Gauges going crazy and stalls on low idle?

svassh · 11-05-2006, 07:09 PM

My wife complained a few weeks ago that her 2000 Expedition 5.4L was stalling and the check engine light was on. It seemed to clear itself up with a new tank of gas. I also changed the air and fuel filters and it seemed to run fine till today, the check engine lite even cleared itself.

Today upon startup all the gauges max out and stay that way for a few seconds then drop all the way off and seem to reset and work fine. However the idle is low 500 RPM and it stalls out under load. I'm assuming electrical but the battery charge seems ok, no problems turning over.

I'm also noticing a whirring noise coming from somewhere on the right side of the manifold but its difficult to isolate the source.

Ideas?

svassh · 11-07-2006, 07:47 AM

Ok, the rough idle was the Idle Air Control valve, if anyone cares. Since replacing and clearing the engine code the guages now spark up about 50% of the time. We'll see if they cure themselves as I've been told may happen.

svassh · 11-22-2006, 08:10 AM

Well its been a few weeks, running good. However the guages are now back to maxing out on startup everytime.

Doesn't seem to be affecting anything after they reset themselves. But it does concern me that something else is gonna go.

Any ideas?

srubens · 11-22-2006, 08:59 AM

check the battery. it sounds like it could be bad or the wrong one for the car.

svassh · 11-27-2006, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srubens

check the battery. it sounds like it could be bad or the wrong one for the car.

Ding ding ding we have a winner. The proverbial hit the fan today and the wife called me for a jump (first time it was dead though). Had the battery tested and replaced. Guages acted crazy the first startup but normal ever since.