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'90 3.9 Hesitation/Stumbling/Stalling

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Old Aug 5, 2012 | 09:41 PM
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Default '90 3.9 Hesitation/Stumbling/Stalling

95% of the time, the stalls are when accelerating(getting onto highway, going from stop light).
At coasting speeds(ie. coasting on the highway, keeping speed limit on city streets.), it misses a lot, but usually won't stall. Sometimes, this problem seems to be non-existant. I have no idea why this is an intermittent problem, but it is VERY frequent(happens more times than not). Stalled 8 times on me yesterday just going to and from work(4 times on the highway). When it does stall. It usually won't start right back up. But turning it off and waiting maybe 15-20 seconds works about 50% of the time. A repeat of that usually works the other 50%.
About 8 months ago, I had the fuel lines replaced, but they did not drop the tank, or replace anything on the tank.
Replaced the fuel filter. Had a line that I thought was kinked. Replaced that. Problem has been getting progressively worse. No CEL.

There is one thing that may or may not be related. About a month ago, I noticed that my coolant temp gauge was bouncing the needle around intermittantly. This only happened a handful of times that I noticed, and I haven't noticed this recently.

I'm really sick of stalling in the middle of intersections and on the highway. Any solution input would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 12:40 AM
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When it doesn't start have you checked for good spark at your plugs? Did you check for proper fuel pressure?
 
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Old Aug 6, 2012 | 09:21 AM
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Just a thought, is your sensor grounding against the intake? This would cause the needle to jump. I agree that the fuel pump could be "going out", but also check for vacuum leaks.
 
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Old Sep 11, 2012 | 10:58 AM
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Problem has been solved. I don't know for sure what I did to fix it, as I did several things all at once. I believe it to have been either a loose negative cable on the battery, or that the external coil was severely gunked up with oil or fuel as well as grime to a point that there was actually liquid inside the plug on the coil. I believe this was due to a hose that broke off the air filter housing, but not sure. However, thanks anyway for the ideas.
 
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