Intermittent Stalling

[metalphysical]

About six months ago, I bought an '88 Taurus with a 3.0L engine and about 150,000 miles on it. The car had been parked for 3 years, but after replacing the battery and brake shoes, plus tune up, the car seemed to run fine. . . for a couple of days when it began stalling sometimes when I was sitting at a traffic light, or when I tried to restart it after driving somewhere. These episodes last about 5 minutes, during which time I must keep the car in park and rev up the engine until it regains power, which coincides with a lot of white smoke coming out of the back, and sometimes a flash of fire as well. The car runs great except for this problem. The fuel pump has good pressure, and I have replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the electronic fuel injectors, and checked the hoses and wires, and also added some water remover (HEAT) to the fuel tank. I am wondering if one of the sensors has gone bad, like the MAP, MAF, EGR, or the O2. Or could it be something like water in the gas tank collected from sitting for 3 years?

I would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions on troubleshooting this dilemma.

Thanks,
Linda

[FlamingTaco]

Flames shoot out the rear? That's got to be a first. You would have to be so utterly rich to get flames out the tail, it's nuts.

Check you codes for revealing information.

[metalphysical]

I really have seen short bursts of orange fire mixed in with the white smoke coming out of the tail pipe. So, that must mean it is burning too rich and you recommend checking the diagnostic codes? I have been wanting to do that, but I don't have one of those testers. I have read something about using a voltmeter, but I only own a digital clamp on UEI meter and I am not sure if that would work or not. Crud, I need to meet a mechanic. . . haha

[FlamingTaco]

Radio shack, cheap multimeter, $10.

You don't need a tester, or a multimeter. In fact, you can get away with nothing more than a paper clip. Search SHOtimes.com for the method. It works on all the OBD1 Ford cars.

White smoke=burning coolant=blownheadgasket or cracked head/block.