Engine stalls at idle, why?

The truck will not idle. It run rough and will start and stall. At one point it had codes p2196 and p2198. When I get the truck going I notice that the front cats were glowing red. Found that the injectors were dumping fuel. Removed the spark plugs and the were black with soot. Ive changed the MAF sensor EGR and checked fuel pressure. The pressure was around 60psi and held pressure. (Had no drop. So no leaky injector or fuel regulator problem) I also drop the cats to see if they were clogged but the engine still remained the same. No difference with or without the cats connected. At the end I did a compression test and the cylinders on the drivers side were all around 120. The passenger side the compression readings were erratic. On one cylinder I had no compression then I would have 90. I was told that there is a timing chain in the rear of that head, and the guides break that can cause all these problems. Is this something that is common? Or should I look somewhere else before pulling this engine? Please help. This Explorer has a 4.0L SOHC

My truck will start and run fine in park, but the O/D off light comes on and whne I shift ti drive, it completly cutts off.

Engine idles down, then stalls shutting off when braking and coming to a stop. Car runs fine while driving and doesn't have any problems when in park, only when its in drive. I replaced the IAC valve after some forums said this could be the problem. I don't know what else to troubleshoot.

Thanks for the quick reply. The EGR valve and idle position sensor, are those things I can check/replace myself?

Car will not stay running unless I am reving the enginei can drive it as long as I do not come off the gas. When I do come off the gas the car stalls out.
Any Idea what this could be. Thank You

I have had this same problem with two vehicles that I own, and each time it was a leak in the vacuum line that ties into the air intake. This was on an Escort and not an Explorer but it sounds exactly the same. There was a small rubber hose that tied in between the air filter and the throttle body. This had a hole that was leaking. The other time my wife said her Focus Was doing the same thing. I went out and the same vacuum line had come off. Each time when I connected the hose or put my finger on the leak the car idled perfectly.

When I shift into drive the engine shuts down. It will idle and shift into reverse.

When I star my truck and switch into Reverse or Drive, the engine shuts off sometimes. In addition, when im at a stop (foot on the brake) the car sometimes jerks.

Our explorer has suddenly started to struggle with idling. We are new to a cold weather climate and the problem started as soon as it became cold. The car won't idle on it's own, unless we apply gas and then it takes a good 10 minutes before it will idle on it's own. If the car has been driven regularly, we don't seem to have the problem. Any idea what our problem is?