Intermittant engine stall?

[JPFREEK]

well, here is the issue, and I thank anyone who could shed some light on this.

We (My wife and I) recently acquired a 1995 XLT Explorer from her parents. It has 165,000 on it, but most of that was freeway miles. It has been meticulously maintained and serviced regularly since they purchased it new. (I've been told by my friends they couldn't believe it was a '95 on how clean in an out it was)..

Point is, this vehicle hasn't been neglected or abused.. if something broke or was acting funny on it, it was taken care of..

On the night we picked it up, her dad told me that he had the engine stall on him a couple times. It was so intermittent and he couldn't reproduce the problem at a mechanic's so he never got it fixed. He said that it only happened to him a few times in the last 4 years of daily driving. The times he said the engine died on him, he was running around town and was either at an idle or low speed. He also mentioned that it doesn't start back up right away.. He had to let it sit for a few minutes and then it cranked right over on the first try.

(the idle rpm does dip very slightly once in a while in idle.. not sure if that's normal or not.. my Jeep does it too, so I dunno). The engine never sounds like it's going to stall when idling though..

Yesterday I was coming home from work in the morning (foggy morning. about 45f degrees) and I was on the Freeway doing about 70mph(110-ish kmh). I was going up a slight hill and all of a sudden the engine dies. I pull over to a safe spot on the side of the road and attempt to start the engine. It just turns, but doesn't start.. I attempted this a couple times.. looked over the battery gauge, etc.. after a few minutes pass of me leaving it be, (I remembered what her father said), I tried starting it again with no issues. First turn of the key.

So, i'm really not sure what the issue is. It's not battery/alternator related for sure. I'm thinking something with the spark plugs/coil?

I drove it today for work and the morning weather was similar when I came home from work.. and the rig started and drove fine all the way home.

I had a few mechanic friends tell me to check the distributor cap for moisture.. heck, I even looked at the troubleshooting section on my haynes/chilton manual and it also mentioned a possible distributor cap problem..

The only problem with that theory is that I don't have a distributor cap.. lol

So, any direction you can give me would be good... since I'm not sure the last tune up was done, I was planning on replacing the plugs/wires/air filter/pcv valve anyway.

I appreciate the help!

 

[cjones101812]

when it won't start, check for spark.

so you get a tach signal when it won't start??

 

[JPFREEK]

when it won't start, check for spark.

so you get a tach signal when it won't start??

Forgive my noobness.. but how would I check for a tach signal? is that the gauge test where the needle on the tach moves when you first turn the key to the on position?

 

[JPFREEK]

Well, you guys mentioned a possible problem with getting spark, so I checked the ignition coil's resistance as per the haynes/chilton's manual I have.

The primary resistance looked good. It measured .9 ohms across all 3 terminals on the plug. (acceptable measurement was between .3-1.0 ohms).

However, when testing the secondary resistance, all three coil packs measured 13.4k ohms. (acceptable measurement is between 6.5k-11.5k ohms)..

crap.. so, looks like I'm out to buy a new coil.. hope that solves the issue..

Anyone have any input on the coil situation?

thx

 

[JPFREEK]

So, yesterday I replaced the ignition coil, spark plugs/wires, PCV valve, and air filter.

I'm hoping it solves the issues.. I can say it seems to be running smoother..

Also, I have to say that replacing the plugs/wires was the most impossible thing ever.. Why the hell did they have to make it so difficult? A little bit more room to maneuver would have been nice.... Had to remove both front wheels/mud guard from inner fender, removed air tube, upper radiator hose, a few vacuum lines from drivers side of engine..

ugh.. next time plugs/wires need to be changed out, I'll hire someone..

but hey... it's done.. onto the next project.. (leaky windshield!)