Ford F250: Stalls Out & Sometimes Restarts?
video description
On a health note: If I may, please invest in a little knowledge of better living thru chemistry. Dr. 's in my family gave me sound advice early on: Buy the individual medications, not the multi-symptom stuff. Take Pseudoephedrine or Phenylephrine (Coricidin for Hi BP) to shut off the sinus drip, which also stops sore throat. Take Acetaminophen for pain & fever and Ibuprofen or Aspirin for swelling. To open nasal passages spray Neo-synephrine, and take Robitussin for cough. Take only the ones you need when you gotta gotta gotta be there to make it bearable and give yourself an edge. ben/ michigan
Date: 2023-04-01
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 14
Eddie
Having had this same issue on a 2010 I feel you may have tossed the other shop under the bus too soon. All your fine (no sarcasm) troubleshooting aside, the short version is things changed when you disturbed the relay. It happened to me, too, and this was my first 250. However, mine was a plow truck. With that in mind and glaring evidence of electrical corrosion elsewhere, I strongly suspected corrosion got everywhere not hermetically sealed. I took apart the fuse box and found it infected with the dreaded Green Grunge.
Maybe the other shop has run into this many times and from experience and cost/benefit considerations decided to make the call on the fuse box. Maybe the other shop was a dealership that just don't do those kinds of repairs. In fact, the one I repaired was from a dealer that was pushing new PCM and BCM when owner tossed it to me.
Since you didn't show or mention any troubleshooting in that direction I have to assume it wasn't done. Shame on you!
I know your vast skills and will attribute this minor lapse to illness, lack of experience with this specific issue, and not having the clues that led me to my success with it
Regardless, everything I have just typed may be wrong but I eagerly await the coming Big Reveal video!
P. s. Over the years I've been watching you transform into a Grouchy Olde Farte and you will be welcomed into the club and considered good company. We look forward to your membership dues on the 1st of each month. Diners Club and American Express not accepted.
reply
Having had this same issue on a 2010 I feel you may have tossed the other shop under the bus too soon. All your fine (no sarcasm) troubleshooting aside, the short version is things changed when you disturbed the relay. It happened to me, too, and this was my first 250. However, mine was a plow truck. With that in mind and glaring evidence of electrical corrosion elsewhere, I strongly suspected corrosion got everywhere not hermetically sealed. I took apart the fuse box and found it infected with the dreaded Green Grunge.
Maybe the other shop has run into this many times and from experience and cost/benefit considerations decided to make the call on the fuse box. Maybe the other shop was a dealership that just don't do those kinds of repairs. In fact, the one I repaired was from a dealer that was pushing new PCM and BCM when owner tossed it to me.
Since you didn't show or mention any troubleshooting in that direction I have to assume it wasn't done. Shame on you!
I know your vast skills and will attribute this minor lapse to illness, lack of experience with this specific issue, and not having the clues that led me to my success with it
Regardless, everything I have just typed may be wrong but I eagerly await the coming Big Reveal video!
P. s. Over the years I've been watching you transform into a Grouchy Olde Farte and you will be welcomed into the club and considered good company. We look forward to your membership dues on the 1st of each month. Diners Club and American Express not accepted.
reply
lovetolearn
When you where talking about touching stuff or just changing the relay and fixing it by chance. Like you said you don't know if you really fixed it and for me you don't learn anything. I was with another mechanic years ago just starting out at diagnosing and we went to a body shop to diagnose a no charging issue on a dodge. As I was looking up a wiring diagram and information he got out and just started wiggling wires. He found the issue, the wiring harness was rubbed through by the exhaust manifold. He did find the problem with in 15 mins but we didn't learn anything. I wanted to see on a scope exactly what was going on so the next time when his wiggle test doesn't work I know what I'm looking at. Not only that I have a strong knowledge on the charging systems for dodge.
reply
When you where talking about touching stuff or just changing the relay and fixing it by chance. Like you said you don't know if you really fixed it and for me you don't learn anything. I was with another mechanic years ago just starting out at diagnosing and we went to a body shop to diagnose a no charging issue on a dodge. As I was looking up a wiring diagram and information he got out and just started wiggling wires. He found the issue, the wiring harness was rubbed through by the exhaust manifold. He did find the problem with in 15 mins but we didn't learn anything. I wanted to see on a scope exactly what was going on so the next time when his wiggle test doesn't work I know what I'm looking at. Not only that I have a strong knowledge on the charging systems for dodge.
reply
BP
3 year Ford tech here, in experience those relays in particular have a high failure rate Ive seen. Mainly getting mechanically stuck on as being used for high amperage circuits. With the line of fuses being controlled by that relay I can definitely see the failure correlation. Ford has a new relay design from that one now, it s even a different color cover. Haven t seen one of the new ones fail yet but time will tell. Ford also has a recall on certain model year explorers for that same part number relay getting stuck shut keeping cooling fans running on high all the time and upgrading it to a much bigger relay. Now Is it a bad relay design or are the cooling fans pulling too much for that particular relay design to handle? Who knows.
