Won't Accelerate
 

This has happened now for the 4th time.

Driving along at between 40-50, have been on the road for 20 min to an hour each time and it goes from normal acceleration to struggling to accelerate at all.

Current remedy is to pull over, turn the car off, raise the hood, look at it, close the hood, restart the X and go along my merry way like nothing was the matter.

Each of the other times it was while I was driving but this time was with my daughter and she was not prepared for this situation.

Any thought or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

2001 Limited, 4x4, 7.3, Injen Cold Air Intake, 4" Banks exhaust.

Thank You,
Steve

Possible RFI?

Is this happening in the same place on the road each time? The same geographic spot?

Have you recently changed the ICP, or do you know if it was changed previously?

Stewart

If you don't know what RFI is, its radio frequency interference or EMI electronic magnetic interference.

Thanks for the assist.

Sometimes when we do this all day, it's easy to forget a "standard" acronym might not be so standard and understood. :-X22

Stewart

fuel filter plugged? I don't know if the diesels have catalytic converters, but if they do the cat could be plugging up.

Radio frequency interference or electronic magnetic interference from bad ignition coils or alternator affects gas engine ECU's but the alternator or a strong outside source could affect a diesel.

The 6.0's do, but most 7.3's don't.

Yes, RFI has been known to affect aftermarket ICP sensors. Once the aftermarket sensor is swapped out for an OEM Motorcraft sensor, RFI is no longer an issue.

Stewart

Not a problem Stewart, I help when I can.:-X22

I just spent a good amount of time writing up my loss of acceleration stories. And, when I hit the Post Quick Reply button, it sent me to a login page. When I tried to login, it said I was already logged in and of course I lost my writeup. Something should be done to resolve this problem as it is frustrating.

Well into a 1200 mile trip the X started losing the ability to accelerate. Minutes later it would struggle to hold speed and start to run rough while giving it more and more accelerator pedal. I would look for the next exit. At the exit I would shut down for a few minutes, start back up and it would be a new machine. This happened several times and then stopped occurring. We reached our destination and drove around there for a couple weeks with no problems. I couldn't fix something that wasn't broke. So, on the trip back the truck did it again but this time it ground to a halt at the most inopportune time. It was on the interstate where there was construction and there were concrete barriers on both sides of the road. There was no pulling over. I thought we were going to get creamed by the semis barreling up to the stopped vehicle. My family jumped out of the truck and over the barrier. I called 911 but I believed the truck was going to get smashed before anybody could get there. A gracious soul stopped in front of my truck and threw out a strap. For just enough time there was a semi stopped behind our truck. I had that strap hooked up and my family in as fast as we had gotten out. The man towed us to a gas station at the next exit. He would take no money. My next adventure was finding someone to work on the vehicle. It was a Saturday night. Why wouldn't it be right? I actually found someone who was willing to work on it the next morning. That gave me the evening to research the symptoms. It had also, among the other symptoms, thrown 2 or 3 codes. After much reading, I concluded that the camshaft position sensor was PROBABLY the problem. The probably is due to the diversity of the symptoms having been experienced by others when their CPS failed. I shared my thoughts with the mechanic the next morning and he agreed to change the CPS first. $300 later our problem was resolved and we were back on the road.

15,000 miles later and 1 month ago we were on another trip. I started having similar symptoms; no power to accelerate, engine started running rough under load, but no codes and the problem clears up after shutting down for a few minutes. I was determined to nip this in the bud while still running. I changed the CPS in the parking lot of a Carquest. $35 later and back on the highway I realized that was not the fix. I next changed the fuel forwarding pump in the parking lot of a NAPA. $150 later, that was the fix. I guess I can't complain as the pump had 250k miles on it.

These are my loss of acceleration stories. Maybe they can help someone else out there.

By the way, when your fuel filter clogs, you can have similar symptoms. I have experienced that. And, there is a course mesh strainer on your fuel pickup in the tank. I can't imagine this getting clogged unless you are running very dirty fuel. I took my in-tank strainer out as part of a fuel tank mod. I am glad I did.


Nelson
2002 Excursion with the 7.3

Thanks
 

Nelson, sounds like your situation mirrors mine.

So the Fuel forwarding pump. Where is that located?
I noticed that intermittently there is a leak when I run right under where the fuel filter is when I let it idle to warm up...seemed to be a winter thing.

Wonder if the 2 are connected.

Thanks,
Steve

Steve,

The fuel forwarding pump is located inside the frame rail below the driver's seat. You will need the Ford fuel line quick disconnect tool that allows you to disconnect the fittings. You can buy them cheap at any auto parts store, like $5. You don't need it to reconnect.

I don't know if the 2 issues you are having are related. I don't think it is a big deal to remove the filter assembly to address the leak. Maybe someone who has done it can chime in there. Concerning the loss of acceleration issue you are having, you are welcome to call me to discuss (eight13-seven48-two969).

Nelson

You never answered the questions in post #2. Answering those questions can save a lot of time in troubleshooting.

Sorry for not answering these....
Not in the same place or geographic spot....not even after a certain amount of time driving.

I have not changed the ICP...we bought this used with 160k and now have 252k. Not sure if the previous owner(s) changed it.

The only thing the previous owner told me about was that he put in a 203 degree thermostat when he changed out the water pump.

I added an Injen Cold Air Intake and MBRP 4" Exhaust right after we bought it.

Thanks,
Steve

Thanks for answering those questions. Now do you have a way to check for codes like AE, snapon or the like? Most parts store code readers can't read our trucks.

I don't, but I think that a buddy of mine might. I will see him tomorrow and ask. He has a Ford truck also.

Will reply back then.

Thanks again,
Steve