This is what worked for me. I did two things then took the car for a drive. I dis-connected the plug for the Throttle Position Sensor & re-connected it several times just in case there was a poor connection there
. My second effort was to remove & clean the MAF. Very tricky. I used an alcohol based spay cleaner that would leave no residue. Sprayed the MAF wires liberally a couple of times, let air dry, re-installed & it drove like a champ.
Now I'm gonna re-gap my plugs to spec & head to the races!!
I hope you guys have similar luck. Those leak suggestions sounded on target too, so don't give up too quickly.
JimR
Originally posted by Kennard:
Originally posted by wontgrowup:
ummmm...hate to be the "bearer of bad tidings" but I had the same problems that everyone here is discussing.....then the car literally died on the highway!! It started with the small bucking, then it became more and more frequent until the car began bucking and stalling getting onto the highway monday morning. After 5 days (and countless calls) I was told that the fuel pump was shot. One of the techs at the dealership was curious....did I always try to coax "extra mileage" out of the car when the low fuel light came on? I said I did, and on a regular basis, as everyone knows how pessimistic our fuel guages are. He said he wasn't positive, but that it could have been a contributing factor in my fuel pumps demise(with the fuel sloshing around a nearly empty tank, it does make some sense;a dry fuel pump pick-up is not a good thing). He also mentioned something about the pick-up screen that is on the pump itself(which I don't think I could get to with my "returnless" 2000)And believe me, i tried EVERYTHING you guys had done, short of ripping the engine apart, to address the problem. 
Hmmm, this doesn't sound all that positive but to my knowledge our 'low fuel light' has been on 2 or 3 times. My wife drives the Tour 99% of the time. I have the E-350, 15 pass, V-10 Club Wagon Econoline, and I don't need no stinking bucking, hahaha. But seriously you know how women are, the tank never gets below 1/4 full, ever. So it's doubtful that this is my problem, but possible. So let's see; it could be the throttle position sensor, the DPFE, a leak in the air inlet, the MAF, the O2 sensor, what else ? Yowzers, it's never easy is it ? This problem seems to be prevalent in all small Ford engines. I-4's, V-6's of various sizes and others according to the DPFE site I visited. So it seems if we find a common part in all these engines we should be able to trace it down a little more. But hey I do appreciate all y'alls input. It's definitely helped cause I know alot more now than I did a few days ago, Ken
