This is getting old... Help please!

[Paco]

The issue I've been having is getting worse. I used to be able to let it sit for about 20 minutes and it would crank back up. Now it's pretty much done for when it quits.

Here is what I posted aon another forum weeks ago when it first started doing it...

quote:OK my truck started this a few weeks ago. I was driving along and it just dies cold, didnt shake, spit, sputter.. nothing just dies. I coast over to the side of the road and it takes like 2 tries and it fires up, drive it home and let it set over night. Get up the next day and drive all over town and then I'm just about home and it does it again. Try to crank it and it runs for a few seconds and then dies again. Let it set for a couple minutes and after about 5 times trying to crank it it fires up and I drive it on home.

After this I let it set for about a week, it starts fine every time I try it. So I start driving it again and it runs great for a few days. Now it does this thing where I'm just cruisin down the road with normal pressure on the gas and its like it jerks, and stalls for a few seconds but the engine comes back on after those few seconds and it runs fine for a little while. Most of the time it runs fine now but after it warms up it will do this latest thing a few times over the course of a 20 or 30 mile trip. Yesterday it died on me in town and it took about 15 minutes to get it started. It ran a once or twice for about 5 seconds in that time.

I changed the filter last fall, I have a new one to put on now, but I really dont think thats the issue. My uncle who is a mechanic told me it sounds like fuel pump issues, I tend to agree but hoping it could be something small like a regulator or throttle sensor maybe. It's a 96 ext. cab short bed 4x4 with two tanks, do these things have pumps in both tanks or just one? It doesnt have one on the frame rail and switching back and forth between the tanks makes no difference when its having one of the no start issues. You can hear the pump kick on when you turn the key on too...

I'm just not sure what to replace first as money is tight. It threw a code a while ago but went off in the parking lot of advance auto when I was gonna have it read...

I also done a tune up on it about 30,000 miles ago... (plugs, wires, dist. cap, rotor button, pcv valve and also replaced the DPFE on the egr vavle)

Help please!




I have replaced... Fuel relay, ignition coil, crank shaft position sensor and the ignition control module. The fuel pump kicks on and sounds fine and the fuel filter isnt that old.

Every time I replaced something it ran great for a day or two and then it was right back to the same old crap.

I took it down last week and had the codes read... 2 showed up....

P0320 - Ignition/Distributor Engine Speed Input Circuit Malfunction
P0171 - Fuel Trim System Lean (Bank 1)

I'm pretty much at a loss here. It's a 96 F-150 4x4 with the 5.8.

It runs AWESOME when i can get it fired up, full power on tap and it idles perfect... So I dont think it is a vacuum leak but I dunno.

Help me please!

 

[smokey]

Normally it is a crank position sensor but since you replaced it I would guess it is a wiring issue. You replaced all the normal causes of this error. Do a wiggle test on all the wiring in that circuit.

 

[blacksnapon]

You always want to start with the first code. It might cause the rest of them. The symptoms remind me of the ignition module overheating (runs ok cold, then wont run when hot). When you replaced the module, did you use ample amounts of the dielectric grease? It serves as a insulator from engine heat. They can break down internally (no evident heat externally).

 

[89frankenford]

You always want to start with the first code. It might cause the rest of them. The symptoms remind me of the ignition module overheating (runs ok cold, then wont run when hot). When you replaced the module, did you use ample amounts of the dielectric grease? It serves as a insulator from engine heat. They can break down internally (no evident heat externally).

i agree with Vince, the Ignition Module is VERY common on these and i believe there is a tech bulletin on it maybe? like he said check the dielectric grease and make sure there is plenty.

 

[Paco]

I put the whole pack that came with it on it...It fired up and ran perfect for a few miles and then I had to tow it home. Somebody was telling me to replace the stator in the distributor. It's 25 bucks and a rebuilt dist. is 57... Think I might just go ahead and get the rebuilt one with the stator already in it.

I have done the wire wiggle test on it and it doesnt change anything... Spending 30 minutes or an hour on the side of the road gives you plenty of time to wiggle connections and snoop around under there lol

 

[flareside_thunder]

I'm just gonna throw this out there cause it's what was wrong with my Buick.....in tank fuel pump screen....seems logical enough to me. just somethin to think about.

 

[1985 Ford F-150]

Well since were goin down that road could it also be bad gas or dirty gas right from the pump after the tanker was there.

 

[Old_Paint]

Where is the coil mounted? I had a random stall problem one time, and no-start after it did that too. Believe it or not, it was because the brake booster vacuum hose had fallen down on the coil, and the coil was arcing to the hose through the side of the coil, and to the laminated iron frame of the coil. New coil fixed her right up. My coil is mounted right over #8 on the intake right next to the valve cover. Dunno where Ford decided to mount the coil for the 5.8, but, look and make sure nothing is touching the side of that coil. A tell-tale sign it's shorting to the mag frame is there will be what looks like white dust or spiderwebs between the coil winding assembly and the iron frame. My 5.0 only did this when it got hot too.

Whodathunkit that a rubber hose could ground the coil. If I hadn't seen the coil arcing to the hose, I'd have told anyone that tried to tell me that it was they were stoopid.

 

[southernboy0122]

i had something similar happen to my car, it would die driving down the road and the check engine light would come and it would almost like reset, like when you first turn the key. well after digging around i found a relay that contain the cooling fan,iginition and one other thing and what would happen is when the harness would move, it would kill the igintion and the car would die. i replaced it and havent had a problem yet.

 

[Paco]

UPDATE: I put a new dist, in today and it seems to have fixed the starting issue. I matchmarked everything and put it in just like the old one came out. I then unhooked the SPOUT connector and used a timing light and set it to 10 degrees BTDC. It idles fine but hwhen you put it in gear and give it any amount of gas at all it stutters and shakes the whole truck. Does the computer have to learn the new dist. or am I missing something?