2001 Windstar Rough Idle / Misfire

[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!

[jayjp200]

Mine is a 98 and there was a change made after 1999, however this may help you.

Check the 2 IMRC bellows on the left side of engine behind alternator.

Two things to look for there

1. leaking vaccum on bellow (Remove vaccum line hold the bellow line opening with finger and try to move the butterfly - you will feel resistance if bellow is good and no resistance if there is a leak) and
2. the plastic bushing with link which connect the IMRC bellows to the butterfly.

If this things above is fine than it can be the blocked EGR ports under the Intake manifold.

Thank you.
Jay

[wiswind]

The autozone person who said it was oxygen sensors or EGR valve was wrong......almost never is the misfire problem caused by 1 of those items.

One thing that is common is clogged EGR ports.
To determine if a misfire is caused by a EGR issue (EGR valve itself rarely fails on the windstar) do the following TEMPORARY test.
Remove and plug the small vaccum line that goes to the top of the EGR valve.
Drive the vehicle........does the problem go away?......
If the problem goes away, then the problem is EGR related, with the EGR ports a likely cause......or the DPFE which senses EGR flow.
If the problem does not go away, then the problem is NOT caused by the EGR system.
Do NOT forget to reconnect the vaccum line to the EGR valve.
This test should cause the CEL to come on and set a code for lack of EGR flow.......because you have disabled the EGR valve from opening at all.

Vaccum leaks are a VERY common cause of problems on the windstar.
Check all the vaccum lines that you can find.....including the one going to the PCV valve.
The upper intake bolts mentioned in the TSB post at the top of the windstar room mention that the bolts that hold the upper intake manifold (black) to the lower intake manifold (alluminum) should have green bushings on them.
To see them, you have to remove the top cover part of the upper intake manifold.

Another very common cause of the problem that you are having is a defective coil pack.
If you have replaced the spark plug wires, then you know where it is.
The coil pack contains 3 coils encased in epoxy.
The epoxy develops cracks through which the high voltage arcs.

[bpopilek]

Well today we found that part of the problem was a vacuum leak on the back of the motor. One of the lines came loose. At first we thought the problem was solved when the van drove great. At least for a little bit. Then it decided to start stalling out randomly. The check engine light came back on and I had a misfire on cyl 1 again, and and EGR code. I checked the TSB at the top of the forums as suggested, so this prompted me to remove the intake. Sure enough, the bolts and gaskets in there are the stock ones. I checked the local auto parts stores and they all carry a kit (Valve cover, gaskets, bolts, pcv, fuel pressure sensor, etc...) for $98 to fix the TSB. Unfortunately the closest store with one in stock was an hour away. So for the time being I have it torn down and I ordered one and will be picking it up in the morning. I'll post my results later. Thanks for the help!

[Brandynr]

I'd also clean out the EGR ports while you're in there. I had very similar issues (check engine light, cyl 5 misfire) which was cleared up when I cleaned the mostly blocked EGR ports.

[bpopilek]

Ok so I got the kit the other night and did the TSB posted in the forums. It seemed to do the trick and the van was running great for less than a day. It then started having hesitation while driving down the road, but not at idle or park. Then today it started acting like it was previously. So tonight I ripped the entire top of the motor off, including the actual aluminum intake. I'm having it professionally cleaned tomorrow morning and I'm picking up a gasket set. Before I put it all back together this time, is there anything else I need to look at while I have it torn down? This is getting old and I'm tired of wasting time and money on it! Hehe... Thanks!

[bpopilek]

Ok as a final follow up to this nightmare, I have the van running perfectly now. After pulling the aluminum intake off and having it all cleaned very well, I put everything back together. I did find a small coolant leak on the old intake gasket, so it was worth tearing it all down and getting it done right. In the process, the DPFE broke, so that got replaced along with the EGR valve, thermostat, all plugs and wires, front valve cover, upper intake gaskets, & front vacuum lines.

However, once I got it all back together it still was running horribly. I discovered that while my EGR error code was gone, I was now still getting a cylinder 1 misfire code and the engine light was flashing. This turned out to be a bad coil pack that was only affecting cylinder 1. Once that was swapped out, it finally was purring like a kitten and had tons of power!

I do have one last question though if anyone can point me in the right direction. During my test drive I noticed that the heat was only blowing out of the defrost vents by the windshield. No matter where I set the switch, it will not change the output vents. Is it possible I loosed a vacuum line under the hood that controls this or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks for all the earlier tips!

[bpopilek]

I actually just found this in another post.

"As a side note, where the air goes inside the van, Defrost, Vent or Floor is driven by vaccum from the intake manifold.
With NO vaccum to the deflectors, all the air will go to the defrost position."

So I will give that a shot.

[wiswind]

It sounds exactly like a disconnected vaccum line.....considering all the work that you have done.

