What might be wrong? Car keeps stalling and doesn't like to start

J

jmichalicek

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Apr 27, 2002

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#1

• Jul 26, 2004

• #1

Ok, this all started several months ago. I've got a 1999 cobra currently with around 55k miles on it. Several months ago it started not wanting to start... I'd crank it and occasionally instead of roaring to life it would sputter and strain and then if I tapped the gas pedal it would start up. Frequently when it did this it would continue to die if I let off the gas for the first 5 or so minutes of driving. It only did this occasionally and seemed to be more or less random. As I was way overdue for a fuel filter change I got that done. Due to the randomness of the problem I never really knew if it fixed it or not. A week or two ago it started doing it again. As of friday it has done it the last 4 or 5 times I drove the car. Today rather than only taking a couple minutes of running to start behaving properly it took about 30 minutes. I get no SES light through any of this, the car still seems to have plenty of power, good throttle response, etc. Any ideas? Fuel pump? Spark plugs? I really don't have time or money for fixing things in hopes that it will do the trick until it starts to behave properly, so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends

Founding Member

Nov 29, 1999

5,225

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79

SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.

Jul 26, 2004

#2

• Jul 26, 2004

• #2

Sounds like the $85 IAC valve is bad. I had to replace mine also. I'm not sure if the Cobra is different but it sounds like the IAC (near the throttle body).

 

GT-03

Member

Dec 12, 2003

630

1

16

Jul 26, 2004

#3

• Jul 26, 2004

• #3

Does the car have a K&N air filter? If so, it sounds like it could be that your MAF sensor has gotten some oil contamination on it.

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#4

• Jul 26, 2004

• #4

Thanks, I'll do some searching for instructions on how to change this, but if you know of a website with instructions for complete morons, that's be a great help. Is this something I should be able to do after work before it gets dark or am I going to have to take a day off work to do it myself (or pay someone else to do it since I'm mechanically retarded).

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#5

• Jul 26, 2004

• #5

GT-03 said:

Does the car have a K&N air filter? If so, it sounds like it could be that your MAF sensor has gotten some oil contamination on it.

Click to expand...

It does, but I haven't cleaned/oiled the filter in the last about 40k miles. Wouldn't that be something that would happen right after cleaning and over oiling the filter?

 

1tirefire

New Member

Jun 2, 2004

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Northern Bay FF/SS

Jul 26, 2004

#6

• Jul 26, 2004

• #6

I had the same problem you do in my 98gt. Get some trottle body cleaner and spray the inside of the IAC located by the throttle body as stated above. Never had a problem after that.

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#7

• Jul 26, 2004

• #7

Ah, that sounds simple enough that I can probably manage it, woohoo. If I survive my drive home I'll give that a shot. First I've got to survive 30-45 mins of rush hour traffic with *******s slamming on their breaks at 70mph. Normally not too bad, but seeing as how I lose 90% of my braking power when the car shuts off... well, the drive TO work this morning was right scary.

 

G

Ghostang

New Member

Dec 20, 2002

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0

Conway, SC

Jul 26, 2004

#8

• Jul 26, 2004

• #8

mine is doing the same thing. i'm probably going to try and clean it on wednesday when i'm off next. i get a battery light sometimes too when i first crank it and after i drive it for a bit it's fine. it's just when it's sat for 12+ hours that it'll do it. could it also be something to do with my alternator or battery? im going to clean the iac and go from there.

 

cmb91LX

New Member

Apr 20, 2004

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Memphis

Jul 26, 2004

#9

• Jul 26, 2004

• #9

mrvax said:

Sounds like the $85 IAC valve is bad. I had to replace mine also. I'm not sure if the Cobra is different but it sounds like the IAC (near the throttle body).

Click to expand...

He speaks the truth. take it off and shake it. If you dont hear the valve sliding up and down the shaft, spray the shaft with the straw and soak it overnight in carb/FI cleaner. The next day take a small wire brush and clean the shaft until the valve will slide freely up and down. your car should then start up and idle fine. I have to do it every 3 mnths or so in the 99. Dont know why, maybe dirty air here in TN

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#10

• Jul 26, 2004

• #10

Sounds good, thanks guys. Think I'll take off early from work and give this a shot. Gf doesn't have to work tomorrow so I can just drive her car to work tomorrow when I inevitably **** it up and have to finish the job tomorrow after work. Hopefully I can find my socket set... I've got 3 of them scattered all around and can never find what I need.

 

T

Tommy43

New Member

Jul 14, 2004

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Jul 26, 2004

#11

• Jul 26, 2004

• #11

Did it seem to do it more when it was damp or rainy out? If so check your plugs, really I'd start with them, start with the basics, especially if they are original and not platinums.

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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0

Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#12

• Jul 26, 2004

• #12

Tommy43 said:

Did it seem to do it more when it was damp or rainy out? If so check your plugs, really I'd start with them, start with the basics, especially if they are original and not platinums.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I'm not sure, didn't pay much attention to that. It's also ALWAYS damp and rainy here, lol. We get at least one good storm almost every day.

 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends

Founding Member

Nov 29, 1999

5,225

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SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.

Jul 26, 2004

#13

• Jul 26, 2004

• #13

Let us know how it goes. It's pretty easy to change.

