Hey everyone, I recently bought a 1997 V8 Explorer AWD with 210k miles for just $10 from my neighbor. My plan was to make it my winter beater since my summer car is a vintage coupe that gets stored in the off-season.
Here’s the good part: it runs and drives, and everything works.
The bad part: there’s a misfire on cylinder 7 (P0307) and an exhaust manifold leak.
I’ve tested the coils and they’re fine, and the compression is good, so I’m thinking it’s the fuel injectors.
So my question is: Should I spend the money to fix the injectors and exhaust manifold leak, or just donate it and take the tax write-off?
Had a friend with one of these that had almost 300k miles. These things can go a long time if you take care of them.
At the end, his blend door went out, and he had no heat in the winter. I fixed it for him by cutting a hole in the airbox behind the glove box and opened it up. After that, he had heat again. If your blend door breaks, that’s a way to fix it.
My 99 is my daily driver, and I love it. I fixed a manifold leak in about an hour. The fuel injectors shouldn’t be too hard either if you have the right equipment. For $10, it’s an easy decision.
Rory said:
My 99 is my daily driver, and I love it. I fixed a manifold leak in about an hour. The fuel injectors shouldn’t be too hard either if you have the right equipment. For $10, it’s an easy decision.
I also have a 99. I’m trying to track down some vacuum leaks. Did you find the leak near where the throttle body meets the plastic intake?
@Hartley
The intake manifold gasket was the real issue for me. I replaced both the upper and lower. The throttle body to intake wasn’t as bad but still needed replacing.
If you can do the work yourself, you probably would have already. Even if you need to pay someone, it’s still a cheap winter vehicle.
Edit: If you’re sure it’s the injectors, you might want to try adding a bottle of Techron to the gas and see if it clears up. It might be varnish on the injectors.
If the compression is fine, that 5.0 engine could easily last another 100k miles. Unless there’s a problem with the transfer case or tranny, it’d be a shame to donate it.
The best thing to do with a car this old is to check the undercarriage for rust. If it’s rusting out, especially the frame, it might be better to sell and move on instead of fixing it.
If there’s no rust, it’s definitely worth replacing the injector(s) and fixing the exhaust manifold. But if you start breaking fasteners while working on the exhaust, be ready for some fun with extraction.
Just because the coil is making spark doesn’t mean the plug and wires are good. A spark problem could take out two cylinders at once, but it’s probably the injector. However, I’d still do a compression or leak-down test first to make sure there isn’t a bigger issue.
I’d also recommend putting some Techron fuel system cleaner in the gas to see if that helps, but if the misfires are too frequent, you could damage your cat, so be careful.
