Trouble with an 'ol PSD

***Longshot270*** · #1 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 06:35 PM

I'm posting this question for my dad who has a '97 7.3L with an automatic tranny.The truck is completely stock and has never had to go to a shop except to get a code cleared. We did have some tranny trouble a few months ago but that was from a funny random code that caused the truck to enter the limp home mode (as mentioned earlier). No troubles after we had the code cleared until now. The trouble he is having now is the engine will just stop ever so often. I've ridden with him and it has happened one time when I was there. Heres what happened; we were driving and the engine just stopped turning. There was no jarring or jumping the moment before, the rpm just went to zero and the truck kept rolling. One curious thing I noticed was how smooth it stopped, it was smoother than if you were in a parking lot idling and turned the key off normally. Then after it shut down we pulled over and tried cranking it again. We turned the key and it started back up like nothing happened. This has happened with the engine cold(50 or so degrees), warm, pulling a trailer, completly unloaded, accelerating and cruising so there aren't any specific conditions that trigger it that I can see.

Here are the questions he wants me to ask:

1) How many fuel pumps does the truck have? He suspects that there may be more than 1 pump because the problem only happens with the back tank, NEVER the front.

2) What are some other things that could cause this to happen? We both suspect that it is something electrical because of how crisply the engine shut down.

Like I said the truck is completely stock and has been take care of VERY well. We dont have a code reader so I have no idea what codes, if any, are present.

Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated.

***907DAVE*** · #2 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:04 PM

CAM SENSOR.............. it can cause phantom tranny codes too.

***Longshot270*** · #3 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:13 PM

Hmmm, ok thanks. I'll try doggin him to get a code reader so we can be sure.

And just to be clear, the tranny did throw a legit code. He was at a stop light that lined up to a turn lane he didn't want to be in. To get to the outside lane he gunned it a bit to get in front of the car next to him...no problem except the truck was pulling a trailer with horses and all their gear plus the bed was fully loaded. Something must have gone wrong with that first gear shift because then they then had to drive almost 60 miles in limp home mode. This was the first problem in the entire history of the truck.

***907DAVE*** · #4 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:21 PM

GUARANTEED!

What was the fix for the tranny?

***Longshot270*** · #5 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 907dave

GUARANTEED!

What was the fix for the tranny?

Yell at the tech until he gave in and cleared the code. No problems since.
But before you pity him the guy deserved getting chewed out. When he was "assessing" the problem he just went on a full throttle joy ride around town instead of checking for codes. We found plenty of cuts in the tire from him spinning them that were not there before (yes we did check EVERYTHING before taking it in). They were wanting to sell us one of their rebuilt trannies without even pulling a code.

***907DAVE*** · #6 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:32 PM

Hmmm........

Did he at least tell you what the code was for or give you a code number?

***Longshot270*** · #7 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 907dave

Hmmm........

Did he at least tell you what the code was for or give you a code number?

Heck no, by the time he hooked that computer up to clear it he just wanted us out of there(probably because he realized that since he couldn't blow up that tranny he wasn't going to make any money). But I dont think that the truck was still having trouble when he took it to the shop. I wasn't there and I never thought to ask that. I kinda wish my gryphon could pull the codes on the other trucks in situations like this. They also have an '04 expy that had a fuel system problem 6 months ago.

***907DAVE*** · #8 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:45 PM

That sucks!

Tell your Dad to stop by a dealer someday and get the recalls done on it. There is a recent recall on the Cam Sensor and one for the Cruise Control Deactivation switch. Should be an in and out thing, both are very easy to preform.

I will say that the sensors they are using for the recall are not as good as they can be, but will cure his stalling issue.

Good Luck

***Longshot270*** · #9 Sun, February 28th, 2010, 07:59 PM

UPDATE:
Just talked to my mom who has also had it happen when she was hauling hay and when the engine shuts off so does ALL electrical (including the A/C and stuff) then the battery light starts blinking. I just didn't notice because it was during the day and we had the radio off.

The reason he doesn't want to take it to a shop is because of bad experiences. He drove a 6.0L PSD for the utility company and it lasted a while until something simple went out. Soon that truck was spending more time in the shop than on the street...including injectors needing to be replaced every 4-6 weeks.

We also have a family friend who took her truck in to get the cruise control recall fixed and they came up to her with over a dozen deep engine parts from HER truck in a 5 gallon bucket saying she needed to replace them. And the best part is that she didn't authorize any of that.

Yeah we dont like the shops and dealerships around here. Tomorrow he will be getting a repair manual and a code scanner and do it himself. He just wanted me to ask to make sure and I knew that at least somebody on here would know whats going on.

***Jackpine*** · #10 Mon, March 1st, 2010, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by longshot270

UPDATE:
Just talked to my mom who has also had it happen when she was hauling hay and when the engine shuts off so does ALL electrical (including the A/C and stuff) then the battery light starts blinking. I just didn't notice because it was during the day and we had the radio off.

The reason he doesn't want to take it to a shop is because of bad experiences. He drove a 6.0L PSD for the utility company and it lasted a while until something simple went out. Soon that truck was spending more time in the shop than on the street...including injectors needing to be replaced every 4-6 weeks.

We also have a family friend who took her truck in to get the cruise control recall fixed and they came up to her with over a dozen deep engine parts from HER truck in a 5 gallon bucket saying she needed to replace them. And the best part is that she didn't authorize any of that.

Yeah we dont like the shops and dealerships around here. Tomorrow he will be getting a repair manual and a code scanner and do it himself. He just wanted me to ask to make sure and I knew that at least somebody on here would know whats going on.

As everyone knows, I'm no authority on diesels, but if you have "complete electrical failure", it's going to shut down the PCM which in turn will stop all fuel delivery to the engine.

I recall reading something somewhere, maybe in my owner's manual that there is a fuel pump shutoff that is supposed to activate in case of a collision to stop flow of fuel that might cause a fire. I wonder if if simply kills the ignition circuit (which would shut off the radio and A/C)? There's some procedure to reset it if it happens accidentally, but I don't recall what it is. I would imagine diesels have a similar safety feature and maybe this is causing your problems?

It might be worthwhile to investigate this possibility.

- Jack