2001 Excursion shuts off intermittently

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May 11, 2019 | 08:07 AM

Thejackalope

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Mountain Pass

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2001 Excursion shuts off intermittently

2001 7.3. We have had this truck for 7 years. It has always shut off at odd times, usually coming to a stop. I have replaced the CPS several times. Its usually not a big deal as it always restarted. Until recently. A couple of weeks ago the theft light started flashing rapidly but the truck still started. The other day my wife was driving it and the end of the shift lever popped off and she put it back in. Then the truck shut off and would not restart. It blew the fuse for the instrument cluster which I believe is also for the Pats system. The wire for the o/d switch shorted. I replaced the shift lever and the fuse. The truck starts and runs fine. We have had issues with the o/d switch coming off the lever for years. My question is could that cause the theft light to flash if there was a slight short that was not enough to blow the fuse. My wife is afraid to drive it anywhere now and she loves her truck.I am new here but I am a former ASE master tech. Any help would be much appreciated. Thnak you

May 11, 2019 | 10:31 AM

Stewart_H

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Joined: May 2004

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From: Central Coast of CA

Moved to the 7.3L forum.

Stewart

May 12, 2019 | 06:18 AM

tommyl

More Turbo

Joined: Feb 2004

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From: Findlay, Il

I would check wiring harness ds valve cover for chafing.

May 12, 2019 | 10:21 AM

PrescottIce

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From: Prescott, AZ

+1 on the wiring harness on the valve cover - common issue. With the age of these wiring harnesses, there are usually multiple areas under duress, especially in the engine compartment.

If you haven't done the O/D switch wiring repair, it's a common failure and good preventive maintenance. Check the tech forum, a couple good writeups there. That may be the source of your previous shut-downs, but I don't recall hearing that as a symptom. Then again, shorting anything in a computer-controlled system may have unpredictable results.

A PATS failure allegedly will not cause a running truck to stall. It is only designed to keep it from starting if there is a fault detected.

Also water intrusion at the driver's side windshield can drop down to the back of the interior fuseblock and GEM, causing all sorts of havoc.

May 12, 2019 | 11:17 AM

Thejackalope

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Mountain Pass

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I will check the wiring. I am not as concerned about the shutting off as I am about the not restarting. Is there any way of knowing if the o/d switch wiring could cause a pats issue? The wire was chaffed and split probably due to multiple attempts to push the end of the lever back in.

May 12, 2019 | 01:18 PM

Thejackalope

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Mountain Pass

Joined: May 2019

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Went to start it today and the theft light flashed rapidly but it still started. Shut it off and started it again this time the theft light went off. This thing seems to have a mind of it's own.

May 12, 2019 | 01:25 PM

Sous

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Joined: May 2014

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From: Lake Hartwell, GA

There was a thread about that very PATS behavior about 6-9 months ago.

You may be able to find the fix action with a search. Wish I could remember who it was that was having the issue.