Need advice....... my 04 has the "stall"

[Romans8:28]

Like the title states my 04 cobra has developed what I consider to be the the "classic" stall. Not all the time, but often when I am exiting the highway and depress the clutch preparing to stop the car will completely die. It will subsequently restart and run just fine. The stall is random but seems to occur after running for an extended length of time at highway speeds. It has not happened (yet) running "stoplight to stoplight"

My specifics follow:

The car has a K&N FIPK Gen 2 intake (which I have heard can contribute to the issue) however I have had the intake since September and the stall has only started in the past month. I have checked all the mounting bolts/clamps and all are tight (main filter clamp, intake to MAF housing, MAF housing to flex intake tube, intake tube to TB, etc). I am running a breather filter on the passenger side crankcase cover vent with the intake connection capped off.
Could the aftermarket intake be allowing for some sort of airflow/pressure transient that does not occur with the enclosed factory air intake system, that causes the MAF to "freak out"?


I plan to do the following:

1. Clean the MAF wires with electrical contact cleaner - test drive
2. Dissasemble/clean IAC - test drive
3. Return passenger side crankcase vent to factory condition - test drive

If none of these work, I plan to "bite the bullet" and take the car to the dealer. I hope to fix it myself however, because I just don't like other people messing with my car (yes I know thats kind of anal)

Any comments, suggestions, advise, etc is solicited and much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[1CEBITN]

I think your plan is a good one. If you do take it in, take off the FIPK or they will blame it on that...

 

[99BOSS]

Hey, my 04 did the same thing this past weekend. I have the same 2 mods. I called my Ford tech buddy today and Im gonna take it to him next week. He said its prolly the IAC. It can stick but still be within range and not trigger a check engine light. He also said he can reflash it if it needs it. Pretty simple fix but kind of aggrevating. Let us know how it turns out. I will post my results when I get there.

 

[JoeNashville]

Two things...if you aren't on JMZ1 (which I think you are) then I would strongly consider taking it to Ford for a re-flash, it supposedly has the stall cure in that tune.

Second thing, take it 100% back to stock and leave the battery disconnected overnight. Drive it every day for the next few days in every conceivable condition, even going so far as to use the A/C (yeah I know it's winter but it places a load on the engine that it has to learn and adapt). Note what you're doing if it stalls after all that is done. If it does it then, take it in...it would be a no brainer then as its 100% stock and there should be no dealer problems.

 

[Romans8:28]

Thanks for the input guys!

I truely appreciate the help and suggestions being offered. Gotta love this forum epper:

 

[03yellow]

I took mine to ford and told them I needed the stall flash.

They flashed the car and now it dosent stall.

Pretty simple!

 

[vegaspackerfan]

Thanks for the input guys!

I truely appreciate the help and suggestions being offered. Gotta love this forum epper:

My 03 was doing the same thing. I have a MAC CAI.

Ok here is what they did. It was a sticking IAC Valve. They replaced it and then they reprogramed PCM per SSM 16293????

Hope this helps anyone else with this problem.

Vegas

 

[FordFreak]

I took mine to ford and told them I needed the stall flash.

They flashed the car and now it dosent stall.

Pretty simple!

Same here! Car feels totally different now.

 

[etfhb]

"totally different", besides fixing stall what else does the reflash do? :shrug:

 

[FordFreak]

"totally different", besides fixing stall what else does the reflash do? :shrug:

I dont really know all the details, but the car felt more responsive and the lag between shifts went away.

 

[Romans8:28]

I took mine to ford and told them I needed the stall flash.

They flashed the car and now it dosent stall.

Pretty simple!

My car is an 04 and already has the stall fix flash AMZ1

 

[EddieGT]

I had this problem about 2 weeks ago and thought I had just made a mistake with the clutch without realizing it... I approached a stoplight at an exit (from the freeway) and as I slowed down almost to a stop, the engine just died... Started right back up without erratic idle or anything...

Now I know it wasn't just me!! My car's going in for a warranty service on Monday, so I'll ask about the stall fix flash.

 

[CobraBob]

To my knowledge ALL of the '04 Cobras have the reflash direct from the factory. So going to the dealer might not do a bit of good. If some of the '04s have a stall issue, it would seem to prove that the reflash isn't a 100% fix. Not good!

 

[FreSh03Gt]

Mine did it once exiting the freeway. Freaked me the hell out.

 

[tapout632]

What do you mean by just stalls? I'm in the market for an 03/04 cobra and I'm concerned about this. When you're exiting the highway and slowing down, the car just turns off?

 

[Romans8:28]

What do you mean by just stalls? I'm in the market for an 03/04 cobra and I'm concerned about this. When you're exiting the highway and slowing down, the car just turns off?

Yes, with the clutch depressed of course

 

[robbcwz]

To my knowledge ALL of the '04 Cobras have the reflash direct from the factory. So going to the dealer might not do a bit of good. If some of the '04s have a stall issue, it would seem to prove that the reflash isn't a 100% fix. Not good!

Mine is an early'04 - #39 to be exact - I have had no stall issues to date (17,000 miles). Also have no blue stripe on the heads and no "tick" as yet!

 

[Silver 03 Cobra]

Roll your MAF sensor about 45 degrees in either direction. Try 10 o'clock, 12 and 2. Mine had a stalling problem and I rotated my sensor a couple of times and the problem went away.

 

[vegaspackerfan]

My 03 was doing the same thing. I have a MAC CAI.

Ok here is what they did. It was a sticking IAC Valve. They replaced it and then they reprogramed PCM per SSM 16293????

Hope this helps anyone else with this problem.

Vegas

The flash may not fix the problem. My car already had the flash done to it and it still stalled/shut off. They had to replace the IAC Valve. It was sticking shut. And not allowing the propper A/F ratio. So the motor would die. Just like what all of you are stateing. They had to oreder the part so my car sat in the shop for a day. I guess the part is only on the Cobras.

 

[redlinelaunch]

The flash may not fix the problem. My car already had the flash done to it and it still stalled/shut off. They had to replace the IAC Valve. It was sticking shut. And not allowing the propper A/F ratio. So the motor would die. Just like what all of you are stateing. They had to oreder the part so my car sat in the shop for a day. I guess the part is only on the Cobras.

the iac is common on most fords for sticking. not just cobras. i have replaced many. the quick (temporary) fix of them is to gently tap on them with a hammer or something to unstick them.