JStrider

93 ford explorer
4.0l v6 engine
4 wheel drive

ok anyways took it to the shop for the state inspection and an oil change...
he showed me some stuff and had some recomendations...

he pulled out the airfilter showed me how it was all brown and full of the lubbock dust... ok i can understand that needing changing...

he said if i didnt know when the last time the fuel filter was changed i should change it just cuz of the cars mileage...

then he pulled the plastic tube away from the top of the engine and stuck his fingers thru the butterfly valve there and they came out all black and he said there was all kinds of carbon built up there and that they had some 3 chemical system that could clean the fuel system right up... i think that was $40...

so my main question was about doing the fuel system cleaning thing... can i do that myself with a bottle of the fuel injector cleaner from walmart... or is their system worth the $40


and for the fuel filter... i looked in the chiltons guide and it seemed like somethin i could do myself... lemme know if this sounds right..
1 trip the inertia fuel pump shutoff switch
2 let car run till it stops
3 pull the lil pin things holding the fuel filter in place
4 disconnect old fuel filter
5 reconnect new filter make sure arrow is pointing the same way as on the old one
6 put in new pin things to hold the filter in place
7 reset inerita switch
Done...
does that sound right?

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KrazyKracka

Yes that sounds right. You can clean out the carbon yourself by getting a heavy duty carbon cleaner, available at most good parts stores. I think Auto Zone may even carry it. I believe the type of cleaner your shop is referring to actually is put in through a vacuum line, which in turn goes through the intake manifold and removes carbon deposits. You can do this yourself, but $40 is not an unreasonable cost (my shop charges about that much to do it). I have used it on vehicles I have owned and noted better performance. Hope that helps you out.


Edit: the wal-mart fuel injector cleaner that goes in the gas tank will clean your fuel injectors, after you go through about 6 tanks of gas each with a bottle of cleaner. It won't clean to the extent of the cleaner that the shop is recommending (if it's the same type of cleaning we do). If all they are doing actually IS putting in injector cleaner, then I would say no and go buy about 6 bottles of stuff from wal-mart and do it yourself, putting one in on an empty tank, and then filling up.

MSD

Stuff you buy at Walmart isn't going to do as much as what the guy offered. The difference, however, may not be much. What the guy offered isn't going to do as much as taking off the throttle body and cleaning it properly.

The fuel filter on Ford cars is really easy to replace. I did it with the front wheels on a pair of ramps at 10PM on the street on my mom's Lincoln. I used my bare hands.

In retrospect, I would have gotten less gasoline in my eyes if I had used safety glasses

KrazyKracka

Very true. I forgot to mention that as well. That's the REAL way to get rid of carbon. Do you have any part throttle hesitation or does the pedal "stick" a little bit when you first press on the gas after a stop?

JStrider

i havnt noticed any hesitation or sticking...

is taking the throttle body off something i can do with a pretty minimal amount of tools? ive got a set of sockets and a handful of other tools...
i do have a 3 day weekend and no real plans...

*runs off to look thru the chiltons guide*


after lookin at the chiltons guide

removing the throttle body doesnt look very hard... looks like taking out the injectors to clean them would be a lot more involved...

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DEI37

You wouldn't need to remove the injectors to clean them. Good in-tank fuel injector cleaner will be sufficient there. However, it is something that needs to be done on a regular basis, otherwise, you'll not be removing injectors to clean them, but, rather to replace them, and that's spendy.

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KrazyKracka

Removing the throttle body isn't difficult to clean it. If you DO go this route, then be sure you buy a gasket (or gasket set if applicable) for when you put it back together, otherwise you can have a vacuum leak at the seating surface, which will cause a lean condition in the engine, which will cause problems in the future. You can get some good carbon removing cleaner and go to it. Heavy carbon deposits in the throttle body will eventually cause part throttle hesitation and a "sticky" gas pedal, which is one of the reasons I asked if you had any of those symptoms.

Scorps

I change my spark plug's wires cap and rotor by myself, I also change my fuel filter every 2 or 3 years and all my vacuum lines every 4 or so years


the Fuel filter is easy to change on 350 Chevy's, mine is in the front but sense the engine is in a 82 Full Size van I have to lay on the damn engine to reach the front.....to bad I can't reach anything from under the hood!....damn cab overs, thats why i hope to be getting my loan soon and get that 92 Lexus

JStrider: If you do the air filter and fuel filter you will save yourself some money but I thing when it come to cleaning your throttle body I would get them to do that, all you really got is a tooth brush they got a air pressure clean system!(well the garage I worked at had one)

JStrider

ok so i did the air filter... that was way easy...

got the fuel filter... got the bracket off after struggling with it for a lil while... some other bolt was in the way of it coming off easily...
then got the brackets that are supposed to hold the filter on off... and pulled... and pulled some more... and pulled even more... then got my buddy to come pull on it... and he pulled and we couldnt get the damn fuel line to come off the filter...

it looks like the lines should just pull off... but they wont... the filter spins pretty easily... anyways i took some pictures of the connections... maybe theres some trick to it that im not seeing...

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laconic1

There is a special tool to release the clips that hold that fuel filter in place. Ill try to find a pic of the tool when I get home. It's a cheap tool, but I'm drawing a blank on what it is called.

JStrider

... so theres a special tool... well... i guess its good the autozone isnt very far away... i can ride my bike there...BOOOO

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j8ear

It's called a fuel line disconnect tool and it costs under 5 bucks at napa or autozone.

Here are some photos of some sets I found through google:

http://www.mytoolstore.com/astro/asthan13.html

Essentially the tool goes between the connection of the two hoses and releases them. It is a high pressure connection, that's why it's such a PITA to disconnect.

Good luck,

-bear

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JStrider

ok well i went to autozone... and the guy started laughing right away and said he knew what a pain in the ass it was and they had some lil plastic things that ya stick around the tube and then pushed it into the disconnect... looks like this http://www.etoolcart.com/ProductImag.../OTC7361-L.gif

so got it off and dumped gas all over myself and then got the new one in and clipped in place... took a bit to get the car started again... had to pump the gas a lil bit the first time... but now its starting fine....

after draining the fuel filter i blew through it... there was quite a bit of resistance... (read on the web that if theres any resistance its clogged) so it was prolly good i changed it....

after doin it im glad i did it instead of payin the people at the shop to do it...


lol my RA just came in and was asking me why it smelled like gas and said i cant have a gas can in here... i showed him the mixture of dirt and gas on my back from the puddle

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MSD

Problems is a bit non-specific. You'll have problems like your engine blowing up or holes being blown in the pistons.