I have an 03 S-Type sport with 4.2 V8 86000+, last week when i took off from a standing start at a stop light. it hesitated a bit, blew black smoke, then went into safe mode. While rolling i put the car in netural and it started with no issues and has driven just as it has since i bought it. The question is what would do this? time to replace the spark plugs, fuel filter, clean the TB? When it hook up to a code reader no codes were present. Any Ideas

 

I would start by checking the condition of your battery... as far as your suggestions for replacements of the following:

Spark plugs - They are good to at least 100K miles (if they are OEM) so not yet.

Fuel Filter - Yes

Clean the TB - Maybe

I would also look into getting each coil tested for intermitient operation... if any coil(s) are faulty - get them replaced with OEM - not aftermarket..