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Old 05-20-2018, 07:05 PM   #31
65val
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

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Originally Posted by 12Ounce View Post
Wow, you are covering the bases!

Its a bit of bother, but could you do a compression test with the throttle plate blocked open while testing each and all cylinders?
Yes...I'm trying to cover as many bases as I can. Yes, I may have to do that, as I'm running out of ideas of things to check!
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...and by the way, I REALLY appreciate all the help you guys are providing and sticking with me through this "ordeal"!!!
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Old 05-21-2018, 09:06 AM   #32
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

....tried disconnecting and blocking tubing feeding brake booster? CAREFUL ... Brakes won't work during test very well!
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Old 05-21-2018, 11:19 AM   #33
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

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....tried disconnecting and blocking tubing feeding brake booster? CAREFUL ... Brakes won't work during test very well!
Tried that on all the vacuum fittings on the intake...still no change. I don't have to drive the van to make it miss...it'll do it in neutral (Park) in the driveway.
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Old 05-21-2018, 12:58 PM   #34
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Have you tried pulling each spark cable, installing temporary plug in the loose cable ... grounding plug so it will fire, running engine. Doing this all round the engine ... you may discover which plug/cylinder is misfiring. Then you can focus on that cylinder. You may have a new, but bad, plug.
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Old 05-22-2018, 08:34 AM   #35
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

....How about take one new, out of the box, plug....and go around the engine replacing each plug until you discover (perhaps) a faulty one. Use anti-seize paste on the threads and be sure not to exceed 100 INCH-LBS. (Less than 10 ft-lbs.) I have seen so many plugs and cylinder heads damaged by too much torque. It doesn't take very much torque to stretch a plug's base, separating the metal from the insulating porcelain ... creating a high voltage leak.
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Old 05-24-2018, 09:17 AM   #36
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

You can also pull the injector plug from the injectors to disable cylinders, which is often easier than pulling spark plugs, especially on this vehicle. Also, you may want to check injector resistance. It should be ~12 ohms.
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Old 05-24-2018, 10:24 AM   #37
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

I was wondering this just yesterday. Can I pull the electrical wire from each injector with the engine running to gauge any difference in RPM? If there's a cylinder with no change, that would be the faulty cylinder?
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Old 05-24-2018, 10:27 AM   #38
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Yes, I agree w Tomj: disconnecting the injectors should lead to similar results.
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Old 05-24-2018, 10:31 AM   #39
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

... and we haven't talked much about injectors, or at least I haven't. They can also lead to skipping ... especially if they don't seal shut properly. I haven't experience a lot of injector issues .... but whenever I do work on the top end of an engine, I usually remove, test, clean each injector as part of the procedure.
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Old 05-29-2018, 03:42 PM   #40
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Well, we now have a new problem...a bit more major than a small miss....I have trans fluid leaking out of the bellhousing. When accelerating from a stop light today, I felt this gigantic shudder, stepped off the gas, shudder quit, then I easily accelerated again and the van drove OK. When I get home, within 10 minutes, I have a nice size puddle of trans fluid under the van. Drove it up on the ramps, and see the fluid leaking out of the bellhousing area. So this is a bit more of a problem than the miss. Am I in for a new trans, or can the seal just be replaced? Like I say, I drove the van home(about20 miles) after the shudder occurred, and it drove up onto my repair ramps, so I'm hoping the actual transmission is still OK.
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Old 05-29-2018, 07:18 PM   #41
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Dang! I don't have a ton of experience with this transaxle. I know its huge and unwieldy. I would be inclined to visit a tranny shop for their assessment. I replaced my failing one with a Ford Reman, that was years back. Dropped the sub-frame to the ground. (Knock on wood!) ... have been lucky ever since.

Good luck!
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Old 06-01-2018, 05:44 PM   #42
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

So here's my experience in a situation like yours...

I've twice had transmission fluid pouring out of the joint between the engine and transmission housing, "bell housing" area.

The first time was after a major failure of the original transmission. I had it replaced with a used transmission and within 6 months I had this problem ~100 miles from home while climbing a big hill. The leak was only evident after driving a good distance. I say that, but I didn't really test it, just that after it was towed home I could make short drives around town without any additional leaking. I had the transmission rebuilt at a local shop.

I had issues before and after this whole experience with "shuddering" of the transmission during highway cruising. The shuddering was momentary, and came from engagement of the torque converter clutch. When I was working with the rebuilder to resolve this problem, at one of my visits he told me that my torque converter housing was cracked.

Later I rebuild the transmission and everything was fine for several years until...

Last summer, once again I was climbing a big hill, and transmission fluid was pouring out of the bell housing area, and it continued as long as the car was running, even after cooling off. This time the seal (that I had put in myself) had backed out of the housing.

So, you could have a badly cracked torque converter housing that's leaking, a bad seal, or a seal that has pushed out of the housing. Unfortunately the real pain won't be known without separating the transmission from the engine and getting it out to take a look.

I think the shudder should also be addressed... maybe that points to something like a cracked torque converter.
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Old 06-28-2018, 12:17 AM   #43
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Sorry for the late reply, but,well, I solved the problem(s)...sort of....I ended up selling the van as the fixes are getting a bit too involved and expensive for me at the moment. I wish I could have kept going so that maybe someone else could benefit from the info in this thread.

I really appreciate you guys hangin' with me as far as I took it...12Ounce, tomj76, Mustang Driver, etc., you have my utmost respect for your knowledge of these vans and your willingness to help other owners.

Take good care all!
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Old 06-28-2018, 11:28 AM   #44
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Re: Slight miss at idle...'99 Windy 3.8L

Your Welcome, i just hope that if i need assistance that someone maybe able to help me as well. i did manage to figure out what the issue was for my escape and after laying on my back for the better part of 2 hours,getting the WRONG parts and having to purchase new ones and having issues with my wrist to the point where i could no longer grip a wrench, it seems that the oil pressure switch that ford put in the most annoying place BEHIND the a/c compressor and they only give you enough room to fit a ratchet wrench on it but i did use a normal wrench on it and was only able to turn it a 1/16 of a turn..... i was thinking that i should have installed a makeshift relocation kit so it was easier to get at the next time if i need to put a pressure gauge on it. but yes these new vehicles are a little more of a challenge to diagnose especially when they cram as much into so little space, so that you need to remove quite a portion to get at the simplest things (spark plugs windstar needs the upper intake and wiper cowl and motor to get the rears)
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