I've got an issue with my 02 PS I need a little advice on.

Last night, I left it running while unloading a trailer and come back to notice it was idling abnormal. I jumped in it and tried to move it and there was a noticeable loss of power. I unhooked the trailer and tried to get it home. I only made it 1/2 mile down the road when it started spitting and sputtering (surging ever now and then) to a level that it died completely. I was able to start it back and get it out of the road but had to be pulled into a drive. It got to a point it wouldn't start back at all.

Today it started up however still had a rough idle and really has no power to speak of. The more I messed with it the less power it seem to have.

I have searched the forums and tried these things:
1) Checked the oil and noticed it was on the low end of the operating range. I put some in it to put it back to normal.
2) Disconnected the ICP
3) Changed the crankshaft position sensor
4) I dumped the fuel bowl after it completely died (in case it had any water in the fuel bowl). The fuel filter was just changed 2 weeks ago. The fuel pump seems to be operating correctly (or it at least refilled the bowl) and started again with a very rough idle.


It doesn't have a engine light on nor do I have anything to read any codes it may be showing.

Anyone have any other suggestions before calling the tow truck?

Thanks

 

Sounds like a under valve cover harness problem. May have come unplugged. You can install a new one or shim the lock tab with a quarter aka "fifty cent mod". You can ohm it out at the connector to confirm.

 

exactly, here is a trick that might help you fix it temporarly

 

Thanks for the info. I will research how and which connector to ohm out and try this first. I'm trying yo do everything before I have it towed in.

Thanks again.

 

the best way i checked is to have someone inside the truck with there foot on the gas and disconnect the harness on the topside, if it still runs bad then you found the problem harness

 

Ill give this a try tomorrow before doing anything else to it. I'll pull one side at a time to see how the truck runs.

I've found several things on testing this at the IDM connector but does anyone have anything on what the commector on the valve cover (on outside with connector disconnected) should ohm at? Which pins? I think pin 5 should be ground but not sure what the out hers should test out at.

Thanks

 

hope this helps

 

My thoughts exactly. My 00 excursion had the same issues.

 

So this is the connector that goes into each of the valve covers on the top side? I was thinking there were more than 5 wires going into this harness but maybe not.

I check it out today and post back.

Thanks

 

So which wires in this connector should I be testing compared to the diagram above? The harness seems to have 8+ wires into it but the diagram above only shows 5. Am I missing something?

 

Ok....I pulled these harnesses one at a time to isolate which side I'm having issues with.

First the driver side- with the truck running (rough) I pulled the connection to the driver's side valve cover. The engine died the instant I got the connector out.

I restarted the engine......

Second the passenger side- When I pulled the passenger side the engine ran (maybe) a bit rougher than before but continued to idle. It may have dropped an extra cylinder that was firing before but not that much difference. It seems this side is my issue side.

Can anyone point me to a how-to for pulling the passenger side valve cover? There are several things in the way and I'm not sure how much of a deal this will be to pull and inspect.

Thanks for the help.

 

The passenger side VC is kind of a pain. I removed the CAC tube and took bungee cords to hold up the heater lines to get to the bolts. Another side note, it may be a good time to change your glow plugs since the VC's are off the truck.

How many miles are on your truck?

 

I've only got around 83k on the truck. You think it's still worth replacing the GPs? I'll need to do a little research on that as well. I'd guess all the work is nearly done to swap them out once you have the VC's off.

 

Thanks everyone for the help this far......here is the latest.

I pulled the passenger VC and inspected the connector. It seemed to be a little bit pulled out on the far side but not as bad as some I've seen. Placed a quarter (chopped off a bit) to keep it from backing out any further. I put it all back together and seem to run some better but not as usual. I did get it home but it completely died a few blocks from home. I let it sit for 20-30 mins and it started back (still running rough).

I did a little checking with a volt meter on the two outer pins on each of the (9 pin) connectors at the valve covers and found something unusual. On the driver side each GP measured 1.7 to 1.8. On the passenger side (the side I was convinced was loose under the VC) all measured from 4.4 - 4.9.

Does this still point to a loose connection between outside VC connection and the GPs?

All the inner pins were open between them and ground.....I'm not sure this was a valid test.

Another thing to note is there is very little smoke from the exhaust even when the engine is spitting and sputtering.

Any ideas???

 

I've used a infrared thermometer to gauge the temp of the exhaust manifold. Best I can tell #1,3,5 are not firing. Their temps are 70-90 while a others are 130+.

I've disconnected the passenger side 9 pin connector again and it does run runs rougher when it's disconnected but doesn't completely die right away. It struggles even harder and then eventually dies.