easy to get to, a JB weld repair works well in lots of cases.
Big Jim

 

[Earl43P]

I can help you with that, if it's an intake seal leak.
That SOHC intake is pretty slick.

The new seals were pretty cheap, <$30 IIRC.

Mine were so bad, I literally could alter the sound of the vaccum sucking by putting my body wight on top of the intake and rocking front to back. Anyway, it isn't a hard job, just back- breaking. Once you have all the intake bolts out (some are pretty well hidden) it comes right off. This is a good time to REPLACE THE THERMOSTAT, even if it has no issues. See why? I thought so.

Anyway, the thing I did was clean all the carbon/crud traces off the aluminum mating surfaces for the lower seals. I think I finished it with 400 grit. You'll see what I mean. That's where my leak was. I used those small tabs to hold the new seals onto the inlet and lowered it carefully back in place. Once it's lined up, lift it slightly and shine a light to inspect the seals, then bolt it up like you would "torque a head", alternating tightness.

Consider servicing the PCV at the rear of that work area (you'll be moving its hoses to put the intake back on).

I've been searching for a link on replacing those gaskets, to no avail. It wasn't hard tho', just too much bending over for my back.

 

[djschick88]

hey thanks for the help i took everything off today and looked around and didnt find anything wrong. I cleaned a little gunk and put it all together and its all good. But thanks again!

 

[djschick88]

hey thanks for the help i took everything off today and looked around and didnt find anything wrong. I cleaned a little gunk and put it all together and its all good. But thanks again!