98 Ford Windstar Stalls

[prickettcrew]

My 98 Windstar began stalling recently after I replaced the fuel filter. My wife got stranded when the Windstar would not start. After I towed it home I replaced the fuel filter and the van started right up. The thing runs great, it just stalls once or twice a day. It may stall just after startup or after driving for an hour. It seems to get a little worse when it gets hotter in the day. It may also occur at idle,acceleration or deceleration.

Just to give you a bit of history...


About a month before it started stalling I did receive a check engine light. I replaced the spark plugs with new split fires and the light came back on shortly after. (I disconnected the battery to clear the light.) About a week later it started the stalling thing. After I replaced the fuel filter I still had the check engine light so I took the vehicle to autozone and had the code read. They turned out a Intake manifold runner control error. I found one of the IMRC actuators bad so I replaced it. This seemed to have solved the CEL problem, but I am still dealing with the stalling problem. I went ahead and replaced another fuel filter which proved to be useless. The vehicle is currently at the Ford dealer where they seemed to be stumped as well. They have duplicated the stalling but were unable to retrieve any errors. They did say the fuel pressure was good when the van stalled. If anyone has any ideas please send me an e-mail at prickettcrew @ netzero.net.

[ModMech]

On a '98, you cannot "clear codes" by disconnecting the battery, you need a scan tool.

Your stalling, since it occurs at idle, acceleration, steady driving, and deceleration is not the Idle Air Control (the common problem with stalling at idle). You say the dealer says the fuel pressure is OK, but is it OK while DRIVING? Does the Van run well otherwise, or does it suffer from low power/bucking etc on hard acceleration?

Unfortuneately, sometimes the shop needs to "catch" it when it dies to really know what's wrong. A good first step is to monitor fuel pressure WHILE DRIVING, that will rule out a bad pump.

[prickettcrew]

Well, when I disconnected the battery for a few minutes and then reconnected, the light was gone. From what I have read about this model doing so clears the memory of the PCM.
The dealer did hook up a fuel pressure gauge and secured it to the windshield so they could monitor while driving. The pressure was still good while driving.
The van does not have low power or buck at all. I will run the motor up over 4000 RPMs during acceleration and experience no hesitation at all. I have read that a faulty coolant sensor may cause this problem, but the temp is stable when the van stalls.

[rodeo02]

Could one of the banks of secondary butterflies be sticking open? Maybe this is why one of the electric actuators burned out in the first place. I'd amagine if the long runners stayed open during normal driving, you'd get some stalling & rough idle, but then again that's almost like EGR sticking on?!?! Keep reading the code(s) in the meantime. I'd also toss the split fires. I've yet to find an application where these plugs work well.
G/luck
Joel

[ModMech]

No vehicles sold in the US after Jan. 1996 have PCMs where you can clear the codes by disconnecting the battery, and this applies to many vehicles sold in 1995 as well, and a *few* in 1994.

Your dealer is partially correct, the PCM does "reset" if you disconnect the battery for 15 minutes or longer but that only applies to "learned" values, and not to fault codes, or basic programming.

[Proudmoms]

I had the very same thing happen to me.

No problems until I had the Fuel filter replaced.

within 5 minutes after leaving Jiff* lube my car died four times.
I barely made it to the dealership where they replaced the fuel pump.

Chugging and caughing all the way.

[DRW1000]

re Disconnecting the battery.

I believe Modmech is correct that removing the battery does not clear codes but it does the following:

- clears learned values
- turns off the CEL. This is what causes everyone to believe the codes get cleared. It takes 2 or 3 drives to get the light to turn back on. I had a hard fault and everytime I disconnected the CEL went off and reappeared after a couple of trips.
I think what happens is that the code is still in memory and can be retrieved but it is similar to when the code first appears. It will not illuminate the CEL until it happens a second time. This is to eliminate glitches.
- It clears the pass codes for the built in monitor tests.

Perhaps ModMech could clarify since he seems to know a lot more than most on the codes and the clearing of them.

[DRW1000]

Back to the original poster...........

Is your CEL light on currently?

If yes...........retrieve the codes.
If no then I would suspect something (or 2 things) are on the cusp of acceptability. I think it odd that you are having these major stalling with no codes. I would suspect fuel pressure but it seems like you have ruled this out.

[SkierMech]

I was able to reset my fault code and clear the computer by disconnecting the battery.... I don't know about other year models but after disconnecting the battery it takes a certain number of start cycles to clear the code... After three days I hooked up a scan tool and the codes that I was receiving were gone.. Then I took it straignt to an inspection station for my NY insp... Where they have to hook it up to a computer that is connect to the DMV and if there are any failure codes you don't get the sticker until you get it fixed..... know after all that, the code does come back about after week and half. But atleast it passed inspection..... Thanks for letting me bend your ear.