Hi, I have a 2003 explorer v8 with 116,000 miles. For the past six months it has been randomly stalling. It stalls while I'm passing someone, when I'm doing 70 mph down a highway or just backing out of my driveway. Sometimes when I can feel it about to stall I can push the gas and avoid the stall, but lately when I do this the engine revs like its in neutral and then eventually "catches". My Mechanic thought it was a plate that needed to be clean (maybe throttle? I'm not sure) but that didn't solve the problem. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Clean your IAC INTAKE AIR CONTROL OR REPLACE.

See if that does it. also clean mass air flow sensor just for fun!

 

Thanks, I'll tell my mechanic. I did bring it to Ford last week because my mechanic wasn't sure what it was, he had check the fuel pump but said the pressure(?) was fine. Ford couldn't figure it out, they changed the fuel filter but it still stalls. I guess it will be a process of elimination! Thanks again for you help.

 

Found this also!

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums...d.php?t=186378

 

Can we obtain a little more info? Does this vehicle have an automatic trans ?
I'm trying to grasp just what is occurring. You state it gets ready to stall , but responds when you depress the accelerator, while supposedly still in gear? Makes one wonder if you have a loose connection somewhere in the vehicle. Does it happen when cold? Please describe in mor detail if possible. Thanks, hanky

 

Yes it is an automatic trans. Sometimes I can feel it hesitating almost sputtering, for lack of a better word, while driving at various speeds. It have noticed that when I feel the sputtering if I take my foot off the gas generally it will go away when I depress the gas pedal again. I happens when the car is cold, when I first get in it and back out. It also happens after driving for awhile, once on a long trip (3 hours) it stalled continually ( every 10 minutes) after driving for 2 1/2 hours (also stalled once or twice during trip). But it always starts right back up never any hesitation. Also sometimes before it stalls the car will "ding" and the check gages light will go on, I depress the gas pedal and it revs almost like it is in neutral and then it "catches" and Im fine for awhile. As I said before my mechanic cleaned the throttle plate but couldn't figure it out so he sent me to Ford they said there were no codes and change the fuel filter hoping that was it, but it wasn't. I'm hoping to bring it back to my mechanic this week. I have no other problems with the car, other than that it runs great. Thanks so much for all of your help I really appreciate it. My Dad was a big car guy, every weekend at our house growing up there was always a car up on jacks being fixed. He was great he could always figure it out, real old school, I can still see him with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth while he taught his new son-in-law how to change a gas filter, scary! lol Thanks again!

 

As you state when it catches and engine flares up,sounds like it lost contact somewhere ,but the puzzling part is for the engine to rev up as you describe, it sounds as if it has dropped out of gear momentarily or the torque converter has disengaged sort of like a downshift. This could be a very interesting problem to solve. Does it happen when parked, in neutral or park?
hanky

 

No, it doesn't happen when parked, in park or neutral. I'm bringing it to my mechanic on the 5th, so he can keep it for a few days & drive it around town to see if it happens for him. Then he can get a better idea of what could be wrong. Thanks again for your interest and input, I will let you know what he finds out.

 

I belive they were having issues with the (MLPS) manual lever position sensor and I'm trying to help pin down what is occurring and when. If you are losing contact while in drive only it would kinda lead in that direction, MLPS. Thanks in advance for keeping us informed. hanky