Stutters and stalls when put into Drive

[barenfang]

Ok guys, I am really lost on this one.

My Ex starts up fine and idles fine. Once I put it into drive it stutters and then stalls. I crank it again and it will start up, stutter for a second, and then idle fine. I then move into drive again and it is fine.

It only happens when the Ex sits for a period time such as overnight or while I am at work. It is a 2000 Explorer XLS 4WD auto with a 4.0L OHV and 142,000 miles. Any thoughts on what could be going wrong?

 

[barenfang]

potential fix

Since no one had responded I went ahead and did further research within the forum. I found a thread where someone had a similar problem, but not quite. From this thread I tried a few things to resolve my issue.

1. Clean the IAC valve. Since the valve basically controls the idle the thought here is the the valve could be dirty and causing the stuttering and stalling when placed into drive.

2. Clean the MAF sensor. I usually do this periodically anyway and since it was a suggested fix I went ahead and cleaned it.

3. While I was there I cleaned my K&N air filter. I have had it on the truck for about 9 months so it was probably due.

So far the stuttering and stalling has not appeared. It has only been a few days so I will post back in a few weeks to let everyone know if this fixed the issue.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

Since no one had responded I went ahead and did further research within the forum. I found a thread where someone had a similar problem, but not quite. From this thread I tried a few things to resolve my issue.

1. Clean the IAC valve. Since the valve basically controls the idle the thought here is the the valve could be dirty and causing the stuttering and stalling when placed into drive.

2. Clean the MAF sensor. I usually do this periodically anyway and since it was a suggested fix I went ahead and cleaned it.

3. While I was there I cleaned my K&N air filter. I have had it on the truck for about 9 months so it was probably due.

So far the stuttering and stalling has not appeared. It has only been a few days so I will post back in a few weeks to let everyone know if this fixed the issue.

If by cleaned your filter you also mean re-oiled it remember to clean your MAF again soon. Re-oiling filters almost always ends up with oil getting on the MAF.

 

[ranger7ltr]

I would look at changing the fuel filter and checking fuel pressure...Actually I would check the fuel pressure first then change the fuel filter if it has been more than a year or 15000 miles since it was changed...

I would also look at the PCM to see if there are any pending codes listed...Stored codes would show by the CEL coming on...But pending codes happen intermittently and then "fix" themselves so the code is not stored...

 

[barenfang]

Stutter fix

ugexe - You are correct. The oil from the filter can get on the MAF. I plan on re-cleaning on my next oil change.

ranger7ltr - I replaced the fuel filter about 3 months ago, which is about 5,000 miles ago. I ordered a fuel pressure guage about a week ago and will test the pressure once it arrives. Also I did check the codes, but nothing came up when it stuttered and stalled. Kind of weird. I would have thought something would have shown up.

However, so far so good. I will keep the forum up to date on the progress. Hopefully, the little bit of cleaning I did fixed the issue.