Hi all. Today (june 25) I was crossing Washington Pass in Washington state of Hwy 20. Hot day out, several miles from the pass the engine starts *******. I would give it fuel and no acceleration. i originally thought the grade was steep but when I looked at the GPS I was going down hill. I made it over the pass, but not far. engine cut, lost power everything on some hair pin turns with steep steep drops. I pulled over and checked everything out. No problems, leaks, weird odors and all guages were perfect. A piece of history: Once when coming from Craters of the moon natl monument it did the same thing. I opened the gas cap and heard a rush of air enter the tank. I knew the cap wasn't breathing properly. So today the cap was not on tight and when I took it off there was no "woosh" sound. After sitting for a while, it ran fine and I made it to the campsite. Anyone have any ideas. I have to cross that pass again and do not want to loose power. No cell phone, no nothing up there. This is a standard gas engine for class C application. Thanks for reading.

George

 

The first thing that comes to mind is the fuel filter. Did you just fill up before starting out today? When was the filter last changed? A lot of times after being shut down things settle back down, it doesn't have to be the problem . but can cause those symptoms.Could you have picked up some water when purchasing fuel?
Also in the fuel evap system is a vent valve to allow air to be drawn in to replace fuel used . If this valve's filter is plugged , no air can get in to the system through the charcoal canister as the vapors are being burned. There could be other reasons, but you might want to have these items checked first. Does the vehicle have 2 tanks, if so try switching to the other tank and see if it helps.

 

Hanky. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I wanted to let you know that I had the fuel filter changed out yesterday and immediately noticed the fuel pump was making less noise. The camper drove fine, but I did not go very far. Today the temp is topping 99 here and I will be heading on a little road trip. I will report back when I have internet access again. Also, I read up on the Evap system and I will begin to poke around under the hood when I get a chance.

George

 

Latest update.0 Today was HOT in Central Washington. I started out early with no problems. All systems great. 150 or so miles in the trip it happened again. Pulled over, gave it 20 - 30 minutes and everything was fine. Got to the top of Stevens Pass on Rt. 2 and it happened at the summit (plenty of places to pull over) Repeated process and off I went. after that I made it home with no problems. I think I will borrow a code catcher and see if that tells me anything.

Thanks again Hanky.

 

Original fuel pump?

'Making less noise' after the filter change,,, the pump should only make a slight high pitch/whine sound. Could put a pressure test gauge on the fuel rail and if it stumbles again watch the gauge. If it feels like it's starving or *******/ lacks acceleration as stated in the first post, chances are your right. Fuel delivery...More so when pulling steep grades when fuel demand in volume is the greatest.

 

As a disclaimer, I'm no Ford Tech. But I've been turning wrenches and building my own cars for years. Additionally, have had both Chevy and Ford M/Hs, and did my own work on all. I even had access to the Ford Tech site at one time. Through researching on the interwebs and doing some creative diags, I've fixed intermittent problems with my Fords that the dealers could not.


I've been searching sites for information on other issues and saw yours, which couples similarly to another in v10 overheating - Page 2 - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums.


I do know that the V10s have an overheat protection mode. When they get too hot, they shut down the injectors of 5 of 10 cylinders, using them as air pumps to cool and protect the motor. The result is a devastating reduction in power, until it cools down. Whether this throws a diag. code or check engine light I'm not sure, having not experienced it myself.


However, it would seem based on your writings, your problem is happening when the motor is pulling hard, generating a lot of heat, or when pulling on extremely hot days. Then when you wait, it cools and back on the road again.


The referenced thread was someone with very similar problems. Replaced T'stat, radiator, cleaned AC condenser, flushed cooling system, replaced CHS, still had intermittent problem.....turn out to be a failing, but not yet fully fail Thermostatically controlled fan going bad. Tested good, but after it was replaced, problem never came back.


I did experience a clogging to final nearly clogged fuel filter on a M/H. It wasn't intermittent. Initially it only died pulling up grades, and eventually wouldn't pull on flat ground. But the entire time it was consistently getting worse, wasn't intermittent as you explain.


Putting 2+2+2 together, an idea to test this theory would be to turn on your heater, full fan blast-full hot, next time this starts to happen, making the heater is act like another cooling device beyond the radiator. If it eliminates the problem, your most likely at an overtemp setting the limp mode, due to undercooling in load conditions. Is that's the case, check the clutch fan. The guy in the above, did everything but that. It tested good. gave up, replaced it, problem solved.


If this turns out to be the case, please provide feedback so others can benefit, and send $15.00 to.....Ha,Ha only kidding. I get so much information off these sites. Its my time to provide some which hopefully helps.

 

Hi olecarguy,
As you know when we try to assist we, at least me, can't think of everything.
Thanks to you and Hayapower for joining in to help this gent with the bogging down problem . It's one of those things where the more you learn the more you realize you don't know. Lets hope we can help this gent enjoy his vacation trip without too much headaches.