SO cruising in traffic yesterday, 35-40 the truck just stops running, like i turned off the ignition??!

I was able to coast into a parking lot out of traffic, thought well crap something just broke!

turned the key and it fired right back up like nothing was wrong, Was not able to pull any codes last night, no check engine light nothing!

Wondering if maybe i hit some rough road and maybe lost connection to the hydra ?

If that's the case i need to get in there and tighten that up, that's not good to have happen ! right??

 

When it shut off, did the cluster still have lights or any electrical signs of life?

I had a similar thing happen to me back in August or so when we were visiting the Great Smoky Mountains NP. I hit a tooth shattering pot hole and the truck died for a second and then came back to life. The cruise control was acting weird, but everything else seemed normal. I continued on for 40 miles or so and shut the truck off at the rest stop. When we returned, truck fired right up and no further instances occurred the rest of the 300 mile trip back to GA.

I took a few minutes and checked all of the major connections like the PCM, 42 pin, IDM, batteries, engine grounds, etc... I then took about an hour and secured the Hydra in a different method than it had been for the past 5 years. I used some semi-rigid foam in order to keep pressure on the chip, as the case would if I had not cut it up years ago. I then installed some new, high strength tape around the box. It is much better now and I feel it is secure enough to continue.

If you decide you need a new PCM cover, you can get one here: https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/pcm-cover-99-03/

To answer your question directly, no that is not good. I was lucky that I didn't fry my PCM and if that is your problem, you are lucky as well.

If you may want to take a few moments and look over all of the major connections. One that sometimes gets guys is that there were some years that had a positive battery connection under the air box on the driver side wheel well that can corrode and become unsuitable for providing power.

Just some ideas...

 

Could be an intermittent short, loose battery cable, or bad/loose ground somewhere...did you lose power to everything radio, dash, etc...or just the pcm? Did dash lights stay (SES, WTS, etc) do anything?

Had something similar happen to me a couple times, first 2 times the truck started itself back up while still running, 3rd time it went down for the count and wouldn't restart ... Ultimately it was the fuel bowl heater taking out the fuse under the dash but prior to that discovery and diagnosis I also replaced the ends on my negative battery cables as they were badly worn and discovered to be quite loose.

 

Yes everything was lit up I even tried as i was coasting to start it , turned over fine but did not start fast enough ( i was trying to coast out of traffic), I did take a few minutes to look over the major connections, everything looked fine

I just rebuilt my Oil cooler, I see i have a small leak from my power steering pump, will address that today as i mess with it, i will walk through battery connections today

I am thinking i want to pull the chip anyhow, see what shows up, Hydra does not ley codes appear as they would without it

I really do hate intermittent issues, Just break for crying out loud!

ANd as usual, thanks for the insight , LMAO i would start tearing down the whole engine! Not

 

interesting I have quite the wish list on riff raff!

 

I will wander through everything today as it warms up, I unplugged the fuel bowl heater long time ago

 

Did the power seem to blip off like it did for me or does the problem seem to be mechanical in nature? Is the oil level good? Check the CPS and IPR pigtail, what about the 42 pin harness over the valve cover, is it clear of abrasion?

 

to be honest, it was like i turned of the ignition, but i don't recall if i lost electrical power for a sec, the radio did not reset I do remember

I will go back through everything with more detail and report back

 

Collapsed fuel line. Vacuum sucked it flat. Now, why did it form a vacuum ? Obstruction down stream that caused resistance ?

Hobo

 

Hmm that's interesting, did a hutch mod awhile back, Months ago now, why just now? and then didn't do it again I will however check my filter

 

If you have an issue with the CPS (Cam Position Sensor) 'Area', this quick (turn off Key symptom) will/can happen. Moisture in the CPS or connection... loose connection... chaff wiring... bad CPS.... causing some kind of electrical interruption and you are then hanging onto the steering wheel to a Dead Brick moving down the road. I (at this time) do not believe that you have a 'bad' CPS as the truck did start right back up (as mine did when this happened to me... twice... ran through a water hole and poof... died)…

Check this area closely.... put Dielectric grease on/in the connection... if this happened (truck died as if key turned off) it WILL happen again..

If fuel bowl element shorted out and blew the #30 fuel, you would not be able to start the truck until the fuse was changed. (and connection behind bowl was disconnected)

https://deadheaddiesel.com/cam-position-sensor-7-3-cps/

 

On your 2002 there is a small plastic junction box on the driver's side fender liner with a cable from the battery coming into the front and two fusible links coming out of the back and heading to the fuse box. All 3 are held together on a post with a nut. This connection is known to corrode and eventually fail which will shut you down. Yours might be in the early stages of failure, just something to look at.

 

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More than once I found a "Baggie" floating around in a fuel tank. Some were just the plastic wrapper that one of the replacement parts came in. Another one of those mysteries of life. Some were vandalism pushed in on purpose.

Hobo.

 

LOL looks like i got my day cut out for me! Thanks everyone for the I will check them all out, 1 by 1

 

Check for oil in the ICP sensor.