First of all Hello from a newbie.

Secondly HELP PLEASE!!

Ok, now with that off my chest, with less than one week of having this 99 f350 we have ran into a intermittent problem. The truck just flat dies, no spitting or sputtering just dies. The first time it happened the truck was running I had stepped out of the truck and it was just like someone turned the key off. The truck would not start again. I put in a new fuel filter and it still would not start. As I was getting ready to check and see if the fuel pump was running the truck started and I sent my wife on her way with it and I went to work. About 6 blocks later it did it again. A friend went to help out the truck started again went about 6 miles and died again. Finally just had it towed home. Took it to the dealership we purchased it at and it wouldn't act up. Drove it 250 miles no problems, but now it's doing it again. This last time the truck was cold and hadn't been ran for a couple hours. The fuel has no contamination in it and right this moment has a full tank. The first time it happened it was at a 1/4 tank.

Ok, what I do know. When it won't start the wait to start light does not come on. Also the fuel pump on the rail doesn't run. The tach does not move when I crank the engine over. To the best of my knowledge there has not been any upgrades to anything. When the truck does run, it runs great.

What are the requirements for the wait to start light? Does it have to have fuel pressure first? Would a CPS cause this type of senario?

I have read many of the posted threads and gained some valuable info, but nothing I read seemed to be quite the same as my situation.


Thank you all for your help, information, and time!!

nate

 

I'd check the CPS first. The key to this is that your tach does not move when you crank it. That's a big indicator that your CPS is not working. My truck would occasionally start to cut out for no reason. Changed the CPS and haven't had a problem since. It's a 15 minute job. Much easier than I thought it would be.

I'm not enough of a PSD expert to know why the wait to start light won't come on or the fuel pump doesn't run though.

I would check your batteries and their connections however. I had some problems with my PSD not wanting to start and the tach wasn't moving either. My first thought was a CPS, but it had just been replaced, so I was seriously doubting that one. So, I checked the voltage on the batteries. They were down. I jumped the truck (with 2 vehicles!!) and it started up fine. Time to replace the batteries, they are 3-4 years old after all.

If the battery voltage is fine, make sure your connections at the battery are clean and tight. I've read on here about some connections that were corroded and causing some starting problems. That may be related to the lack of a WTS light and fuel pump issues.

 

First, welcome Newbie.
Sounds like the CPS to me also.

 

There are few of us here that haven't had this problem at one time. I have a 99 and it too showed the same symptoms. The CPS for some reason has a cronic failure problem. Get one from Power stroke shop for about $100. I have two, one for a spare. It takes about 20 minutes to replace. Auto Zone sells them, but for patent reasons, I would get an International or Ford product. Keep us posted in your progress.

 

yup sounds like a CPS problem. instead of getting one for the powerstroke, i would get a "blue" CPS, one from a DT466 engine. (international). people who use them report better power, mileage, quieter running, etc. it just seems as if IHC switched these two CPS's, as people with the 466 say that the powerstroke CPS is better on their engine.

 

Welcome to FTE.
I'm going to check my Helminc manual and see if I can't find a reason for the power loss to the engine managment. From the looks of it, your CPS is not the culprit. Everything else would still work if that were the case.
Give me a while the helminc manual IMO is terribly laid out and it takes a LONG time to glean any information from it.

 

Anyone considering purchasing a Helminc manual - keep your money. The picture quality is the worst that I have ever encountered in the 23 years that I have been in the trade.

What I have been able to gather is there may be a problem with the power distribution box located under the hood. There are a lot of fuses and relays there that are IMO the cause of your problem. I'm most suspicious of the PCM power relay. I don't know the location on the power distrubution box because it doesn't list it. Perhaps someone with that knowledge can pitch in here with that.
You could also have a poor connection through one of the fuses.

 

You know Kwik.. My orginal post, back about 200 or so, I had a problem in the rain with my PSD. Where I live it does not rain much, but if the PCM relay has a tendency to fail or corrode from weather or moisture and not knowing where N8 is from, he and I may have the same problem. I did replace my CPS and and far as I know, that was my problem, the truck seems to work much better. I guess I'll know soon, the rain in on it's way this evening. Can the power distribution box be weather sealed to prevent corrosion?

 

There's no arguing the CPS has a poor track record and it certainly wouldn't hurt to install one. I was keying of his statement that everything else went down when the truck quit as well. Fuel pump, WTS light, etc. I want to be able to help him perform an accurate diagnosis to get the problem fixed, not just throw part$$$ at it until the problem goes away.