I have a 95 Mercury Sable Wagon with the 3.8L that I bought used with over 200k miles on it. The car starts and then stalls once it reaches operating temperature. After the car stalls it wont start again until it cools down. After it stalls there is no spark. It has all new plugs and plug wires. Also, when it is running and you close the hood the engine sputters and sounds like it is going to die. Can anyone shed some light on what my problem may be? Thanks.

ignition coil, ignition module. That would be the first place I would look. Ignition modules don''t like getting too hot and if they module is having a thermal failure, it''s only a matter of time before it won''t crank at all.

There could also be a sensor issue. something like a completely caked oxygen sensor. But since you say it''s not getting any spark, I would bet it''s the ignition module or ignition coil having a thermal failure.

I just replaced the coil so I will check the ignition module. Thanks.

Those engines are notorious hot runners and head gasket melters. If it runs okay cooler than why not put a cooler t-stat in? Does it have a temp gauge? If so what is it reading at operating temp? Does the engine sputter the instant that you drop the hood? Let me know.

At operating temperature the needle on the temp gauge is about a quarter of the way up, maybe a third of the way up. Yes, the engine sputters as soon as you drop the hood. Actually I was wrong, its not the 3.8 like i thought, its the 3.0. If the head gasket was blown that doesnt explain the lack of spark after it stalls, it would have to be something in the ignition system. Also, just replaced the ignition coil and the ignition control module with no luck. Im at a total loss at this point.

Edited by: PlaskiGolfer09

No I wasn''t saying you had a bad head gasket. You would know. Just that those engines, even the 3.0, run very hot which can cause numerous probs. It seems that dropping the hood is causing a big loss in engine air availability. I think even with new ing. parts they will still faulter under temp durress. No CEL codes? Maybe an intake sensor overheat? MAF, MASS, etc,?

I havent tried getting the codes out of the car yet. Do you by chance no the code retrieval steps? Thanks.

go to autozone (or your local auto parts house)... ask them to read the codes off your car... or buy an Actron 1984 - 1995 Ford OBD I Code Scanner and connect it to the diag connector under the hood (usually on the driver fender wall). Most parts places will read codes for you to help diagnose the car and get your the right parts.

Yeah, you either have to buy the scan tool or bring it somewhere and pay the diagnosis fee. I would get that sucker plugged in and see what we are dealing with. If not, we can keep pace with what could be a very long process of elimination. Good luck and let us know.

Sorry Sly, we were either on the site at the same time or I did not see your response. Didn''t mean to repeat you.