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Question

engine lacks power


Sent to Car Experts December 21, 2005 1:47 p.m.

when engine is cold my 1993 ford aerostar will barely get out of it's own way unless i push the throttle all the way to the floor. when it warms up it is not as bad.over the road it lacks power going up hills and is using alot more gas then it did before. i have replaced the t.p.s because a code in the comp. said it was malfunc. also the coolant temp sens,oxygen sens,air charge sensor,cked m.a.f. sensor and idle air control motor. there doen't seem to be a m.a.p. sensor on the vehicle or e.g.r valve. at least i havn't found them yet. the engine is a 3.0L.

Optional Information:
1993 Ford Aerostar 3.0L

Already Tried:
alresdy explained in comments
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status: Closed   Value: $10   
Answer
December 21, 2005 3:15 p.m. (1 hour and 28 minutes later)
ACCEPTED Check Mark

Greetings!

you mention changing a lot of engine sensors, but make no mention of what any of the voltage readings from them are/ were, or what codes you may have retrieved from memory (also, knowing whether they are KOER generated or KOEO codes can be useful information).

Teh most,likely failures to produce the symptoms you describe would be a resistance fault in the coolant temperature sensor circuit, or a restricted catalytic converter.

If the CTS sensor circuit has high resistance or is shorted to ground someplace, it will result in the powertrain control module calculating spark advance and injector pulsewidth incorrectly, resulting in poor performance and lack of power.

If the exhaust system is restricted due to a degraded Catalytic converter, the engine will have no power and fuel economy will be terrible.

Use a vacuum gauge to check engine vacuum; a restricted exhaust flow will cause engine vacuum to read low (normal is around 21 in/hg at steady cruising speed); if severly restricted it will drop near zero at higher engine speeds. Also, shake the exhaust and listen for the sound of broken ceramic rattling around inside. One final test would be to loosen the exhaust pipe connections at the manifolds and test drive the vehicle to see if power is greatly increased.

I hope this is helpful; if so, an accept would be most appreciated! thanks!

PictureSteve7654  -- Auto Service Technician -- 99% Positive Feedback on 1644 Car Accepts
27 yrs ASE L1 Master Technician, Service manager

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