boilerup1394

As the title says, my 1996 V6 Mustang sputters while accelerating and has been dying on me while idling at stop lights/drive throughs. Causing me to have to start the car again, which it starts up just fine every time, and just wait for it to happen again. It occurs at idle, part throttle, and sometimes WOT and it seems like the engine just isn't getting the combustion it needs. I am praying it isn't the fuel pump because I don't have the necessary tools for that kind of repair here at college, and being a broke college student I don't want to pay big bucks at a mechanic. Things I have tried so far include: Cleaning the MAF, IAC, and throttle body using the appropriate sprays, new spark plugs, new fuel filter, and ran 2 bottles of fuel system cleaner through the gas tank. Any help in diagnosing this problem would be great guys. Thanks!

Urambo Tauro

Were the plugs gapped correctly? And how old are the plug wires?

boilerup1394

Yes I gapped the plugs using a gapping tool I pickked up at autozone with the new plugs. I haven't changed the wires since I've owned the car so I do not know how old they are.

boilerup1394

Also CEL codes pulled off of it are P0171 and P1443 for everyone's reference

dawson1112

Fuel pump problem would show up under wot more than idle as the pump could no longer keep up with he PCMs demand for fuel as RPMs increase, plus you would see codes for both bank1 and 2. I doubt its that.

Your code P0171 is a lean condition on bank 1. It could be an intake air leak on that side or even an exhaust leak that will cause the problems your experiencing. Clean your MAF sensor to start, there are numerous videos on this if you search youtube.
Look for any leaks before the upstream 02 sensor in your exhaust , this is the sensor that is closest to the engine. Any air leaks there will cause the PCM to try and dump fuel like crazy to try and even out the air/fuel ratio on that side. Same applies with an intake leak on Bank 1 ( passenger side ).

I wouldn't worry to much about the other code it is an EVAP code and shouldn't cause the problems your having. It just means that the PCM seen a pressure change in the fuel tank that exceeded its programmed threshold.

boilerup1394

Thanks for your reply. How do I locate and determine if I have a leak in the intake or exhaust of bank 1?

dawson1112

Start the car and have someone cover the tail pipes might take 2 people if you have duels. Just cover em with their hand, any exhaust leak should then be pronounced.

As far as the intake goes you can spray some brake cleaner around the mating surface. When the brake cleaner finds the intake leak it will either lower or raise the rpms. If it was me I would just pull the intake and regasket the thing since its fairly simple to do. Also it could be sucking air around one of the injectors if any of the O-rings are cracked. Shoot some cleaner around the base of the injectors while its running as well.

A safer method would be to use smoke under a little air pressure to ( smoke out the leak ) . Youtube search of diy smoke vacuum leak check will likely pop up with 100s of hits.

boilerup1394

I will definitely give this a shot when the weather clears up. Thank you very much