The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Can I get some thoughts on stalling? non stovebolt

My sisters 89 Ford Probe wont run..see description below..

She left the lights on and killed the battery and when I charged it found there was no gas.(Ya I know bad news-You can choose your friends but not your family) I charged the battery and added gas and it started. At first it ran rough and an interesting symptom is it stalls when you put the automatic trans in forward. I did however back it up without stalling. Today it starts and immediatedly quits..it will start right back up easily but then quits.

Any thoughts of the possible causes based on these symptoms? I usually do all my own work but this is a different animal.

Appreciate guys,

Keith

might be the idle control sensor/ air mass sensor..
my 96 t bird( v-8) would crank,but die if you started to go, hard to get the rpm up at idle........I did nurse it about 5 miles by keeping gas pedal hard and trying not to stop til I got to the shop..

anyway that is what was wrong with mine,,, sounds similar..
if I had known where it was located and what it was I would have saved my self 95 bucks..on 2 bolts held it on and it is right on top of manifold where it is easy to get to..

I am assuming it is fuel injected, but a lot of this can apply to a carburated engine as well.

Since it ran dry, and since it is as old as it is, I'd first change the fuel filter. Once the fuel pump sucks air, that turbulence from the air can shake loose an amazing amount of debris from the fuel lines and wreak all kinds of havoc including fuel starvation.

With the fuel filter off, check the pump flow. Running the tank dry can also cause the filter sock on the inlet to collapse. Doing this will also insure that there isn't any air left in the line to cause a cold vapor lock. And it will indicate whether the pump is working ok.

Once you know you have good fuel flow, if it is still stalling, check the intake for a cracked inlet horn, disconnected hoses or cracked plastic fittings. A backfire through the intake can cause a long list of vacuum related issues that will cause stalling.

Those are the easy checks.

If all that fails, then you have an issue that will take some digging. You may have plugged injectors or carb jets, messed up sensors, blown intake or head gasket or other problems that can crop up from running out of gas.

Might be as simple as resetting the computer. The manual
should explain how to do it but any Wally's or Sears tech
knows how.

Thanks guys..I've had some say to try more gas before doing anything else-1 gal. may not be enough..

Running dry and sucking stuff in sounds very possible..

A number of people have also mentioned the computer needing to re-establish it's baseline Waldo..I'll need to read up on that.

Have a great weekend guys..hope you're working on your rigs..I'll will

Keith

Turned out to be a crack/gap in the boot just before the carb..duct tape fixed it for now..new rubber air boot on order

Keith