99 Ford Windstar Starts Off Rough,Makes Strange Noise Sometimes Dies

[kyrra28]

I have a '99 Windstar 3.8 liter that when the engine is cool and I try and accelerate it makes whirling or squealing sound (not the sound of a slipping belt) and power will fade and sometimes the motor will die. After which when restarted, the idle will either be very fast or very slow and rough. This does not seem to occur when the motor is nice and hot.
Could this have anything to do with O2 censors or possibly a vacuum leak?

Thanks in advance.

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by kyrra28

I have a '99 Windstar 3.8 liter that when the engine is cool and I try and accelerate it makes whirling or squealing sound (not the sound of a slipping belt) and power will fade and sometimes the motor will die. After which when restarted, the idle will either be very fast or very slow and rough. This does not seem to occur when the motor is nice and hot.
Could this have anything to do with O2 censors or possibly a vacuum leak?

Thanks in advance.

Hello

One thing that I can tell you that it's not the O2's sensors. They only come into play when the engine reaches around 160 degs.

Noises are a tough one to tell even when hearing them, much less trying to discribe them in writting. Can you tell what part of the engine conpartment the noise is coming from?

Are you getting a check engine light, or service engine soon light? If you are that is the first place to check.

How long has it been doing this? Have you had any work done latley on the van? How many miles on the van? How long have you owned it? How old are the plugs and wires? What kind of millage are you getting. You should be getting 18-22 on the highway.

Does it make a diffenence if you take it easy on it and accel. slowly, or if you punch it to the floor?

I'll post some more later if I think of something.

Some thoughts from a far

Regards

Dan

[kyrra28]

Thanks for the fast response
Let's see...Where to begin...
The reason why I asked about the O2 censors is that my check engine light has been on for quite a while and the last time that I had the codes checked the codes pointed towards the censors. But it has been quite a while since I have had the codes read.
This problem has been going on about 2 weeks. As far as any engine work done lately...
Last December I had the block, intake manifold, and just about everything else that has to do with cooling system replaced. I have about 20K on the motor since the rebuild and 131K over all on the van.
The plugs and wires were replaced at the time of the rebuild.
I have owned the van for 4 1/2 years. As far as gas mileage, it seems to be getting at least the average if not a little better.
I know that sounds are really hard to describe in words...
The sound seems to be coming from the belt-side of the motor. But I can not tell exactly where...All I know is that it is not the "high-pitch" sound of a belt slipping.
The best description I can give at the moment is like having a wooden spool on a wooden dowel that is not quite the right size...The sound of the spool spinning on the dowel might be a good description of the sound being made.
What I can not figure out is why it does not do this when the motor has been running for about 15 minutes or so and is very warm.
When cold if I step on the gas it will make the strange noise and lose power and at times die. If I take it easy on the gas and do a slow acceleration...This does not seem to happen.
But as I said earlier...If the motor has run for a while and is nice and warm, I do not have this problem at all.

I'll add more if needed and if I can think of a better description...

[kyrra28]

Does Anyone Have Any Ideas?

[kyrra28]

Ok Got The Codes Read Today And Here They Are.......

PO430
PO340 Cam Sensor
PO171 Lean Bank 1
PO174 Lean Bank 2
P1309 Misfire

So Does Anyone Know What Would Be A Common Fix For These?

[wiswind]

Try taking a look at the cam sensor.....it is what is left of the old time distributor.....
There is a shaft that comes off the cam shaft....that goes up and has a sensor at the top.
The sensor is held in place by 2 small bolts......
It is located near the IMRC actuators & fuel pressure regulator.
Down in next to the metal power steering line....(on my '96).

People have posted about the connector part falling apart....and of the inner workings of the connector wearing.

Also....some have posted that they needed to get some oil down the shaft to stop noise.

I have replaced the sensor....it is easy...once you locate it.
ONLY remove the 2 small bolts on the top of the sensor.....and the electrical connection.
If you loosen the screw that is under the sensor.....the shaft may shift in position....and people have posted that they had a very tough time getting it back into the correct position.

The other codes might be relative to the camshaft sensor...the output from the camshaft position sensor is used by the PCM to determine the pulsing of the fuel injectors.

[Freakzilla69]

I had to replace my camshaft syncronizer about a year ogo, somehow it totaly destroyed the inner workings of the position sensor, I mean it pulverized it into dust. That did have a big impact on the way it ran.