Ford Explorer 4.6L 3v Mystery Misfire Only When Cold Fixed!

[@markk3652]

That plug you removed had traces of rust in the threads which confirms the water intrusion issue you covered. The smoothing out when the engine is warm makes sense as the over rich fuel will atomize better in the higher cylinder temperatures. I really enjoy watching your videos when there is the random oddball problem that nobody else cares to find, great work.

[@patrickursomanno8861]

Amazing. I wish more mechanics took pride like you do. Thanks for your time and dedication. Florida here !

[@billk8780]

Wow! Someone was very lucky on two counts: 1) the follower wedging where it did, and 2) bringing his vehicle to you for diagnosis & repair!

[@mikechiodetti4482]

Counterfeit part and a broken follower. As soon as you showed us the cam cover removed shot, you see the camshaft damage. Hope the vehicle is running great now. Good video Brian!

[@JimLambier]

I've got a 2010 Explorer and I'm also going through a similar problem except mine is cylinder #4. I changed the plug, the coil and the injector in hopes the cheap fast fixes would cure it. I was getting really frustrated since I'd change one part, reset the codes and it would be fine for several days and then it would pop back. The other oddity was that it only happened when my wife was using it. She tends to drive it first thing in the morning so the temperature thing makes sense. I am totally amazed that the follower could have popped out and the engine runs as well as yours does!!! I wish I had access to a scanner like yours to see that info. I'm using Forscan and I don't think it has that. I guess my next step in to pop the valve cover off and see what is going on.

[@mph5896]

Those old 3v are easy to work on. I swapped a cam/followers out in

[@johnviewer2305]

Great video Brian...experience on your part pays off again...thx...

[@jgal1231]

this guy is awesome ... ! a fine piece of work ...

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

This is a great video. I don’t own fords but the technical aspect applies to every vehicle

[@rondrew2857]

Great stuff! Also did not know that the plug would unscrew that easily!

[@miketeeveedub5779]

That cylinder head was nice and clean so it wasn't oil change interval abuse. Sadly, it was just "Built Ford Tough." Thanks for the great diagnostics video Brian! Your customers are lucky they have you in their area! BTW - don't mistake my VW avatar as a Ford Hater troll. I own a Ford Focus with the DCT and a Ford Five Hundred with the CVT. I am absolutely allowed to troll Ford HARD! That said, I love my Five Hundred - 120K and the CVT is doing fine! And the AWD is great for the 6 month hard Canadian winter. Sometime Ford does things just fine.

[@Arthur-sz7uf]

We learn something new every day! Thanks again for another informative video.!

[@billseay6399]

Well well well loving it big guy great video

[@dougjones9493]

I recall you covered this in another video water issue

[@FordTechMakuloco]

Yup

[@nowayjose596]

I have a 2000 F150 with the 4.6L and had the same thing happen where water was getting in the spark plug well and there was obvious carbon tracking on the plug causing a misfire.

[@jamesu]

Thanks Brian

[@mrbakerskatz]

Merry Christmas !

[@mikimiki195]

Brian what’s going on buddy You do t post as much You must be busy Great video as always 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@jessecamacho5797]

Very good and informative 👍 thank you!

[@sethbutterfield4628]

Great video!

[@gregsidel3557]

Thank you for the video it was great thank you for all the technical advice and showing what the differences are I wish I could bring my coyote to you and let you change out my timing chain and stuff thank you

[@TomahawkAssault]

I have a 2011 Town Car with the 2-valve 4.6L and 106k miles on it. The car is in mint condition and the engine looks to have been maintained well, but I am hearing a very, very light ticking that I cannot tell if it is just normal valvetrain noise or something I should look into. No codes or CEL and it runs smooth otherwise.

[@markk3652]

You may be hearing the injectors pulsing. An automotive stethoscope can help you find the ticking sound. Those engines are pretty robust, I had a 1995 Towncar with the same engine, and the only trouble it ever gave me was the egr passages would clog up after a year or two which would trigger the check engine light. A throttle body removal and air intake horn removal with a coat hanger to break up the carbon deposits would cure it.

[@kalei43]

What we ran into a lot was the EGR pipe in the back rotting out and causing a tic sound.

[@downhilldaddy5282]

That’s wild! I’ve never seen that.

[@a-bar-b5196]

Ford should pay you for diagnosing all their flaws!!! You need to move BSG to Montana!!

[@CStockner]

His work is worth the drive. Trust me.

