Help, 400 miles from home and have had 2 instances of the wrench light illuminating and the engine dies. Book says to get to dealer! Typical on weekend to break down. What is this? Is this just fancy wording for the throttle position sensor? If it is how hard to change? E450 in RV.

Help Please.

 

It means that there is something not operating within parameters....... need to get the codes identified.

 

I had that happen once when my battery got very low.

Check your battery and charging system.

 

OK found that it is fancy name for the TPS. Read some info but now engine WILL NOT start! Starter stays engaged trying to crank so its a hung starter at times. Big thing cant get to start, scan gauge says NO codes found or PENDING!

Any ideas. Bought TPS just incase at orielly since I can return if need be. But cant get to start.

Forgot to add wrench light does not stay illuminated.

 

What year model vehicle is this?
If there are no codes why do you suspect the electric throttle control?

 

its an '11 E450, the wrench light illuminated, which is another term for the tps and in searching other similar issues. Also seems it could be any of several fuel issues. Bad tps 1st to come up.

1st illumination after refuel. wrench light, sputtering no rev up. Starter also hung start till keep turned to off.

2d occurance as we entered on to interstate wrench light on, sputter pull over and it dies. about 10 min later another hung starter, shut off restarts ok.

Get to campground park and now no start and again hung starter.

So looking for help of some sort to try and get back on road.

 

The "wrench light" is not specific to a TPS issue, it means "powertrain malfunction indicator".
It is possible that it COULD be a TPS issue, or something completely different, or a combination of multiple issues.

Based on your description that it happened immediately after fuel fill, I would tend to speculate about the quality of gas. It may be a bottle or 2 of HEET would cure that or at least attenuate one of the symptoms. It is cheap and it will not hurt anything if that is not the issue. This is unlikely if you are using a gasoline with ethanol in it as the ethanol does pretty much the same thing. But if you are using a premium grade with no ethanol, it may be advisable to try a couple bottles of HEET. Either way, it will not hurt anything to use it.

But the starter thing, that could be the whole issue. If the starter motor was engaging randomly or failing to disengage once the engine started, that would definitely cause a noticeable performance issue. It could also burn up the starter motor pretty quickly.
You are going to want to verify correct starter motor operation, including the starter relay and electrical starter switch (not key switch). The trick is to do this without running your battery out of power. Make sure the starter motor can reliably engage AND disengage. If the starter system persists in keeping the starter motor engaged you will have a fault in wiring, starter motor mounted solenoid, starter switch (electrical part not key part), or the starter relay which is "that Ford thing on the fender wall" or where ever your RV upfitter put it.

It is possible to "jump" across the terminals of the starter relay to start the engine without using the key, so visually inspect the starter relay to ensure there is no foreign object or debris causing interference in its correct operation. Ford usually puts a plastic guard around the relay, but again, yours is an RV so it may have been "customized" to be a little different than when it left the Ford factory.

Hopefully someone with the correct wiring diagrams can assist you better in precise troubleshooting, I am really just throwing darts and guessing at the exact cause. Without further hands on diagnosis, I would recommend "cheapest first" if you have to resort to parts swapping. 1. Relay 2. starter switch 3. starter solenoid (mounted on the starter) which may necessitate buying a complete starter motor assembly depending on the availability in your current locale.

I hope you're towing something that runs good, you are probably going to need it.

 

my son in law also fueled same time same location, no issues, also 2d wrench light came on 200 miles later as we turned to merge onto interstate. So probably not bad gas. tank had over 50% fuel in it when I refueled. According to the manual the wrench indicates (RTT) "Displays when the engine has defaulted to a 'limp-home' operation." It is also a check fuel cap also a RTT but it has its own warning symbol. Dont know what RTT stands for do you?

Supposedly there is a fuel relay above brake pedal, will check and reset when sun comes up. Said it will **** off if jolted, but there have not been any hard potholes etc to set it off, but something else to check. One guy said battery, mine is showing 12.8 as I sit here, again will check in morning.

Just wondering if I should reset the ECM/PCM by disconnecting the battery? If I do will take battery to have checked in morning. But as it stands now will call for roadside assist and cancel rest of trip IF we can start and get home to get in shop!

Towed is a 13 Hyundai Elantra, basic sole purpose in life as my DD is my 94 Ranger, wife has a honda accord!

I dumped in 2 cans of seafoam already, will get new gas cap also.

 

Hi Guys,
I'm new hear and love the sight. Been having TPS issues for years. But my burning question is. Will bad TPS cause loss of HP? My truck doesn't seem to have the pulling power it used to.

 

You need to read the codes - without the codes, it could be anything between the radiator and the taillights.

 

The scan gauge said no codes or pending codes. so not much to do there.

 

The starter staying engaged does lead one to believe there is a battery voltage issue. Start there.

With the ignition on, there are no codes?

 

No, No codes with key on. Pulled battery still showing GREEN EYE starter turns over with no drag so it seems to be OK. Showing 12.7-8 fully disconnected.

Called for road side assistance and since Sunday and a 4 day weekend she was not very optimistic on finding someone.


I did check for the relay by brake and found 1 relay but not the one the book shows as being resetable. will look again. Will get son in law to listen for fuel pump when key turned on since that is also something someone suggested.

Oh Well, just keep on looking. Will see if I can rent a scanner at autozone or orielly's.

 

Ok had a tech from roadside assist here for 2 hrs, and he has determined that the fuel pump is bad. No pressure at fuel manifold port. All fuses and relays are checked as good, power to fuel pump no action from pump.

So will try to get parts today and install tomorrow. Good thing fuel tank not full!

Also they have encountered hung starter before, said is usually something simple.

His scanner did pickup a code for a fuel issue, but trouble shooting with volt meter was final determiner. Scanner didnt show much to anything.

 

have the codes checked for a bad MAF, autozone or orielly's will do for free. Might not br getting the airflow needed or possibly too much.