Sick Trac?

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Gavin Allan

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This morning I drove to work like normal and my Trac ran fine. I parked it and went into the office for about an hour. Then, I had to run across town for a meeting. I got in, fired up the Trac, and noticed immediately something was wrong. The engine had hardly any power, but it didn't seem to be missing or running rough. If I gave it much gas, it would just cut out. If I was gentle with it, it would move down the road, but didn't have hardly any power. There were no warning lights and the gauges were normal. (no check engine light). The air conditioner would not come on, tried several settings. I limped along for about a mile and finally pulled it over and shut it off. Restarted and it ran fine after that. A/C came on, and the old Trac was back.



This freaks me out, because it has never done anything like this, and also because I am leaving first thing tomorrow for a 400-mile trip and I really don't need it to break down or leave me stranded.



I started it and drove it several times tonight and it seemed OK. '03 with about 29,000 miles.



Any ideas?
 
My '01 did that a year ago on an extremely hot day. The dealer was closed for the weekend. I limped home, unhooked the battery for a couple of hours, re-connected it, re-programmed the computer according to the manual and have never had it to happen again.
 
Doug, your statement is new to me. I don't recall reading or hearing others mention an actual reprogramming fo the computer other than the disconnecting the battery for 30" or so and allowing it to reset itself and relearn your driving pattern. Is there something else that I've been missing (I actually unplugged mine yesterday to see if perceived changes in the transmission were computer related)?
 
Gavin,

That is a common problem with the earlier, 2001-2002 models where the Sport Trac starts but runs real sick. Usually shutting it off and restarting will clear the problem and the Trac runs fine.



My personal opinion is that occasionally you can start the engine before the computer has fully booted up and not everything is properly synchronized.



I had it happen a couple of time on my old 2001 Sport Trac and in both cases I was in a bit of a hurry and quickly turned the key to start it. By the time it barely started I put it in gear and tried to drive away and it ran sick. When I stopped, shut the engine off and restarted it slowly by pausing a second with the key on before hitting the starter, and it ran fine.



You can probably start your Trac 1000 times and never encounter a problem, but sometimes you catch it napping and it does not wake up fully. I think it's a computer glitch, but if you can't duplicate it at the dealer, it's going to be pretty hard to get it fixed, unless there is a software upgrade available that will fix it??



...Rich





 
It happened to me once, shortly after I bought my 01, but I was driving down Hwy 400 in Atl doing 80 MPH. I was in the far left lane and the power just went away, and I needed to get accross 4 lanes of Atl traffic. I finally got over to the shoulder and wondered what I was going to do. I was afraid to shut it off but I had no choice. I looked under the hood, I didn't know what I was looking for but I looked. I got back in and cranked the engine and it hasn't missed a beat since.



I though maybe a vapor lock or something. The computer probably makes more sence. What was so bad, I was completely loaded down headed to Auburn for a football weekend.



War Eagle!
 
d-wat.

If I am not mistaken you are referring to the Inertia Switch located in the kick panel area.



If it is tripped, there is no power going to the fuel pump. The Trac can not run. As mentioned above, it was running just poorly. As a general rule this is a ECM/PCM issue where turning it off and re-starting will do the trick.
 
Same thing happened a couple weeks ago to me ('03 ST) with about the same miles on it. The dealer said they never heard of it and it hasn't happened again. When it happened to me at night I could tell there was unburned fuel happening or something cause I was leaving a trail of smoke.



First post here although I've been "lurking" for over a year. The old two ears (eyes) and one mouth thing.



This site (and all of you) rocks!



Every time I have an issue or problem, a search of the site reveals an answer or a fellow Trac'er with a similar problem helps out.
 
Think about cleaning your IAC valve. These can often cause rough running on startup. There's a DIY project already written up - very easy, takes maybe 15 minutes.



SaR.
 
It made the trip fine today. Ran great! I drove it hard and passed alot of slow pokes on the Missouri two-lane highway with all the hills and few places to pass. Went between 65 and 85 most of the way. Engine ran smooth and strong. Got pretty dirty from the rain--guess I'll give her a bath tomorrow.



I wonder if we have a Microsoft operating system on our Tracs' computers!
 
First fuel injuection systems don't vapor lock. There is only pure fuel all the way up to the tip of the injector. They belch any air in the first couple of pulses and from there the injector regulates pure fuel. If anything, injected vehicles could be sensitive to the fuel filter clogging and the resulting pressure drop. Typically this is not a problem because fuel is filtered many times before it enters your tank. If you live in a high humidity area, fuel can accumulate moisture due to condensation. If you run your tank to below "E" between every fill, you can be sure your fuel filter is getting more abuse. If you then happen to get an accumulation of condensed moisture at the bottom of the tank sucked into the fuel system, then you could experience the symptoms you describe. Furthermore, the fuel filter has a paper element inside. If you expose it to repeated moisture, the element turns to paper mache severly blocking flow rate. So the moral of the story is avoid running your vehicle bone dry. Keep it filled to the top if you plan to not drive it for a while. Additionally don't skip fuel filter PM. Unfortunately, even a new filter exposed to too much condensation blocks up.



 
Coastiejoe, Bought my trac with 16,000 miles on it. From the beginning it felt like it had no power. Would run fine but had no accelerating power, whin I really put the pedal down it barely increased acceleration. This happened for four months. Finally was reading manual and read about the cutoff switch. What the heck I'll push the button. Drove the trac 5 minutes later. it was a brand new trac. Bat out of hell. I agree that resetting this should not have done anything, but it did.
 

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