[phil-l]

It's interesting that you're having this problem now; I just had a very similar problem with our '00 Windstar, which is my wife's daily driver.

One cylinder on the van started missing badly. I was short on time - and I don't have an OBDII code reader. I also didn't want to risk damage by driving the van in that state to our local Autozone, who will read codes for free. So I guessed. I knew the plugs and wires were due for replacement - and the coil pack is a common failure item on older Windstars (ours is at 170K miles), so I replaced all of those items (during the cold snap - my garage was about 25 degrees!). Annoyingly, the miss was still there.

At that point, I gave up and took it to the local dealer (Note: I know there are lots of dealer service horror stories out there. My dealer isn't cheap - but I've used them a few times, and they do good work). They did a diagnostic test (note that they knew I had just replaced wires/plugs/coil pack), and their test came up with a bad fuel injector on cylinder #5. I had them replace the fuel injector, the fuel filter - and I paid for their "fuel injector cleaning service." Yes, I know: It's just a spiffy way to run solvent through the system. The service advisor did not recommend replacing all of the injectors.

The total bill was just a touch over $600. The new injector alone was $130-ish at dealer pricing. So far, the van is running fine. Qualifier on the previous statement: We just picked it up last night.

Note that I have done most of the maintenance on the van during its life. I don't like lit "check engine lights", so I've dealt with the infamous intake manifold isolator bolt issue, and have replaced several DPFE sensors over the years - and the engine has done pretty well. I still have the original TPS and IAC - but I know to periodically remove the IAC and clean it. I've cleaned the MAF before (as a maintenance item, on the advice of others on this forum), but have never had real problems with it.

So - given my very recent experience - I'm suspicious of a failing injector on your van. I wonder if there's some reason injector #5 is prone to failure on Windstars (for those who don't know: #5 is the front-and-center cylinder). I can imagine an injector that fails intermittently (perhaps something inconsistently clogging the injector mechanism?)