Engine Shut Off on Interstate

[Tim Turner]

Good to see a few familiar names still around. Some of the old timers may recall me. I haven't posted in some time, but still lurk around occasionally. Looking for some advice on a recent issue.



My Job 1 '01 ST has 118,700 miles and I was driving along I-75 towards Tampa last Friday. Going about 80 mph and the engine cuts out on me. No CEL, O/D light, or any other warning signs. I pull over and give it a minute to settle down. I still had all power options (windows, locks, radio, etc.). Try to turn it back on, it cranks and turns over, but it rough idles (RPM jumps to about 3k) and dies. I had it towed to a chain shop and have got a bunch of BS from them (another long story).



Battery is less than a year old, is due for an oil change (~5k miles since last one), but no other major issues. Only engine mod is MAC intake and did Seafoam treatment/cleaned TB over a year ago.



So, what am I looking at? Was thinking timing chain, fuel pump, line/hose leak or spark plugs could all be possible. Interested to hear what some other more knowledge people may think. Will keep you all updated as I hear more.

 

[Allan Reed]

Did you recently gas up at a different service station or possibly one that just had fuel added to tanks.

Sounds like how my 02 acted when I got some bad gas. Changed fuel line filter and all was okay again.

Old filter was actually full of water when I took it off.

 

[Tim Turner]

I had about 3/4 of a tank left and had filled up at my normal station (Exxon-Mobil), where I've had no issues before. Not sure if they had just topped off their tanks. Fuel filter was changed two oil changes ago (~10k miles). I'll be sure to look more into that though, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Richard L]

If your battery cranks the engine, it's not a battery problem.



It could be any of the things you mentioned, but it also may be something as simple as a broken wire, a bad ignition module, or a bad ECU computer? I'm leaning towards a bad ignition module...but that is just a wild guess.



Too many possibilities to diagnose without having the vehicle on hand to run some tests.



Not sure what kind of BS the shop is giving you, but these kinds of things can take some time to find and may cause a lot of different unrelated symptoms to add to the confusion.



...Rich

 

[Johnny O]

I would change the fuel filter first. Secondly it could be the fuel pump shutoff switch. I had it cut out on my old '05 Trac when my son accidentally kicked it with his size 13's. I hit the reset button but it still gave me trouble later (probably from being kicked) and I had to have it replaced.

 

[Tim Turner]

Shop called and said that they believe that it is the MAF sensor failing that is causing the misfiring. They attributed it to my MAC intake and said that the MAF contacts had "crud all over it." I'll admit that I rarely cleaned the filter, and it's been on there for probably >50k miles, so it seems like a plausible explanation. They're replacing the MAF and cleaning the fuel injectors and throttle body. Thanks for all of the suggestions, will keep you guys updated.

 

[EddieS'04]

I bet if you get some maf cleaner from az. That will fix it. They are ripping you off. If they replace it. tell them you want the old one. taht way you will know if they did replace it and not clean it. As you can. They dont go bad very often. Just dirty.