OK, truck is 2000 F350. I am heading on a 2000 mile roadtrip to Yellowstone for my wife's 40th birthday in two days. What was our rock of a vehicle is now causing me severe anxiety.

Over the last few days the truck has been difficult to start - almost stops turning over as if the batteries were low. So I ignored it because if I plug it in, it starts fine and if I drive it and it gets hot - it starts fine.

Tonight while driving - I noticed a high idle and then it went to normal - I thought it was weird and a few miles later at a stop sign it struggled at idle, sort of loping but not romping very high and the over drive light started blinking. When I got home when I went from drive to neutral it goes to high idle and then the overdrive light blinks. The first time it blinked it went off when I pressed the OD button - but now it continues to blink.

Would low batteries be the root cause of this? I am super freaked out because $$ is very tight and this is the only vehicle we have to go that far.

Any help is appreciated and I will continue my search for blinking OD light but I thought I would get this in the queue in case this is bigger than I can handle. I have 48 hours to resolve this issue - leaving Wednesday early morning.

Thank you in advance for your time and effort.

 

Check oil levels- low oil makes for hard starts
Batteries- don't guess! Put a multimeter on them after you disconnect them from each other AND test the alternator.
If they're old have them load tested-remove and test individually.

 

Check the ipr for a loose but. Indirect other sensor connections, check wire loom that is over the driver valve cover...etc...as for blinking OD light, that's a trans "check light".

 

Well a buddy (everyone has one....) stopped by and thought it was the cam position sensor - I have never replaced one on this rig - 180k miles and I put 70k of them on - don't know if original owner replaced it.

Trans check light - this doesn't sound good or cheap.... Would changing the trans oil be recommended as a precaution?

In regards to the IPR - about 10k miles ago I rebuilt my HPOP using riffraff's rebuild kit - I was pretty paranoid - you guys are the only reason I did it successfully. However, after I did that - the check engine light would blink on and off - pretty quickly every so often. I didn't realize the IPR could come loose - it seems pretty flimsy with that tin lock nut thing...

Anyway, thank you for the suggestions - going to try and pull batteries tonight, take then to schwabs tomorrow morning and also check the other suggested topics above. thank you again.

 

What is the code? It should be stored in the PCM now.

Try turning your A/C OFF and leave it off, see if that affects your idle and stutters. Ask me how I know

 

I have a simple rule or 2 for batteries, 1) new batteries every 3 years, 2) Motorcraft batteries.

I own 5 powerstroke diesels, the removed batteries go in my 5th wheel and the old 5th wheel batteries go for cores.

 

Update: Just had batteries load tested and they failed so I am hoping this is the root cause of all my troubles (only if that could be true....). I will be picking up some new batteries from Costco this morning, installing and hopefully that resolves the issues. Let you all know.

The ICP is clean as a whistle.

I intend to change oil and add Arch 9100 but got side tracked on all this other stuff.

 

Not celebrating yet but on a good path. I installed two new batteries - the old ones were 4 years old. On initial startup it sounded good, let it warm up and no blinking OD light - good so far. I am changing the oil and will then drive it around just to make sure.

 

I live 11 miles outside Sheridan, WY, about 100 or so miles east of Yellowstone Park. I have a small shop and tools if you run into any problems and are in my area. I have a 2002 F350 7.3.

 

OK, I drove the truck yesterday around town and no issues. I looked at my wife's plan of attach here and today is our longest leg of 10 hr drive. All fluids checked and sensors unplugged and plugged back in. I find it hard to believe it was all related to the batteries but here's hoping.....

Codes: I took it to a diesel shop and they scanned it and said there were no codes. The tech seemed a little "green", but that may have just been my perception. He said if the CEL is not on then there are no codes, I asked specifically about the transmission codes and he said they are all stored in the same place..... Well - he was pulled away from a job at the time so I was debating how much I should annoy him.

garydmundy - Thank you so much for the offer - that just makes me feel a little better knowing this!

Departure time - 9am PST - thank you all so much for your contributions.

 

Sweet! I think we forget how important our batteries are in a rigs. Glad that's all it was. Enjoy your trip!

 

He's wrong about the CEL. Soft codes don't trigger the light and all codes, even if temporary, will stay in memory until cleared. Regarding batteries causing weird things, there was a thread here awhile back about someone having stray voltages off his alternator causing his transmission to do funny things, so I'd say it's possible all of your issues were battery related.

Anyway, I guess your well on your way by now. Good Luck and safe travels!

 

I wanted to give everyone an update. I returned home late last night after a 2500+ mile road trip and the truck did GREAT! I tried to update on the road but it was more difficult to get wifi on the road than I thought. Yellow Stone was awesome and the truck did great with the AC on most of the time and going 80 mph in Idaho/Wyoming - I hate going that fast in the truck but it was awesome. I still have the phantom CEL come on for a second but that's always done that since the HPOP rebuild. Thank all of you again for your support.

 

Great news! Glad your travels were only filled with the kind of "excitement" you *want* to have on vacations

 

Sounds great, congratulations. It is quite a relief when the 17 year old horse performs as if it was brand new on a long trip.