Like others have said, go to Autozone and let them pull the codes and see what is wrong, and if it's more than you can handle, send me a PM and if I can help you I will. If not, I'll tell you a good mechanic in Bradenton near Whitfield and 301. But if it's just a part like the throttle position sensor changing it out shouldn't be too tough.
You can buy a device from Autozone that will read the codes. The cheapest ones cost around $65-70. I know Autozone reads them for free, but I don't want to have to drive there each time the light comes on. Once I have the code, I just google it and the type of car I have and a forum usually comes up in the search. I usually find my answer that way.
Hey guys, I have a 2003 ford explorer Sport model. Not sport trac.
It's been serving me very well without a single problem for few years and recently, I'm having some few problems with this vehicle.
It started with a check engine light. However, I had few check engine lights since I had this vehicle and always got checked for it and everytime I got checked for it, there was no problem according to a mechanic. So I thought this time was a same situation just like I had before so I didnt get checked this time.
When I drivie for little bit and when I am in complete stop, in neutral, or on parking position, It feels perfectly fine for like 30 sec to a minute and then a car starts to shake. And shaking becomes worse and finally the car shuts off by itself...
When I popped the hood and looked through the vehicle while its running, I saw an alternator constantly stops and spins again routinely.
Do you think this is a problem caused by an alternator? My buddy is telling me that it might the spark plugs because I haven't changed for so long.
Any advice would be great guys I would really appreciate it.
First, for future reference when your check engine light comes on, theres a problem. I dont know what kind of mechanic you went that told you that but its not true. OCCASIONALLY a car might throw a code like an evap if you didnt screw your gas cap on all the way..and in that case you would find no problem..but 9 times out of 10 there is an issue causing it to come on.
Sounds like it could be a few things.. shuddering is usually caused by a miss.. if you havent had a tune up- consider it.. even if it isnt the problem its something you NEED to do for the maintenace of your truck. That usually doesnt cause a vehicle to SHUT off though.
If its only shutting off at idle, you could have issues with your Idle air control motor or anything related. Your best bet would be to go get it scanned and see what kind of code you get.. then go from there. Otherwise your just guessing and wasting money.
It very well could be your alternator, if it's going bad it could send bad feedback signals to your trucks computer and cause it to stall out I've seen it before on ford vehicles. Have your alternator tested and go from there.
