96 3.8na enigne issues

[DiamondWulf]

Hey, I have a 1996 Mercury Cougar with a 3.8 na, auto tranny and 111,000 miles.... I just replaced the TPS thinking my problem was that.....as I am driving down the road my car sometimes wants to lose power and stall. the last couple of days it has gotten much worse where it will stall at an idle at a stop light.....

The fuel filter is recently replaced. the alt is a year old, and plugs and wires a year as well....I haven't taken it to a shop to have it diagnosed since I don't have the 95 per hour to pay for it.....

Mainly it only wants to lose power while the cooling fan is on...but sometimes when its not on it will act up....

[KimMG]

Take it to someplace like autozone and see if there are any trouble codes stored in the computer.

[DiamondWulf]

already did that and it threw code p1443=evaporative emission control system control valve. and the local ford dealer can't tell me what valve that code is for. but since the code was read and then deleted the car has ran pretty good, except for the issue with the idle fluctuating(sp?) when the cooling fan comes on. its like the fan motor is draining all the power in the system and causing the IAC to close....

I just want the car to run like it should and not want to stall when the cooling fan is running....

[reekor]

The next time the car acts up, remove the gas cap and see if you hear a sucking sound.

Originally Posted by DiamondWulf

already did that and it threw code p1443=evaporative emission control system control valve. and the local ford dealer can't tell me what valve that code is for. but since the code was read and then deleted the car has ran pretty good, except for the issue with the idle fluctuating(sp?) when the cooling fan comes on. its like the fan motor is draining all the power in the system and causing the IAC to close....

I just want the car to run like it should and not want to stall when the cooling fan is running....

[manuelram16]

Have you cleaned your MAF ?

[DiamondWulf]

I clean the MAF every month, the car only acts up when my cooling fan is running.....

[manuelram16]

My 97 burned the Cooling fan motor at about 120,000 miles, it's possible that your's is about to go out and it's drawing more amps, I think it cost me 50 bucks and an hour to replace it..

[DiamondWulf]

Did your 97 have an issue with the idle cavatating up and down?

[manuelram16]

Sorry no, I believed I traced that code 1443 to a purge valve on top of the fuel evaporative canister in front of the car

[DiamondWulf]

Well I have been having the same code pop up everynow and then.....So I will look into it....How does one go about getting to the evap can?

[manuelram16]

The canister is behind the RH headlight down toward the bumper, I checked mine and is hard to get to it from the top, from under the car I think you may be able to remove the valve and check it (follow plastic pipe/wires)

[manuelram16]

*NEW* looking from the top look for the square 4 bolt patern of the center of the intake manifold, just behind it theres a short piece of vacum pipe with a 90 degree elbow, on the end theres a 1/4" vacum line about 20" long, check & replace if necessary.

[manuelram16]

*UPDATE* We'll I finally got code 443 & 1443 on my Cougar, I had already replaced the vacum line that goes from the engine manifold to the vapor canister.
So I pulled the vapor canister purge valve & vacum sensor from under the RH headlight, they are joined by a "U" shaped plastic line
I checked the purge valve (the one with a rubber casing) with 12v on the contacs and valve made no sound it didn't open either so it's gotta be burned.
Replaced said valve and installed everything back ( hard to do from under the bumper) code cleared after a couple days.