I have a '96 F-350 power stroke 7.3 with only 121,000 on it now. The other day I was out taking some drive shafts to be repaired. I put 15 gallons of fuel in it (EXXON) and then drove about 55 miles and on the way home and going down hill it shuttered and jerked and shut off. I drifted off to the side of the road and wondered what was going on. I hit the switch and when the light went off on the dash it started right up and ran home. I changed the fuel filter and added some diesel additive to take out any water out of the tank and let it set overnight. Next day I had a 60 mile run in the mountains of WV. It shut off 4 times in that distance. Each time starting up after stalling in the middle of the road ( shutter and jerking each time, so that hadn't changed). I got to my destination and put it in the garage. I have looked and looked for a fuel leak and anything else unusual, to find nothing. A friend who drives a 350K 7.3 said to check the Injector Pressure Control sensor. Am I on the right track? Thoughts? Bad fuel?
What else could it be? One qualifier, I have always been a gas truck guy until this truck, so am a newbie to diesel. Love my truck. It is the first real problem I have had other than maintenance. It is an excellent tow vehicle. You hardly know the car trailer is behind it.

 

Automatic or manual transmission?

 

get a cam position sensor from Ford and change that out. It may solve it, it may not but they are inexpensive and easy to change. They are known to fail a lot and will shut down the truck in a heartbeat when they do. Yours may be on its way out.

 

If you think its bad fuel drain your bowl and see if there is water in there. I doubt its the case and would also resort to a CPS as well. Before throwing parts at it try to trouble shoot a few issues. A siple one to verify your fuel pressure is take a tire gauge and test the pressure on the bowl via the shrader valve. Also check your engine oil level. if they get down to the 7 qt mark hey will romp and shut off. I would toss a new FORD CPS in there for peace of mind as well. Those damn things can be overlooked and fairly finicky, especially if its not an OEM unit.

 

When you replace the CPS check the wiring going to it as well. Sometimes the pigtail can become worn and need replaced. You can unplug the ICP and see if there is oil in the connector. If there is, the sensor is bad. It is not a guarantee the sensor is good if there is not any oil but is a pretty good indication.
I would lean towards the CPS as being the culprit. If it is, grab a spare as it is a common failure point

 

Get 2 CPS sensors! 1 to replace, and a spare to keep in the glove box. Good item to have on hand.

 

Forgot to say that it is a automatic transmission.

 

Yup, CPS is a prime suspect. With an automatic, when it stalls the torque converter unlocks, so it doesn't self-restart by the truck's momentum like a manual truck would.

One important question - when it stalls, BEFORE you turn the key to re-start it, does the WTS light come on?

 

I would suspect the IPR , If it were the CPS there would be a code stored

 

What is WTS? But the quick answer is that there are NO lights coming up on the dash.

 

WTS is Wait to Start.

CPS can very frequently fail without throwing a code. If reference voltage is high or low, it will throw a code. But if it just fails to sense the reluctor notches on the camshaft, the PCM has no way of knowing whether that's a failure of the sensor, or the engine literally isn't turning. So yeah, this is definitely hinting toward an intermittent CPS failure. That, or the wiring to it.