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Stalling/Hard to start

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Old Dec 1, 2011 | 08:44 AM
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Default Stalling/Hard to start

The past couple of days my truck has been having then problem of stalling. Ill start the truck up in the morning and it will fire right up, but ounce i start to drive it it just shuts right off. Yesterday it happened about 5 or so miles away from my house, it didnt struggle or sputter when it stalled it just shut off like i had shut it off myself.
When i try to start it up after it has stalled you can here the starter trying to turn the engine over but nothin. I can wait 5 mins then can get it to start if i mess with the gas pedal, but it will run rough for a little bit then it drives fine after all the fuel that i had dumped into it is gone.
Then this morning when i went out to go to class the truck started and raan fine but it had gotten to 25 degrees so i let it idle while i got stuff around, i put it into reverse and it sputtered and struggled and then stalled.
To me it sounds like a fuel pump problem but im not sure, any help would be great
 
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Old Dec 1, 2011 | 09:08 AM
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I was thinking fuel pump too, however, since it died as quickly as it did the first time, that does not sound like fuel pump. Sudden stops like that are usually electrical. The sputtering and dieing totally sounds like a fuel pump, or at least fuel problem.
keep us posted
 
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Old Dec 1, 2011 | 12:56 PM
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im taking it into our mechanics tomorrow morning, i was was on the same track as you about the fuel pump, the fuel pump going bad would cause the truck to sputter and try to keep its self alive, i had read a couple of other threads on here that where about the same problem and splices where mentioned quite a bit. Where are these splices that they are talking about?
 
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Old Dec 1, 2011 | 03:00 PM
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Went out to take a look around and looked at the splices, or what i thought where thee splices (under the fuse box on the driverside by the battery) and there was no corrosion, but there was a red wire that had been cut and connected together with a heat gun and the shrink casing in two places (on the same wire) and the replacement wire was to long and was bunched up underneath the old tape.
Also started up and moved it into the garage, started right up and ran great in park, but when i shifted into reverse and drive it started to run rough. I had the hood up and when i shifted into reverse or drive it would start the shake the hood and you could hear it run rough too.
 
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Old Dec 1, 2011 | 08:38 PM
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i had that problem with my old 93 dakota. i was told the crank position sensor could be the problem but when i replaced it the problem only slowed up...to this day i still think it had something to do with the distributor... i know i'm not much help here but i fgured i'd share my experience.

unfortunately i sold the truck before i could find a solution.
 
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Old Dec 2, 2011 | 07:01 AM
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It's not throwing any codes?
Have you checked voltage from the ignition coil?
 

Last edited by azvampyre; Dec 2, 2011 at 07:06 AM.
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Old Dec 2, 2011 | 12:13 PM
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i didnt even think about the ignition coil. No codes
 
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Old Dec 2, 2011 | 12:32 PM
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Intermittent spark is the worst test to try and solve since it could supply plenty of voltage during the test and then none out in the middle of the Mojave.
The "Old School" way was to unplug a plug wire from the plug and put the diode 3/4" away from a grounded metal, like a 16 penny nail stuck to the ground post of the battery and watch as someone turned the motor over to check for a nice, bright, blue spark jumping from the plug wire diode to the ground. A test light would work the same way; ground clamped to the negative battery terminal and test probe 3/4" away from the plug wire diode.... unless you happen to have a drb scanner.
I'll check AllData later, because I vaguely remember a TSB on the 318 stock coil putting out just enough voltage, and running some aftermarket electronics could cause it to starve for spark, but I'm not positive on that... I'll check it out.
 
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Old Dec 2, 2011 | 12:46 PM
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i took it in the shop, i want to get it figured out by a place that had all the right tools and info that i dont have. We know the guys at the shop so when the call they tell me what needs to be done and if i want to fix it myself, and if i can do it ill take my truck back to my house and do the work if not i have them do it
 
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Old Dec 3, 2011 | 04:30 PM
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Hope they find the problem and that you can fix it yourself. Man, sometimes these problems are a b*&^* to find. Good luck with it.
 
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