If anybody's listening today and can help, I'd appreciate it. Was driving my F150 yesterday up to my place in N. GA. mountains at a nice smooth 60 mph when all of a sudden the engine shut down, no sputtering, just 0 rpm. Had it towed to nearby garage, where after doing to electrical connection checks for about an hour, the mechanic turned the key and the engine started. Had made no corrections to that point. The engine then died again after about 19 minutes. He replaced the coil. It started, then died again. He replaced the distributor. It started and ran. We drove it to my place about 10 miles up the road. Turned the engine off. Tried to restart it - nothing. It cranks but does not even try to fire. That was last night. This morning, it starts. Any ideas? I'm on this mountain and not sure I can get a tow from up here. Thanks.

 

I had the same thing happen to my 1987 F150 5.0 2w/d in september, the motor just died without warning while going down the road and wouldnt restart but after sitting a hour waiting for the tow truck to come get me and take the truck 5 minutes down the road to my house it started right up for a few seconds then died again i did notice with mine that when i went to start it i wouldnt hear the main fuel pump on the frame under your feet do its usual "clicking sound" *or* if it would make the sound it was weak so i pulled it off and cleaned up the connections put it back on and havent had a bit of trouble with it since.

 

Mine '96 used to stall on the highway for a about 10 minutes at a time, then start right back up. I finally saw I wasn't getting any spark when stalled and tracked it down to the dizzy position sensor. If you changed out the dizzy you already replaced that though. Next best guesses would be TFI or whatever your equivilent is, maybe the ignition module?

Try getting a spark test light, and next time it stalls put it on the primary, If it doesn't flash, no spark. That will help you pick a system thats failing. The instant shutoff sounds like spark versus fuel, did you get an engine light?

You can listen for the fuel pump whine, with the window down mines pretty loud. If it doesn't come on for 2 seconds when you flip the key to on, it's not working right.

 

I can almost bet you its fuel related. A dying fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter or something fuel related. If it was electrical I dont think it would have started again. Does the engine run fine when its on? When it dies does it just go off or lose power and then stop. Im sure this truck has a lot off miles so if its the original fuel pump it could very well be bad. Let us know what it is but this might be something to look at. I had this problem on a gas tractor of mine. It would run for a few minutes then die and then after waiting a little bit it would run. I know its not the same but definitly sounds like a fuel issue to me. Good Luck.

 

Sounds more fuel system to me, especially if you've replaced the other items. Check your fuel pump relays for operation under the hood. As already stated, listen for the fuel pump. You could have clogged fuel filter/sock on the fuel pump. If you're on a mountain in North Georgia right now, I'd sit tight anyway. Do you have enough food/water etc? Bettin' on fuel system issues.
Tex

 

Go to www.fordfuelinjection.com and see if you can figure out how to pull the codes. If your check engine lite on the dash works you may learn something. If I'm right all you need is a scrap of wire to act as a jumper between two female jacks.

When I run out of gas or bleed the fuel lines of pressure the truck always sputters for up to 5 seconds, I vote ignition problem, not fuel pump or filter.

 

Thanks for the input. Am surviving. Have beer and frozen pizzas. When the monster starts and runs, it runs great. No sputtering. No hesitation. Then just stops hard. When I turn the key, I can hear the fuel pump whine, but no clicking. I can probably last a few more days, then will have to go to drinking water. Again, thanks for all the advice. So far, most believe it's fuel related.

 

I had a bad fuel pump, the whine sounded real sick before it finally quit. More groany and lower pitched than the one that still worked (replaced the bad one finally). Running one tank dry takes 5 to 10 seconds to lose all the power, the computer compensates by opening the injectors more at lower pressure I think. When the ignition craps, it feels like you turned off the key. Just running then not.

 

Does this truck have the TFI module on the side of the distributer?
They have a tendency to act up like that...

 

Yes, I think there is a TFI module, rectangular gray thing 3-4 inches long. I believe the mechanic replaced it. Also, to answer the previous post, when th engine stops, it stops immediately as if the ignition key was turned off.

 

I'd check to make sure. If he swapped out the distributer for another one, did he re-use the same TFI module? If so, did he install it on the new distributer correctly?

When it shuts off, do the accessories in the truck shut off too? Radio, gauges and dash lights... Or just the motor dies?

 

From my reading when mine was acting squirly, the Thottle position sensor has also been known to cause similar issues. Generally, it seems that whenever one of a couple of sensors gets really outside of normal readings, the computer craps it pants and shuts down. I'm sure they designed to that to keep the enginge from blowing to pieces, but it makes for interesting troubleshooting.

It sounds like yours is stopping exactly the way mine did. Like it had a kill switch. The computer switches off the spark. Dash lights work, everything else is fine and normal.

The root cause may be different, but I'd bet it's an out of range sensor. TPS, PIP, Crank pos sensor, something that is confusing the comp. When mine would stall ( or more acuratley stop) , I eventualy found that after 2 or 3 minutes~ I could pull the EEC relay and replace it. Then it would restart fine. If I didn't pull the relay, I had to wait 10 to 20 minutes for a restart. If I pulled it immediately, it didn't help. It drove me nuts for a couple months... lol I was pretty patient and determined to find it though. I kept a notebook with details to help track it. The spark light was the one that finally made big difference though.

TFI modules tend to act up when hot from what I've read and mine didn't seem to about heat as much as rpm. If I got over 3500, bam, off like a light, (which happened to be about 75mph).

 

They also act up when the wrong TF Grease is used on them on them.
FBp

 

TFI sensor. It's left me stranded three times over the years. It's mounted on the distributor and gets too hot causing it to fail intermitently. It can go at any time and it's a problem Ford has known about since at least 1984.

When you install a new module be sure to coat the backside, that is the side that contacts the distributor, with dielectric grease. It'll help dissipate the heat.

Type TFI module into any search engine and read all about it.

 

When the motor shuts down (now it won't start, hot or cold), the dash lights, radio, all continue working. I did see the mechanic applying grease to the back of the TFI, but don't think it was a new TFI. Had to leave the truck up in the mountains and caught a ride back to where I work. Later this week, I'll probably go back up and have it towed back to the garage that worked on it ($250 so far to replace coil and distributor). Any thoughts on what I should be asking the owner in the way of additional costs? Thanks to all who are trying to help.