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Drivability problem this morning, need opinions

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#1
Hey all,

I was heading out for an errand, started the vehicle let it run a few for the RPM's to drop and when I put the vehicle in reverse the RPM's dropped and the engine started stumbling bad, the battery icon on the dash flickered, vehicle wouldn't move and I wasn't even able to turn the vehicle off. I put it back into park, opened my door and then was able to turn the engine off. "Ummmm WTF?" was going through my head so I started the car again and everything seemed normal. I reversed out my driveway and put it in drive... No throttle response, foot to the floor and nothing. The car crawls forward and at about 3 or 4mph throttle kicks in and it starts to take off. More "WTF!!" is going though my head now, I drive around the block, come to a stop and see if it happens again, sure enough no throttle response until the vehicle creeps forward then all of a sudden goes. I have a battery charger on it now to see if all of a sudden colder temps here have caused the battery to drop in voltage, I know these new vehicles are really picky about that stuff. Anyone else have thoughs?

Something else I have noticed recently is more "ticking" noise when at idle, I was standing next to the vehicle while idling the other night and it almost reminded me of an exhaust leak which I don't remember being there before. I took a short video with the engine on, hood up to grab the noise as well. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel like the ticking is more aggressive than it should be (injector noise is common, but this seems excessive). Thoughts on if this is normal and I should forget about it would be appreciated as well.

 

GearHead_1

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#2
The throttle body on the stumble? It does sound louder than just the injectors.
 

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#3
That sounds close to the cam phasor issue but that usually goes away as oil pressure builds. I know the HPFP can be noisy but that sounds really loud like valvetrain. If it is the fuel pump that could cause the hesitation. Not sure on the Explorer but on my Focus ST the pump was driven by the cam shaft. Let us know what you find out.
 

OP
boosted_st
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Thread Starter #4
Thanks guys, I have a feeling I'll be taking it in to have this checked out. I just ran my errand and after being on the battery charger the throttle seems fine again and no lack of response from a stand still.

Another odd thing that started recently is on hard acceleration there is a smell after, it reminds me of bad gas or a Cat going back, it's more of a sulfur smell. Maybe this is a contributing factor?
 

JohnE

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#5
Thanks guys, I have a feeling I'll be taking it in to have this checked out. I just ran my errand and after being on the battery charger the throttle seems fine again and no lack of response from a stand still.

Another odd thing that started recently is on hard acceleration there is a smell after, it reminds me of bad gas or a Cat going back, it's more of a sulfur smell. Maybe this is a contributing factor?
How many miles on it? After getting on it, the turbos do get hot and when new, there’s a burn-off smell but it also could be the defective weld on the exit side of the CAT. I believe there is a recall coming on this.
 

OP
boosted_st
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Thread Starter #6
How many miles on it? After getting on it, the turbos do get hot and when new, there’s a burn-off smell but it also could be the defective weld on the exit side of the CAT. I believe there is a recall coming on this.
I have just over 10000 miles at this point. Any additional info on that recall by chance?
 

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