Ford F-150 - 1997-2003 :: Truck Just Dies And Won't Start At Half To Quarter Tank
Nov 19, 2012
2003 F150 5.4l Super Crew. 40k miles. Current service.
About a year ago I ran out of gas on a hill, this is when my strange problem started. Since then I have ran out of gas at least two other times, but both times the tank was between 1/4 and 1/2 on the gauge and only took 8-10 gallons to fill up, so the tank was far from empty! Both times. after I put a gallon or two in, the truck started right up and ran fine. I have gone long trips and ran the tank down to near empty (light on not really empty) and the truck had no problems. But every now and then between 1/4 and 1/2 it just dies and will not start until I put a gallon or two in the tank.
So today, at about a half a tank, the truck dies. I call for the tow service and when the tow truck driver gets there I explain what has been going on. He jumps in the drivers seat and works his magic on the ignition. I don't know exactly what he did but he turned the key to on for like 10 seconds, removed the key, put it back in, turned it to AC.... and so on, obviously ran a clear code or something.... then he turns it over and it fires right up, this is without adding any fuel!
He said that there may have been an air bubble in the line when I ran out of gas before and the computer code needed to be cleared. Is the tow truck guy right? am i in the clear here or do i need to started checking fuel pressure, pumps, filters and so on?
View 5 Replies
Advertisement
So my truck felt gutless somtimes, wouldn't start Every couple days , and Fuel gauge stops at half tank won't show full, so I went n bought a new fuel pump..... Well shoot nothing changed . I guess my next move is pull the dash off n fix gauge? It used to be a reliable truck . Now Im not comfortable to let wife drive it . I also pulled the chip to see if that had to do with not starting, also theft light blinks normal. I'm going to get some connector grease n redo all of my wires to c if there's just connection issues.
View 6 Replies
2004 civic ex with over 300,000 miles
For last 5 months or so, I have to keep full tank of gas. If the tank is half, the car starts stalling, and the first sign of it is when I am taking a sharp right turn on highway exit. It's like the engine dies for a second or two and comes back when the right turn is over. If I keep driving and the tanks get lower, it will happen even without the right turn. I just fill up the tank and the problem is fixed.
Check engine light is on sometimes (but not always) with these codes P0171B and P0497, but I am not sure it's related.
There is sometime also a short delay in starting the car, irrelevant if the tank is full, (a second or two of extra cranking) but that might be a different issue too.
View 11 Replies
I bought a 97 F150 4x4 from a guy who had left it to die after the tranny went out. I worked a good portion of the day getting the tranny out, but the truck has another issue. It was manufactured with a 4.6. PO blew her up and put in what he said was a used 5.4 with 88K miles on it. It idles really good and sounds great until you touch the accelerator. It nearly dies then rev's high. I put fluid in the tranny and it wouldn't move in forward but would in reverse. Same thing in gear. Touch the pedal and it nearly dies then revs high!
View 10 Replies
Got this truck used, it is a 2001 F150 4 door lariat 5.4, 4x4. It now has around 108k miles on it. The truck dies while driving down the road every couple weeks or so. It will restart after a minute or so and then seems to be fine. The ABS light is on, no codes or CE light.
The last couple months while your going down the road it revs up to 4k rpms or so while your driving like the OD is turning off. The other day it wouldn't start in the morning, I changed the fuel pump relay and it fired right up. I put the old relay back in and it still fired up!!!!
I decided to take it to the dealer today and on the way to town it shifted out of gear while driving at speed, the speedo turned off and the odometer turned off as well. I shifted to N and then back to D, nothing, I hit the OD button and it flashed but still no go so I coasted to a stop, truck was running at idle.
I turned it off, restarted and everything worked just fine again and went on my way to the dealer. Still no CE lights.
View 1 Replies
I have a 1997 Ford F-150 with the 4.6L auto trans 189,000 miles
Ok.. there was no problems until the other day when I unplugged the positive side of the battery to replace it's clamp. I Put the new one on and drove to the store but when I came to a stop, the rpm's dropped to 0 and the truck died. I restarted it and every time I would come to a stop it would die unless I give it a little gas also if I start the truck and leave it in park it idles fine until I give it some gas then let off.. the idle drops and dies! If I give it a little steady gas the idle will return to normal.
