2001 mercury sable 24v sputtering issues.

Asked by Michaels35 Mar 30, 2015 at 11:25 AM about the 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

When I drive my 2001 mercury sable on
Highway or roads, its fine. When it's in park,
it will run but here and there it will sputter
but it will stay running. Now here's were it
has the most problems. When I come to a
stop sign or light, basically when I have to
put my foot on brake and it's in drive. It
starts to really sputter bad and most times
it will stall. When I have to start back up, it
takes more time then when I come out to
start the car when I leave somewhere. So
when I come to a red light I put it in park so
it won't stall. I replaced fuel filter 2 yrs ago.
I replaced the o2 sensor last year and the
egr valve 2 yrs ago. I did spark plugs last
year and new wires. I know gas is crap so I
was wondering if it's fuel filter again. I put
sea foam in gas this last fill up and it ran
better at stops but it still Stalls. Any info
would be great.
Thanks

13,095

JP1956 answered 9 years ago

You may need a good cleaning of the fresh air intake manifold on the top of the engine. Is there an engine light on, or did you check the car for any trouble codes? Could even be a bad vacuum line or hose with a leak causing it and it shows mainly at idle because the engine runs slower then.

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redjohnson answered 8 years ago

My 2000 Sable 24 V DOHC was doing exactly the same thing. I noticed a hissing sound coming from the rubber accordion boot that is on the firewall inside the vehicle. The push rod for the master cylinder goes through it. I figured the brake booster diaphragm must be leaking vacuum. Replaced power brake booster, which was not difficult to do. Vehicle idles perfect, brakes work with normal pedal pressure, no more sluggishness when taking off from a stop. Hope this helps.

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