2002 f-350, 7.3, maybe 8 times over a year, engine cuts out for a split seconds and then is fine, but maybe 4 times it has stalled. Then starts up fine with no check codes or anything to indicate a problem. very confused?

 

It is probably the crank position sensor. Its a common problem on the 7.3L. I have had three of them and it has happened to all of them. I think you can take it to a dealer and get it for free. You may want to call first. Hope this helps.

 

There is an electronic sensor that determines where the engine is at in its firing cycle. It senses different sized "windows" (slots) that pass by it on the camshaft gear inside the engine. It is called the Cam Position Sensor (CPS). It's necessary to sense the cam, not the crank, as the crank rotates twice for each cylinder to fire, whereas the cam rotates only once.

The electronic "engine brain", the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) needs to know all this stuff to determine when to cause the injectors to add fuel to the cylinders.

The CPS has a magnet inside it to create a "field" that is interrupted (or distorted) by the windows passing by, and this distortion is sensed and passed to the PCM as varying-width electrical pulses to be interpreted.

The magnet eventually gets weak, and the pulses are no longer as rock-solid as they should be, and on occasion the PCM gets confused about where it is in the firing cycle. To prevent injecting fuel at the wrong time (which could be catastrophic), it simply stops the fuel until it once-again determines where it's at.

That all happens pretty quickly, and that's likely what you're feeling.

Ford has introduced a new CPS with a more reliable magnet to correct this situation, and you should have recently received a recall notice from them to replace this sensor part at no cost to you. Even if you didn't get a recall, you are still entitled to a free replacement.

This likely will correct what you're seeing.

Those of us that have been around here for a while carry a spare in our glove boxes. :-))

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