Ford Windstar LX

cam position censor breacking down when hot (ecotec engine)

Do you have any trouble codes?

These are prone to EGR valve, Air mass meter and crank pos sensor problems.

Your thermostat could be stuck open. Otherwise, you could have an electrical problem with your gauge. If the needle raises off of the resting point near cold a little while driving, it might be your thermostat is stuck. this would probably hurt gas mileage too. its an easy and cheap fix if it is a thermostat.

Might also be a bad temperature sensor. Forgot about that. That's easy too.

When it is working, go to autozone.com and they have diagrams. Or go to MOTORLIT.COM. 4bbl A/T Calif Emissions

No, it does not. Please be accurate on your answers.

it could be because the timing belt went

This information can be found in your owner's manual. and under the hood on a placard. If you do not have one, then I suggest you get one. You need an owner's manual to know what items to service and when, and for specifications. You can order one from a dealer, find one at a salvage yard, ebay, or one of these sites: http://www.carownermanual.com/ http://vehicleownersmanual.com/ http://www.vintage-books.com/owncat.htm

If your ac is low on freeon the air wont blow as cold as normal. An ac unit is a sealed system so if its low that usually neans there is a problem. DO NOT TRY TO FIX THIS YOURSELF! It could result in serious bodilly injury. not to mention that releasing freeon into the atmosphere is against the law. take it to a certifide ac tech. most service centers have a tech on hand. so the smartest thing to do is call around for prices and availability. Another answer is that refill kits are available at most autoparts stores. Ask the people there for advice and suggestions specific to your vehicle. I personally handle all my refills - most of which just require a quick topping off of coolant that lasts for years. Answer My A/C was not working. I took it for service, cost me $220. The A/C worked for 10 days. The clutch was pulling in and out. I bought a refill kit and added about 18 oz. of freon/leak stopper/ dye. The clutch stopped cycling and the A/C was cold. Waiting to see if the leak is fixed. The clutch drops out below 25 psi on the low side to protect the compressor. If your clutch cycles or does not pull in you may be low on freon.

.060 i recently did the job on a 98 ss

The vehicle will surge at idle because of the vacuum leak. If the PCV valve has come apart it will take you 2 seconds to inspect. Just remove it, turn it upside down and look at it. If the spring loaded valve is gone, it has come apart. Try lowing through it one direction, then the other. It should flow fairly easily one way, but should feel somewhat restricted the other way.

The relay is located in the 12 volt ignition wiring harness going to the starter. The small wire on the starter is the ignition switch. The relay is located in the wiring harness. Are you sure the starter solnoide is not bad? When the ignition key is turned to the start location, you should read 14.1 volts going to the starter. If you read 14.1 volts, and the starter does not turn over. Check battery, and cables. Ok, Then replacement of starter is necessary. Starter bolts are 13mm. Brakeline bracket bolt is 15mm. Solnoide bolts are 13mm. Should take no more than 20 minutes to remove starter.
Follow the + battery cable either mounted on the inner fender or on top of the starter

Its a circuit breaker not a fuse on the vehicle,look under the hood in your fuse or relay panel under the dash for it.Look in the owners manual if necessary

you should be able to find one in a chiltons or haynes manual!

0.035 inches.

Check the Vehicle Emissions Control Information ( VECI ) decal

located in the front of your engine compartment ( it will show the

type of spark plugs to use and the spark plug gap )

I am glad I can actually help someone else for once! It is your blend door actuator. It gets stuck between heat and cool and it breaks. That's what makes the clicking sound. I had to replace mine on my 2000 windstar and it was really easy, about 20 minutes to fix. It goes right behind your stereo and the part was only like $20 online. Just do a search for how to fix a blend door actuator and there are step by step instructions on a few different websites. I hope this helps!

The voltage regulator is built into the side of the alternator.

.044 2002 Maxima uses platinum-tipped spark plugs, gap = 0.044

Take it to AutoZone and ask them to read the code, this should help you look for the correct repair. This could be as simple as removing the gas cap and re-fastening. Could be misfiring engine, could also be bad gas. Try filling up with premium for one tank. Without knowing the error code it is just shooting in the dark.

Had the same problem on my '00 4.7 liter. Turns out it was the throttle position sensor. Sensor was replaced at dealer problem disappeared.

no adjustment needed or just to refer to the manual

what is the spark plug gap for a 1998 toyota 4 runner 3.4 L v6

Try checking this out first - - follow the fan power wire to the fan housing to where it plugs into the socket located on the fan housing. Remove the plug and clean both the plug AND the inside of the socket completely. A known problem is dirt accumulating in the socket/plug assembly due to its exposed location behind the radiator. After you clean these and re-assemble them see if that doesn't solve your problem. If not - find the proper relay and take it to a GOOD auto parts place and they can test it for you.

