2003 Stalling Out Going Up Incline

Middleman

Middleman

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Bronze Member
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Joined
Oct 2, 2019
Thunderbird Year
2003
My 2003 has an issue we haven't found yet. It runs fine, then on a trip of over 75 miles while on cruise it chokes, jumps out of cruise, sometimes the check engine light comes on. The check engine indicators indicate lean issues. We've checked the fuel pump pressure, changed the fuel filter, check to make sure nothing is floating in the tank. Here's the kicker, I can put it in neutral, shut it off count to 15, start it back up, drop it back in gear and drive perfectly for a while until it happens again. Can this be an electronic issue verses a fuel issue???
I know it can't be good to continue doing this and on my latest trip around the states for a couple of grandsons graduation parties I have recorded this issue over 20 times. Any clue on what to check next would be helpful. It has also happened after setting at a stop light and when taking off it starts missing, choking, jerking, etc. Same fix, works for a while. Thanks, Middleman..
 

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Make sure you add your model year in the subject on future posts. I've added it for you.
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Thanks, I haven't changed the coils, but was thinking that would be good to do even if it doesn't fix this issue.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Middleman said:
Thanks, I haven't changed the coils, but was thinking that would be good to do even if it doesn't fix this issue.
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How many miles on the bird? You should probably change the plugs too since you have been running it like this for a while. I bought mine a year ago. I was not having any issues but I replaced the coil packs at 60,000 miles as preventative maintenance. Boy was I surprised by the amount of power the car had that I was not aware of.
 
2004 Bird with 20K miles. Was on a cruise with a local club this past weekend. At one point we were hitting a severely windie and steep road and I got quite a bit of hesitation like it was going to stall out on me..
 
I'm an old school carb guy but I know more than one person on here has cleared up performance problems by cleaning the MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor; apparently there is a special spray cleaner just for this purpose...
 
highwayghost said:
Is the check engine light on?
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Yes, now that I have changed to the performance intake and exhaust, the check engine light didn't come on like it used to going down the highway. This time the issue happened over 20 times over 3 days and on the 4th day it came on pulling away from a stop light. In the past the codes always point to lean fuel conditions, I'm getting it checked again now that I'm home. There's some great suggestions on what to check next.
 
JohnS said:
How many miles on the bird? You should probably change the plugs too since you have been running it like this for a while. I bought mine a year ago. I was not having any issues but I replaced the coil packs at 60,000 miles as preventative maintenance. Boy was I surprised by the amount of power the car had that I was not aware of.
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I plan on replacing the plugs at the same time I replace the coils, I'm up to 34,500 miles after this week long trip across 2 states. Thanks for the recommendations.
 
I'd also be suspicious of a weak or intermittent fuel pump relay or inertia switch.
 
No point paying a premium for a part that is made in China anyway. Be careful of packaging. Try the cheap first to see if problem is solved. If you want OEM after you should be good to go.
 
Philip Phibbs said:
No point paying a premium for a part that is made in China anyway. Be careful of packaging. Try the cheap first to see if problem is solved. If you want OEM after you should be good to go.
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Thanks, I'll give it a try and let you know how it works out.
 
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