P0171/0174 post recall

[mark_gober]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for opinions. I've got a 2000 Windstar that had already had the recall done it prior to me owning it. I didn't know this and about 6 months ago, I purchased/installed the kit to fix it. (so it's doubly fixed, I guess you could say).

The car has 150k miles on it and it began stumbling about 8 months ago (hence the installation of the recall). When I got into the engine, four of the spark plugs were crusted over to the point of nearly bridging the gap. I put new ones in and it ran fine.

Recently the car began a VERY slight stumble at freeway speeds and assuming that I had fouled some more spark plugs, I bought new ones and changed them out. This time, 5 of the 6 looked great, but the front-middle plug had a decent amount of crust on the electrode.

Here's the problem that I'm having now. The engine seems to idle pretty smoothly, but left alone, it'll abrubtly die in about 1-2 minutes. It immediately starts right back up and if left alone, will abrubtly die in another 1-2 minutes. It will not die when the throttle is used or when going down the road. The check engine light came on and it reads a 0171/0174 combination.

The employee at autozone thinks it's a bad MAF sensor. I climbed in the hood and checked for any sort of disconnected vaccuum tubes or other things out of place and didn't see anything. Anybody think that a MAF sensor would cause this problem? Got any other ideas?

Mark

[phil-l]

Well, let's start at the simplest point first. Whenever I hear "Windstar idle problem", I automatically ask "Did you clean the IAC?"

It's easy and quick to do, so I'd eliminate it as a concern before moving on. Here's the info you want:

http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar02.html

I'll also note the a recurring 0171/0174 after the isolator bolt seal fix is often a sign of a vacuum leak. Are you sure all manifold tubes are properly connected?

[mark_gober]

Originally Posted by phil-l

Well, let's start at the simplest point first. Whenever I hear "Windstar idle problem", I automatically ask "Did you clean the IAC?"

It's easy and quick to do, so I'd eliminate it as a concern before moving on. Here's the info you want:

http://leckemby.net/windstar/windstar02.html

I'll also note the a recurring 0171/0174 after the isolator bolt seal fix is often a sign of a vacuum leak. Are you sure all manifold tubes are properly connected?

Phil,

Thanks for the input. I've had issues with an IAC before. But that typically manifests itself during cold starts. My car starts fine and will idle for perhaps a minute or two before it abruptly dies. Also, I don't remember my IAC throwing a code. (Maybe it did, I just don't remember it doing it.)

In regards to the manifold tubes, I installed that recall at least 6 months ago and I've not had ANY problems since. This just came up suddenly.

Mark

[mark_gober]

Problem Fixed.

I borrowed my brother's 2003 MAF sensor and started the engine. It ran for about 2 minutes and died again. Aggravated, I took the snorkel assy. back out and immediately found my problem. Just on the back side of the butterfly assy, there is a large vacuum hose that leads to the firewall. I had accidentally knocked it off the nipple when I changed the spark plugs. As soon as I reconnected it and the MAF, the engine started right up and runs like new again. I've cleared the codes and it's still good. Thanks for your input.

Mark

[phil-l]

Mark -

Good news!

You aren't the first Windstar owner who completed the isolator bolt fix - and then later had a loose vacuum hose cause problems.