Looking for a clue

[palmerpinckney2]

Sporadic RPM increases (up down, up down) while driving explorer. No often, but it happens. Friday the truck just stopped after one such RPM event. I pulled to the side of the road. Lights, radio, and everything else worked fine; only a single click when trying to start. After about five minutes it started up just fine. This does not happen often maybe once or twice a month. Anyone have a clue? Palmer2

 

[unclemeat]

Fuel filter been changed lately? Spark plugs and wires? Vacuum lines?

 

[palmerpinckney2]

Yeap. Plugs, filter and vacuum lines, and ignition swicth replace last year. Still having the same issue. It was weird man. Just driving, exited the freeway, stopped at a stop sign, made a right turn, begain up a small hill and boom! No RPMs, engine stop. Lights, radio and everything else woked. Turned key to start, on a one click noise. Five minutes later started like nothing was ever wrong. I'm clueless.

 

[JDraper]

I'd look at the positive battery cable. They are notorious for internal corrosion. I and many others have been down this road. Everything works fine except the truck doesn't want to start. The corrosion is internal between the cable and the terminal on the battery, so the cable may look fine from the outside. The cable splits into two sections. One side to the starter/ignition, the other to the accessories. You can test it by using an ohmmeter to see what the resistance from the battery to the starter terminal is (disconnect the cable first). If it's more than a few ohms, the cable is bad.

Either that or look for a bad engine ground....

 

[palmerpinckney2]

Question JD. Would this problem cause the engine to just stop?

 

[JDraper]

It's possible if there's enough corrosion to interrupt current flow to the ignition circuit...the cable could be corroded so much that when it flexes or expands (gets hot) that it has intermittent contact.

It's an easy check to see if the cable is ok. The older explorers are known for this, and your symptoms of intermittent start but having full accessories match the symptoms for a bad cable. They also match a bad starter, but that wouldn't cause the motor to die....

 

[palmerpinckney2]

Thanks JD! Sounds like you've helped me get pinted in the right direction. I tackle this Saturday. And I'll let you know what the result is. Again THANKS! Palmer2