Won't stay running after heavy snow

[branfarm]

Bear with me here, I have a weird one for ya...

So over Christmas I had an odd problem where my Explorer wouldn't stay running after it sat overnight. It would start without problem, but as soon as I took my foot off the gas the engine would die. I tried starting and revving it for a minute but it still died right after removing my foot from the gas. I was finally able to get it to stay after I started it, just kept my foot on the gas, shifted into gear, and drove off. By the time I got to the stoplight about 1/4 mile away, the car seemed good to go. It happened once, on a morning after a heavy snow.

The same thing happened just the other day, but because I was parked headfirst I couldn't just put it in gear and drive off. The only connection I can see was that both instances occurred after a heavy snow. Not only a heavy snow, but heavy moisture full snow.

Any ideas on what the problem could be? I've got an '99 XLT w/145K miles.

Thanks in advance

 

[levishake]

most likely your Idle control motor is bad, seen cases like this many times and it was the IAC

 

[slpdave]

I have cleaned my Idle Air Control Valve (IAC) many times. This year it quit working, the IAC tests O.K. but if you search "00M12 recall" I bet you will find that many people (myself included) have this issue now.

David

 

[Blee1099]

Check to see if your MAS sensor is dirty or maybe clogged.. Verify that the power connection to it is still in pllace and has a good connection.