I have a 1987 Bronco, 302 - truck runs great most of the time, occasionally it will cut off while driving down the road and is hard restarting. I can smell fuel and exhaust smoke is very black. Usually will restart - ran diagnostics and receive a code "21" (bad ECT) and "24" (bad IAT) - have replaced both and checked voltage - 4.64 to 4.8 from both. Still continues and still gives the same codes. Have also checked TFI-IV and getting good readings there - am baffled.
Currently the truck is sitting in my front yard and will start, but as soon as it cuts off it will not restart for sometimes as long as 24 hours - any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!

Sharon

 

Sounds like a flooding problem. Next time it won't start, disconnect the fuel pump relay and after a couple of minutes see if it will start up. It should only run a few seconds, but this will clear the flooded condition. Then reconnect the relay and try it.

This won't solve the problem, only verify that the fuel delivery system is malfunctioning.
If this proves to be the case, you may have a stuck open or cracked injector.

Winford

 

Will give that a try - one thing I forgot to mention is that my check engine light never comes on, someone told me that it indicates more of a fuel delivery problem as well. What would be the easiest way to check the injectors.........hoping you won't say visual - looks like that could be more than this little lady wants to attempt

 

ummm ok hehe we wont tell you that... no there is a tool that you can trigger the injectors and with a fuel gauge watch the amount of drop for each injector... do you have any friends in the industry?? i am thinkin that this tool is costly. i know the community college that i went to has one maybe there is a trade school near you that you could ask... just a thought. good luck.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, slave. May end taking this baby to my Ford dealer, <groan>. Don't want to, but I have exhausted all my possibilities. Just rechecked the diags and now it is telling me it is fine, giving me the "11" code which means all is clear. Frustrating to say the least!!!!!!

Okay, according to my trusty manual - it says that the fuel and power relays will be marked - NOT! I have a green one and a black one. Am scared to experiment since I know a power surge can knock out the EEC and I am not that mechanic saavy. Any suggestions?

 

According to my Chilton's manual on my 88 F150, the wires going to the fuel pump relay are tan/something, yellow, red and brown. The relay having a white wire is not the fuel pump relay.

Hope this helps.

Winford

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-Feb-02 AT 02:11&nbsp;PM (EST)]If you let it cool down, will it start right up again.

The reason I ask is this, I had an '84 that had the same symptoms. Dying while going down the road, hard restarts (when hot), strong smell of gas. I also checked all the usual suspects, mainly the TFI module. What I finally tracked it down to was the PIP sensor in the dist. Mine had gone bad and only acted up when hot. Then it acted just like the TFI module was shot. The only way to really test it is to replace it. There not very expensive and take about 2 hours to replace.

HTH

Roger Lane