97 Ford Aerostar 3.0 200k miles
Van has started to stall out & die when put in gear. It starts and idles fine until it's put in gear, then stalls out. Upon restarting (which takes several-many tries) it runs rough for a minute after restarting, skipping & smoking a bit, then smooths out and idles fine. When put in gear it dies again. This started on an intermittent basis but has become more often. Since this started, I've noticed(maybe because I'm paying more attention) that when you slow down the downshift seems more noticeable. I thought it may be a fuel injector problem or water in gasoline so I used injector cleaner/fuel treatment but haven't road tested it much so as not to get stranded! LOL I have also changed oil & air filters but have no idea where the fuel filter may be, also looked for obvious vacumn leaks but I did not see any.......
If anyone has any advice or suggestions they would be greatly appreciated !

Like with many of today’s vehicles the possibilities of what the root problem is are many. As for the fuel filter; it never hurts to replace it (under the vehicle) but I don’t think that will be the problem? At Idle the engine is USUALLY using the least amount of fuel; putting it in gear doesn’t require a mentionable amount of extra fuel.
Things that come to mind are the idle air control system, mass air flow circuit or the gear range sensor circuit?
The gear range circuit tells the computer that you’re shifting from park into a gear. Once the computer sees this it will or is suppose too adjust the idle to compensate for the extra load on the engine.
You may need to have the engine performance system scanned; not to just retrieve codes, but to analyze sensor input data and the computer's response to input data.

Dan.

Canadian "EH"

just had the same problem on a dodge van. question does it jerk when you put in gear or slow down or take off is so have your transmission checked PDQ.

It turns out it was the coolant temperture sensor

ripster; Thanks for letting us know. May help out the next guy.
quinton; (Many 'transmission' problems are the result of engine management issues.)
Loren
SW WA

(This post was edited by Loren Champlain Sr on Nov 6, 2009, 4:44 PM)