Hey everyone, I just got a 2000 Windstar and am having an issue I hope someone can help me solve.

It seems that after the engine is warmed up and I shut it off, it will stall after starting up again. It does not do this all the time but enough to be annoying. Also sometime stalls when slowing down or stopping. I can always restart it fine I just have to feather the gas pedal a bit. Anyone have any ideas on where to look first?

BTW its a 3.8V6
and always starts and runs fine when cold.

Thanks

 

Hi, I just stumbled upon this site by Google. I have an '03 Windstar SE 3.8L V6 and within the past
two to three months has developed a lean condition; OBD codes PO171 and PO174. It has started to
Make a squeaky/metally like sound. It makes you think it could be the S belt b/c the sound comes from that
side. When I first start it it will squeak and now the squeak causes it to stall. Also it “coughs” and jerks while I'm driving
like it could stall but if I keep my foot on the gas it won't stall. Also when it idles in P if I press the gas when it squeaks it won't die.
I read your post and was wondering if you experienced any of these problems. I've replaced the fuel filter, air filter, PCV valve and its little
Grommet it fits into, MAF sensor and CAM sensor. Every time I do something new it will run fine but the CEL comes back on.
Its pretty frustrating. My battery is fine, so is the alternator. I've been told my S belt is fine wear wise and tension wise.
Maybe some other person has experienced this and successfully solved this mystery.

 

So the van acted up again today. Squeaking and stalling after I started it. It even acted like it would cut out on the road. Then it ran beautifully. Not a jerk, sputter or hiccup. Ran like the smooth piece of machinery I fell in love with.
BUT the CEL did light up again so I decided to take it to the local DIY auto store and have it checked. The man said the code was PO340, not two weeks ago I replaced the cam sensor! A brand new one! The read out said it was a circuit
Malfunction. Could it be more than the sensor itself. He cleared the code. Could the diagnostic machine at a garage be more specific? I've read various blogs where folks have had hit or miss experiences there as well. Its like $40-45 just for that.
I hope someone can shed some light on this mystery.

 

Hi guys, guess what the van is fixed. It was the spark plugs, esp. the wires. I also found out that the cheaper CAM sensor
wasn't sufficient either so I installed a better one. I hope this helps anyone who might encounter the problems I had.
Good luck. Have a Merry Christmas!

 

I have a 2000 Windstar with the 3.8L V6. My wife is out of town and says it's shutting off whenever she is on a rising freeway loop on-ramp. It happened twice within 45 minutes. Otherwise it's running OK. She did say it was low on gas. The "refill gas" icon appeared on the dash before the 2nd on-ramp, but not the first.

I'm wondering if the on-ramp could cause the gas to slosh around in the tank enough to cause the van to stall out. Seems plausible, but I don't know if this is likely.

Any experienced guidance would be great.

 

My 2000 Windstar with the 3.8 liter V6 had this same problem. It ran fine down the road, but stalled at intersections. The fix was to replace the Idle Air Control Valve. It is an easy to replace item, since it is held on by two bolts right on the top of the Air intake from the air cleaner. I tried to clean the old one, with spray cleaner, but it only helped a little. Since stalling at an intersection is dangerous, especially when you need to get out of the way of oncoming traffic, I opted to just buy a new replacement valve. You can get one from O'Reileys, Autozone, PepBoys, NAPA, et. It cost almost $100, but how much would getting hit cost if you could not get out of the way of oncoming traffic. Replacing it took about ten minutes. My Windstar is now reliable when I need to blast off from a dead stop after idling at a signal. My Windstar is the favorite family vehicle for mountain trips, beach trips, Vegas trips, and the surfboards, sleds, people all fit nicely.

Here is a link to the valve that I got a NAPA just to show you what a small simple, but vital, part it is.
http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Det...+50028+2028059