***SOLUTION*** rather than delete this thread I will leave it up incase anyone else has the same issue, because both times I have used this forum in the past 2 years it has saved me $$$hundreds of dollars.

I was about to go to the Ford dealership and pay for a fuel pump. I had just had the fuel filter done at one of those hole-in-the wall tire shops where no one speaks english. LOL But they always take care of you!!! Well I was frustrated that after I had done the fuel filter it was still stalling. I popped the hood and one of the mechanics came over and says "You have a vacuum leak. I can hear it. Take it home and take the engine covers off and try to find it. If you can't find it, bring it back monday and I will look at it."

I remember seeing a thread someone else had posted that hot coolant had leaked onto a vacuum tube, melting it and subsequently started having idle issues with the engine. Soooooo low an behold, I check the hoses, and there is one in the back of the engine next to the Idle Air control that has a big enough hole for me to put my pinky in it. I taped it up with electrical tape to see what would happen and EUREKA, NO STALLING!!!. I will be out looking for a vacuum hose today as a permenant fix, but if you have the same issue, make sure you check that out.

 

Thank you for that info.

 

Thanks

 

Wow. Had the same problem happen again except on a different hose. BUT the hose did NOT have a hole in it this time.

My wife said truck kept rough idling at stop light and then would cut off. When I got a chance to look at the engine I noticed that another vaccuum tube was "collapsing". I could see the tube getting sucked in so to speak and hear it stick and then the engine would rough idle because the vaccuum was not being maintained. Replaced that vaccuum elbow and she ran cherry after that.

Don't just look for holes in the vaccuum tubes. They probably all need to get switched out at some point.

Good luck,
Goliath

 

2003 Expedition 4.7 with the same rough idle problem came from a vacuum leak behind the throtlebody near the firewall. Visibly the hoses all looked good, so the leaking hose was hard to locate. While the engine is running [at idle if possible] I used a slow stream of water directed over each of the hoses until the leaky one was found.

 

I've been told wd40 is better for this however YMMV

 

Guys this forum has been educational. So my symptoms where similar to the original posters, ie stalling.... Sometimes at speed sometimes at idle. To start I asked myself what do you need for combustion to be sustained....heat (aka electricity) oxygen, and fuel.

If u can't get the car moving chances r there is a problem with one of these. While I overlooked electric it would come back to bite me in the rear. I did check oxygen extensively up to and including replacing both the iac (idle air control valve) and the pcv valvle to no avail. I checked all vacuum hoses.... Lessons learned?

A faulty iac will not produce a code in the computer per a ford service dealer manager
Codes in your computer may have nothing to do with current issues
The yr of ur car can be diff from the manufacture yr as illustrated by the fact that my pcv is from 2002 despite my truck being a 2003, this is important because the parts can be substantially different.

In my case intermediate stalling at idle and full speed was due to the fact that prior to me buying this 2003 expedition XLT with tow package, and off road package the dealer changed the battery and hand tightened the nut which because this goes to a fuseable link was lose an intermittent causing periodic loss of power without throwing a code. As a result I'm ahead on the maintenance because during troubleshooting we replaced a coil pack, a pcv valve, a iac valve, and air filter, and a number 3 spark plug