The check engine light works fine but never once lit up because of this problem! I used a code scanner and if the truck was off and the key forward, it would have no codes. With it running it had the code P0443. I found and replaced a blown fuse and still have the same problem but it reads no codes at anytime. I checked all the vacuum hoses and there seems to be no leaks and the mass airflow sensor looks clean. I have allot of miles but it has been taken care of well and has had a ton of parts replaced over the last few years.
I am wondering why this happened out of the blue and If there is something I am missing that I should be looking at. I don't want to replace the purge control valve if thats not the problem.
View 2 Replies
I have a 99 7.3 F250. It dies when I slow down for a turn or for a stop sign. At highway speed, it 'surges' sometimes, and makes he whole truck jump. Also, there is a small leak in the tube connected to the turbo. Has 250k miles ......
View 1 Replies
I bought a 2003 F550 Super Duty 4WD, cab and chassis truck. It has a 7.3 TD. Real nice truck. I bought it to turn it into a wrecker. I removed the factory fuel tank (was behind the real axle inside the frame rails.) I installed a 50 gallon aluminum tank behind the cab on the frame rails. The rear tank has to be removed for the wheel lift.
Any way I have everything installed and now the truck dies out after a few minutes. It starts up fine then dies out like its starving for fuel. The tank I installed has a sump pickup (tank came off a freightliner, so its not some home made thing I just welded up in the garage)
I was thinking about installing an auxiliary lift pump as the auxiliary tank is a bit higher than the factory tank, but I want to solve the issue not throw parts at it. I thought at first injectors but it runs perfect after I prime it so my guess is its not the injectors.
View 9 Replies
I can cold start my 98 f150 with the 4.2 and it runs fine. After you drive it for a while and turn it off and try to restart it, it starts then dies, it will do this until you rev up the motor to keep it running. I have to drop in gear and get going down the road and then it smooths out and runs fine. I had a mech check the fuel pressure at the rail and it was 19 psi. The book says it is suppose to be 35psi. He said my fuel pump was bad. I installed a fuel pump and it is still doing the same thing yet. What to check now?
View 14 Replies
97 F150 4.6 Vin 6, 5-Speed Trans, 200,000mi, Rebuilt recently. I was on my way to get my truck smogged, but she threw a code, P0171. I read somewhere to clean the throttle body elbow, which I did (needed to do it anyway). After I had everything put back together, I start her, and it's rough and immediately dies. If I keep the RPM's at about 1.5k for a minute, then let off, the truck will run fine for about 30-45 seconds, then die again. I just replaced my IAC and the problem persists.
View 8 Replies
Just tried putting a ts6 on my pcm. First time I hooked it back up I just got cranking with no start. So I pulled the pcm terminals really well plugged it back in and got nothing. I do not remember because I was kind of in a hurry if I unplugged the batter cables and back on the second time. I plugged it back in after cleaning terminals and went to start and got nothing. A loud click on passenger wheel well and then all electric in truck completely dies. I hope I didn't fry my pcm. Maybe just blew a fuse or starter relay?
View 6 Replies
I have a 2000 E350 boxtruck with a 5.4 auto. The motor is a new rebuilt with about 4000 mile, coils were replaced with motor, injectors were rebuilt with motor.Today (500 miles from home) the truck died. I was going up a slight hill on an interstate. It will still start, but runs very rough and when I put it in gear and step on the gas it dies.
So I had it towed to a garage. While pushing it into the garage I noticed my gas cap was missing. I know it was on 45 min earlier because I got gas. Did I forget to put in back on? probably.. But I wondering if the missing gas cap could cause the truck to run bad,vary bad?
View 14 Replies
When I want to start the truck dix nothing and I don't know why? I have to tell you that I have changed my tranny ...
View 3 Replies
2002 Model, F150, 4.6L Triton....
Early last week one day my truck just wouldn't start. I had driven it the day before. but that day nothing. It would spin over just not start. the following day though, it started as always, no hesitation and run smooth. But the was the last day it has ran.
Since then I have checked the relays and fuses. I have checked the inertia switch (pass. side kick panel). Removed the cap on the schrader valve on the fuel rail. (no pressure)
I have sprayed starting fluid into the throttle body and it starts for 1 to 2 seconds. (dies once starting fluid is gone). I have changed the fuel filter and pulled the bed and changed out the fuel pump. I'm thinking about trying the fuel pressure regulator next.
Just not real sure where else to go if that doesn't work.....
