2003 Ford Explorer died on highway
Asked by Andym97 Sep 02, 2016 at 11:23 AM about the 2003 Ford Explorer XLS V6 AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Its a 4.0, I had just filled the tank, and was driving
on the highway when it suddenly lost power. Pulled
over, started car back up and it wouldn't make it
past 2k rpm. It would bog under acceleration, I
suspected bad fuel so put dry gas in there (didn't
help) then started suspecting fuel pump. No idea
what's wrong, no bad engine sounds idles fine. Any
ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
4 Answers
How far did you drive after fueling before the problem started? Where did you buy your fuel?
Longshot, but if you ran the tank down to near empty, your fuel pump pickup (inlet filter) screen may have sucked up crud in the tank and is now blocked enough to restrict pump. I replaced my fuel pump in an 04 Expedition and couldn't believe how gunked up with crud the pump and inlet filter was. Pump itself wasn't even bad, but it was struggling to function.
Only drove about 30 min on highway after filling tank, it was at 1/4 tank before I filled it, now I hear a hissing sound coming from middle of car like between the exhaust, kinda where the oil pan is. It gets louder when I give it gas, possible vacuum leak?
You didn't fuel in or around Oklahoma City did you. There is a fuel recall in that part of the country. The fuel had way too much ethanol in it. The problem would likely have showed up sooner than 30 min. though if it had been bad fuel.
