Had trouble starting the 5.0 in the 73 the other day for the first time in 12 years.Pull the codes,checked vac. lines with no issues.Have not driven her much in last 18 months,just run in place.Stuck a hose down filler neck and sniffed fuel.Smelled like a junkyard gas tank!Guess sta-bil additive does not work well with new fuels! Anyone else have fuel issues with long time storage?Drained the tank(14 gal) and dumped 5 gal fresh in. running better but still not right,think crap fuel killed my O2 sensors..Going to try lucas fuel additive. So I made a smoke machine to check for vac. leaks.Found major leak IAB gasket which may be idle issues. These smokers are cheap and easy to make.You can find vids on utube.Should had one these years ago.
They do make a Sta-bil for ethanol fuels, and a lot of the boat guys use Star-tron instead, also for ethanol. Try using 93 octane fuel for storage, the 87 doesn't last maybe 1/4 of the length of time 93 does.
Thanks Phil,Ill look into star-tron additive.Put a shot of lucas in both rancheros since I already bought it.Here is link to DIY smoker.
Smoke machines work beautifully for EFI engines. Used one to find an under-intake runner gasket leak on a Ford 3.8L. Big enough to throw the computer into conniptions.
After further diagnosis the fuel pressure regulator failed and was dumping fuel in intake manifold when pump was on.Also one of manifold port plugs crumbled when i touched it,another vac leak.Going to change out injectors with better 4.6 units while I got it apart.Hopefully the 5.0 will happy again...
Look for the slim injectors in light orange on the Explorer 5.0 engines, the early ones still have the older Bosch connector so you don't have to modify your engine harness to accommodate the newer injector connector design. The last three digits of the Bosch part number on the side are '710.'
Due to illness I wasn't able to start my motorcycle occasionally as it sits for long periods of time. The carb was gumming up before the illness so I knew I would have to go thru that if nothing else. When I finally got around to it the gas turned stale and had rust in the tank. Pulled the tank and filled it with vinager, then let it sit a week. Got rid of the rust but some of the sealer came off also. Picked up a tank sealing kit from KSB and put their cleaning solvent in it for a couple days. Worked great. The remaining sealer came off in big chunks. PITA fishing out all the chunks but the tank cleaned up good. Poured the sealer in and let it sit a few days and it looks like it's ready to go. When I get it back together I'll have to pick up some fuel stabilizer for it.
Got her back together,starts,runs and idles great!Changed oil/filter cause it smelled of fuel.Now the fuel pump is leaking fuel.Ordered a couple of Carter pumps from rock auto,couldnt afford motorcraft units.Will change 72 30 year old pump as well.Thinking gas maybe wasnt that bad,just old OE parts and lack of maintenance..