View 8 Replies
I've been having a very erratic fuel gauge issue as of about 2 months ago. My fuel level would register full, when in fact I knew it only had 1/2 a tank or so. Then 5 minutes later it would be pegged on full. Under a 1/2 tank the gauge would read any where from 1/2 to empty from 1 minute to the next. So last week I decided to drop my tank and take a look. I was thinking maybe my fuel sender was broken, maybe a loose wire in the tank, or even that my float had dropped off in to the tank.
After dropping the tank, I removed the PK-Up and sending unit and everything was intact. I placed my ohm meter on the sending unit and it checked out fine. So I took the Pk-up and rolled back up underneath the truck and plugged it back in. I had my son turn the key on and off while I moved the float to different levels in order that it would register. It registered empty, 1/4/, 1/2, 3/4 and full just fine as I moved the float to those levels. If you leave the key in the run position and move the float, it won't register or better said, the in cab gauge will not adjust with the movement.
You have to turn the key off move the float and hold it there, then have your assistant turn the key on and the gauge will show the position that you've moved and held it at. I simply removed the plastic cover from the sending unit, and sprayed it down real good with electrical contact cleaner. I didn't scrub the copper contact area at all.
I was concerned that scrubbing might remove more than I wanted to, and really mess things up. I attached an Ohm meter and checked resistance thru out the float travel. All checked out good and I reinstalled it. So now my fuel gauge is working as it should be. I did make a video while I ohmed the Sender Unit thru it's travel, but for some reason it won't load.
[URL] ....
View 5 Replies
My 07 has developed a steering gear issue.....it suddenly developed about a quarter to a half turn of slop......mechanic checked the front end and found everything to be tight and right so......I ordered a Redhead rebuilt box and will replace it upon it's arrival. My question is How often do these boxes go bad and if and when they do is it at all safe to drive the vehicle with that much play? I have to drive it about 15 miles to get to my mechanic ( far too cold for me to do it at home) and I also plow a couple of yards commercially and will need to use it there in the event of a snow storm.
View 8 Replies
First of it's a 2003 with the 4.6. I replaced a bad alternator a couple months ago and all was fine. On the way home today the radio volume went quiet and all the dash gauges were dead. Truck died and wouldn't even try to start, no starter clicking or anything. A couple times the gauges did the "sweep" but still no start, not even a starter click. Barely even operated the hazard lights. Towed it home and hooked up the jumper cables to my 7.3 Excursion. Truck started right up and I left if hooked up for a couple minutes hoping to get enough charge in the battery to get it in the garage.
Unhooked the jumper cables, got in the truck and noticed the voltage gauge was reading nothing, tried to move it and it died. Hooked the jumper cables back up and let the Excursion charge it for about 5 minutes. Started, drove it to the garage (100ft) and backed it in. Noticed the voltage gauge was where it should be. Turned it off and back to run (didn't start) and the voltage gauge was reading good and it started right up.
Now, it doesn't appear that the battery or alternator is bad. Is there something else I should be looking at? I can take the alternator off and have it checked but don't want to go through the work if not needed to chase a ghost. Advance auto Tough One alternator BTW.
View 6 Replies
So I just bought a 2001 F-150. It has the 4.6 v8 it's a 4x4 automatic. Sometimes i'll go to start it in park but nothing will happen. But if I put it in neutral. It'll start right up.
View 7 Replies
I have a 2001 ford F150 with a 5.4 2WD, with a starting problem. Last Friday I went to leave work the truck cranked but did not start, turned the key off and tried again same thing, on the third try it started. Drove it home 30 miles with one stop on the way, restarted just fine. At home in the driveway I restarted it 5 times without a problem so I was thinking it was just a glitch. Did not drive the truck all weekend thinking the problem was fixed.
Monday morning leave for work and everything was fine, went to start the truck in the afternoon and the same problem as listed above (3 or 4 tries and it started). It home again in the driveway restarts every time. I do not have any check engine light on but I thought I would still plug in my code reader NO CODE. Where to start troubling shooting this problem?
View 11 Replies
I have a 1997 f150 that as soon as I hook up the battery, the truck tries to start itself, what would cause this?
View 14 Replies
2001 f150 4x4 5.4 205k ... This truck is not my daily driver but I use it about once or twice a week. Last night I drove it to the store and it ran great. As good as ever.
This morning it won't start. It cranks and the battery is strong but no bang. It was cold. Just below freezing for the first time this year. No blown fuses where would you start?
View 13 Replies
