82 Crown Vic - Stalls after prolonged idle
shtinkypuppie
03-28-2008, 03:01 AM
Hello,
I own a fairly well used (160-some thousand miles) but very well cared for 1984 LTD Crown Victoria with Ford's 302 ('5.0 Liter') Windsor engine. Those are all the details I have at the moment but I can provide more if needed.
My problem is that it tends to die if I give it gas after a prolonged idle. Sometimes this means idling down a street for over two minutes, but sometimes it means merely idling through a slow U-Turn. It seems to be rather sporadic and difficult to reproduce. It happens when the car is quite cold or thoroughly warmed up. The engine cuts out very quitely, with no sputtering or roar before dying - if I have the radio on I sometimes don't even notice that it's dead until i realize it's not responding the the accelerator. It starts up promptly without any racing or kick when it restarts. During one episode while idling around a parking lot, it died several times, and during the same time frame it would sometimes hesitate and then jump a bit; or just generally respond unpredictably to the accelerator.
Earlier tonight I started it up, warmed it up for about 90 seconds, then idled a long ways down a quiet street. After about a minute of idling it started lunging slightly about every second, like it pulled harder for half a second and then slacked off, and repeated. This was without any accelerator. When I finally hit the accelerator, it promptly died.
Other than these problems it performs very well, climbing easily up to ninety. Except when very cold or after prolonged idle, it is always ready to go with lots of power. It makes no odd noises. It tends to shudder and shake a bit at a stop but the former owner (my aunt) was told by her mechanic that this is normal. The AC hasn't worked for a long time, in case that has anything to do with it.
My brother, who is studying to be a mechanic, says this is likely a problem with the vacuum tubes. I know pitifully little about cars so any further insight - in layman's terms - would be appreciated.
Sorry, the title of the thread is wrong - this IS a 1984 LTD Crown Victoria.
I own a fairly well used (160-some thousand miles) but very well cared for 1984 LTD Crown Victoria with Ford's 302 ('5.0 Liter') Windsor engine. Those are all the details I have at the moment but I can provide more if needed.
My problem is that it tends to die if I give it gas after a prolonged idle. Sometimes this means idling down a street for over two minutes, but sometimes it means merely idling through a slow U-Turn. It seems to be rather sporadic and difficult to reproduce. It happens when the car is quite cold or thoroughly warmed up. The engine cuts out very quitely, with no sputtering or roar before dying - if I have the radio on I sometimes don't even notice that it's dead until i realize it's not responding the the accelerator. It starts up promptly without any racing or kick when it restarts. During one episode while idling around a parking lot, it died several times, and during the same time frame it would sometimes hesitate and then jump a bit; or just generally respond unpredictably to the accelerator.
Earlier tonight I started it up, warmed it up for about 90 seconds, then idled a long ways down a quiet street. After about a minute of idling it started lunging slightly about every second, like it pulled harder for half a second and then slacked off, and repeated. This was without any accelerator. When I finally hit the accelerator, it promptly died.
Other than these problems it performs very well, climbing easily up to ninety. Except when very cold or after prolonged idle, it is always ready to go with lots of power. It makes no odd noises. It tends to shudder and shake a bit at a stop but the former owner (my aunt) was told by her mechanic that this is normal. The AC hasn't worked for a long time, in case that has anything to do with it.
My brother, who is studying to be a mechanic, says this is likely a problem with the vacuum tubes. I know pitifully little about cars so any further insight - in layman's terms - would be appreciated.
Sorry, the title of the thread is wrong - this IS a 1984 LTD Crown Victoria.
rhandwor
03-31-2008, 08:07 PM
I think this ford engine has a distributor,carburetor,and crankshaft position sensor. (81 to 84) Check the crankshaft position sensor with a ohm meter when cranking it should go from 0 to 1 as you are cranking. Pull the module on the side of the fender two plugs with brown color code. Advanced Auto and Auto Zone will check them free. Put a 12volt test light on the + coil wire do you have voltage. Then check the - coil wire the light should flash as you are trying to start. Also check for a pickup in the distributor. Crank sensor on side of engine by harmonic balancer pulley. Look for a wire going to it.
Check your fuel pressure to the carb.
Use carburetor cleaner and spray around the intake and carb base if it smooths out you have an air leak. Clean the EGR valve.
Check your fuel pressure to the carb.
Use carburetor cleaner and spray around the intake and carb base if it smooths out you have an air leak. Clean the EGR valve.
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