engine turned off while driving

[cerberusaardvark]

Today on the way to work my engine turned off while I was still driving. I was able to get off the main street but it was a very stimulating experience. I put it back in park and restarted the engine and it came back to life no problem. No check engine light or anything. No engine symptoms or smoking or weird noises, nothing.

Any advice on what to check? I have to drive this thing home in a bit. Has thishappened to anyone else?

 

[arco777]

I had that happen to me a few times right after I had installed a Bosch fuel pump. Turned out the pump was defective and would stall for no apparent reason while driving, often during deceleration. Reinstalled the factory pump and it fixed the issue. Fuel pumps can fail in many different ways, and pump stall is apparently one of them.

 

[cerberusaardvark]

It did happen while I was slowing down for a corner. As far as I know its the original fuel pump. Is there any way to test it?

 

[arco777]

Is there any way to test it?

Not that I know of in that case.

If you do decide to change it out, cutting an access panel in the floor may be a lot easier than dropping the tank. Has worked well for me. You can change just the pump instead of the whole hangar and fuel level sender assembly. A new fuel pump is usually under $70 ordered online or locally. I have had bad luck with a Bosch pump but my Airtex and Motorcraft ones have worked well.

 

[MrShorty]

Considering that, at this point, you don't know if it is a one time experience, or have any way of determining what conditions trigger whatever failure is occuring.

You might try pulling codes from the computer. Something in the computer's memory might give you a direction to work from.

Beyond that, until you can get it to fail somewhat consistently under certain conditions, it will be hard to know why it failed.

A couple of things I might keep on hand:
A volt meter and a wiring diagram, so you can test the fuel pump, PCM power and ground, and other circuits when it fails. If the problem begins to happen more frequently, I might have the voltmeter hooked up so you can see if the fuel pump or the computer or the coil pack or the ICM is losing power when it "shuts off".
A fuel pressure gauge so you can see if the fuel system is losing pressure at the point of failure.

 

[cerberusaardvark]

I think ill try the fuel pump. I have a voltometer at home but no code scanner. I know my engine has some other issues, but I have noticed that when its hot sometimes the check engine light comes on and off.

 

[arco777]

You can read codes using a paperclip, a bit of wire, or anything that can act as a jumper, simply by grounding the Self-Test Input. Do a search for "pulling codes with a paperclip" for further instructions. Alternately you can get a good Ford OBD-I code reader for $30-40. Try running KOEO, KOER, and Cylinder Balance tests.

 

[cerberusaardvark]

well i made it home, no problems. i let the engine idle for about 30 mins while i was home, it acted normal. ill get a pressure tester and scanner on monday ( i work weekends)

 

[mthomas4147]

Same type of problem on 1991 Explorer

I'm assuming that the wiring is the same on your year of Explorer as mine - so with that assumption in mind check the wiring under the battery tray. There is a cable bundle routed under this area that collects some amount of acid from the battery outgassing. It swells / damages the insulation and eventually eats through the conductor - When turning the vehicle, or in one case going down a steep grade, this cable assembly twists the slightest amount and separates the conductors and the car acts like you switched the ignition off - no bucking, no hesitation, it just quits.
Turning the wheel to coast to the curb and come to a stop and the car just started up like nothing happened. I've had this happen twice in the years that I've owned this car - diagnosed and repaired by the dealer only to have it fail in the same mode some 5 years later.
I fixed the issue the second time with new wiring running in a cable protector sleeve - hasn't failed since. Just saying ... and something simple to check.
Good Luck...

 

[pkn]

Just to add to the collection... More than once I had "engine stops" when hitting a (large) poodle with considerable speed - something like when splatter gets higher than hood. Absolutely no confidence, just a hunch that passenger side was more sensitive to it than the drivers side.

Big difference is that I was never able to re-start it immediately, it always took from 5-10 minutes to 30+ minutes of waiting - which tells me it's something related to electrical connector(s) getting wet. I was never able to figure it out. Tried couple of times to spray water under hood from garden hose - no effect. Maybe it needs to be sprayed upwards from underneath. Or maybe this gremlin just likes watching big poodles with me sitting in the middle of it.

92 XLT 2WD auto.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

well i made it home, no problems. i let the engine idle for about 30 mins while i was home, it acted normal. ill get a pressure tester and scanner on monday ( i work weekends)

Before you spend money on a fuel pump and start cutting holes, the fuel pump relay in the power distribution box under the hood is a known cause of these symptoms.

It can be exchanged with any of the other relays in that box, should this happen again and the engine fail to start.

The best to swap is the WOT.

If the relay is determined to be the problem, replace with a genuine Ford part, not an aftermarket one, even though it costs twice as much (the OEM relay lasted 20 years!)