help please, iidles down once placed in gear

Sep 20, 2009 7 Replies
1998 ford f150 4.6 Started last week whenever I put truck in drive or reverse it cuts off, shift back to neutral or park and it starts right up. Thought I had water in tank but added some water remover, cleared the problem up and week later its doing it again. Havent refill gas tank since, did replace fuel filter and check pump pressure was ok.....as long as I ride the brake and accelerate at same time it will go ..........not getting any check engine light, his computer did spit out something about transmission filter hanging down so it was replaced. any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. I am no mechanic, I took it to a repair shop that I trust and know.

Thanks SM


also replaced idle control valve, it didnt change a thing

Have you scanned for any codes? That would be the next step IMHO.

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:17:18 -0400, SLM rearranged some electrons to say:

What do you mean by "idles down"? Do you mean that it stalls? Since you mentioned some type of problem with the transmission, I would start there. Did this alleged transmission repair occur at the same time as the "water remover" was added ?

I'd start by looking for a vacuum leak, specifically one that would be opened up by the movement of the engine on the mounts while it's under load.

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:36:38 -0400, tomcas rearranged some electrons to say:

A vacuum leak large enough to make the engine stall is likely to set a 'lean' code.

This is true but then again just about anything that could cause the stalling should be setting a code..... but it isn't.

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:24:57 -0400, tomcas rearranged some electrons to say:

A fried transmission might or might not.

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