its840

94 xlt 5.0 aod 4wd ext cab (if that matters)

was running fine.. had it sitting outside the barn idling. and it died.
no sparky...
i pulled the spout and it had spark..
so i started pulling it into the garage..
about half way in it died again...
this time no sparky at all...
with out without the spout..
no CEL but im going to go see if it has any stored codes.
where would you start?
which sensor/module would you test?

its840

ok so i was outside playing with it for a lil while..
i left the battery unhooked for a bit while it just sat there..
after sitting for about an hour. it started back up..
and it ran just fine for about an hour.. i sat in it.. reved it up..
let it return to idle.. no problem what do ever..
then out of the blue it just shut off..
i tried to pull the spout.. nothing
disconnect the battery.. Nothing
so im letting it sit overnight.. if it starts back up in the morning then im guessing there is a short somewhere of that something is heating up..
ill keep you posted. Thanks.

88xlt

If you are going to test anything, you would have to do it when the truck is in a no start condition otherwise the faulty part would likely test good anyway.

I would suspect the pickup coil(PIP) in the distributor first thing. Less likely is the ignition coil and the ignition module.

BLDTruth

^^^ I agree 100% with 88xlt.

its840

Thanks guys.
After reading more on the interwebs.. I am pretty sure its one of or a combo of.

Ignition control module
Pick up
Coil.

O'reilly is the only place in town that still has an ignition tester..
I called advance and the guy was like i don't even know what you talking about. hahaha he is only like 18 years old.. they prob got rid of that machine 10 years ago.. he had to ask someone to figure out what i was even talking about.. hahah don't you just love the button mashers at the parts store....

jayber

TFI module. Cools off it works but soon as heat gets to it bam its dead. Make sure you use the grease behind it. It helps isolate the fore mentioned heat issue.

its840

hey im back again...
i hate it when ppl start these thread but never finish them..
so this is what ive learned...

ok. so i put the spark tester on the coil to make sure it wasn't the coil wire arching.. and once the truck shut off.. it was easy to determine that was not the problem.. so next i probed the left wire going into the coil. i had power.. so then i probed the other wire.. while someone else turned the truck over i did not have a switching on off like should be there..

so next i went to the TCI ICM what ever you call it.. i probed the top wire while the truck was turning over. and i did not see any chance in voltage..

i researched how this system works. and when the hall-a fax coil in the distributor turns. it opens and closes a circuit via a magnet. thus produces a square wave of 10 volt as it opens and closes.. most multi meters are to slow to show this so it just shows an average of 5 or 6 volts. but it still jumps about a little but.. but it still stays about that area..

using a test light. (it has to be a filament bulb, led bulbs will not work)..
hook on end to battery positive and ground it out on the pip circuit...
probing the top wire of the ICM it will ground out the circuit and allow the coil to spark.. i still had the the spark tester on the coil still and it was pretty easy to see this..

also a side note. i noted that right after you do this. the truck will start up and run for a short minute or three...

but, anyways, thus concluded that the PIP was shot in the distributor.
also after reading more on replacing those. i found its not worth the headache to replace the module, just replace the distributor. speed the extra few dollars and save yourself the trouble.. i went to advance and used an online coupon code and saved 40 off 100.. so.. i only paid 70 for a new distributor.. pretty good i though...
truck is running great again..
took a few minutes getting it to run right. but it wasn't to hard..

anyways. i hope this helps someone.