[@nowayjose596]

When the engine is cold the commanded AFR is going to be richer, and in this case only 1 of the 2 intake valves was opening so less air was getting into that cylinder, resulting in an even richer mixture in that cylinder. Even then it was kind of right on the edge of causing a misfire (sometimes it would, sometimes not) so when the engine warmed up and leaned out the commanded AFR the misfire went away. That cylinder would still be running rich, just not rich enough to cause a misfire at that point. The tech at the dealership should have spent 5 minutes doing swaptronics to verify if the coil/plug was the actual cause of the misfire. With the ease of accessibility on this vehicle and Ford's integrated power balance test (which is really a real time misfire graph) there's no excuse not to.

[@CajunShrek]

Ford should've done a recall on these ... otherwise damn good workhorse of a motor .my 09 f150 at 191k been a beast and trouble free but i stay with the maintenance on schedule!

[@jdtractorman7445]

How do you actually hold the cam sprocket in position when removing the camshaft from it?

[@jeffreytodaro5269]

Great job brother, you are one of the best! I wish I could trust a mechanic I need a rear main seal on our 2011 f150 5.0 , HELP ! PLEASE

[@v8motors.]

Why would it only take out one follower/lobe? oil lube spray missing or a soft roller. Great find by the way, I guess an oil/filter change should be recommended to remove the filings caught in the oil filter.👍

[@Kro_man_tx]

My 4.6 has a hot misfire. But it has no odd noises at all. You can feel the misfire, but no check engine light, no stored codes. I will see if my scanner can get the misfire previous drive cycle info. That would be interesting. My F150 is a 2003, so I'm not sure if it will track the data the same way.

[@Jumalten001]

The Epoxy isnt "Deeper" on the "real" part as that would imply that there is more Epoxy than needed. The fake ones are deeper because its flush to the top and has more than the "real" coil.

[@rutheniumguy5686]

Wow!

[@alb12345672]

Those are actually extremely reliable.

[@CedroCron]

Could you not put a Boroscope in the cylinder that has a side-view camera on it and see if both valves come down when you turn the engine over manually?

[@UQRXD]

As you know auto manufactures put in bad or not up to spec parts during assembly. The name of the game is sell more. Also the fact dealerships would never stay in business without the repair shop. From what I have seen over the years the 3 valve engine is not as good as 2 valve. Now what about the metal that came off that cam lobe is had to pass thru the oil pump and some still in oil pan. I would get a magnetic drain plug installed after that repair. I always have one and a magnet on my filter.

[@12wingwfetech]

Andrew Camarata on his you tube channel installed spark plugs with a impact gun

[@davidparker7719]

Great vid! Quick question, just to confirm, this does NOT apply to the 3.5L Ecoboost, correct? I have cold start misfires that clear up after the engine warms up, so I'm just double-checking. Thanks for your help!

[@jasonstrout4502]

Let's go!

[@alans.7733]

How many miles were on this 4.6? Thanks Brian!

[@PeteD-jt5ir]

71298 on the scan tool.

[@rexultimus1422]

Happened to my 4.0L on cylinder 3..[water wicking from cowl onto plug]

[@Go4Corvette]

A+ Mr Ford. I prefer GM but have a 2000 Ford Econoline 4.6L 2 valve 196K still going. GM ASE Master Automotive Technician

[@budshatto3683]

Is this only an issue on the 3 valve 4.6?

[@cheapers1952]

🤔👍

[@jamesengland7461]

So are you saying it's not merely an aftermarket part, but a counterfeit Ford part?

[@HouseCallAutoRepair]

That's correct

[@jg6142]

Great Ford design 😢

[@oby-1607]

Amazing the copycat parts out there. So hard to recognize over the real items.

[@danielholter1861]

Not trying to be smart but you can usually tell by the price difference. Folks usually get them from Fleabay super cheap. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.

[@paulkrutulis9549]

​@@danielholter1861 you're not wrong. This is my vehicle, and I bought the coil pack from Amazon at roughly half the cost the dealer was charging. 4.5 stars from 93 reviews, everyone calling the part OEM. Brian did a great video on forgery parts, but I didn't listen . . .

[@mph5896]

You have to be very cautious who you buy from. Amazon directly, you have a low chance of getting a counterfeit part. Rock Auto is also a sound company to get genuine parts.

[@HouseCallAutoRepair]

I've been using universal joints on spark plugs for YEARS! Haven't broke one since.