JJJELLO

My 1995 Ford F-150XLT 2x2 purple flareside with 95k and a 302 V-8, 5.0 that started
(whether hot or cold at 5000’ in Prescott, AZ) up fine all year until about 8 weeks ago.Then when turned key it took 2 turns of key to get it fired up. (new key lock last June when bought it). REvved up to RPM and kicked out when supposed to to normal idle but when I put it in gear to back out of garage it choked itself and idle dropped to nothing and it died. Thought of a vapor lock so undid the gas caps and let it sit for a few minutes.

I am retired so was not late for work. Gas tanks full. Started it up on first turn and ran like the sweet ford that it is. Ran errands all over town and no problems until last 2 weeks.
Started it up in morning and did same thing except idle caught and I was able to zip all over town until I stopped for a green drink at Roebek’s. Parked truck, got my juice, started it up just fine, backed out of space and put it in Drive. Got about 100 feet to enter traffic and darn thing crapped out in the middle the driveway. Engine light came on, no power steering, no brakes, no power at all. Dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree and I was dead in the water.

AAA towed it to my mechanic (Sergio’s in Chino Valley, AZ) where they put in an ignition control module (under a fender somewhere). Test drive of stop, start, turn it off, start it drove back to shop and it passed with flying colors. Paid my bill and happy to drive home again on 2 miles of paved road and 1 mile of usual unimproved county road of washboard bumpy almost impassable dirt roads.
Got 500 yards from my house on gravel road and dashboard lit up again then truck backfired 4 times and died again. No power. No nothing. Thank heavens for cell phones and AAA towed me this time 15 miles to Jim’s Auto Clinic (on Gurley street). They kept it for a day and did a thorough diagnostic check but could not duplicate the symptoms. Drove it like I told them with cold start and warm up and go 65 mph on Hwy 89A then stop for lunch and so on. Nada nada zip zip. Changed out plug wires and checked timing. $167 later and I was off running errands again.

Hang on it gets better. No mechanic could duplicate the problem. My life partner says it’s because it is a Ford - but seriously thinks it is the thermostat. Last Monday I was turning left (with the green arrow) crossing a 2 lane busy highway 89 into the VA hospital campus and had just turned the wheels when it crapped out again smack dab in the middle of the busy intersection.
Two very nice men pushed me through the intersection to a turn out at the entrance to the VA. My first call was to my therapist saying I wouldn’t be able to attend art therapy today and where I was and was my partner Charles there yet. “No but he should be passing you on his way into group.” Thanks and he did.
Outside temp was 101 deg so we sat in in AC truck waiting for the tow truck. AAA said I had used all my 4 free tows so we put it on Charles’ card and towed it back to Sergio’s. Jim’s had told me they couldn’t fix it if they couldn’t duplicate the symptoms. Guess the adage of a “woman” driver is true.

Jason at Sergio’s kept it all week (thanks Enterprise car rental) replaced distributor, coil, checked everything that he could, and there were no codes in the computer so it was not the engine (right?). I researched 18 pages of F-150 forums taking notes and calling him with my findings (just what every man does NOT want - help from an educated female) Just kidding.
Jason was at an impass by Thursday and still could not duplicate the problem…until Friday morning.
A miracle happened when he went to start it to pull it into the shop once again…IT DIED ON HIM JUST LIKE IT HAD WITH ME. FINALLY ABLE TO DUPLICATE symptoms. Thank you God and all my patient Angel guides. That wonderful forehead thumping AHA moment.

Hopefully I get my truck back tomorrow (Monday) with new exhaust sensors things, a quasi-tuneup and a new thermostat (to humor my partner) and a bill to go on my credit card.
My question in this litany of entertaining story telling is...

DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE ANY MORE SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT TO CHECK OR REPLACE?

And would spending the money for MagnaFlow exhaust system and dual (have single now) exhaust for my 66th birthday next week make any difference or just make my hot-rod Grand-momma alter-ego happy?

See photos in my profile.

“Proud Woman Vet Driving”

qdeezie

Sometimes the throttle position sensor (TPS) can go bad to cause these types of problems and depending on the type of transmission you have, sometimes the torque converter can go bad and make the engine stall out when putting in drive or reverse.

JJJELLO

Thanks for your answer. I will call my mechanic and see replaced the sensor. Does the torque converter cause the engine to just quit when driving like I experienced 3 times last week? Would it behoove me to just have him replace all the sensors (if my credit card can handle the charges to it)?

David Young

Do one thing at a time or your never know which part actually fixed your problem . A torque converter is going to cost a lot of money .

Lazarus-F150

Have you tried to pull codes? If not, I would start there. You can get a reliable OBDI code reader from Amazon. I just got one for $21 and it's already more than paid for itself in helping me track down issues. It also comes with a straightforward instruction manual.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

If changing your exhaust system puts a smile on your face, you can't go wrong.

I'd also have him change the ECT sensor, clean and tighten all the grounds, check all the electrical connectors plus a real good inspection of the vacuum system.

And I would want them to check the fuel pressure as well if they haven't already.

seschenburg

The title makes me think the manual lever position sensor may be loose or out of calibration. Also known as a neutral safety switch. It's worth testing.

JJJELLO

WOW. Thanks for your help. BTW: It’s an automatic tranny.
After my research of this forum and associated articles and a balance check on my Visa and $791.52 later, Sergio’s (Jason) replaced the:
MAF sensor,
O2 sensor
CTS
TPS
Intake temp sensor
intake air control valve
ignition control module
ignition coil
distributor
plug wires
basically tuned it up - timing, etc
Fuel pressure within limits. Gas tanks full.

Did NOT replace battery and alternator as they both held a strong charge and vacuum system okay. Although, I did occasionally smell the rotten eggs of the catalytic but that was the hot-rod granny punching it in disgust with drivers who brake at green lights or barely go the speed limit (LOL).

Then Jason test drove it (with the AC on full blast and ambient temp 101 degrees F) all over this quad-city area - Chino Valley letting it sit idle at the Maverick for 10 minutes, 65mph on highway 89A for 5 miles, let it sit in shop for 2 hours - everything I might do every day. When he delivered the truck to me and I drove him back to the shop, stopped to check my mail and Tucker the truck started up just fine. Jason said It might have a lugging on initial startup in the morning but this time it should catch itself and rev up as it is supposed to. Any ideas on this miniscule slugging glitch?

He also said it might take about 50 miles for all the sensors to “learn to play in the sandbox” together. Whoopee. ROAD TRIP. AAA renews on July 1st and fingers crossed I don’t have to use my free towing so early in the year.

Awaiting words of wisdom from ya’ll,
JJJello
“Woman Vet Driving”

David Young

The 'rotten egg' smell from time to time is just part of getting old

I blame the catalytic converter sometimes and my wife falls for it

qdeezie

With the TPS, there is an adjustment that has to be done with the voltage. It has to be less than 1v when the throttle is fully closed. That could be part of that glitch you mention.