sputter problem

[bfrombeebe]

Hey guys. I have a problem and I hope someone can help.

I bought my '03 Sport Trac on July 4th with 53,000 miles. It now has 64,000 miles. Yesterday afternoon I went to start it and it started, then it sputtered and died. It did this several times. I had to push the gas to keep it running and it sputtered the whole time. I tried to rev it up and it kept sputtering and was blowing black smoke out the exhaust. I drove it to the gas station (sputtering all the way) and I put a bottle of Heet and some STP fuel injector treatment along with $5 worth of premium gas. It seemed to drive just fine on the way back. When I got there, I tried to rev it up and it revved up fine, but it won't go past 3,000 rpms when reving in park.

Any suggestions? I do have a tendecy to run the tank below 1/4 full, but there were no symptoms before this. My check engine light is not on, and it does not seem to be getting any worse gas mileage.

 

[John_Rock]

When I got there, I tried to rev it up and it revved up fine, but it won't go past 3,000 rpms when reving in park.

That's the rev limiter to keep you from blowing your engine.

But, I don't know about your sputtering problem. Bad gas???

 

[bfrombeebe]

I was hoping there was a rev limiter. I had never had a reason to rev it up before, so I wasn't sure. Do all Sport Tracs have a rev limiter?

 

[John_Rock]

I was hoping there was a rev limiter. I had never had a reason to rev it up before, so I wasn't sure. Do all Sport Tracs have a rev limiter?

Yes. Unless you chip it and remove the rev limiter.