My 1991 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Ed. stalls when it is idol. Cn someone please help?

[linsker]

Hi,
My explorer runs fine however sometimes it will pudder and stall when Im stopped at a light or stop sign unless I shift it in to neutral or accelerate when I feel it stalling. It wont do it everytime but it happens frequently. Can someone let me know what this problem is, and aproximately how expensive it will be to fix? Thank you very much!
-Michael

[alphalanos]

sounds like your idle speed might need to be raised. also could be a problem with vacuum. Pick up a Haynes manual and go through the troubleshooting. You could also get it scanned for any codes at Autozone, etc.

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Before replacing the Idle Air Control (IAC) servo or altering the idle speed screw, remove the throttle body air inlet hose and open the throttle plate fully. Inspect the backside of the throttle plate and throttle body housing for carbon build up. If there is a lot of carbon in there, pick up some STP throttle body cleaner and let it go to work on the carbon. Depending on how dirty it is, you may need as much as 3 cans to get it clean.

Also while you have the cleaner out, remove the IAC and clean out the passages in the throttle body for that as well.

If it takes a lot of spray cleaner, you will want to remove the spark plugs, place rags in the spark plug wells, and crank the engine over for a few seconds with the spark disabled to purge the cleaner from the cylinders.

When you put the air inlet hose back on the throttle body, make sure all the joints are snug, not just the ones that you removed, but all on the air intake hose. If there is any unmetered air entering the throttle body, it can cause what you describe. Unmetered air would be air that enters after the Mass AirFlow (MAF) sensor.

If all this checks out or makes no difference, you may want to consider measuring the coolant temperature sensor (not sender) to make sure it is in the proper range. This is more if you live in a colder climate, or one that got colder around the time this stalling started.

When you shift to neutral, does the engine seem to idle smoothly?

-Rod