Weird Electrical Problem (Car Dying)

20new5.0 · Nov 9, 2006

Sorry guys for the essay, but I wanted to get as many details in as possible. I tried Looking through the forums but I couldn't find anything that was similar to the issue I’m having. My engine is basically stock other than an Edlebrock intake and a small cam (Not Tuned).

The problem I'm having has been happening ever since I bought the car about two years ago and it's been steadily getting worse. The car will die randomly it seems at any given point. It will die when it's idling and when it's in gear and running at any RPM. When it dies idling, it will not start right back up. It turns over but nothing happens. This is were it gets weird, if I turn the off and then back on at ACC about four or five times, the car will then start. I have a fuel gages and I’m getting a good 32 pounds of fuel at the rails at all times, when the car dies and when trying to start it up again.

When the car dies while it's in gear and running (like on the freeway), it will die and stay dead for about 4-6 seconds and then the car seems to jumpstart itself if I leave it in gear.

Like I said this has been happening since I bought the car, it used to happen maybe once a month, well now it's happening daily. I can't go through drive-thru’s anymore without worrying about the car dying!

Since I'm getting fuel and air, I’m using deductive logic that it must be an electrical problem. There are basically 3 components for an engine to start. Air, fuel, and spark. I have verified I have fuel, I’m assuming I have air, so it must be an electrical problem right?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

95strokerPSU · Nov 9, 2006

The whole turning the car to the ACC four or five times made me think fuel pump. Whether it has anything to do with the pump or the wiring I don't know. Is it still the stock pump? Now might be a good time to just replace it, especially if you plan to further mod your car. Fuel pumps are cheap and easy to install.

20new5.0 · Nov 9, 2006

It is a stock in-tank fuel pump, but since I have never see a decline in the fuel pressure I kinda ruled that out. And each time I turn the key from off to on I do hear the pump prime just as it should. I Checked all the wiring to the pump and everything looks good? I get a constant 32 pounds of pressure and up to 40 under full throttle.

cbarr300 · Nov 9, 2006

PIP, TFI, coil.....have those 3 things checked out.

tfi is ur ignition module and those fail under heat (ur under hood temps should get a tad bit warmer when at idle since you don't have air flowing as well.).

the coil, those fail under heat as well (I just had a big problem with it.) fairly cheap to replace and if you look a bit further down at the post "so this is bad" hissin posted some great info on checking the coil and tfi.

PIP (profile ignition pickup), from what I've seen these going out is pretty common on our cars. And like the rest, heat kills. The sensor is in your dizzy and tells the computer relative position of pistons, cam and what not. again, there is info on checking this in that post I was talking about.

since you say ur car just up and dies and you have good fuel pressure I'd agree with you on the ignition components.

One question, has it been starting good?

Chythar · Nov 9, 2006

After checking the PIP, TFI and coil, you might want to check your CCRM. I had the exact same problems you described, except I have an auto - I couldn't restart until I came to a stop. Turns out my CCRM went bad, and all power to the ENTIRE engine was out. Bring your testing equipment with you, so you can check when the problem's happening.

cbarr300 · Nov 9, 2006

you know what I completely forgot to mention?....pull some codes and see if any are stored. That can tell a TON as to what your problem is. Remember...even if ur CEL (engine light) doesn't come on your car's computer could still throw some codes up. U can get a cheap scanner from any parts store or you can use a paper clip to get the codes. works just as well

20new5.0 · Nov 9, 2006

When the problem isn't happening the car starts fine.

I'm taking tomorrow off work so I can start tearing things apart and figure out what's causing the problem. I was already planing on checking the ignition module and the coil, but I haven't heard of a Profile ignition pickup.

You said that the PIP is in the dizzy, i'm not familiar with that term? What is it and what does it do?

20new5.0 · Nov 9, 2006

My Father has a shop which is where i'll be doing all my work and i'll be able to check if there's any codes tomorrow as well.

cbarr300 · Nov 9, 2006

the pip is also known as the hall effect sensor and also known as the stator. From what I understand it is basically a cam position sensor.

The PIP controls base injector and spark timing. when u are in the shop tomorrow you can test the pip by using a noid light to check for injector pulsing..if it's pulsing then you're good.

of course, you gotta have the car not cranking for this to work. Since you say it cranks fine then I think codes would be ur best shot. however, if you can get the car to start acting up and not crank then you could check it.

look for a code 211 if the PIP is at fault.

also, I don't think ur wires are at fault here...but it can't hurt to check for arching.

good luck

m0l0 · Nov 9, 2006

cbarr300 said:
look for a code 211 if the PIP is at fault.

You are right to check the codes first , but at least in my case there was no single code however the simptoms were the same as described the only constant on the sudden stall was letting the car "cool" like 3 mins an then broom ridding again until next stall, the problem went so worse that i even had to open the dizzy every 2 stop lights and blow some air to it so could arrive home or job, i replaced only the PIP and all the ignition problems went away, i can almost bet is the PIP the TFI is known to go south on foxes since is mounted on the rad. however on our cars is very unlikely ( but not imposible ) since the location has changed and it seems there was a improvement on the tfi since ford realized it was common to fail. i hope u can solve ur problem!

cbarr300 · Nov 9, 2006

hmm, you're right about that. I've heard of several ppl having the car throw several codes for the PIP....I just said that based off my experiences.

And the TFI isn't quite as common as the PIP or the coil....but if everything else checks out then it's worth checking out. You can have it bench tested. Make sure they do it several times so that it heats up.

20new5.0 · Nov 9, 2006

thanks for your help guys. I'll let you know what I come up with.

20new5.0 · Nov 14, 2006

Sorry for the delayed update, after looking over my system I found that one of the wires going into the plug that connects to the coil was very loose. I secured the wire and the problem still happened.

I took a look at the ignition module and it looked like it was an original motorcraft part from 95, so I figured it would be a good idea to replace it anyway. After that, the still continue to die.

I then pulled out the dizzy which was a pain in the ass (pry bar needed), I looked at the hall affects switch and it looked like it was fairly new, most likely changed out before I owned the car. But I decided to change it anyway just incase something in the magnet was bad.

The cars been running without error now for about 36 hours which is the longest it’s run in weeks. If it still continues to happen I'm looking into replacing the stock coil with an MSD blaster and then onto a new computer it that still doesn't fix it. I'll keep you guys updated.

Thanks!

cbarr300 · Nov 14, 2006

glad to hear your car's been running well for almost 2 days. Best of luck

Weird Electrical Problem (Car Dying)

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