>>> ENGINE DIES FOR WHAT REASON ??? <<<

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

A friend of mine has a 1997 4x4 5-speed (or is it a 6-speed ??) with an un-adulterated PowerStroke engine.

For the last couple years, the engine has had a habit of shutting off while going down the road, just like the key had been switched OFF.

Being a manual, the wheels turning the engine usually has it re-started within a few hundred feet; unless it is moving slow or sitting still, in which case it must be re-started with the key.

So far, it has never failed to restart --- but time will tell.

There have been no less than three new crank-position sensors and a couple ?cam-position? sensors tried, all to no avail.

This dying may happen ten times in a day, or once every three months.

It may die twice today and not at all for a month.

The engine runs like a Singer sewing machine right up to the second it dies and immediately thereafter, giving no warning whatsoever.

It has been to three different Ford garages, two of them twice, and all they can say is that it will have to quit for good and be towed in to find the problem.


That is what we would like to avoid.


Does this situation seem familiar to anyone ??

What is the cure ??

Thanks.

 

[Agnem]

I'm not an expert on these, but from the sound of it, it's definitely electrical. It's going to be very difficult to troubleshoot because of the intermitent nature of it. It doesn't sound like there is anything in the codes. What you need is some monitoring equipment, and a way to tell if it is the loss of a sensor feed or voltage somewhere that is causing it. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the computer (PCM ?) is locking up, and rebooting as it were. There should be logs one could check if one knew how.

 

[Mutley]

Wouldn't there be some merit in trying a new computer? Maybe the one that's in there has some weird malady with it.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

He is getting scared to take it away from home territory, although it looks like a brand-new truck, 4-door cab and the works.

He has an early Dodge/Cummins and the next step is to do an engine swap if this situation isn't soon cured.


I was sort of hoping this was something others have dealt with and someone knew a cure.

 

[94f450sd]

open up the oil fill cap and smell inside the valve cover.looking for a burnt wiring smell.if the valve cover gaskets and harnesses are burnt it can cause the idm to shut down one side or the whole motor to try and protect itself from shorting out.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

open up the oil fill cap and smell inside the valve cover.looking for a burnt wiring smell.if the valve cover gaskets and harnesses are burnt it can cause the idm to shut down one side or the whole motor to try and protect itself from shorting out.

Will this burnt smell be constant even when the engine runs fine, or only when it shuts down ??

Thanks.

 

[94f450sd]

the burnt wire smell will be there whether its running or not.

 

[OLDBULL8]

I don't see in any of the post's where codes have been pulled. Having been to 2 Ford dealers did either check for codes? With that kind of trouble there certainly has to be some codes stored. ICP IDM IPR KAM CPS FPR VSS . Does it backfire when it shuts off? Could be a defective key switch, intermittent open circuit. Anyone around you that has a code reader capable of pulling Ford codes, like mine below. OBDII won't do it.

 

[93turbo_animal]

I was wondering about the IPR

 

[rthomas]

What about the old rule of thumb with a PSD: If anything wierd happens do the cam sensor first!?

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

What about the old rule of thumb with a PSD: If anything wierd happens do the cam sensor first!?

It has had at least two, if not three, of these replaced since this malady began; a new spare one resides in the glove-box.

Same with the crank-position sensor.


As for pulling codes, all three FORD garages are Ford diesel certified and all three hooked some sort of computer gizmo to it; I have no idea whether they were using the right stuff or not, as I refuse to own anything that requires that foolishness.


Everyone thus far has told him that it will just have to quit for good and be hauled in, before the problem will show itself.

I only ride in the truck several times a year, as it does not belong to me.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

the burnt wire smell will be there whether its running or not.

Thanks; I will pass this along to him and have him poke his nose in there.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

. Does it backfire when it shuts off?

No; no backfire.

Could be a defective key switch,

That is sort of my diagnosis; either a bad switch or an intermittent fault somewhere in the circuit.

When I look under the hood of that thing, I don't see hardly anything I can even recognize.

 

[OLDBULL8]

As for pulling codes, all three FORD garages are Ford diesel certified and all three hooked some sort of computer gizmo to it; I have no idea whether they were using the right stuff or not, as I refuse to own anything that requires that foolishness.

Surely they pulled some codes, they just ain't telling him what they were. Sure would like to know what they are. They should have given him a print out, they sure charge enough.

I'm not familar with the 97's, the IDM is mounted under the drivers side fender, and it can get water/moisture in it, it can be taken apart to check then re-sealed. You have to take the fender lining off to get to it.

 

[BigRigTech]

Usually a bad IDM while work fine cold but act up worse and worse when it heats up. It sounds like a wiring issue to me.....Check the harness where it cross's the drivers side valve cover for chaff's....Also flip the engine bay fuse box over and look for corrosion. It might not hurt to bulb test the cam sensor wiring as well back to the PCM for shorts or high resistance. I've also seen PCM's that were so badly corroded that they had to be removed in little pieces from their holders in the kick panel.