A couple of weeks ago, it went from a mild jan, to a cold feb. On the first cold day the car (an 06 v6, 5 speed) had a hesitation. It did it twice. I didnt think much of it, because the car never did like the cold and both time the motor was still cold. The next day, it did it again. Started thinking maybe something was up. Then it would do it one day and not the next, and always when the motor was still cold (after 10 minute warm up, and sometimes right after getting on the highway). Then it got worse. It would do it everytime the car started to pull a light load, like up from a shallow gully (the road is considered flat, but has some undlualtions that cover a couple hundred feet, and only about a foot deep over that distance. Or under light cruising. Never under hard load.
Then I asked a guy at a shop that is a customer of mine, and as soon as I said it had a hesitation he said "under part throttle light cruising, and just starting to pull a light load" "uhhmm, yeah" 90% of the time, fuel filter, plugs and wires will fix it. So the next day, I order the parts from ford, and made it about 10 minutes down the road before it lost all power and the CEL light came on for the first time. I limped it to a home depot and phoned in a lift to work. Had someone pick up plugs and filter for me (had to order wires, so I was going to pick them up with the wires came in) and I grabbed a friends code reader. Went down to the car with intent on doing the fuel filter there in the home depot parking lot. Started right up, no light (i turned it off when i got there, and restarted it and the light was still on), but this time, no light, and it was running fine, and no codes in the code reader. So I gingerly drove it home. Talked to a few more guys and they all said fuel filter. So I drove another car until i got the fuel filter changed, but didnt do the plugs.
I did the filter and it worked fine for a few days, then all of a sudden, its started it real bad again. So i quit driving it until i got the wires. Was driving it to work to change plugs and wires in the shop, and it lost all power again and the light came on, unfortunatly, I didnt have the code reader on me. But i turned it off, waited a while, started it up and it ran fine to the shop. I changed plugs and wires.
Now, the passanger side plugs all looked fine, perhaps a bit white, but im used to looking at plugs from cars that run about 180deg with carbs and dist, so they run a lot richer and cooler than new cars do. But when I pulled the 3 plugs out of the drivers side (so 4 5 and 6) the center electode on all three was pooched. beveled, not square at the end. Figured the emediate problem was the plugs, but knew there was an underlying problem. Drove it home, and it worked great for a while, then got real bad with the hesitation again.
So. Now that you know the situation, what do you think could be my problem? I figure it has to be in the fuel delivery system. The drivers bank is running hot, therefor, running rich. What could be wrong in the fuel deoivery system that would affect one bank, but not the other. Is there 2 fuel moduals or anything?
I was looking in a haynes manual for the 3.8L v6 in the windstar, (its a holiday today, so nothing is open to get one for the mustang) but it has 2 butterflys, one for each bank, that limit air below 3000rpm to improve drivablitlity at the bottom end. Do our v6s have anything like that? If one was stuck partly closed that could explain the running rich because it cant get enough air? But if that was the case, should the computer compensate and put more fuel in to keep the fuel ratio right? (My mini is that dynamitic, I dont know if the mustang is or not).
Could it be the oxy sensor not working (is there one for each bank, or just one for both? if just one, it shouldnt affect just one bank, but if there is an 02 sensor for each side, then it would make sence.
Anyone got any ideas? Or better yet have this problem before? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot for any help.
Bix
Then I asked a guy at a shop that is a customer of mine, and as soon as I said it had a hesitation he said "under part throttle light cruising, and just starting to pull a light load" "uhhmm, yeah" 90% of the time, fuel filter, plugs and wires will fix it. So the next day, I order the parts from ford, and made it about 10 minutes down the road before it lost all power and the CEL light came on for the first time. I limped it to a home depot and phoned in a lift to work. Had someone pick up plugs and filter for me (had to order wires, so I was going to pick them up with the wires came in) and I grabbed a friends code reader. Went down to the car with intent on doing the fuel filter there in the home depot parking lot. Started right up, no light (i turned it off when i got there, and restarted it and the light was still on), but this time, no light, and it was running fine, and no codes in the code reader. So I gingerly drove it home. Talked to a few more guys and they all said fuel filter. So I drove another car until i got the fuel filter changed, but didnt do the plugs.
I did the filter and it worked fine for a few days, then all of a sudden, its started it real bad again. So i quit driving it until i got the wires. Was driving it to work to change plugs and wires in the shop, and it lost all power again and the light came on, unfortunatly, I didnt have the code reader on me. But i turned it off, waited a while, started it up and it ran fine to the shop. I changed plugs and wires.
Now, the passanger side plugs all looked fine, perhaps a bit white, but im used to looking at plugs from cars that run about 180deg with carbs and dist, so they run a lot richer and cooler than new cars do. But when I pulled the 3 plugs out of the drivers side (so 4 5 and 6) the center electode on all three was pooched. beveled, not square at the end. Figured the emediate problem was the plugs, but knew there was an underlying problem. Drove it home, and it worked great for a while, then got real bad with the hesitation again.
So. Now that you know the situation, what do you think could be my problem? I figure it has to be in the fuel delivery system. The drivers bank is running hot, therefor, running rich. What could be wrong in the fuel deoivery system that would affect one bank, but not the other. Is there 2 fuel moduals or anything?
I was looking in a haynes manual for the 3.8L v6 in the windstar, (its a holiday today, so nothing is open to get one for the mustang) but it has 2 butterflys, one for each bank, that limit air below 3000rpm to improve drivablitlity at the bottom end. Do our v6s have anything like that? If one was stuck partly closed that could explain the running rich because it cant get enough air? But if that was the case, should the computer compensate and put more fuel in to keep the fuel ratio right? (My mini is that dynamitic, I dont know if the mustang is or not).
Could it be the oxy sensor not working (is there one for each bank, or just one for both? if just one, it shouldnt affect just one bank, but if there is an 02 sensor for each side, then it would make sence.
Anyone got any ideas? Or better yet have this problem before? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot for any help.
Bix
