Coincidence or is something wrong now?

[demarpaint]

Last night while headed out to teach a class I had to stop short to avoid a moron who decided turning left on red was a good idea. While standing on my brakes to stop my engine stalled, its an automatic transmission 93 Aerostar. I had a little less than 1/4 tank of gas, which I usually never let it get that low, but my wife's been using it. It was a little difficult to restart. About 2 hours later I made the return trip home, 20 miles, exited the parkway, stopped at a light, a normal stop and it stalled again. Just before the stall it would shake a little then stall, a little hard to restart. I stopped for gas and filled up, drove home and it was fine.

Any thoughts? I've had it to that level of fuel before but as I mentioned I usually gas up between 1/4-1/2 tank. This is week #2 with no UCL in the fuel as part of some testing. Hint it runs better with the UCL, but I doubt that has anything with what is going on here.

As always thanks!

 

[Scienceman]

My Towncar actually does that sometimes to. Its almost like I need to adjust the idle on it.

 

[MrCritical]

last time fuel filter was changed?

 

[sciphi]

Did all the fuel slosh forward and get air into the lines? Or maybe there's an unexpected jolt of air coming from somewhere that the ECU couldn't compensate for.

 

[spasm3]

i would start with the fuel filter as MrCritical suggested.

 

[river_rat]

I had some trouble with a Lincoln inertial fuel pump cutoff once. Just a thought.

 

[helix_rider]

Demarpaint - you should know better! And if you really think about it, you probably already know the answer.

It's the Gods of MMO cursing and punishing you for your 2nd tank of fuel without a UCL (MMO).

 

[demarpaint]

The fuel filter has about 5,000 miles on it, along with the pump. I have a feeling that the level of fuel in the tank was just a little too low. The trip I made last night was 40 miles round trip, I gassed up on the way home. The stall occured on the way out, hard stop as mentioned. Coming home at the light it was a normal stop. When I gassed up I took a little over 18 gallons of gas in a 20 gallon tank. It ran fine this morning. We can't let it get that low anymore. I usually take about 15 gallons to fill the tank. I never run a tank that low.

 

[Rickey]

Gas gauge out of calibration?

Just a thought.

Rickey.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

sometimes the crank really oils up the intake when the oil sump climbs up one wall of the engine on hig G stops and turns - Just thought id throw that out as an alternative to the fuel suppply ideas.

 

[demarpaint]

The gas gauge is the same as it has always been. When I set out on my 40 mile r/t I was just under 1/4 tank. It took me 1 hour to make the first 20 mile leg of the trip, and 45 minutes to make the return run, you've got to love L.I., NY. I had less than 2 gallons in the tank when I got to the gas station on the way home. I was trying to force $60 gas into the tank, so I know I filled it. At $57.80 there was no more gas going into that tank. I didn't feel like going back inside for change, so I kept trying to get more gas in the tank, but I had to get change, LOL. That's what I like about the older cars, no EVAP emission system to set into a tizzy adding more gas.

 

[AuthorEditor]

My guess is it might be water in the bottom of the fuel tank. I try to keep my tank pretty full in the winter to avoid condensation on cold wet days.

 

[demarpaint]

There could be. As I mentioned as a rule I never let it get that low. My wife worked an extra day last week, and that threw off the fill-up for the week. I'll have a look and see if I have any water-zorb, and next fill-up add some.

 

[doitmyself]

With E10 gasoline, if you have "free water" at the bottom of the tank, its my opinion that you have a serious fuel contamination problem beyond fix with a cheap additive. Think about it. E10 already absorbs more water than the old gasolines.

This web site advises against using alcohol containing fuel additives in E10 for obvious reasons....."Warning, you do not want to force excess water back into ethanol fuel". And, what happens to your fuel injectors when you push H20 laden fuel thru them. I don't really know and am just speculating based on "internet education". I know that diesel injectors/fuel pump can be ruined by H20.

http://www.fuel-testers.com/is_gas_additive_safe_with_e10_list.html someone tell me if this is legitimate info or just marketing hype. Especially, note the Ezorb warning.

 

[willix]

Did you get a check engine light? I think you can easily get flash codes with a paper clip in the ECU plug in that Ford.

I seems fuel related. You stated a recent filter & pump replacement.

I would think the ethanol in the fuel would be doing a reasonable job preventing moisture. Bad fuel could still be a consideration.

Fuel regulators will make them run bad & is somewhat common.

The "wiggle test" for connections have revealed contact problems for me on the Fords.

 

[demarpaint]

No cel light. I took it on an estimate this morning, about 10 minute ride each way, it was fine. I have a feeling stopping short with a little less than 4 gallons fuel in the tank might have been the problem. If it happens again I will have to get it into the garage and start looking for problems.

 

[meep]

I am not sold on this as a low fuel issue.

1. even at WOT, it takes time for fuel (and air bubbles) to make it through the fuel lines to the injectors, assuming it's a returnless system. If it's a return-line system, it would still take some time.

2. tanks typically have barriers inside to prevent excessive sloshing and air problems.

I have seen conditions coming off-throttle and hitting deep brake that cause an engine to stumble if the iac valve is sluggish.

Add to that. you dumped a rapid burst of air from the brake booster into the plenum, resulting in lean mix. ecu has to compensate quickly. if rail pressure is low due to sluggish regulator, it points to that part as possibility.

GLAD you are safe!!!

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks! I'd rather not start messing with it just yet. I had it out this morning and it was fine. Wife is using it now. I don't remember the last time I had to stop the way I did in a very long time. The vehicle is old, and I'd rather not be messing with it in the cold. If it acts up again, then I'll have to start fooling with it.

 

[Vikas]

You are not going to mess with it until it does not respond to Techron/Regane/Redline etc Seriously, anything fuel related issues, and that would be the first thing I would be doing.

 

[demarpaint]

I really think the gas level was just to low. My wife and I both used it today w/o issue. Since I just gassed up last night and it's full I might wait a week and toss a bottle of FI cleaner in for good measure. I was holding off because I typically do it before an OCI which is about 1800 miles away. Maybe Monday when I gas up I'll toss the bottle in ahead of time, it certainly won't hurt anything.

I might pull the IAC next warm day, or when the Aerostar is home and the Jeep is out of the garage.