[bowesmobile]

This always seems to happen only when it gets warm, like over 85 deg.. It has only given me one code that I was able to fix and that was a Idle air control stuck. I cleaned it with intake cleaner. Sprayed out the MAF with MAF cleaner and everything was fine. Van ran like new. Now today its over 85 and my wife calls me to say the van is running rough and it took her 10 min to back out of a parking space because it kept stalling. Once you give it gas it runs fine. But it will not idle properly. The A/C is usually on when this happens and we turn it off to take the extra load off the engine. Sometimes it will clear up as your driving. Other times it takes shutting it off and starting it again. So my thought is it might be a temp sensor reading out or range or the idle air temp sensor. Has anyone else had a problem like this one? As an FYI its a 2003 SEL 3.8L with 86 thousand on the clock. I dont want to just throw parts at it.

 

[Jonzo77]

how long between cleaning the parts, and now?

 

[Poppy]

I might be mistaken, but I believe that the IAT sensor is actualy integral to the MAF. You can try disconnecting the MAF and see if that makes a difference.

Otherwise as Jonzo is suggesting, you may need to clean the IAC again.
Also at 86,000 miles it's a good chance that you may need new spark plugs.

 

[bowesmobile]

Jonzo,
The last time I cleaned the intake, MAF and IAC was about 2k ago.

Poppy,
I did a tune up at 78k, plugs and wires. I used the Motorcraft platinum plugs I believe, and Duralast wires.

On another note I have a K&N air filter on it as well. I used them on all my vehicles. I know on the Mustangs you have to clean the MAF twice a year because the oil from the filter builds up on the wire of the MAF. But that causes my Mustang to misfire on the gas. Not at idle like the van. I need to get a code reader and go in to see if there are any codes stored that are not triggering a CEL.

 

[Poppy]

I am not a fan of the K&N for that reason. IF you used too much oil the last time you serviced it, it may cause a problem with the MAF sooner than usual.

 

[bowesmobile]

Well, currently I haven't serviced it. I haven't needed to. I guess my point was that it causes on the throttle problems in my Mustang. Not the idle issues I'm having with my Windstar. I guess though, since the programming is different from the two vehicles it could be causing different problems.