1996 Powerstroke. Starts fine. Adequate power. Half way through the second tank of the same fuel. I get 2-3 miles down the road from the house and it quits. No idiot lights, nothing. I let it cool and it starts right back up and goes 2-3 miles again.Seems like it must be some kind of emission control problem . Any ideas? Anyone else had this?

 

You say that when it cools it starts right up again. Does that mean that it won't start when warm? Has it ever shown these symptoms before?
Initially, I was thinking that you might have a Cam Position Sensor going out, but those typically start with occasionally dying at idle, and increasing in frequency, though it will start right up again when warm.
Tell us more, maybe we can help.

 

Here is the sequence of events:

I left for work one evening at ~4:00 PM (nightshift). It dies on the on-ramp to the four lane roughly 3 miles from the house. restarted one time then nothing but cranking.

Called the wife to come and get me and called tow truck.

Left home again in the wife's car. Stopped at truck to leave key for tow guy and thought "one more try". It started. Let it run a little while and put in drive and it died.

Tow truck brought it home.

Changed fuel filter (light had been flickering).

Charged the batteries.

Replaced the glow plug relay and the starter solenoid. (Apparently the multiple starting attempts were too much for them).

Started right up. Headed out to the store. ~2miles down the road it died. Rolled onto a side road and waited a few minutes and it restarted and got me arround the block before it died again. Waited a while longer and it restarted again and got me to a parking lot. Left it there for a couple of hours and then it got me home where it sits.

That's about how it happened. It sucks being left on the side of the road but I keep telling myself "149,027 problem free miles".

From what I have been reading, it sure sounds like the Cam Sensor. I guess since it mounts into the block that temperature could be an issue. Any other thoughts or possibilities?

 

Sounds like the Cam Position Sensor to me. Because it is an easy do it yourself 15 min fix, I would replace it and see if this solves your problem before doing anything else. Buy it at International rather than the Ford dealership if you have a choice. It'll save you $75-100. Last time I checked Ford wanted about $170 for the part.