stalls while driving

hi, my van stalls about 4 to five times a day. usually going uphill or on the flat but never downhill. I turn the key off and put it in neutral and it starts right away and runs well for awhile. I have been to ford who said there was no codes and couldn,t help me.I went to a tuneup shop and had neww plugs and wires andnewfuel pump egr valve egr solenoi and fuel filter and fuel injection cleaned. it ran great for about 20 minutes and stalled again. so I wnt to a specialty shop yesterday .they checked everythin okand still no codes they say that its got to be the computer but wouldnt give me any guarantees.its an expensive part and i,m not sure what to do. Can you helpme before i go crazy... thanks :shock: :shock: p.s.it does,nt stall normally, it just dies instantly

hi, no I dont have after market anti theft device or any cards on my key chain. I,ve even tried a spare key that I have and it made no difference. Do you think that I should bite the bullet and have a new pcm installed? Today my van was even worse. it cut out about 8 times at slow speed on flat roads and also on hills at high speeds.....thanks ron.......................p.s. was rear ended about one and a half years ago and had a new tailgate installed but no problems up until now.

Hi, JUst went to my van to check if was any codes yet. could not believe it, there is finally a code. Its p0174---system too lean [bank 2]. What should I be checking out....Ron.....

thanks steve, I will get a new pcm. can I install it myself, I know how to physically install it but dueyou need special equipment to set it up?

hi, thanks for everything. I,ll let you know whats hapenning in a few days.....Ron :D :D :D

hi Steve, finally found the problem. A father and son shop close to my house took my van for a week and gave me a courtesy car. It was the alternator. it was giving 14 volts to the battery and sometimes only 12 volts to the pcm which needs at least 13 volts to operate the engine. runs great now. thanks for all your help......Ron

I too am having the same problem but, i had my alternator checked it was fine so they say. Any advice on what you did to solve your problem with the alternator. Some are saying that it is the pvc valve in the back of the engine with an air leak, also did your engine make a funny noise coming from the belt side, kind of a sqeeking noise. Im going crazy with this.

I jave a 02 ford windstar that shuts off randomly while im driving sometimes it will only***** but others just completly shut off and as soon as i pull over and try to start it back up it will turn on i need help cant figure out what to do i have no check engine light so im not even geting a code any advice??

whats the bleeped word? people have had issues with alternator or PCM might also be EGR valve.

Oh i guess the bleeped yerkk.... hum i was thinking it could be the alternator and i notced this morning that my rpm sits below 1 like at half way to one....and when it turns off illl go to the shoulder and turn right on drive 10 miles and not turn off or drive a few yards and turn right off

what motor is it?

anyway fords are notorious for cam sensor problems causing stalls.

My Van stalls when is cold coming to a complet stop at times, but when hot i dont have a problem.
I have replaced O2 sensors, MAF sensor, fuel filter, tuneup, fuel injector cleanned by professional. and i still have the problem and not engine light.

did you replace the alternator or battery recently?

Hello,
no i have not replaced the alternator or battery recently... Do you think i should get it test it?

Thanks

no not that i know of. see my windstar stalls every 5 minutes. I just replaced alt. just trying to fig it out.

I have the same trouble with my windstar. At first it would only stall during a stop at a stop sign, especially if the vehicle was in a slight incline. Now it stalls more often, even when I'm rolling in slow traffic. It's a pain, I could use some help here too.

2002 Ford Windstar 6 cyl Automatic 126500 miles

We had our battery and altenator replaced (Sears said it was a bad battery(only 2 months old), then checked the altenator and said it wasn't charging. They "fixed" it but on the way home it stalled on me (all lights on dash came on), felt like it wouldn't turn or stop either. Van started right up again, then did it not less then 1 mile later. Again van started up again. Now at another mechanic, they said initial check showed everythng was ok. But they are still looking.

Any thoughts?

HI there,

Thank you for the donation,

I would be paying close attention to all tune items, including the fuel pump and fuel pressure, a scan will show up any unresolved fault codes, i would ensure that all the basics are ok first, please let us know if the mechanic still has a problem with this diagnosis.

mark (mhpautos)

Hi. This is a perplexing problem. My 2001 Windstar with 3.8 engine has started stalling intermittently without giving any codes at all. Not even any soft codes nor anything for the “flight recorder” for my mechanic. It idles fine. It doesn't stall when coming to a stop. It stalls primarily just after I have started from a stop light or turned a corner and I am accelerating in a normal fashion. Sometimes when I am cruising along it will "stumble" like it wants to stall, but doesn't. When it stalls, it doesn't die slowly (like being starved for fuel), the engine just shuts down like the key was shut off. It always restarts with no problem – don’t even need to pull over – just put it in neutral, turn the key back and forward, and the engine starts right up. We have changed the fuel filter, fuel pump relay, ignition control module (coil), crankshaft position sensor, and lastly the power control module (PCM). Unfortunately, nothing has fixed the problem. The mechanic said it died on him just getting back to the shop, and even though it didn't give a code, he could tell that the injectors had lost ground on the negative side (or something like that). It never dies when going over bumps, so it doesn't act like a loose wire or connection. Any suggestions?

Hi Keith ,

Thank you for the donation.

Symptms seems to be due to power interruption. When the engine stalled, did the dash indictor lights turn on immediately? If not, you cold have a failing ignition swith. Check if the ignition is hot to the touch when engine is running and when it fails.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Yes, the dash lights all come on immediately when the engine shuts off. I will check the heat of the ignition swith. (I imagine you are talking about on the steering column - please clarify if not.)

Keith

Yes, it is the switch at the end of the key cylinder inside the steering column covers.

At base of the switch there are soldered points, look out for signs of melted or disfigured solders. That would indicate the contacts internally are working at high temperature.

I'll check out the ignition switch, but does it make sense that a bad ignition switch would only cause a stall when I am accelerating or giving more gas to go up a hill? Is there anything else that you can think of? Thanks.

Is there anything in the transmission - any sensor etc, which - if it malfunctioned - could cause the engine to just shut off like this? I have not had any transmission problems - just trying to think of ideas since it mostly gives me problems when I am accelerating normally from a stop or turn.

No, the transmisison does not have anything that would cause the engine to shut off.

Apart from loose wires/connectors etc, only th eignition switch is the most likely cause.

During acceleration or turn, something could be not contacting well and the jerking movement causes the intermittent power supply failure.

I would suggest checking the battery to see if it is secured. There are instances of the battery terminals shorting resulting in engine cutting off due to movements.
Check for wires that could be swaying around due to vehicle movements.

Keith!

I have the exact same problem. My mechanic changed the crankshaft position sensor, checked the ignition key, and nothing. Mine stalls about 1/day and can do it just going straight at highway speeds too.

dwalto02, if you can, I would hook up a live scanner and take it for a drive and see what happens and monitor the scanner when the problem occurs.

These kinds of problems are very difficult to diagnose, even in person. A test light, live scanner, and voltmeter can be priceless in figuring out what's wrong.

I have searched many post with this same problem but still haven't seen an actual fix for this issue. Many possibilities but nothing really makes sense. What I'm really curious about is why does the problem start after someone changes the alternator and battery? Something is shutting down the PCM and resetting the computer by turning the key back while in neutral will start the van right back up. So the question is what is causing the PCM to shut down the ignition system? What are the possible sources that can do this? If anyone has a solution I would greatly love to hear it. oh and mine is an 03 LX, I have changed the alternator with a brand new (not rebuilt) OEM motorcraft, battery, crank and cam sensors. The odd item I found is it will run great with the alternator disconnected. Unfortunately this is the third alternator I installed since the problem started. Thanks