2.9 liter dies

[umpire613]

I got one for you my son's truck had been working great!..
then it started to stall.. wait a few minutes and it would start..

sequence of events.. he put some gas in from a station that @ best has terrible gas, and he jumped a lady @ his work that is when it all started.

I thought well maybe just the bad load of gas.. ran it low. put a can of seafoam in it.. didnt seem to help. fuel pressure was in the normal range and held constant. about 35 pounds.

next it picked up another quirk-- it had started drain the battery, he pulled the alternator had it cheked.. was ok , Replaced it as it was the original and thought maybe one on the diodes in the regulator might have got weak.. this has stopped the battery for draining down

so I was busy told him to take to the ford shop and have them run some diag..they said the idle air control assembly(sorry not sure what they call it) was bad wanted 400 bucks to replace it.. said no thanks we got a new one for 50 bucks. but still has the same issue.. the dumb thing just dies.. totally random. cold , warm, while driving, @ stop light.

I bought a eec-v tester and could not or cannnot get any codes to show up,have been through the process 2 times but still nothing shows as an error.

Had checked the timing several times in the process as well and was rock solid @10 degrees. Well today we put in a new TFI unit, as we had used the original when we rebuilt the engine earlier this spring. the O2 check good, .. all the sensors that feed the computer check ok. .

I am at a lose, I have been through the wiring multiple time. cleaned an check every ground.

He tould it out tonight agian and it died 2 times on him.. the second time he saind he had to wait about 5minutes before it woudl start. when it runs it is strong.. no misses, smooth as silk idle.. any on ehad a msd coil die on them like that? it was new as well ideas welcomed

..

 

[Psychopete]

I got one for you my son's truck had been working great!..
then it started to stall.. wait a few minutes and it would start..

sequence of events.. he put some gas in from a station that @ best has terrible gas, and he jumped a lady @ his work that is when it all started.

I thought well maybe just the bad load of gas.. ran it low. put a can of seafoam in it.. didnt seem to help. fuel pressure was in the normal range and held constant. about 35 pounds.

next it picked up another quirk-- it had started drain the battery, he pulled the alternator had it cheked.. was ok , Replaced it as it was the original and thought maybe one on the diodes in the regulator might have got weak.. this has stopped the battery for draining down

so I was busy told him to take to the ford shop and have them run some diag..they said the idle air control assembly(sorry not sure what they call it) was bad wanted 400 bucks to replace it.. said no thanks we got a new one for 50 bucks. but still has the same issue.. the dumb thing just dies.. totally random. cold , warm, while driving, @ stop light.

I bought a eec-v tester and could not or cannnot get any codes to show up,have been through the process 2 times but still nothing shows as an error.

Had checked the timing several times in the process as well and was rock solid @10 degrees. Well today we put in a new TFI unit, as we had used the original when we rebuilt the engine earlier this spring. the O2 check good, .. all the sensors that feed the computer check ok. .

I am at a lose, I have been through the wiring multiple time. cleaned an check every ground.

He tould it out tonight agian and it died 2 times on him.. the second time he saind he had to wait about 5minutes before it woudl start. when it runs it is strong.. no misses, smooth as silk idle.. any on ehad a msd coil die on them like that? it was new as well ideas welcomed

..

As for the tester, you need one for an ECC-IV. But you don't even need a tester anyway, there's instrustions for pulling codes (is this for the 89?) with the check engine light in the dash (or analog meter/test light for 86-87) in the technical library under ECC-IV diagnostics.

When you say that it dies and won't start back up, does the starter actually rotate but the engine won't start, or is the starter not cranking over? One thing I would note is whether or not the fuel pump is coming on when this happens.. When the key is put on run, the fuel pump will run twice for about a second each time.

Pete

 

[88gt]

my ranger did something kinda like that. it ran just fine for periods of time. I replaced the pickup in the distributor, multiple starters and alternators. DROVE ME NUTS. in the end, it turned out to be a rotten battery cable. I did the same thing checking the grounds and pulling codes. I could hear it shooting fuel so i knew that wasnt the problem. THe truck went fine, then would randomely sputtered out. Usually restarted after a minute or two. I had lousy fuel mileage also. So, i would try that. Battery cables are cheap enough, and if that doesn't work, id listen to the other ppl on their thoughts. THey know stuff

 

[jay jigless]

check the breather's filter, and check the idling sensor. the sensor underneath the long tubular looking sensor on the front left hand side of the intake manifold (standing in front of the motor. if it is black, use carb and choke cleaner and soray it clean. other than that mabe the fuel regulator getting weak. hope that my advice helped and good luck.

 

[umpire613]

I am using an eec-iv tester. Ford also could not pull any codes. I did replace the + batt cable.. and we just put on a new dist cap and rotor., not sure what you are saying ins idle sensor. as i said we did replace idle air control. and we have a constant fuel pressure on the truck now. and it never drops.

 

[Psychopete]

I am using an eec-iv tester. Ford also could not pull any codes. I did replace the + batt cable.. and we just put on a new dist cap and rotor., not sure what you are saying ins idle sensor. as i said we did replace idle air control. and we have a constant fuel pressure on the truck now. and it never drops.

I don't know what kind of time you have, or patience, but if it were me, I might get a wiring diagram and figure out the self test circuit to see if I could determine a problem in the circuit itself.

Otherwise, getting no codes at all (not 11s!), sometimes has been an indication of a fried computer. But I am not at all saying this is the problem, just throwing that out there.

One thing you might try is to look for things that cause it do die, like if the hood is shut for instance. Maybe try jiggling every connection you can find while it's running, and see if you can't get it to die. What are the chances that on the jump, the terminals were not connected properly?

Pete

 

[Jason]

No codes and no other apparent problems? What you have going on could likely be the ignition module. It is not common for them to help a battery drain but i saw it twice. That still makes no sense to me.

 

[Flat Toy]

This might not be anything to do with what yours is doing but my 86 BII would run like new most of the time. Then out of the blue it would quit running or run poorly for a few min and then take off and run like new. Did this for months. Then it hit me, It did it most times when there was someone in the right seat.
Pulled the big plug off the computer and found most of the metal connectors in the truck side of the plug had spread out and when someone moved their feet the wires would lose contact with the pins of the computer and the engine would stop or run bad.
The computer did not give any codes and all the sensors checked good and fuel pressure was always good.
Found this about three weeks ago and has not missed a beat since. Something to check anyways

 

[umpire613]

No we have changed the short + batt cable.. looked like some corrosion in the inside of termanal, we changed the tfi unit, I pulled all the connections and cleaned on the system. There is no one in the passanger side. and when I said no codes, i mean no bad codes. i get the 11 but that's it.. nothing flagged at all. I have run ever wire. and no opens, no shorts, no fluking connections, . next step it the computer unit i guess. but really makes no sense, at all, we check it will start in a second at home.. but this thing is goin the junk yard if i dont find it soon..