 

J

jbrown

New Member

Aug 5, 2003

393

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Tallahassee, FL

Jul 26, 2004

#14

• Jul 26, 2004

• #14

mine was doing the same thing, I think i just fixed it about half an hour ago, I bought some tb cleaner from auto zone, sprayed it inside the tb hit the throttle a little bit, than took of the iac and sprayed some in there, i kept the electrical part of it facing up b/c my haynes manual says NOT to soak it in cleaner since it is a electrical part. Use qtips to get the carbon out of the iac. When you shake the iac youll hear a faint noise(at least i did). I was gonna just buy the iac and see if it fixed it but the auto part store wont let you return it b/c its an electrical part, and I didnt want to waste the 60 bucks or whatever it costs. If you have a budy with the same car try switching iac's and see if that helps.

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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0

Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#15

• Jul 26, 2004

• #15

Well, looks like I'll be buying a new one shortly. How freely should the part inside move? Should it move if I shake it? I sprayed some throttle body cleaner in there, soaked it a bit, tried to clean it off a bit, but it still doesn't move very freely (although I don't have a working one to compare "freely" to). As long as it behaves for the rest of the week I'll probably take it off this weekend and let it just soak all day saturday and sunday since I won't be needing to drive the car then and then see how it goes.

 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends

Founding Member

Nov 29, 1999

5,225

3

79

SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.

Jul 26, 2004

#16

• Jul 26, 2004

• #16

Honestly, I've read countless posts about the IAC and most people agree that if you clean it, you are just on borrowed time. Imagine being stuck far from home. Just replace it and be done with it. My original lasted about 70,000 miles.

 

BuffaloZone

New Member

Oct 14, 2003

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Jul 26, 2004

#17

• Jul 26, 2004

• #17

Seems like the IAC is being suggested as a common problem. And that cleaning is probably a short-term fix. Probably all real good advice, but just to add my own story...Had the same thing happen to a Lincoln - unstable idle/long cranking time/sometimes a "no start". Come to find out, Ford/Lincoln had upgraded the IAC to a redesigned unit - installed the new IAC and problem solved. You might want to check with Ford just to see if the replacement is redesigned, because the aftermarket suppliers usually are real slow about getting redesigned parts. I'm finding bad 2002 EGR pressure sensors that are already being replaced with totally redesigned sensors - twice as large as the old ones and with a "vent" feature added.

jmichalicek said:

Ok, this all started several months ago. I've got a 1999 cobra currently with around 55k miles on it. Several months ago it started not wanting to start... I'd crank it and occasionally instead of roaring to life it would sputter and strain and then if I tapped the gas pedal it would start up. Frequently when it did this it would continue to die if I let off the gas for the first 5 or so minutes of driving. It only did this occasionally and seemed to be more or less random. As I was way overdue for a fuel filter change I got that done. Due to the randomness of the problem I never really knew if it fixed it or not. A week or two ago it started doing it again. As of friday it has done it the last 4 or 5 times I drove the car. Today rather than only taking a couple minutes of running to start behaving properly it took about 30 minutes. I get no SES light through any of this, the car still seems to have plenty of power, good throttle response, etc. Any ideas? Fuel pump? Spark plugs? I really don't have time or money for fixing things in hopes that it will do the trick until it starts to behave properly, so any help is greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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Richmond, Va

Jul 26, 2004

#18

• Jul 26, 2004

• #18

mrvax said:

Honestly, I've read countless posts about the IAC and most people agree that if you clean it, you are just on borrowed time. Imagine being stuck far from home. Just replace it and be done with it. My original lasted about 70,000 miles.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I think replacing it is the way to go once I've got $85 to spare. I just spent a 1 1/2 months unemployed, though. Have been working for 2 weeks (this is my 3rd), thanks to lame bi-weekly pay I don't get paid until the first and then it's only for 1 week, etc. The contract ends Sep 3, so money is pretty tight. Of course $85 and 5 minutes of my time to change the IAC is better than being stuck on the side of the interstate for 2 hrs and then paying a tow truck to tow me 30 miles, but I still gotta have that $85 to spare first if at all possible, so I'm going to try to make it last a couple more weeks if I can.

If it acts like it did this morning again though, it's gone whether I've got the money or not. I've gotta be able to put the clutch in and come to a complete stop when driving on the interstate in rush hour around here.

Oh, btw, any idea on what the "howling" noise it made after I cleaned the IAC was about? For maybe 5 minutes it made this sorta howling while at idle. I just wondered because my SHO has done the same thing for quite some time... makes me wonder if maybe it won't start because the IAC on it is just plain ****ed.

 

J

jbrown

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Aug 5, 2003

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Tallahassee, FL

Jul 27, 2004

#19

• Jul 27, 2004

• #19

Ive heard of some ppl soaking the iac in carb cleaner and it fixed it, but in my haynes manual it says NOT to soak it b/c it is a electrical part. When I shake my iac I can barely hear a rattle, its not very loud but its there. I cleaned mine rather than replace it because I wasnt positive it was the problem.

 

J

jmichalicek

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

274

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0

Richmond, Va

Jul 27, 2004

#20

• Jul 27, 2004

• #20

jbrown said:

Ive heard of some ppl soaking the iac in carb cleaner and it fixed it, but in my haynes manual it says NOT to soak it b/c it is a electrical part. When I shake my iac I can barely hear a rattle, its not very loud but its there. I cleaned mine rather than replace it because I wasnt positive it was the problem.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I've been trying to figure out how to soak mine without getting the electrical part in the carb cleaner. I suppose I could just fill a bowl real deep and stick it in with the electrical part up. I'll probably end up replacing it real soon anyway, though. Cleaning last night made a definite improvement but I'm pretty sure it's still not right... I wonder if advanced auto parts has them in stock and would let me just have a look at one to compare how freely the inside part moves.