Weird...several lil' things...

[ignorantmonkey]

I drove it for about an hour...stopped at a restaurant and then turn it on to leave, placed the gear in reverse and then it accelerated a lot in reverse on its own, so I applied the brakes and these were hard and not as before...After that happened it drove fine...of course with the usual hesitations from time to time to drive on first gear; seems like it struggles to run on first gear, and then after five or eight lengthy seconds it resumes normal...of course having the drivers behind use their horns thinking WTF?.... Another thing: Over the six or eight stops I had that night, on all of these when I turned the ignition it started and then turned off after 2 seconds, so in all of these six or eight ignitions the truck started on after the second ignition attempt... Then the following day it turned back as before: Starting on the first attempt...So many little details, so far on my 2002 Expo which I am owning for the second month. Any ideas?...suggestions? Thanks!

 

[ELVATO]

When's the last time you replaced the fuel filter? It could be dirty, not letting the engine get enough gas?

Also how many miles do you have?

 

[ignorantmonkey]

I purchased the car 2 months ago... Seller in Tijuana did all the oil changes, etc... but the car shows 65K miles, which being 2002 is just enough to suspect some maneuvering taking place. Truck had a CA salvage title and imported into Mexico, fixed the area it was hit on the accident with previous owner, and painted. Then I went last month into the Calexico, CA Ford dealer and they run the full report saying the truck actually has 112K...well, you probably know how things in Mexico are, but no worries: The truck is beautiful and runs more than great. I have not done anything more to it than adding gas (from the US). But what is making me worry is all I wrote before; all of these strange hesitations that show up most days (specially when the car is not fully warm)...when I drive it one or two blocks for a stop sign and then I hit the accelerator to have it hesitate or struggling to run properly, which usually lasts 3 to 5 or so seconds to resume normal driving. What it happened that night on the US side was that starting issue done probably seven or eight times; to disappear the next day. So I will try to change the gas filter hoping that gets to solve the issue and will report back here for you to know. Thanks.

 

[seeker]

just a couple of things you might try:

Seafoam the engine.
clean the MAF sensor.
clean the throttle body.

and yes do the fuel filter too.

 

[ignorantmonkey]

Hello....Thanks for your help...I'll do that on my next paycheck...Just this afternoon I turned it on...again...again..and again...until the seventh time it was able to start... This is the first time it happens so far...Having to start it that many times got into my nerves, but once it started it never struggled no more same night....Also....What means by SEAFOAM the engine?...Also, where is the MAF sensor?