When the lower intake (alluminum part) is removed, replacing the motor oil and filter is MANDITORY as there is no way to do that without getting coolant into the oil.
No matter how much you work at draining the coolant, there will still be some up there that will drain down into the crankcase.

One thing that is good to replace when you have the upper intake manifold off is the crossover pipe for the coolant.

Stalling........when you have your foot off of the accellerator is often caused by a sticking Idle Air Control Valve (IAC)......removal and spraying it out with something like Seafoam Deep Creep or even WD-40 would be the first thing that I would try for that.

Installing a new thermostat while you were right there was a very good idea.

Hopefully, your windstar will give you no problems for quite some time......as you have given it LOTS of TLC.

[bpopilek]

Thanks for the tips. I did a complete oil/filter change before firing it back up. Luckily it was due for one anyways. I did not replace the coolant tube though. It did get a new o-ring seal, and it was in very good shape, so I'm not too worried about that particular part failing anytime soon. As for the IAC valve, I already had that inspected previously and it is functioning correctly. Once I can get back to it later today, I'll fix the vacuum line for the heater and it should be ready for a lot more miles I hope!

[azharj]

Dear All members,
I have 2000 windstar. Had no problems till last years. A few days back driving after 250 KM in hot day it started missing failed to accelerate CEL on for 20 KM. Then drove well for an othe 100 KM. Ford dealer changed feul filter then feul pump a little improvement but not complete. At night when cold, performance is excellent. Yesterday stalled at red light. Then satarted, moved a little but stalled again. After two to three times start and stall it became great but CEL on. Dealer told me it is IAC valve, new not avalilbe so cleaned with WD-40. I noticed that the rpm fall to 550-600 from 750 for 1-2 seconds when I start A/C or put the winny in D mode. Is the fall in the RPM is normalz?
Best regards
AzharJ

[olopezm]

Originally Posted by azharj

Dear All members,
I have 2000 windstar. Had no problems till last years. A few days back driving after 250 KM in hot day it started missing failed to accelerate CEL on for 20 KM. Then drove well for an othe 100 KM. Ford dealer changed feul filter then feul pump a little improvement but not complete. At night when cold, performance is excellent. Yesterday stalled at red light. Then satarted, moved a little but stalled again. After two to three times start and stall it became great but CEL on. Dealer told me it is IAC valve, new not avalilbe so cleaned with WD-40. I noticed that the rpm fall to 550-600 from 750 for 1-2 seconds when I start A/C or put the winny in D mode. Is the fall in the RPM is normalz?
Best regards
AzharJ

Best thing would be to scan it first and see why is the CEL on.

Inspect the coil pack (at the back of the engine) and see if it has any cracks on the back of it (you will have to remove it first) if it does, means it is arching to ground causing the problems you had.

Do you feel your windstar shaking when you stop at a street light?. That could also indicate bad spark plugs and spark plug wires; if those have not been serviced in a long time it would be a good idea to replace them.

Regards,

Oscar.

[azharj]

Dear Olopezm,
Thanks for kind advice. All this happened three days back. In fact I do not remember cauz it happened only twice or thrice and I could drive to the dealer. But most probably it did not shake. I told you that the dealer suggested me to change the Idle Air Controle which was not available. I cleaned it with WD-40. I was driving with on CEL for two days with only occasional jerks (3-4 Per day). Dealer was waiting for IAC to reset the computor. Today strangly the CEL light autmatcally was off. I changed plugs 12000 KM or 12 months back and I will change them in next week. I have changed Air filter about one month back, the gear oil and filter today (after 12 month). I got scaned the gear it was OK. I want to know why it is jerking for 2- 4 time in a day while at start, during accelerating and during constant speed.
Best regards
AzharJ

[olopezm]

You're very welcome my friend!

If the dealer told you the problem was the IAC then that would be the first thing to check, you say you already ordered it; when the valve is dirty can stick and not propperly open or close according to the PCM commands. Cleaning it would get rid of all the dirt and make it move freely again. The light turned off because (in case CEL was pointing towards a IAC problem) the IAC works normally again and the air is being regulated properly.

IT IS RECOMMENDED that after you make any repairs in the engine compartment you should disconnect the negative battery terminal for 30 minutes in order for the PCM to erase the previous "performance" values and re-learn them again with the new components.

The plugs still have a low mileage, if they are in a good condition when you take them out (meaning they don't have any oil or carbon deposits, broken electrodes, etc.) you can just make sure they are correctly gapped and re-install them again. If you still want to replace them I've read in the forum that is best to use double platinum spark plugs.

Greetings,

Oscar.

[olopezm]

I forgot to ask How long since you last replaced the spark plug wires?

If it's been a long time it would be a good idea to get a new set of wires. You can test them by using a spray bottle, put some water in it and spray along the spark plug wires, if one of them is shorting you should see sparks coming coming out; this test works best when done at night.

Oscar.