If the vehicle is parked on a hill and the weight of the vehicle is being held by the parking gear you may find that it will be difficult to shift out of park. I suggest using the parking BRAKE to hold the weight of the vehicle while parked. Set the parking brake BEFORE you put it into park, or at least before you remove your foot from the brake pedal. That way you are having the parking brake hold the weight and the transmission becomes the backup for holding the vehicle. It should be a lot easier to get it out of park then.

You may have something wrong with that cylinder that is causing a loss of compression or a loss of combustion on that cylinder. Those things were notorious for head gasket deterioration, which caused coolant to enter the cylinder, leading to a misfire, esp on initial start up.

Also, you may have a faulty coil tower on your coil pack. I have seen many coil packs needing replaced due to one coil failing on it. You also have 6 injectors that are fired by the computer. If you have a problem with the #4 injector, the #4 injector circuit, or the #4 injector driver in the computer, that would lead to a P0304 code.

Another situation I see frequently: If that engine has individual EGR ports to each cylinder, located in the intake manifold (some from about 96 on did), you may have a situation where all but #4 are stopped up. What happens is, when the EGR is commanded on, the imbalance of EGR gasses entering the cylinders causes that cylinder to go excessively lean in comparison with the other cylinders, thus causing a misfire on that cylinder.

It is never good to just blow parts on a vehicle when you have a trouble code and a check engine light. You need to determine what could cause a cylinder to misfire. The main causes of misfire to a cylinder are lack of ignition, lack of fuel, air/fuel to lean to that cylinder ( a vacuum leak right near that cylinder can also cause this), Loss of compression, or coolant entering cylinder. Answer

WINDSTARS HAVE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THERE EGR PORTS(IN THE LOWER INTAKE MANIFOLD) PLUGGING UP WITH CARBON -IF YOU REMOVE THE UPPER PLENUM(UPPER INTAKE USUALLY BLACK PLASTIC HOUSING ON ENGINE)YOU CAN CLEAN THE PORTS OUT WITH A SMALL PICK-THIS PROBLEM WILL CAUSE A MISSFIRE CODE EVERYTIME Answer

I have a 98 Windstar and about two years ago the check engine light turned on. I asked my neighbor, who is a mechanic for a local Ford dealership, about it. He said that a Ford mechanic is the only one who can "turn it off". They have a computer that they plug into the engine and tells you what is wrong. Then they are the only ones whe have a code that turns the light off. In my case it was cracked 3" long rubber air tube.

We had the same problem with our '96 Windstar. #4 & 5 cylinders came up in the computer as being bad. New plugs & wires helped #4, but #5 was still showing bad. Turns out, even though the injector code did not show up, 2 of the injectors were bad. This took care of the light problem. We did NOT have to go to a Ford dealer in order to get the light to go out... your regular mechanic should have diagnotic tools and be able to "flush" your computer's memory of the bad codes. Answer

I have the same problem on my 96 windstar with > 100000 miles. This is apparently a common problem with high mileage windstars (3.8L) and assuming sparks, fuel, injectors, o2 sensors etc. check out OK, it is caused by the build up of carbon in the EGR orifices in the lower intake manifold. The problem can be fixed by removing the upper intake manifold and cleaning the carbon deposits from the EGR orifices. The misfire happens because the orifices on ports 2,3,4,5,6 get blocked first (#1 furthest from EGR valve) therefore when the EGR valve opens, most of the recirculated exhaust gases go to #1 cylinder weakening the mixture excessively resulting in misfiring.

-- I had the same problem on my 96 Windstar @ about 100k miles and received the same diagnosis of carbon buildup on the intake manifold. We removed the manifold for thorough cleaning and discovered a blown manifold gasket at the #1 cylider.

i had the same problem with my van, I took it to the dealer and they checked it out as being the coil going bad. so far so good with it. Answer

did you disconnect the neg battery termanl to reset your CPU & if so do you still have the miss it could be a coil or wire Answer

I had the same problem on my 1996 Windstar and found that the #2 fuel injector was bad Answer

The plug, wire or coil could be the problem.

Usually if the injector is failing you will get different codes.

I just replaced plugs and wires from a 2002 and they were in very bad condition. The van had 90,000 or so miles on it. When these were changed it ran like a new van.

The back three plugs were just awesome. (sarcastic) That is another issue though. Good luck.

See "Related Questions" below Answer

Any general repair shop that does electrical can replace it for you. If it has plugs at both ends, you can buy that particular part of your harness and simply replace it without any wiring. The question is does it just look bad or is it bad for the circuit. if it is you should get a code for the sensor or whatever it's attached to and CIL will come on.

If you have a library card, you can go online and find the technical diagram on their websites. Most libraries have the repair manuals online because the books are constantly stolen. If they don't try the larger towns library. You can actually photo copy the diagram there without having to check it out and it only cost the most a dollar. I hope this helps :)