Hello everyone,
My name is Mike and I am new to this forum and I would like to draw on some of the experience within. Here is the scenario I have. I am the VP of manufacturing for company that produces towing tractors and ships all over the world. We use several power plants including the Ford 4.2 industrial engine. Ford has closed their industrial side and left all mechanics high and dry with issues the engine is having.

Currently we are seeing a lot of common issues with the engine and we have been able to help fix all of them but one which is why I am asking advice. We have several units in Hawaii as well as other units produced by other companies that use the 4.2 and all are having the same issue.

The engines start fine, run for about 2.5 hours and then shut down. They require a cool down period of about 3 hours then will start the process all over. We have attacked the usual items like the coolant, head temp sender, thermostat, crank and timing sensor, etc, but to no avail. The unit is not throwing a code/check engine light so we are not getting any clues. I am flying out there in a week to help them but I was hoping the discussion here would shed some light on what I could send them prior to my visit. These engines have approximately 2,000 hours on them and all of their life they are at full throttle which is about 4,000rpm. Their gearing is 7:1 and they will do only 16mph full throttle.

Any suggestions will be appreciated and please ask any and all questions.

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

Welcome to FTE and our little corner of the world.

I thought I could remember reading of this problem here before but looking back, I could not find a thread, so maybe I am wrong. ??

Anyways......
When the engine dies, does it stop suddenly - as if the key had been turned off, or does it sputter and die - as if it was a fuel delivery problem?

It is a WAG, but I am thinking fuel pump related. (or maybe fuel filter)
Is that a possibility?
There have been several guys post over time with weird problems that wound up being a bad fuel pump.
If I had the chance, and had immediate access to one that died as you describe, I'd immediately have someone try to start it while I found a way to deliver a few shots of ether (starting fluid) into the intake air stream. If it acted like it wanted to start, then I'd know it was fuel delivery related.
No sputter or cough, and I'd be thinking electrical/ignition.

Best of luck and please post back with any more thoughts, info or questions.
Goes without saying we'd love to know what you find as the cause.

Thanks, and again - Welcome to FTE!

 

Thanx for the reply,
Usually when it dies it acts like an electrical problem as ther is no spark at all. What makes this interesting is that there are at least 5 different vehicles that have the same issue. One thing I forgot to share is that if they drive the unit at only half throttle, it will run all day without shutting down.

 

There have been quite a few problems with the coil pack messing up.

Sounds like heat and/or vibration might be causing failure.
Have you guys checked them very closely?
Try swapping a coil pack from an offending unit to one with no problems. That'd be a good way to verify.

Thanks and let us know!

 

We have replaced the Coil Pack as well as the thermostat, wires, plugs, antifreeze, came sensor, crank positioning sensor among others. I have obtained the programming key for the computer and next monday I will go there to help diagnose the issue. Thanx for the help and suggestions.