Holy crap!!! Please help!!!!

[Red Lx]

Alright....got a huge problem.
I have an 88 LX 5.0. The car runs and idles fine...but as soon as i step on the clutch it dies.....no warning or nuthin. Then it's hard to start but as soon as it does it idles fine until i step on the clutch again. After gettin it runnin one night i disconnected the clutch saftey switch to see if that could be it, but the car died again when i stepped on the clutch. It absolutly wont idle when the clutch is stepped on. Please help....this problem is getting old really fast.

 

[stykthyn]

have you tried giving it a little gas when you stepped on the clutch? does it bog or anything? it almost sounds like a vacuum leak I had once.
what year car is it?

 

[FSTNG]

Are you tuning the EEC or running a stock tune? Does it die while you are pressing the clutch pedal down or right near the floor? It sure sounds like an overly rich condition in neutral mode (when the clutch switch is pressed). If you haven't been messing with the tune, I'd try resetting the computer by disconnecting the battery and stepping on the brake for a few seconds. To be sure everything is cleared wait about 15min before reconnecting the battery. Of course this all assumes that you have a fuel injected motor.

 

[Red Lx]

The engine is fuel injected.......it's a stock tune...an all original motor (meaning no aftermarket add ons). It's an 88. The motor will run down to 500 rpm and try to bounce up to about 900 then to 0. It happens right when i get about half way down on the clutch...it really dies when it goes to the floor.

 

[turbostang87]

Try checking your engine grounds i had a stang that did that before and my ground strap was broken

 

[stykthyn]

If you have a mass air, try unplugging your MAF. I had an issue where the car wouldnt idle b/c of a bad MAF unit. when I unplugged it the car ran well enough to keep from stalling. I would also pull any codes that are in the computer before you unplug it

 

[Red Lx]

Turbostang87.......
Is there another ground stap besides the one off the battery to the block and the one from the cylinder head to the firewall? I checked these two grounds and they are fine. Also the car is an 88, so it's speed density, not Mass Air. I know there is a MAP sensor, could this be a problem to?

 

[mustangfan1990]

Turbostang87.......
Is there another ground stap besides the one off the battery to the block and the one from the cylinder head to the firewall? I checked these two grounds and they are fine. Also the car is an 88, so it's speed density, not Mass Air. I know there is a MAP sensor, could this be a problem to?

Do you crank the engine with the clutch pressed in? Or will it crank with it pressed it? I wouldnt think that pushing the clutch in would have anythign to do with a vaccum leak. That would be if you pressed the brake pedal and it died. Maybe there is something wrong with the clutch system. Sounds like it could be tilted and puts pressure on the flywheel when you push it in cause strain on the motor is all I can think of. Hope that helps if not sorry.

 

[Bottomlesspit]

Wow, that is really strange. The only thing that seems logical to me is that when you push the clutch pedal down you are creating some type of ground out to the electrical system. Right above where your clutch quadrant sits there are a lot of wire bundles going in and out of the fuse panel, dash, ignition, etc. I wonder if maybe as your clutch quadrant is pulled back it isn't pinching or grounding out some wires? I would get a good light and start searching the wires up under there. It just doesn't make any other sense to me.
Good luck....I know how you feel, I have been chasing a wiring mess in this car for months and months now. I get all kinds of strange things happening similar to yours.
Ken

 

[jrichker]

See "Surging Idle Checklist for help with all your idle/stall problems. The first two posts contain all the updates to the fixes. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions.

 

[ninety15.0]

Yea this seems like a really strange problem...i would think it would be associated with a wiring problem under the dash. I would get under there and move the clutch pedal around and see where the quadrant/pawl is moving...and if its making contact with any wires under there. Could just be shorting something out.

 

[Red Lx]

So I a friend ofmine at work look at the problem for me. He works on stangs all the time and told me it startedto surge when it started acting up for him. He says clean out the iac valve and replace the egr and see what happens....what do u guys think?

 

[ninety15.0]

I think thats going to be an expensive way to find out if he is right or not.

Diagnose before you replace!!! Test test test....if you search hard enough for all of jrichker's posts or go check out his site...it should be easy for you to test those components.

That being said...cleaning out the IAC is free and should be annual preventative maintenance anyways! Take it off...take it apart and clean it out really well. This will most likely help...but i dont know if its going to solve your problem.

 

[stykthyn]

couldnt hurt. the IAC could cause the engine to stall. the egr is more of an emissions device so I dont think it would cause the gremlins you have. either way I dont see how these items would cause the car to stall when you hit the clutch. try cleaning the IAC. they do gunk up fairly easily.

 

[Red Lx]

Ok...to keep you all updated. I found my code scanner and scanned the computer. It turns out the egr was bad....so it was replaced. I took apart the IAC Valve and cleaned it good. A little surge after the restart but wet away. Drove the stang about 15 miles to my home....got off the exit and stepped on the clutch and it die again. This time it wouldnt start again at all. So I pushed it to the parking lot across the street and tested the batt with a voltmeter and it showed 13 volts. But noticed somethin weird...the starter solinoid was extremly hot to the touch. And I mean hot. It burned my finger. So i wanted to see if it would start if i jumped the car with my fiancee's car and on the first shot it started....no wating for the batt to try an charge or nuthin. Just fired right up. So i got it home. Today i replaced the solinoid and the positive batt cable and guess what......yep....it died again.... this is gettin annoyin. Any other ideas?