I have a 2003 ford windstar that is giving me issues.
When stopped at a stop light or even in drive in the driveway for to long it the engine will surge up and down battery light will flash on and off with each surge it will stall unless i give it a little gas. It has done this twice after stepping on the gas and turning, it stalled in the middle of the turn. Talk about a scary situation!
It will also die if left running in Park for about 5 - 10 minutes.


A friend hooked up his code reader and it gave the codes attached in this post. P1336, P0174 and P0171. Can someone tell me the easiest/cheapest steps to take 1st to check out, then what next after that? I have common tools and a volt meter.

Thanks!!

 

P0174 and PO171: Most likely the isolator bolt grommets are failing. There is always some oil getting into the intake manifold and the original grommets are not oil resistant, they shrink, get brittle and leak a lot of air. That causes a lean condition. There could be other vacuum leaks, but this the most common one.
If the isolator grommets are the cause of the problem, here is how I fixed it:
The job is easy but time consuming. The grommets and the upper intake manifold seal kit cost $45 at Advance Auto Parts. It took me 4 hours, but I am a slow poke. I disconnected the battery negative cable. Then I removed the plastic cowl between the hood and the windshield, and the plastic part that carries the wiper motor assembly. Then I removed the upper intake manifold (the upper plastic shell) while keeping track of the bolt locations.
Next, I took off the snorkel together with the MAF sensor housing. Then I loosened the isolator bolts, and lifted the spacer (lower plastic shell) off and moved it to the side. The throttle body and throttle cables are still attached. I used a socket and extension rod to push the isolator bolts out of the spacer. The old grommets (black) can be split with diagonal cutters to remove them from the sleeves. The new grommets (green and hopefully oil resistant) can be pushed over the sleeves by hand. I warmed them in my hand to make them more flexible. I cleaned the seal seats on the lower intake manifold with solvents and scraped the EGR ports open. Reassembly goes in reverse order.

P1336: This is a problem with the crankshaft position sensor. It sits on the passenger side of the engine, accessible through the wheel well. Often it only needs a good cleaning.

 

Hi Bluewind, good to hear from you !

 

Thanks, Hanky.
I had a question on the '08 to '11 focus. No one answers there. I drove one that had funny steering, like under inflated tires, even though they were properly inflated. Maybe it had extreme toe in. It didn't want to go straight. Is that a common thing with this model focus, or did I just happen to drive a freakish car?