Hello folks, thanks for having this forum.

Here's the truck
'95 F150, 300-6, E4OD, TPI, 113k miles.

I'm having problems with the truck just flat dying. Started approximately 2-3 months ago.

It seems to happen when the throttle is at 0-20% (coasting, turning corners at intersections, very slow stop & go traffic).

It started as a sudden stop-start, like a cylinder missing. The truck would jerk, then continue on.

The problem has increased in severity in that it started to die altogether, but slipping into neutral and tapping the starter would start it up again while still moving.

The last couple times it has stopped altogether, requiring me to coast off of the road altogether (luckily there have been spots to coast *to* in traffic). It's been reluctant to start at all after that. After a couple minutes, it will fire up, then run like the day I bought it for an unpredictable amount of time, when it will die again.

I've replaced the fuel filter so far. I'm about to go replace the cap/rotor/plugs & wires right now. I wouldn't *think* it would be fuel related, because it never ever coughs or sputters or hesitates. It just flat dies like you turned the key off. Then again, the problem is getting worse. Electrical problems usually seem to me to show up, and maintain the severity of problem until you find it and fix it, so I'm just stumped.

Would a bad fuel pump do this in an injected system? I've always had carburated systems before, so this is a little more than I'm used to diagnosing.

I'm very reluctant to take it to the shop, as they will start by replacing my front license plate, then send me back out to return for another part each time until they get to my trailer ball.

Any words of wisdom?

 

Well, I replaced the plugs, wires, cap & rotor. I really don't see how it was running at all. I knew all were way overdue... but DAMN you should have seen them. Hell, I should take pics. It's a testament to the ol' 300 straight 6 that it was running at all.

The metal tab at the center of the rotor, where it makes contact w/ the cap was BROKEN off. Literally fell off when I pulled out the roter. The rotor tip was all arcwelded up. The points inside the cap were crispy. The connects on the outside of the cap were white & crusty with age. The coil wire came off the coil with almost zero effort, no detent click or anything. Like it was 'just sitting there' on the coil. The 'trodes were gone on the plugs, burned off at a 45° angle, and looked like they'd been gapped with a pocketknife.

I'm hoping this is the end of my woes, but I'm skeptical about calling anything "fixed" until I drive it for about a month.

(I need to do better regular maintenance)

 

my '01 SCrew Lariet that i bought used in april at 117,000 is doing much of the same thing, except my has had alot of smoke coming from the exhaust for about 5 minutes after ignition, plus it is eating about a quart of oil every 2 weeks. I am not by any means a car genious, but my thought before my car started stalling out,(that problem started on June 4, 2004 goin about 20 in my neighboor hood at a coast similar i guess to your problem) was that the rings on the pistons might be wearing out and oil seeping into one or more pistons and possibly being burned out causing the white smoke at startup. And now after my car has started stalling my logic has told me that there may be so much oil leaking into the piston that it is actually flooding the piston for gas and causing there to be no real explosion. My car has actually started getting worse and worse gas mileage since i have owned it. but like i said earlier, I am not by any means an engine genious, But if u hvae any other thoughts your response would help me, and the other person in this post out tremendously. Or visit my other POst about 3 links above this one in the main post page for other info on my problem, Thanks Everyone.
Trey

 

UPDATE:

Well, I *thought* I had the problem beat. I replaced the TFI module & coil, and had an unremarkable 5 weeks or so of driving. Now the same problem is back. Starting again w/ the little hiccup, but the hiccups are getting worse. It finally died in the middle of a busy intersection Friday morning. Waited about 5 minutes or so (blocking traffic w/ my blinkers on)... and vroom-vroom. It started up like nothing every happended and has been a happy truck for the last 2 days.

I'll certainly replace the TFI module again... but I expect that in 4 or 5 weeks I'll be in the same place. What would cause a TFI module to fail? I assume a voltage regulator or the like to be the root cause, and my TFI module and coil to be the victems in this situation. I know I'm on the right track, though, because replacing those 2 components "fixed" the problem for about 5 weeks.

 

Fuel pump is a likely candidate, especially in Fla. (I know this). When mine went, it was intermittant, and I couldn't actually predict when it was going to die.

 

I was really thinking fuel pump (and still haven't ruled it out)... but here's my arguments against it.

1. Is there a single pump for both tanks? The same problem occurs on both tanks. Do you think both would drop out simultaneously?

2. It happens whether the tank is full or near empty. I *thought* that in-tank type pumps that had issues seemed to have issues more when empty than when full, as a greater quanitity of fuel acted as a better heat sink.

3. Replacing the TFI module & coil did "fix" the problem for about 5 weeks.

I really do appreciate your comments. What do you think of the above... still possibly fuel pump?