9646stang

Hi, I have searched this forum and I have found some really good answers as to diagnosing this problem. But I'm at a loss.

Here is what is going on. We can start the car and it seems ok, although it sounds a little rough. But when we put it into gear it will stall. A lot of people have said that it could be the IAC so we put a new IAC on. It still stalls when you put it into gear, this is an automatic by the way. If we turn the AC on full blast the idle will drop but then go back to normal, with the AC still on we can put it into gear with no problems.

Now once we actually get the car in gear and driving we notice that it feels sluggish, almost as if it's only running on 4-6 cylinders. We (my dad and I) have been working on this all day and it's just not turning in our favor at all. We finally quit for tonight but we are going to start on it first thing tomorrow. It's weird though because it's still doing all of this with a new IAC. I also read that it may be a dirty MAF, I'm kind of weary about cleaning it because I don't want to mess it up. If you guys have any ideas of what we can do please post them. I have read up on plenty of forums and I have heard many different ideas and we have tried most of them (that we could)

Here's a short list of things I have read but haven't tried.

1. changing the NSS
2. replacing the torque converter
3. checking for a bad TCC
4. cleaning the MAF

Like I said I have read a lot but things just aren't working. So I'm pretty much begging for your' guys help! This seems to be a pretty knowledgeable forum so I hope you guys can help.

BLKSTANGER

First of all cleaning the MAF is nothing as long as you use the correct cleaner.
You didn't list what you HAVE done so far. What do the plugs look like? Plug wires? How long has the car been doing this? Whats the history on this car?

9646stang

What we have done to try and fix the problem is replace the IAC and let it idle out. We were working on it today and we can get it into gear with out it dying, but the rpms drop drastically, they drop to around 300-400. Also when the rpms drop the lights dim untill the rpms rise again. The plugs look good and the wires are also good. The car just started doing this after having the timing chain replaced. The basic history of the car is we bought it from a guy who was in the middle of "ricing" it out, it had a huge spoiler on the back and it has a body kit on it, we already have the spoiler replaced and we are working on getting the factory body kit put on but we are more concerned with the way the car is running than the way it looks right now. Also we checked to make sure that the wires were plugged in correctly on the coil packs so that the firing order is correct, the belt is also correct. The car seems to run strong in the high rpms but at cruising speeds it seems to cut out and stutter, and once we come to a stop the idle drops to about 500-600. It shifts fine except for initially going from park to drive/reverse. We also recently changed the thermostat if that matters at all. The shops were closed today so we couldn't get any help from them but we are going to call tomorrow.

wolverine8490

Have you run a compression check?

JC316

Ok, I can definitely rule out a bad TCC or Torque Converter because it will go into gear fine when the A/C is on. There are a number of things that can cause this, all of which have to do with fuel delivery. Aside from the above recommended stuff, it can be:

The throttle position sensor
The MAF
The ECT
The IAC
The O2 sensors.

My money is on the TPS. It can cause symptoms just like this and I have never had a bad one throw a code.

9646stang

We finally got ahold of Ford and they said that it could be that the cams are out of time. They said that if they are just slightly out of time the car will still start because the computer can compensate for it, but it won't run right and it's really not good at all. We are going to re-align the cams with the crank and see if this fixes the problem. Thanks for your guys responses.

JC316

They are morons, find another shop. Cams are out of time and the pistons meet the valves.

9646stang

Ok, so we changed the fuel filter, cleaned the MAF, and replaced the IAC. It idles fine now, and it will shift into gear without dying, although the rpms drop but then go back to normal idle. While driving the car there is a lot, and I mean A LOT of hesitation when the engine is under load. As long as we don't drive up any hills, or goose the throttle it seems to run fine. Another thing to note is that if the car is just sitting there, and we turn the a/c on max, the rpms drop to below 500, sometimes we think it's going to die but then it doesn't. Any thoughts? Could it be gummed up injectors? The car sat for around 7 months with no fuel stabilizer in it.

JC316

Same thing I said back on post 5, throttle position sensor.

9646stang

Ok we will try that tomorrow. Also there is a chattering coming from the valve covers again (passenger side) We changed the timing chain because this happend the first time, the sound never really went away after the timing chain was replaced so ruled that out. the chattering sound, sounds like a couple rocks bouncing around in the valve covers (there's no rocks in the valve cover) This car is just giving us hassle after hassle!