My 2002 ford explorer acts like it wants to die until I pop the hood open and open the air filter case.
Asked by miguelramirez5 Sep 07, 2013 at 07:45 AM about the 2002 Ford Explorer XLS 4WD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
11 Answers
What does your air filter look like? May be as simple as a new one
But when you open the filter can you may be disconnecting the MAF, and don't run it without the filter. Do you have a CEL on?
miguelramirez5 answered 11 years ago
Some time I just have to pot the hood open and it quits acting up on me.
Thia is a new one. Have to do some research. It's stock? Anything that the hood pushes on when shut? Point being if there is something on the engine/air filter case higher than stock?
miguelramirez5 answered 11 years ago
I look and it looks like there is nothing too high above that might actually move wen the hood closes to slow the air flow. Wen I open the hood it takes about half a minute to a hole minute to stop. It does it worst wen its hot and humid. But as soon as I pop the hood open and open the air filter case it stops or if I leave the hood open long enough it will quit too. I'm stomped and I also sprayed the hole engine compartment whit carburetor cleaner and it did not stall whit the fumes. I did that to look for a vacuum leak.
It seems obvious there is a restriction somewhere preventing air from getting into the engine for combustion. Try cleaning the throttle body and make certain nothing got sucked up into inlet leading from the air filter to the engine. Just last week in inadvertently locked the keys inside the car with the engine running after changing the oil. I was able to kill the engine by removing the filter cover and spreading an open hand and fingers over box shape cover of the filter. One question. Is the engine overheating?
If your filter is good, try this. Open the case and remove the filter. Inspect the inside and make certain leaves and other debris has not collected in the bottom or obstructing the inlets designed to allow air to enter.
Also, Make sure there is no crud blocking air from passing over the radiator from the front of the vehicle. When cleaning the vehicle, always hose off the radiator/condenser to remove debris that always collects there.
