Weird Issue...'93 Ford Tempo transmission dipstick

[justalubetech]

We have an old beater '93 Ford Tempo, and when you pull out the transmission dipstick to check the fluid, the engine immediately stalls out...what could be the cause of this? If I give it a little throttle while pulling the stick out it stays running. It's only when you first pull the dipstick out that it tries to stall, after that its fine. It shifts fine and the fluid level is fine. Just a weird problem that I have never seen before lol

 

[NHGUY]

Vacuum leak? Bad vacuum modulator? Does it even have a vacuum modulator?

 

[justalubetech]

I believe it has a throttle position cable instead of a modulator. Most of the vacuum lines look fairly new, but that doesn't mean i'm not missing something (Haven't looked into it much yet, it's just a spare car we keep around)

 

[RF Overlord]

That IS a weird one...

My buddy had a 2003 Taurus that would stall when you removed the 710 cap...there was a huge amount of vacuum there. Turned out to be a bad PCV valve. Replacement also cured his P1506 code...

 

[fdcg27]

+1
If the old dear runs and drives okay, I'd just be sure to keep the o-ring on the trans dipstick in good condition and keep on truckin'.
I can't come up with any theory as to why this would happen.
Maybe someone with a lot of experience with these old beasts will come along with an answer?
We had one of these old dears in the fleet at work and it endured 200K miles of abuse before finally expiring.
A solid car, though a little *****.

 

[Kuato]

Agree with above - it has to be the change in vacuum so check pcv and hoses.

 

[andyd]

Total wild guess. There is a bad chassis ground strap to the cowl from the engine or the battery. The dip stick is completing the circuit. If that is hog wash use a vacuum gauge to check

 

[asand1]

I would guess bad vacuum modulator leaking vacuum into the trans. Any ATF dissapearing? Pull the stick and check the tube for vacuum.

 

[Kruse]

With the car OFF, put your thumb over the dipstick tube and have a buddy start the car. If you feel the vacuum and you feel or hear a whoosh when you take your thumb off the tube, you probably have a bad modulator, as others have mentioned.

 

[punisher]

Modulator would make some sort of sense, but you would be losing fluid and smoking out the tailpipe as fluid got sucked into the vac line......and I don't remember them having a modulator, just a TV link.

Interesting problem.