03 windstar stalls going up hills ????????

[gregguy64]

Hi, like the title says, motor stalls going up long or steep hills. It will sometimes die on level grade at hwy speeds. it has also stalled coming off a red light. Starts and idles fine. City driving isn't bad, but hwy seems worse. More load=more stalls. driving 150 km north yesterday, van stalled 15-20 times. its killing my starter. Was driving at 100-120 kmh. Van also feels somewhat sluggish at times. sometimes motor will buck or cough and if release gas quickly it won't stall. engine light is on but for codes 171,174 which I don't think applies here. Fuel filter was totally plugged up and replaced. plugs, wires,, cap, rotor pvc, filters etc. replaced. stalling is getting worse. Cash is tight at the moment, so will try cheap fixes 1st. Any help would be gratefully appreciated. thx. cheers.

[12Ounce]

The other posters will follow with advice of all kinds of gasoline additives. Use them by all means, ... the manufacturers of this fish-oil need the money!

The stopped-up filter is the big clue. You have added, through no fault of your own perhaps, some trash to the tank. It may have been done in one filling at a particular station ... or it may have happened over time.

Now you can expect the in-line filter did not catch all the trash. There is also some trapped on the inlet screen, on the in-tank pump. There is also some trapped on the inlet screens at each injector: these small filters protect the injector body from receiving too much abrasive trash. The trash that passed through the pump surely did some damage to the pump, but the pump may still be usable.

I would not .... but now you can dump in "some injector cleaner" ... that will help more abrasive trash enter the pump and enter the injector bodies. It will do damage, but it might make things seem better for the short-term.

I would remove the in-tank pump and inspect/replace the screen ... maybe the pump. After that I would remove each injector and clean the inlet by blasting the inlet screen, sideways, with brake cleaner.

But that's just me.... with my 400k mile '99.