I know, I know, wrong make and wrong fuel, but there is such a wealth of knoweldge and experience here that I probably won't do better elsewhere. Plus I know and trust you guys! Anyway, the girlyfriend has a 2000 Ford Explorer with the 5.0L (I think) V8 engine and about 50k miles. A few days ago, it picked up a significant engine miss overnight, shortly followed by the CEL coming on. Now it can hardly get up a decent hill. I know this is not much to go on, but are there any known weak links in these things which tend to cause that? I want to be better informed when I talk with the squealership. Thanks, guys!

 

Check ignition timing....Had that happen to my buddy's '96 F150 w/ 5.0

There's also a 'spark' jumper that needs to be pulled to set the timing right. Did it once, last year.

The problem was the distributor bolt got loose.

Tony

 

Sounds like bad ignition components to me too. Might be a bad wire or two. Im not up on whether the 2000 would have a distributor or not.

 

Sometimes Fords do that right before the ignition module goes out. I'd buy a cheap code scanner and scan it before taking it to the dealer. It could be as easy as a 02 sensor or a MAP sensor... or as I already mentioned an ignition module.

 

Bet ya $5 that a coil assembly went south. They seem to be notorious for failures. I think there is even a TSB on it.