Hey, Ive got a 1992 Ford Taurus and ive been having an issue with it lately.

Since the cold weather has arrived here in Canada, my car has been stalling/almost stalling at the same 4 way stop ( about .5 km from home) on my way to work in the morning. What happens is that i do a rolling stop and as soon as i hit the gas to drive through the intersection my car stalls/hesitates. When it does stall it takes about 30 min for the car to start again otherwise it turns over but doesnt start. After i start it up again from a stall, it doesnt happen again for the rest of the day. When i warm up my car for 5 min in my driveway it doesnt stall at all.

This is the work i have put into my car thus far.

-Took it to a Ford dealership...they had it for two days and couldnt find a problem (probably because the weather was mild when i took it in).
- replaced the fuel filter
-replaced the spark plugs, coils, distributor cap and rotor.
-Throttle body is clean

Any other suggestions? This problem only started to happen a few weeks ago when the weather went below freezing.

Thanks for your help

 

Could you supply any DTC's that might be present? This was such a fertile powertrain for problems of this nature, I could only guess, and I don't think that would help.
Is there spark when cranking but not starting after stalling? Does the Check Engine light come on and go out when cranking it? If there was anything for codes like a 542, I'd right for the fuel pump. Does it want to start but stall out immediatly? If you use the accelerator when cranking, does that help it or not?
Please let us know.
Thanks!

 

Something you also might want to check,
on the distributor is the ignition module. The plug that plugs on to the module developed a poor connection through time. Sometimes all we did was to remove the plug and put it back on. This helped to get rid of the poor connection that was especially troublesome when the weather temp dropped. It's worth a try , if that doesn't solve the problem let us know. Have a happy holiday!

 

Sorry, i dont have any codes but im assuming Ford checked it out and found no issues. The plan is to check the spark when cranking the next time it stalls. Yes, the check engine light comes on when cranking it. When i use my aceletrator when cranking it doesnt help.

Ill look into seeing if the ignition module is damaged.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

This may be a long shoot, but hey ... who knows. From the old days when I was driving a carburetted car I remember that a flooded engine (too rich mixture when you cold-started it) led to troublesome restarts unless you let the engine rest for a while. I wonder if your engine's temperature sensors (intake air and coolant) are working fine. If they're off - which means they tell the PCM that the incoming air / engine coolant are colder than actually are - then the PCM will run the engine too rich until the engine coolant sensor starts reporting the warm-up. This means that you're running the engine rich for longer than you should, leading to the stubborn stalls you see. Again, it is a long shot, but check these sensors' connections.

The IAT sensor is usually screwed into the airbox ... but I dunno for sure on your car. The engine coolant sensor(s) (could be one or two) are located on the engine block, usually on the intake manifold or the upper part of the block ... but again, your car may be different.

Is you engine putting out black smoke when you first start it (or the first few minutes)? This would be an indication of rich mixture.

HTH ... good luck!

 

The reason I was interested in the CEL being on when cranking is that it's a good barometer of what's going on in the fuel injection, without having to get your hands too dirty.
Specifically, the cel should come on and stay on when the key is on, engine of. As soon as the engine cranks, it should go out. It will either then come back on if there's a (hard) fault, or go out.
If it doesn't go OUT when cranking, that means the PCM isn't seeing the PIP (profile ignition pickup, or raw crankshaft timing) when it's cranking. This is a really simple, easy way to diag and ignition problem from the myriad of other little 'Fordism' this powertrain suffers from.
Another thing. And take it from a really old tech that's done this for a really long time. If a 1992 Taurus DIDN'T have ANY codes in it at this age, I'd start looking into why there are none. At least to me, it's damned near inconceivable to have a car this old that DOESN'T have codes. You might ask the Ford garage that checked it if there were codes of any kind (even if they don't seem relelvant) or if it was a pass (111-10-111). These may not seem like big things, but it gives a more complete picture from the armchair.
And Dan, it's nice to know you're still alive!

mark

 

Alive and kicking, Mark ... but lately I had some hectic times in my life. As I said before, I'm here to stay

 

Guys thanks for sharing this Nice Report !