2000 E-250 4.2 problems

[pfd843]

howdy all, i hope someone here can help. i have a company van, a 2000 E-250 with the 4.2 v-6 with a 4 spd auto tranny. the problem i am having is that most of the time it stutters under acceleration. it idles fine and starts fine. i get no codes, no mileage difference, no nothing different. i'm not so sure its the engine, might be the tranny. being a company vehicle, it has had decent care, with me as the driver since new. it almost acts like its only running on 5 cyls, but the engine doesnt sound any different. i'm starting to wonder if the torque converter is going south. any ideas or help would be great. oh yeah, 160,000. miles.
thanks

[DaveBB]

Hi. It sounds like you don't have a way to look into the computer. If you do check the TPS throughout its range. If you don't have a way something you can try is to turn everything off disconnect the air flow sensor if it has one in the hose from the air filter to the throttle body. It has like 5 or 6 wires in the plug. What happens when you do this is the computer substitutes default values for the missing input and this way if the sensor is bad your acceleration stumble should be way better. A code will be set in the computer and the check engine light will come on but after you plug it back in (key off) the check engine light will go back off after a predetermined number of restarts not detecting a problem. Usually somewhere between 5 and 10 I think. I read about one that took 60 restarts to make the light go off on its own. You could reset the computer and make the light go off by disconnecting the battery for about half a minute.