Car stalls when put into drive....periodically

[joshsquiresmi]

I have a 93 ATX with 151,*** miles. Every once in a while when I start the car and put it into drive it will stall. I then have to crank it over several times before it will start again. Sometimes then it will run fine, other times it will stall again if put into drive. This happens maybe 1 out of 15 times I drive the vehicle. The car will not idle for more then 5 minutes without stalling out. Also, if I hit the accelerator hard and let off right away the car will stall out; regardless of if I'm in drive, park, or neutral when I do this. When the car stalls and then I get it started again, a lot of the time the check engine light will come on. I will drive it home, and by the time I am home, the light has came off. Other times when I start the car the check engine light will flash on and off for a couple seconds and then go away. I have only owned this car for a very short time, and I'm almost positive the 60k stuff has not been done. That is going to be at the top of my list here in a couple weeks.

In the meantime, do you guys think that will fix the problem? Or have any idea what it is?

 

[rubydist]

Pull the codes to see what is going on - shotimes has a good "how-to" on that.

The symptoms you describe could have a bunch of causes, so you will be much quicker to the solution if you have the codes.

 

[joshsquiresmi]

Pull the codes to see what is going on - shotimes has a good "how-to" on that.

The symptoms you describe could have a bunch of causes, so you will be much quicker to the solution if you have the codes.

I went to the site to figure out how to do it, and couldn't find the info. I found this: http://www.shotimes.com/php-bin/mod...le=article&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0&sid=84 and it had a link at the bottom to show how to pull the codes, but the link didn' work.

 

[joshsquiresmi]

i found the info on how to do it on phoenix project's site. I will pull codes tonight and update. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[xshoel93x]

im having the same sort of problem and i was told by ford senior master tech that maf and intake etc have buildup and needs cleaning. hopefully i will get to that this week when we do the tranny pan gasket and ill post if its solved

 

[sperold]

As a start, disconnect the battery and follow the "How do I reset the idle" in the "how do" section of this forum.

 

[hawkeye18]

Idle issues = IAC. At least 80% of the time. When you put the car into drive, the engine bogs down as it spins the torque converter up; if the IAC is gummed up there will not be enough air to sustain combustion. Search the forum on how to remove and clean the IAC; that should solve your problem.

 

[joshsquiresmi]

doesn't autozone or murray's have the computer thing that will check your codes for you?

 

[xshoel93x]

maybe. ive got access to a laptop that plugs right into the car tho heh heh heh

 

[elarm1]

www.shophoenixproject.com

 

[hawkeye18]

maybe. ive got access to a laptop that plugs right into the car tho heh heh heh

Not unless you've got a TwEECer or some weird exotic setup, you don't. Gen 2s are not OBD2.

 

[joshsquiresmi]

alright well one way or another this is going to be taken care of today lol.....I've got only one class this morning then the rest of the afternoon free.

 

[projectSHO89]

Cleaning the IAC valve is rarely successful for long. It's usually more productive to just replace it. They're usually around $50 from AutoZone.

Don't forget to perform the idle relearn procedure whenever servicing the IAC valve.

 

[hawkeye18]

Cleaning the IAC valve is rarely successful for long. It's usually more productive to just replace it. They're usually around $50 from AutoZone.

Don't forget to perform the idle relearn procedure whenever servicing the IAC valve.

No, it is not a permanent solution, but when the only alternative is a virtually non-functioning car, it'll work for long enough to get a new IAC.

Make sure you invest in a good set of ball-head hex wrenches.

 

[joshsquiresmi]

ok, well I checked autozone/murray's and they only do OBDII not I.....so they couldn't check my car. So I came home and followed the instructions from sho phoenix and couldn't get it to work. Followed them to a "t"

KOEO Test

I had just drove about 30 miles and the car was warmed up, put the car in neutral and set the parking brake (my parking brake doesn't work, it's disconnected for some reason in the back), had the heater a/c off, jumped the plugs correctly as the diagram showed with a paperclip, I turned the key on and the CEL light turned on, but never turned off, heard the fuel pump turn on and everything. Waited about 4 minutes but the CEL never blinked or turned off.

KOER Test

Since the first test didn't work, I tried this one anyways. The rpm's never raised to even attempt this one. I checked the connection with the paper clip and it made no difference.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[xshoel93x]

Not unless you've got a TwEECer or some weird exotic setup, you don't. Gen 2s are not OBD2.

but but but..... my stepdads plugged his laptop into it before, when he bought it. and the red one. must be some senior master tech unicorn magic i have nooo idea