HELP! Car is stalling out!

[ADonato]

I have had my 03 Explorer XLT for 8 months now. 4 months ago I began having problems with my car stalling. It began to happen maybe once a day or so for a few days and then progressed to occurring numerous times daily and eventually occurred everytime I drove. It would occur when I would begin to press the brakes and the RPMs would lower. The RPMS would get below 1,000 and drop to zero until the car would jerk slightly and the RPMs would jump to 600-800. This would repeat 2, 3, sometimes 4 times before the car would stall and the dash lights would light up. I took it to a shop that I trust where I was told my Idle Valve was bad and I had it replaced. The car has worked great for the past 4 months until the past few days. The car has stalled out 2 times in the past 2 days. The first time (2 days ago) it jerked very hard 3 times as the RPMs jumped from 400 or so to 1,000 and back. Does anyone have any idea what is going on with my car or has anyone else had this issue with their explorer?? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Dylansav]

The first thing i would do if i were you would be to call the mechanic and ask him if he would review his work and make sure nothing went wrong with the idle valve-if he's a respectable mechanic he will look at it and tell you whats up

If that passes and the Idle valve is ok, check all the filters (fuel and air), the plugs, pcv valve..etc. Get the basic maintenance out of the way. Those can all contribute to a rough idle.

Is this happening only when you are stopped or does it happen when you are giving it gas?

 

[aldive]

Sure sounds like the IAC is failing again.

Good luck ....

 

[TrevoJreal429]

I second the IAC, same thing happened to me, ran fine after I cleaned the IAC real good.

 

[aldive]

Cleaning the IAC has never worked for me for very long. Its definitely worth a try though.

Good luck ....

 

[ADonato]

So what do u recommend I do? By IAC do you mean the Idle Valve? How can I clean the IAC?

 

[aldive]

So what do u recommend I do? By IAC do you mean the Idle Valve? How can I clean the IAC?

IAC is the Idle Air Control valve.

To clean it, take a look at http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84220

 

[TrevoJreal429]

Cleaning the IAC has never worked for me for very long. Its definitely worth a try though.

Good luck ....

It was about a year ago when my truck started to stall everytime I took my foot off the gas pedal.
I havent had any problems with it since I cleaned it.
I clean the IAC and my MAF now about every other month.