I have a 1992 Ford F-150 2WD with a 4.9L 300ci inline 6 with a M5OD manual transmission, the truck has been running great up until a couple months ago, I didn't pay much attention to it the first couple of times it happened, but I would be driving and the truck would stall. There is no rhyme, reason or consistency that I can see, aside from it has yet to happen under throttle. The four instances I recall have all been at an idle, two of these were as I was about to turn and the truck was in neutral, the other two (most recent instances) have been from a stop, I was about to take off and the truck stalled out. The first couple times it happened, I was able to start the truck up without any hesitation, the most recent occurrences, the truck struggled to start, after a couple attempts of cranking the engine over, it finally started. I know the the truck has also had a problem with jerking for a couple years now, its primarily in lower gears and usually when the engine warms up. I also have a very slight leak in the valve cover gasket that I need to fix. I don't know if either of these could possibly have anything to do with the more prominent problem, as aforementioned, but I would like to cover all bases in case any could be related. Any idea where I should begin to look and what I should test to attempt to remedy this problem?

 

How old are the plugs, wires, cap & rotor?

How old are the fuel and air filters?

Is the Check Engine Light on?

Even if it is not, check for codes. Warm up the engine then do this: How To Run a Self Test

Run the Key On Engine Off (KOEO) tests and stored (CM) code display. List any codes you received by number and during which test they were displayed. You should get two digit codes.

If you find counting flashes difficult then purchase a code reader such as the Equus/Innova 3145.

 

Maybe it's the ICM telling you it's too hot and its on its way out