I have a 2002 5.4 Super Duty.

I was pulling a truck, on a trailer, up a hill today. As I was reaching the top of the hill I noticed all the gauges were not working and the truck seemed to lose some power. I pulled to the side of the road thinking something was really wrong. The truck was still running. I shut the vehicle off thinking I lost oil pressure due to the gauge not working and did not want to tear anything up. I checked the oil and had plenty. I went to restart my truck and all I got was a click, the engine did not even roll over. The windsheild wipers also came on, however, I did not have them turned on.

Any ideas on what went wrong or where I can start looking?

 

Ground wires check as many as you can find, on the engine,firewall, under the dash at the power ditribution box. Check all fuses also.

 

i agree it sounds like an electrical issue make sure you use a test light on the fuses and check both sides dont just look at them. let us know what you find out

 

Dead cell battery could be the issue as well. It can cause random electrical surges that cause random things to work/not work.

 

The gauge not working in and by itself would not cause you tp loose oil pressure.

I would start with the battery. One or more bad cells could cause that. The wipers still working could happen as they draw much less power than the starter.

 

Bad alternator leaving you on battery power until the battery drained below 10volts.

 

Sounds more like a dead cell battery honestly, not saying the alternator isn't bad as well, but it is less likely to be the root of your problem considering the wipers came on without you turning them on.

 

possibly the ignition switch

 

I have a similar problem with my 2009 F-250 diesel. Sometimes when driving all the gauges stop working and it starts cycling through all the warning lights. The pickup continues to run. Once the pickup is shut off it takes a while to start again. When i turn the key it wont turn over and started doesnt click or anything. After waiting a while it will eventually start. Some mornings the pickup wont start, when this happens the glow plug light will not come on, wont turn over, the starter doesnt make any noise. Eventually it starts. The pickup also randomly will have no power. Less than impressed with the service and quality of this pickup.