French horn under hood

The Show
1

Don’t they have Explorers in Boston? This is a common problem with the Idle Air Control valve. Cleaning the valve has some success, but most have to replace the valve for about $70. As far as the hose falling off, there is a possibility at this age of a rubber cap falling off on the vacuum tree or the hose to the vacuum modulator on the transmission. If any hoses on the tree are oily, the modulator is leaking.

2

Don’t they have Explorers in Boston? 

I would not want to drive one in Boston.
3

Back with slightly modified name after about a years absence when they changed the board. Never could get signed in with the old name although it is listed in the mid twenties of people without a life.

4

This sounds like the “moosing” problem. The “moosing” sound has often been said to sound like a fog horn rather than a french horn. This issue has been discussed in the Ford Explorer forum:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136952

My 1995 Ford Contour also had this problem which turned out to be a design problem. The fix was to install a redesigned idle air hose. The new hose has a resonator attached:

http://www.woodfam.com/ryan/svt/moose_fix.html

-R.

5

While I didn’t hear the very start of the call, I did hear ‘French horn’ and cold start.

I’ve had a similar problem which I traced to the thermostat. As it began to open, an oscillation occurred that made quite a loud sound just like the one the caller described.

Hope this helps, although the earlier response re: Idle Air Control Valve seems to be a known problem for this (Explorer) vehicle.
Al76