Dear Bart,
I have a 2000 Ford Explorer that I haven't used in a few years that I want to get inspected to drive on the road. It runs great, but the "check engine" light is on and when I run the codes it's saying the left intake bank is running rich. Been this way for at least 10 years.
What should I do?
im not bart but i would clean the mass air flow sensor before replacing it. use starting fluid to clean it; it is relatively fragile so be careful with it.
no smoking/sparks or other sources of ignition in the area for a while. wait for the fumes to dissipate before starting.
starting fluid leaves no residue, unlike most everything else.
it could also be a number of other things, like a bad o2 sensor, a faulty fuel injector and so forth. seeing how its only on one bank, i tend to not think its a mass air flow sensor.it could even be something as simple as a bad spark plug or wires (if it has those). if it has coils on the plugs a bad coil is suspect, as fords are notorious for that. this gives a weak spark and usually sets a misfire code, but not always.
