Stalling.. :( - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

antigravity · 07-19-2002, 05:56

Hey guys,

Within the last 4 months, the car has been stalling upon startup. And although this shouldn't happen because it's an EFI Auto, I've let it pass because it doesn't stall if I keep the revs up for say 10 seconds after I start the engine.

Neway, the other day I started the car, didn't really let it warm up as I was in a hurry. I drove down a main road for almost 1km at 60km/h. I stopped at a stop sign and waited for some traffic to pass and It stalled on me. I chucked it into park, and it turned over straight away and off i went.

Why is it stalling on me? Should I replace all the sensors? Oxygen sensor, fuel sensor? MAP sensor (i don't know what this is, but my dad says that this may be the problem)

Any advice would be great!

Dave

07-19-2002, 07:40

First up check the coil. Sometimes they get a small crack and arc out.

Aussiblue · 07-19-2002, 07:42

Start with simple things as follows:

a) New air filter if the one you have now is old or looks clogged at all.
b) New fuel filter if it hasn't been replaced recently.
c) Check tightness of earth screw (rearmost closest to engine) on the distributors TFI module.
d) Check for loose/leaking vacuum hoses.
e) Clean and retighten battery connections and battery earth on engine (EEC might be relearning after each start).
f) Read the self diagnostic codes; see http://www.autoemf.com.au/ford.htm
g) Sticking throttle butterfly (espcially if you are using an after market oil filled air filter).
h) Blocked exhaust pipe or cat converter (hit a kerb and crushed it?)
i) Dirt in fuel (should see this in the old fuel filter if you replace it).
j) Dirty injectors (try adding some fuel injector cleaner to the fuel tank).
k) Moisture or corrosion in TFI plug on distributor.
l)Cracked distributor cap.
m) Failed PCV valve.
n) Leaking rocker cover oil filler cap or gasket (sucking air).
o) Fuel line leak.
p) failed fuel cap valve.

ben · 07-19-2002, 09:31

Blue although your suggestions are totally valid i think its appropriate for me to say i dont think the dizzy cap is cracked as it runs fine always after warm up, same with fuel line and battery connections, and with my experience of stalling EA's, you can put a shit air filter in a good EA and it wont start any different to normal (and good).....although your points are good to look at especially the one about the self diagnostic codes (but i should point out its the memory code he would be interested in as this will be stored in memory at the point just before the car stalls)

I think it is more than likely one of the following 3 things

1) ISC motor - not keeping the revs up and you having to prime the system until it keeps itself on its own two legs.

2) Fuel pressure

3) Sensors (but check these last, they usually dont fail fast enough to cause severe stalling at first startup.......i mean i can disconnect all my sensors except the ISC motor and it will start first time cold)

my two cents.

ben

ben · 07-19-2002, 09:34

Also im inclined to think fuel pressure because it gave up at a stop sign but started up and drove away fine. If it had great fuel pressure then the little glitch that caused the stall wouldnt have been significant (whatever the glitch may be......condensation or some of the other points you made.....not permenate ones though possibly)

i suggest first check the ISC motor, if its running well, buy a fuel filter for $25, if this isnt fixed get the pressure checked (you'll need a new filter anyway)

ben

YOOT · 07-20-2002, 02:38

My car is stalling in reverse.

I just had the head gasket done by Ford and when I got tit back, it idles funny.

Its fine when cold cause the revs are up a bit, but when you hot start it, it idels just above the bottom of the lowest graduation on the tacho (600rpm) and when the a/c ticks on it shudders before picking the revs up a tad.

When i put it in reverse at the same time (when the car is hot started) it almost stalls then revs to about 1100rpm almost stalls then runs really slowly to the point where it drops off.

it doesn't do this in drive though.

Whats doing? Is it because the ECU is reset and it takes a while for it to re learn? or is the idle screw need a turn? or did ford **** my ED?

Aussiblue · 07-20-2002, 08:04

My list was of all things that can cause and have caused cold start stalls and I admit some are less common but I can vouch for the air cleaner one as I've seen it happen on..... a 3.9 MPEFI car at least - Try living where I do at Bibra Lake where in some years the midgee problem was so bad you could clog an new air cleaner in one night (and as I observed one night overheat a Lamborghini Countach when you clog the radiators).

07-23-2002, 08:57

Don't think it would be fuel pressure as this usually only effects accelerating quickly etc.

I know this because my fuel gauge used to be very very dodgy and I had to drive the car a couple of times for about 5km's on basically petrol fumes(trust me I'm more surprised then anyone that a car can go this far on fumes), and only when you accelerated hard did the engine do bad shit(backfire, etc).

Luckily I have found and fixed the fuel gauge problem(bad contacts on fuel guage) after me and a friend were stuck out of the middle of nowhere with no petrol.

Jase_ELXR8 · 07-24-2002, 05:30

Sounds like an ISC/Idle motor problem to me. Make sure your throttle body is adjusted correctly with the isc or idle motor disconnected. If it is too low it will stall in the morning for sure. Remember the ISC only moves a preset amount on cold starts. The actual idle speed is controlled by mixtures and timing from the ecu.