[searcherrr]

I got the van back today after nearly a month.

Total damage was: $1086. YEAP.... again $1086.

Apparently the exhaust caused them all sorts of trouble and he said he didn't want me to think they were mad or something, but that normally he wouldn't have taken the work but because it was me and all that I've been through with them in the past few months he did. He said the person that did the welds before him really caused him all sorts of trouble and the Ypipe was extremely difficult to deal with alone as stainless is really hard for his machine to deal with and he went through about 7 blades trying to get it right.

I am petitioning Magnaflow for labor reimbursement which is $510 of that bill and the cost of the pipe $269. If not I've already told'em I'll file a small claims court suit on next Monday the 23rd. We'll see what the email says in the morning.

Now for what you've all been waiting for. The answer is NO. While the van runs smoothly and seems to me to accelerate much easier/smoother the problem of the "almost stall" still occurs after the NEW RADIATOR FANS turn off. It comes back up to idle speed, and then tries to do it again. These hiccups never amount to an actual "stall", but they do bother me and I thought that it was related to the poor MPG. At least the exhaust leaks are gone and its quieter, though of course not as quiet as stock but its well within tolerance. The leaking compressor was replaced too.

So we have things FIXED and a new set of fans I apparently didn't need, but the "almost stall" thingy is still there and as far as the poor MPG goes I have no idea and neither do they. All they keep repeating to me is that the engine is TIGHT and new and that I need to put some mileage on it. He says that he's had Ford engines all his life and he's known them to do what mine is doing. I know my old engine did it too, but it was "ever so slightly so" and something I always kinda ignored.

I have decided that the best fix for this at this point is to just leave the A/C on as much as possible thereby the fans will always run. I've thought about replacing the alternator, but after all the money I've spent at this point I really would like to see it truly go bad before I do.

Selectron and whoever else - If you have any simple methods of testing (or refer me to a previous post in this thread if you've already written it) that I could try to isolate this issue let me know, but if the methods aren't fairly simple then I'm probably gonna leave this alone for a while till I put at least 500 miles on the thing. After all this crap I still have to change the oil after 500 miles too.

Thinking with bare parts logic the only items remaining that haven't been replaced are:
All sensors besides the: TRS, VSS, DPFE and AFM (MAS or MAF)
Alternator
Coils
Fuel Pump
Fuel Pump Regulator

I think sometime soon I'm gonna order a Fuel Pump adapter so I can test fuel pressure & the FPR just cause I'm curious, but not because I really think that may be the problem. Though there are signs/descriptions from other non-Windstar forums that it could be the FPR. It just baffles me that they wouldn't even want to look into the fuel system, but I should trust their experiences right?

I believe he didn't look into the "near stall" (bad MPG related I believe it to be) thing further because he didn't want to charge me any more money. He spent 6 hours on the exhaust and it was probably more than he said.


I thank you all for your suggestions, help and just for trying.