I have a 88 W150 with the 318 FI. Lately it will suddenly stall out. It will then turn over fine, but not start. After about 5 minutes of letting it sit, it will start up fine and run fine. This happens every few days. It has done it at an idle, and also while cruising down the road(real exciting). The lights, radio, heater all still work fine when it shuts down. Sometimes when I try to start it for the first time that day it will not start, but then start right up after letting it sit for a few minutes. It runs fine otherwise. It does it while hot or cold.
It was at the dealer last week and they said a bad cap/rotor was causing the problem. So they replaced that. But a few days later it did it's same trick and stalled out. They said nothing else came up on the computer codes(but I'm not sure if they were just saying that to pacify me).
In the past 6 months i put in a new battery, alternator, and starter. In the past 4 years many sensors and tune up related items(plugs, wires, coil, TPS sensor, EGR valve etc) have been replaced, even the onboard computer.
Anybody have this problem, or know what might cause it. I though it might be the pick up coils in the distributor, but my records show that has been replaced in 1999. I'm pretty much paranoid to drive this truck now cuz when it shuts down while cruising it can be a little hairy getting to the side of the road. I'm running 36" tires too, so stopping with no power brakes is fun!
2low4me
11-04-2002, 05:58 PM
Got the truck to teh Dodge dealer and they said it was the coil. It was gettiing hot and giving off crazy resistance. Then when it cooled down it would start again. Luckily the truck died for them while it was there. Have to see if this really was the problem.
icer97
11-08-2002, 07:27 PM
You first need to find out whether its fuel or ignition related. The next time it does it have some one crank it over and with the air lid off make sure the injectors are firing, they should be blowing out a mist of fuel. If they are its probably ignition related. Just simply grab a plug wire while its cranking. LOL. No get you a plug tester. I had an 88 with the same symptoms, and it was the ignition switch. It was losing 12 volt to the distributor and it was intermittiant also. Dont give up on Dodge, it just has a little cold.
2low4me
11-09-2002, 04:38 AM
Yeah, the coil did nothing. It died again today. The main problem I have is it always dies out in traffic and I'm always alone, so there is no way to crank it and check under the hood. When you say it was the ignition switch, do you mean up at the steering column, or under the hood? I'm running an MSD ignition in my truck, but that is the only non-stock item under the hood. And since the problem goes away after about 5 minutes, it seems to check out fine. Even the Dodge techs are scratching their heads. Please help me out bud!
icer97
11-09-2002, 10:15 AM
Mine was the switch in the truck. I finally just found the wire to the distributor that was 12 volt with the key on. I then scraped the insulation back on it. When my truck would die I just wired it directly to my battery to get home. It does sound like an ignition problem, but like I say, you need to break it down to ignition or fuel first off, then go from there. GOOD LUCK. My 91 feels for you!
vconyers
11-10-2002, 11:08 AM
Sounds like you have it on the run. Personally I would replace the pickup again. I fought with my 78 for a month. I had replaced the pickup about a year before it started with the symptoms that you have. Replaced it again about a month ago and its fine now.
2low4me
11-10-2002, 12:42 PM
I might just put in a whole new distributor. But just changing the pick ups again might not be a bad idea. Several people I have talked to also suggested replacing the crank sensor. My buddy's father in law has worked at a Dodge dealer for like 20 years, and he thinks thats what it is. I didn't even know what the heck that was! My local dealership doesn't seem to have a clue at the moment, but they'll have my truck on Tuesday, so we'll have to see.
icer97
11-10-2002, 04:02 PM
I wasent aware this truck had a crank sensor. Are you sure? A crank sensor is normally found on a vehicle with distributorless ignition system. Yours has a distributor, not a coil pack set up.
christian
11-10-2002, 04:41 PM
While it does "sound" like it is electrical (check all the ground wires, make sure the MSD box is grounded as well). The quickest thing and its a cheap thing to do if you have not done it yet is to replace the fuel filter... also check make sure that the gas cap is not the culprit... it is supposed to breathe but occasionally these have caused problems... I know it sound hoky - but I've seen guys chase problems like this forever only to find out that after they replaced the fuel filter or the gas cap the problem magically went away.
Either way, these are simple things to do and I'd bet that your symptom is caused bu something really simple. Yes, it could be ignition switch wiring but chances are you could correlate the events to something like making a left turn or going over a bump when the truck stalls. So, I'm not saying it isn't wiring - just that the simpler things like what I mentioned might save you a few headaches.
There's my $0.02 FWIW.
:STY:
uncbob
11-15-2002, 09:31 PM
My wife's 88 Ram Charger 318 did the same thing
It is the crank position sensor in the distributor
Surprised Dodge didn't know this
Got the solution from another site
fixed the problem
2low4me
11-16-2002, 04:39 AM
Actually Dodge and myself agreed it was probably the pick-ups in the distributor (crank/cam position sensors). Unfortunetely they replaced them and the truck drove fine for them, but when I went to pick it up, it wouldn't even start. Then it did it's little trick of making me wait a few minutes and then it started right up. So this didn't fix it. It seems now that when it dies, if I turn the key to the off position one or two times it will start up. Trucks going back to the dealer on Monday for the 4th time.
tvman
11-22-2002, 12:32 AM
MAYBE it's not ignition at all,you may have the interminent fuel pump that
mopar sourced, i got a 93 that would act that way, bang on the gas tank,
and the truck would start. Remove the msd it might be the culprit, check
your computers wiring harness and the wiring to the distributor for corrosion,
change the ignition switch, look for pinched wires in engine compartment,
and on firewall plugins to main harness, green connectors maybe found.
goodluck!!
tvman
11-22-2002, 12:41 AM
also remove anything that's scotch-locked in the wiring department,
a new coil is always a good idea, check the ground between the body and
the battery-clean if questionable, run a ground braided cable to coil bracket
area. replace wiring harness to dist from computer used or new.
A friend had a 78 chev with hei,that would start when it wanted to,
turned out that the wiring between the coil on the cap to the dist, was
interminently opening up. As much as these trucks bounce around,
wiring and fuel pumps get punished.
2low4me
11-27-2002, 05:16 PM
Well. got the truck back today after Dodge having it for a week. This time they put in a new computer, even though I had that replaced about 3 years ago. According to them it wasn't getting any spark, the fuel was fine. Atleast it actually died a few times for them so they could get a better idea of what was happening. Hopefully the 4th time is a charm! So the saga continues....
powerhungry
11-30-2002, 01:02 AM
i sure wouldn't rule out the ignition switch. it went out on my 89 ramcharger at about 50k miles and it showed a real baffling, erratic set of symptoms.
Ronzilla
01-21-2003, 12:01 AM
A loose/bad volt meter line can cause this as well. hope all is well
