samsontdog wrote:
I have a 2003 Ford F250 P/Up with 124K miles. In April just before heading back to Sac Ca, I made a u turn and the p/up died. The eng would barely run for a sec or 2 then die and would not restart. Called Good Sam for a tow but in the hour it took them to go 11 miles the eng cooled off and low and behold it started. I thought it was prob the gas filter so I replaced that and drove it nearly 700 miles with no problem. Today I made a run out to the dump and it died again when I made a left turn. After an hour or so it started. I took it over to the Service place that I like to have them check it out. Said the only way they could check it, it would have to be having the same problem. he checked with 3 mec and they said the same thing. They could check everything at $120.00 an hr. I spend nearly $1K having all new everything installed 2 yrs ago. I have a 4,000 mile trip planned this summer and until I find the problem I am dead in the water. Elk Grove Ford just called me telling me they have a new Ford with the 7.3 Eng for $53,000. Any one know or think they know what the problem is with my V10 eng ?
samsontdog, it sounds like a fuel problem since it ran enough to sputter a bit. Ignition is usually either off or on and compression is rarely intermittent. It is certainly one of the three.
I can't tell you for sure what is wrong, but I can relate some weird problems I've had with a 2000 V-10 Excursion, and my own analysis's to find them.
I had trouble with an intermittent cruise control on the steering wheel. That turned out to be an $8 snap connector inside the plastic steering column housing that had one ear broken from not enough harness slack during steering wheel tilt adjustment motions. It would open a bit, then slide back together on it's own. I say only $8 because I laboriously transferred all the pins to a new plastic connector myself, then bound it with mechanics wire for added insurance.
Since your ignition switch is also hooked to similar wiring running down the steering column, it is possible that wiring there could be over-stretched like mine was. That however would seem to be either good or dead ignition, not fuel. Still, the fuel pump powers up on a timer every time the ignition is first turned on. A short or open could kill the fuel pump.
I had a hot start problem for a while. When the engine was hot, such as a rest-area stop, the engine wouldn't crank until it cooled. That turned out to be one of three series solenoids that pass key-on power eventually to the starter armature. One is on the starter, but two are on the RH fender-well. I forget why Ford needed all three, but I caught it by first getting the under-hood ultra-hot towing, then locally jumping, or measuring, the starter attached solenoid which wasn't it, then jumping, or measuring, the other two, all while being roasted to catch it hot. One of them was positively the culprit, about $18(?) new from Ford.
The starter and attached solenoid already was "new", or rebuilt by Ford anyway, but one never knows about rebuilt parts nowadays. Earlier, there had been no new starter anywhere that I could find, but new is my preference.
The starter was "new" because months prior to the hot-start problem, there was a cold-start problem. The starter actually refused to turn or even click below -10°F. First time I've even seen or heard of such a thing. That was finally proven on a New Years Eve when I got stranded in my buddies driveway when I went to leave. Back in his house, I explained my theory and he loaned me a small heater which we propped up close under the starter. Ten minutes later, at -18°F, it cranked right over, proof enough.
A few days later, above -10°F, I drove the Excursion a few blocks to NAPA to see if they carried new starters (they didn't). Since the engine was still cold, I left it warm up outside with the doors locked. Twenty minutes later, as I walked out of NAPA, I could hear an ominous rattling all the way across the parking lot. As my Excursion idled, it ran with all the lifters collapsed, no idea for how long. A quick peek through the drivers window, while I was frantically unlocking the door confirmed that there was no oil pressure; the red light was on. I shut it off. It just had an oil change, but no oil was on the ground and the clean oil was up to the full line on the dipstick. I towed it home with a cherry 2000 Ford diesel pick-up.
Long story shorter, it WOULD cost $2000 to have a shop drop the Excursion pan, just to look at what the "H" could have gone wrong. Turns out there are several "long story" contenders on Triton engines. My theory of what happened to it is that the oil pump over-pressure pop-off valve stuck open after the oil warmed up and leaked all my warmer, thinner idle-speed oil away.
So skipping the attempted salvage of a 118k engine, I had shops bid me a new engine and starter to save time and money. At $8000 installed, Ford was the best deal (three year warranty, no restrictions). I'd only paid $7000 for the Excursion to start with, but I figured even an $8k replacement SUV would have come with a well used engine and otherwise my truck chassis was pure junk without a reliable engine.
It turned out to be the right decision because a few weeks later some lady totaled out my cherry diesel pick-up while it was parked in my driveway. The lesson here is to never buy a house at the end of a long, dead-end street again. And keep in mind that insurance companies only pay book value on cherry older trucks, no matter what shape or what they cost the owner.
FWIW, I also had a hot-rod buddy that replaced the entire fuel injection system on a small SUV after over $500 fruitless bucks to trouble-shoot it. He disliked F.I. anyway, so he installed an older carbureted system. That is when he found out the pump wire running back to the tank was broken and intermittent the whole time. Whodathunk?
Good luck on your quest.
Wes
