Ok, driving along yesterday...lalala doing fine. Get off freeway and come to a stop and truck dies. Put in park, starts up no problem. Put in Drive, dies, had to have towed home. Shifting was not hard, but we noticed when you do put it in gear, it jerks I guess is the best way to describe it. Help???

Just a tidbit of info: This truck has about oh 74k original engine. My mom bought it brand new in 1990 and has had it all these years. She passed away in January, she has kept up on the maintenance pretty good over the years. Recently had oil change, air filter, brakes done and a sensor or 2 replaced and passed a smog. Previously, the check engine light came on, but once the sensors replaced, it went away. If anything else let me know and I can find out from the person who did alot of the maintenance.
Shannon

 

Your ignition module on the side of the distributor may be failing. when it does, it
usually acts up when the engine is warm, and the engine will nearly die then recover and rev up quickly, nearly die etc. Mine did the same thing, and I would have to shift to neutral and keep the gas on it until starting out again. There are apparently no
codes for it specifically.

 

when the sensors were replaced, did they clear all the codes from the ECU? might have some erroneous codes left in memory. May also be experiencing some TFI issues, but I am thinking the idle / timing might be askew. I would pull codes first, then check everything else. Could be that the idle stop backed out on the throttle body. Might also have some torque converter / driveshaft issues, considering the "jerk" when put in gear. Hope this also helps.

 

Ok ,will check all the above. Will let you know what it turns out to be if anything that was mentioned. Or, if I am stumped, will come back and ask again. It does Sound like something that could easily be fixed and not horribly expensive...like a new transmission. My other car blew one last week. Dont need another one going out. AHH!! Scary.

However, about the torque converter...I am confused. There is no specific diagram for it in my manual. If in fact it is the torque converter, don't exactly know where to go since I have no instruction on it. Suggestions if it does come to that?
I have a chilton manual I got from Checker Auto.

Shannon

 

Have you pulled the codes yourself,you are shooting in the wind if you have not. Buy a cheap code scanner from walmart $30.00 it is not that difficult and you will be learning at the same time good luck.

 

I did not know u can buy a code scanner at walmart..thanks for the info. That will help loads. My boyfriend does not think that is the problem, because the check engine light was on before sensors were replaced and since it is now off, meaning the codes were cleared or would still be on. But who knows. Its worth a shot anyway. Now is this a scanner u can use on any vehicle or just Ford? It would be handy to use on my other car too if possible. Hee Hee.

Shannon

 

I just went outside for kicks to check the mail. Mind you the other day we started it up and put it in gear and it died. I decided ok, lets try this. I took it from Park and then I put it in Neutral. I stepped on the brake cuz well you have to put foot on brake to shift and amazingly It stayed on. It didn't die, no hesitation nothing, no weird noises or anything. I was able to pull it in from the street and into the driveway. OK? That is good mind you, but it was weird. Hmm. At least I know how I can get it to move now. EXPLAINATION anyone???
this is so much fun. NOT. Now I get to call my boyfriend at work to tell him good news. Perhaps I can drive up to his work and have him pull codes.

 

The reason they are cheap is its a Ford only scanner can be had at most auto parts stores.Keep in mind you will not always get a check engine light with all fualts.

 

Yeah, he told me when he got home the scanner is only for Ford, that depending on year you have a I or II scanner option. Went out and played with the truck last night for a few and it does still die. We are going to check for Vaccuum leak, tune her up, there is a small hole in the resinator we did find out. Get some patch for that and order an ignition module next to see if that helps, and go from there. I remembered my 1986 Ford Escort dying on me in the middle of an intersection and doing this same thing. Will see if that will help to start.

 

If you have a ignition module installed, be sure the installer puts the thermal transfer
grease on the mounting surface, to decrease the chance of heat damage.

 

KOEO (key on, engine off) will let you know if there are any codes in memory still faulting things, then, if you can get it to start up and run @ idle and warm, a KOER test will tell you for sure if anything is still faulted, or should, for the most part. Hope you get it fixed soon

 

Good news, truck is running and drives fine. A customer of my boyfriends came into work yesterday and told him to go unplug the soleniod to the torque converter. That it will run on hydrolic mode for now. If the torque converter is truly bad, it will do the same thing..so I took truck out and she runs fine. Roommate took it to her work this morning, she works at at auto repair shop, they put it on diagnostic and sure enough, the solenoid was bad. They are tuning her up, giving her fresh fluids, checking the codes, idle and timing and the ignition module is getting replaced just to be sure. Hooray...thank god its not expensive and I have a truck again. BIG SMILE ON FACE!! Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I would have never knew where to begin otherwise. My alternative was to take it to aamco (hope that is not a bad word around here lol) and do free diagnostic and probably would have shelled out alot of $$.
You are most kind.
Shannon

 

I guess this is why if I ever switched mine from a 5-spd to an Auto, I'd probably find an older C-5 (and maybe even C-4 to swap the "guts" in) and use that. I've known people who had the A4LD in post-1985/6 Rangers and BIIs and had nothing but problems with them. *shrug*

Glad to hear you got 'er fixed up and going, and hope it doesn't cost too much $$$ for everything (maybe your roommate has a hook-up and won't have to pay full price )