[bpopilek]

My fiance had an '01 Windstar that we have been fighting with for the past year or so. It started off with a check engine light, but it seemed to run ok for the most part.

The local auto parts store read the codes and basically told me it was either an EGR valve issue, or an O2 sensor. However, they could not tell me which O2 sensor it could be. I spent the end of last Fall replacing all 4 of the O2 sensors, but the check engine light remained. With a shortage of warm weather and money, we held off doing anything else because for the most part it ran ok.

Fast forward to today. When she went to leave work this morning it had a whole new set of problems. Very rough idle, backfiring, and other noises coming from the engine. I read the codes in the vehicle and had a cylinder 1 misfire, 2 lean codes, and an EGR valve code. Since we had a lovely day outside I started back in where I left off last Fall.

I replaced the EGR valve, that didn't seem to do much except get rid of the backfiring. I then replaced all the of the cheap Champion spark plugs with new Autolite double platinum ones. The old ones were pretty corroded. I also replaced the spark plug wires with a new set of Autolite branded ones. While it seems to run better now while driving down the road, it still is randomly sputtering and almost stalling out while at idle sitting in park. When I put it into gear, the vehicle kind of lurches as I let off the brakes in both drive and reverse.

I called a friend who is a GM mechanic and he suggested that possibly the fuel pump was failing or I had a bad fuel filter. I bought a new Purolator fuel filter and installed it. With the old filter off, I had her turn the key to run to see how much gas I was getting out of the open line. It instantly sprayed a large amount of gas, so I believe the pump is ok. The old filter was pretty plugged and I could hardly blow any air through it. I can always rent a fuel pressure gauge if need be.

Unfortunately it is still running horribly. I took it for a 15 minute drive, trying to see if I could get any error codes, but no such luck. About 20 minutes after my fiance left to head home, she called to say the check engine light is back on now, so I'll have to read the codes later tonight or tomorrow.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to look next? I almost want to say I can possibly hear a vacuum leak, but not 100% sure. It has always sounded that way from day 1, but now I am starting to wonder. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!