2003 Explorer Sport stalls at idle

My 2003 Explorer Sport (6 cyl) has a rough idle and will sometimes stall at idle speed. I have replaced the fuel filter and that smoothed the idle for while, but it does still stall occasionally. I increased the idle speed up to about 600RPM. This also helped the stalling. After about a month, the idle speed decreased to about 500RPM. Also I hear a clicking noise from somewhere in the engine - it is very loud and can be heard even at highway speeds. I am thinking it is the EGR valve, but that is a pricey item and would like an opinion on this. Tnx.

I just fixed my wife's 2000 ford explorer, by checking fuel pressure found that fuel pump was dropping pressure. we had some of the same simptoms. I hope this will help.

Another item to consider is the battery. Make sure the battery voltage with the engine off is 11.8 V or higher. That could explain why the engine rpm is dropping over time.

My brother has a 2003 Explorer V8 that would stall sometimes when he pulled into parking spots (applying brakes - brake lights) and seemed to be cranking slowly. He also noticed that the engine speed was low. The information display said the charging system was fine, but he replaced the battery anyway on my advice and that so far has fixed his problem. It's only been a week though, but the engine speed is back to normal and there are no signs of stalling.

It is pretty common on the Lincoln LS for weak batteries to have quite a few electrical system quirks due to weak batteries. Seems like that trait has trickled over to other Ford products as well.

-Rod