My '95 is stalling out!

I was waiting at a light the other day and the truck acted like someone or something had blocked the intake for a second (rpms dipped dramatically and engine was bucking). This had happened occasionally in the heat of the summer, and I was able to prevent a stall by gassing it. But on this recent event, it actually stalled, which was a first.

Back in August I cleaned the MAF sensor to address this issue. The problem got worse for a day, then went away almost completely until yesterday. FWIW, the temp had finally gotten up close to 70 after a long cold spell. So, I'm thinking the problem has something to do with outside temperature, but this may be far fetched.

On the way to work last night it hiccup-ed a few more times while waiting at stop lights. It didn't die, but I know something's not right. Should I clean the MAF sensor again? Replace it? Look at something else altogether? Help me out here. Thanks in advance!

 

Good call on cleaning MAF, though, I hope you used MAF cleaner and not contact cleaner or some other solvent.

I'd try cleaning the idle air control, next; takes 5 minutes and is easy to access. While you're there, empty the air intake accumulator of debris and/or condensation; I've seen that cause the same issue.

 

Might as well clean the EGR while your taking stuff off to clean. Might be time to do a tuneup if that hasn't been done recently, plugs, wires, cap and rotor etc.

 

well..not to state the obvious here..

but did you check the air filter?? Mine was having a hard time starting and it was just a near pluged air filter.

after that.

Could be a plugged Cat too.

 

I used carburetor cleaner to 'hose off' the wire in the MAF. The air filter was checked at the same time and the box cleaned out, as well. The friend who sold me this truck back in June took good, but not meticulous care of it. It has 203K on it and may be in need of the coils, wires, cap, rotor (he said plugs were changed not long before he sold it to me). And I will have to look up the idle air control as suggested. Searching the suggested links has made me wonder if the problem is the throttle position sensor. The symptoms described there sound a lot like mine.

 

Get MAF cleaner. Carb cleaner leaves a residue that will f-up tha MAF.

When troubleshooting start with the easy stuff.

-Check air filter as mentioned above. I think someone had a similar issue due to mice nesting in their air box.
-Check your plugs and wires. If they previous owner put single prong plugs in, they will wear twice as fast (probably last ~15k miles).
-Check your sensors. MAF (again use MAF cleaner) and O2's.
-Your fuel filter is said to be "lifetime" but I changed mine at 120k and it made a big diff. I would def change it if its original.
-Seafoam your engine and fuel tank.
-Remove and clean out your TB.

You should be able to complete this in a few hours. If it still continues, time for more advanced trouble shooting.

 

Single prongs spark plugs are fine for 4 cyl, v6 uses the dual tips I believe.

 

Thats right, thanks, I stand corrected (I still would check them though ).

 

Great information...THANKS! Couple of questions, though:
1) What's the difference between Seafoaming the engine vs the tank? (I guess I should just search 'seafoam the engine')
2) What is the "TB"?

 

Check out the SEAFOAM thread. Put it in the engine to get all the internals. In the tank to clean the fuel system/injectors.

TB = Throttle body

 

might be the engine coolant temp sensor if it is acting up with hotter weather. when mine went out the truck would start fine initially from cold but didn't like to start again after it was warmed up. however mine through a engine light code