94 Taurus Wagon GL Stalling

[C3_Stingray]

I have a 94 Taurus Wagon GL that runs really good and strong, but when it is a hot day and I keep stopping at lights or in stop and go traffic the car stalls and shuts off. The engine temp gauge stays in the normal operating range when this happens, but the engine is really hot to touch and you can fell the heat without even touching it. If I let the car sit for a couple of minutes it will start just fine and drive great again. Some of the recent stuff I replaced are:

PCV
Fuel filter- Car accelerates better after that one.
Air filter
and an oil/filter change
I have a new distibutor cap and rotor but I didnt put them in yet.

The cars engine is a V6 3.8. I dont use the AC because it doesnt work, so I dont think thats making it stall.

[carduck123]

just throwing it out there but those 3.8L were known to need head gaskets.... i have had three similar cars and all of them needed it.

[shorod]

If you haven't replaced the fuel pump recently, you're probably about due for that. I'd be a bit surprised of a weak fuel pump would cause stalling, but would account for needing to sit for a few minutes before a restart.

-Rod

[C3_Stingray]

Thanks for the replys

Originally Posted by carduck123

just throwing it out there but those 3.8L were known to need head gaskets.... i have had three similar cars and all of them needed it.

I had a head gasket blowout on me a couple months ago while I was driving. I had it replaced by a mechanic so I don't know, maybe the second one is starting to go. I guess I can do a compresion test.

Originally Posted by shorod

If you haven't replaced the fuel pump recently, you're probably about due for that. I'd be a bit surprised of a weak fuel pump would cause stalling, but would account for needing to sit for a few minutes before a restart.

The car will start back up after it stalls, but then just stalls out again after a couple seconds, so I just let it sit for a about 10 minutes then it runs fine. Could this still be the fuel pump? When I replaced the fuel filter it hadn't been replaced in a while,and when I dumped the gas that was in the filter into a clear container there was alot of what looked to be black dirt. So could this all be some sort of fuel system problem when the weather gets hot?