Todd LaPlante
Member
I have about 92K on my 2003 trac. Occasionally when the weather is damp and cool, usually fog or a light misting rain, it has trouble starting and once it is running it runs very rough and surges while idling. If you step on the gas too fast it will hesitate and sometimes stall. After driving for a couple of minutes it usually clears up and runs fine. It does not happen very often, but I did clean the TB, IAC, MAF and did the seafoam in the brake booster line. I also replaced the spark plugs, wires and the rubber PCV elbow. Since doing all this I have still had the problem on occasion. It just happened to my wife. Luckily she was at the neighbors the next street over. She had trouble starting it and then she said it would not go when she stepped on the gas. She made it to the hill at the end of our street and it would not make it up. She walked home and I went down to get it. It started right up and ran fine.
I'm struggling trying to figure out what could be wrong. I would hate to have her get stranded somewhere. When I cleaned the IAC it had a lot of carbon buildup and seemed to be sticking. I cleaned it the best I could, but could this be causing the problem? Could the damp air cause it to stick? I could see this causing the hard starting and rough idle, but shouldn't it run fine once the TB is opened during acceleration? The problem is that it happens so rarely, so no matter what I do I won't know if I've fixed the problem.
Has anyone had a similar problem or have any ideas of what I should check?
I'm struggling trying to figure out what could be wrong. I would hate to have her get stranded somewhere. When I cleaned the IAC it had a lot of carbon buildup and seemed to be sticking. I cleaned it the best I could, but could this be causing the problem? Could the damp air cause it to stick? I could see this causing the hard starting and rough idle, but shouldn't it run fine once the TB is opened during acceleration? The problem is that it happens so rarely, so no matter what I do I won't know if I've fixed the problem.
Has anyone had a similar problem or have any ideas of what I should check?