Help with Explorer dying on me...

[fcat]

I have a 1999 ford Explorer limited 5.0 V8 with 75,000 miles.

Its been looked after, oil changed, transmission flushed, rear axle oil etc etc regular.

I got it 5,000 miles ago and have driven without a single hiccup. The temp gauge since i got it would raise to normal then drop down all of a sudden, its done this since i got it.

Today i had the AC on and it started to splutter at the lights, total loss of power and felt like it was running on 2 cylinders! Engine making a clunking noise, i managed to drive it into a parking lot and it sat idling at 200rpm as though it was going to stall but didn't, it was really lumpy on idle, was clunking and making a noise and just barely firing.
I turned off the engine, turned off the AC and let it sit for no more than 5 minutes, turned it back on and she drove the 4 miles home without a single hiccup or splutter!

Any ideas ?

Anyone know of a decent mechanic/garage in Northern Virginia/DC ?

 

[Bobmbx]

First, clean your IAC (Idle Air Controller) valve. 99 out of a hundred times its the cause of those symptoms.

See this thread.

 

[fcat]

I cleaned it out last night, wasnt too dirty at all though. Tricks been fine, but it was fine after the "incident" yesterday too.

OVerdrive light came on today and started flashing but went off, trans is shifting fine, gonna cal in Autozone and see fif they can read the trans code tomorrow but the problem i hadnt didnt seem like a trans problem, im thinking its just a coincidence that the O/D light came one today.