How to Determine Stalling Problem on 1999 Ford Taurus

Is your 1999 Ford Taurus stalling at odd intervals? Learn from our mistakes!

Let me tell you the first thing to do is look at the last problem fixed on the car, if it had anything to do with the fuel system. If you have had nothing repaired in this system move along to diagnostics.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Repair Manual
• Average socket set
• Fuel Pressure Tester
• OBD 2 tester (optional)
• Patience
• Money

1. Determine if you need a regular tune up first. If it has been some time since your spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, ect.. then begin there. Most people would begin with a OBD2 reading and that is fine but your generic codes are going to point you back to these basics anyway.

2. If the above does not help it is time for a diagnostic. You can do this one of two ways, buy the code reader yourself or pay a mechanic to do it for you. If your car is manufactured after 1995 purchasing one may be the right path, after 95 you no longer needed a different code reader for each manufacturer. Either way be diligent to research the results and what they mean. The most common code P0171 and P0174 and the guide says lean fuel bank one or lean fuel bank two. A lot of help huh?

3. At this point you should have ruled out simple fixes and learned that you are probably going to need to spend some money. Allow me to give you a list of the most common sensors and parts to cause intermittent stalling and sputtering.
   1) EGR valve
   2) PCV valve
   3) Throttle positioning sensor
   4) Fuel pressure regulator
   5) Fuel pump
   6) Map sensor (if equipped)
   7) Oxygen sensor
   8) MAF sensor (mass air flow sensor)
   9) DPFE (Although all accounts say, though common to malfunction, should not cause run ability problems)
   10) Fuel injector (with the car running take a screw driver place tip on injector and place your ear at the handle you will be able to hear whether it is functioning or not)
   
   If you have a code reading that points to the fuel system then these are likely culprits. In our case we started with the cheapest and moved forward. In retrospect that was not the best idea we spent many weekends under the hood and several hundred dollars before it was fixed.

4. Finally I will share exactly what our experience was. My daughter purchased this car from a friend who had just put a new fuel pump in the car. Our daughter then hit a large rock in the road and severely dented the tank right under the fuel pump. We first looked at sensors because we figured there was no way the new pump had gone bad. So we replaced the DPFE, plugs, and cleaned the MAF sensor with no change in running. We then determined that maybe the tank was the problem so we purchased one from a salvage yard with a pump installed. We were assured the car was driven in. New tank installed with the existing pump in it, no change, we put in our pump and the car ran great! For about a hundred miles. We were ready to burn the car where it sat! But finally we bit the bullet and purchased a new pump and strainers to the tune of nearly 200.00 dollars! The car has run great every since. Lesson learned? Yep, return to the last problem the car had if it relates and start there.

Tips & Warnings

• Shop around for a mechanic! These sensors can get very expensive very quickly.
• Never say it can not be____ because it is new, as we found that is not always the case.
• The egr system can also cause running issues, however we did very little with this system.
• This is in no way an exhaustive list of fixes for this problem, they are merely the ones we used.
• If you choose to DIY (do it yourself) be very careful! You are working with a highly flammable system!
• INJECTOR TEST!!! PLEASE be very careful keep loose clothing tucked in and long hair pulled up and back.

[Wasatch]

on 11/14/2008 Well written. Thanks

[cricketgo]

on 7/27/2008 Great article and good advice.