HELP!! Engine Stalls Out At Traffic Light!

[Jmanosane]

Hi there I am new to this whole forum thing. I really need help with my 2001 Explorer Sport. Recently in the past month my explorer would stall out at a stop happen 5 or more times now. It seems to run fine but sometimes when i do a complete stop at a red light the engine dies and I have to put it in park and restart it. I am a newbie so I have no idea where to start. I also noticed that the engine seems to want to die at idling. The engine seems to rev up and than its starts to go quiet and than revs up again and go quiet. I don't have much miles on it and when I took it to the ford dealership they said it could be many things and estimated that it would cost 2000 to repair. I am a college student and don't have this kind of money. So any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[section525]

Welcome! First thing I would do is clean or replace your IAC valve. You can do a search and find instructions on cleaning it. But in my professional medical opinion, it's an IAC problem. Good luck!

 

[Opera House]

If it doesn't seem to want to die in park, that $2,000 may be for a transmission rebuild. Your converter may be locking up at idle. Possibly you could get away with a valve body rebuild for about $800. Your options are very limited if you don't want to get dirty.

 

[marragtop]

Have you had the engine condes pulled to see if they reveal anything? Most Autozones will pull the codes for free. Get the codes and post them on this forum.

 

[section525]

Mine idles fine in park (and 80% of the time). But when it does stall it's always when I am shifting into R or D. It always idles fine in Park 99%. And I'm pretty sure I just need one of those IAC spacer plates. Know anything about those, Opera? I know a lot of Mustang guys use them after installing a cam but I have no idea what they do or how they work.

 

[Jmanosane]

THanks alot guys!

I am all new to this so I am going to go to auto zone and see if they can pull the codes for me and than go and clean the iac. As for idling at parking it does the same thing engine goes real quiet and wants to turn off. Thanks guys will post my results when i get this all done BTW its an SOHC or something engine I think

 

[Jmanosane]

Ok I went to Autozone to see if they can pull the codes and turns out they said that they stopped doing this now. Something about a lawsuit in california that sued them for giving these free diagnosis and running mom and pop diagnosis shop out of business. Well didn't get a chance to clean tha IAC cuz it go dark out. But i finally found what engine it is its a 4.0 L V6 SOHC EFI. THe guy at the autozone said my stalling could be due to some fuel problems. He suggested getting some fuel system cleaner. Is that a good idea to dump stuff into my fuel tank. Also he said something about changing the fuel filter. Also more info on my problem. I idle about 800 rpm at a stop and park its constant but the engine gets quiet and wants to die. Talk to the Ford Dealer guy again today and he said its gonna cost me more to get it fix. Asking about 2500 now. He said he "THINKS" the problem might be with the intake manifold gasket leaking but if this is the case would my coolant be leaking cuz I have no coolant leak anywhere. Than he went on and said he needs to replace all my tubing and seals plus a fuel induction cleaning needs to be done. In addition he said my idle timing chain might need to be replaced. I understand that I might need to do all this if I had an old explorer but mine isn't all that old its 2001 sport with about 50000 miles and I've got all my maintence done since I got it. He kind of sound fishy to me cuz he said I need to get it done or I won't pass smog or something. Well any help is aprreciated THanks

 

[Opera House]

Everything he said could be possibly true. I just bought another make vehicle rather than get an Explorer with a SOHC engine. The engine does have to be pulled out of the vehicle to replace the rear chain. Still, it seems he doesn't have any better idea of what the problem is than you do. If this is a consistant problem it shouldn't be that hard to diagnose. You shouldn't have to randomly do repairs in order to solve a problem. Find another mechanic or at least pay someone to diagnose the problem. Knowledge isn't a requirement for a service manager.

 

[Jmanosane]

Ok Finally cleaned the iac. My idling got better but still feel like its gonna die. I am gonna try to clean the MAS and change the fuel filters this week. Also replaced my air filter, changed the oil, and oil filter. Should i use a fuel cleaner too? thanks

 

[roba226]

try taking the vacume hose of the fuel pressure regulator and see if there is any gas in the vacume line. if there is replace the regulator

 

[Opera House]

This year doesn't have a fuel pressure regulator per se. This is a returnless fuel system. You need to talk about your symptoms more. Does it get better after the engine warms up? This engine is also known to have lower intake manifold gaskets that leak and cause erratic idle. You are entering "desperation mode" where you keep trying things and throwing money at it instead of thinking out the problem. You want someone to tell yo "It's always this" and that is not realistic. There are not enough clues to solve this problem yet. Give more detail.

 

[TPLYNCH]

How many miles on the truck. The intake manifold O-Rings were bad on the SOHC engines and Ford extended the warranty to 72K. Search for 00M12 and 01M01 for more info. Your truck may be covered (depending on the build date), so the $ that the dealer is talking may not apply. There is also a thread with pics detailing how to replace the o-rings yourself if it is not covered. The part kit from Ford is < $100.

 

[Aquinoheat]

Hey man your situation happend to me exactly how you tell it..I printed up the 00m12 description and told them I wanted that done. If its under 60,000 miles it should be covered..i could be wrong but it may have rose to 100,000 miles. But its a ONP (owners notification program) and they should do it for free. I got mine done for free and now theres no idle problem, and no cold start problem.

 

[z13]

I wonder how this turned out??

I am going to clean my IAC tomorrow and a replacement (Motorcraft) is on the way.

 

[410Fortune]

I dunno but a 2007 mounty is a wee bit different then a 01 sport..........just a little bit

If I have a Ford that dies at the light and constantly needs re start, I would first check fuel rail pressure when hot

 

[z13]

I dunno but a 2007 mounty is a wee bit different then a 01 sport..........just a little bit

If I have a Ford that dies at the light and constantly needs re start, I would first check fuel rail pressure when hot

Yep, no option to clean the IAC, it's built into the electric throttle body.