reply
3 year Ford tech here, in experience those relays in particular have a high failure rate Ive seen. Mainly getting mechanically stuck on as being used for high amperage circuits. With the line of fuses being controlled by that relay I can definitely see the failure correlation. Ford has a new relay design from that one now, it s even a different color cover. Haven t seen one of the new ones fail yet but time will tell. Ford also has a recall on certain model year explorers for that same part number relay getting stuck shut keeping cooling fans running on high all the time and upgrading it to a much bigger relay. Now Is it a bad relay design or are the cooling fans pulling too much for that particular relay design to handle? Who knows.
reply
Will
I bet when you first pulled the relay and stuck it back in and it did it's rapid fire clicking, that's when it got 'fixed. I currently have a 2001 Blazer that just electrically died (was running, shut it off, and less than a minute later, tried starting it again and get nothing - no door dinging, no lights, no dash, no radio. Jump box, jumper cables, nothing. No power to dash. Haven't had much of a chance to troubleshoot anything beyond that power is getting to the fuse box. Pissin rain today, probably will rain tomorrow as well. Sunday will probably be my first chance to look at it. Sucky thing is, I am not a mechanic and beyond checking fuses, no idea where to go after that if they all test fine.
reply
I bet when you first pulled the relay and stuck it back in and it did it's rapid fire clicking, that's when it got 'fixed. I currently have a 2001 Blazer that just electrically died (was running, shut it off, and less than a minute later, tried starting it again and get nothing - no door dinging, no lights, no dash, no radio. Jump box, jumper cables, nothing. No power to dash. Haven't had much of a chance to troubleshoot anything beyond that power is getting to the fuse box. Pissin rain today, probably will rain tomorrow as well. Sunday will probably be my first chance to look at it. Sucky thing is, I am not a mechanic and beyond checking fuses, no idea where to go after that if they all test fine.
reply
GTCGreg
While changing out the relay is a pretty good educated guess as to what may have been the problem, I think what I would have done when the problem wouldn't repeat itself is put a fairly heavy load on the buss that feeds all those fuses. Maybe something like a 10 to 15 Amp load. A couple of headlamp test bulbs should do the trick. I suspect what you would have found that there is a bad connection on the back side of the fuse block that when it heats up from the current it open circuits. Probably caused by some crusty corrosion. The motion of removing the relay helped temporally restored a good connection. I have a feeling the problem will be back and I don't think it's the relay.
reply
While changing out the relay is a pretty good educated guess as to what may have been the problem, I think what I would have done when the problem wouldn't repeat itself is put a fairly heavy load on the buss that feeds all those fuses. Maybe something like a 10 to 15 Amp load. A couple of headlamp test bulbs should do the trick. I suspect what you would have found that there is a bad connection on the back side of the fuse block that when it heats up from the current it open circuits. Probably caused by some crusty corrosion. The motion of removing the relay helped temporally restored a good connection. I have a feeling the problem will be back and I don't think it's the relay.
reply
Hion
my car was having similar issue and was not about to take it to a shop cuz i used a systematic approach with deductive reasoning and finally figured out that the fuel pump relay which I assume was never replaced was making bad contact on the contacts due to scorching. took it out and confirmed the contacts were damaged. First reviewed the ignition relay and filed down contacts but kept stalling so went onto the fuel relay. replaced relay and car starts better seems from better contacts and although aggravating initially so satisfying the process that allowed me to track down problem.
reply
my car was having similar issue and was not about to take it to a shop cuz i used a systematic approach with deductive reasoning and finally figured out that the fuel pump relay which I assume was never replaced was making bad contact on the contacts due to scorching. took it out and confirmed the contacts were damaged. First reviewed the ignition relay and filed down contacts but kept stalling so went onto the fuel relay. replaced relay and car starts better seems from better contacts and although aggravating initially so satisfying the process that allowed me to track down problem.
reply
Jeremy
Mr o I was a tech at Ford 17 yrs now im at caterpillar cause I got tired of the bs your ability to test and diagnose problems is 2nd to none but I thought I would share a tip I learned from a electronics guys from the military if you got a relay you suspect is bad when it's doing its thing and not working stick a large magnet on top the relay if problem goes away its relay for sure that trick had helped me threw a few diags the magnet will close the relay still need to verify the control wire if its good relay for sure 100%
reply
Mr o I was a tech at Ford 17 yrs now im at caterpillar cause I got tired of the bs your ability to test and diagnose problems is 2nd to none but I thought I would share a tip I learned from a electronics guys from the military if you got a relay you suspect is bad when it's doing its thing and not working stick a large magnet on top the relay if problem goes away its relay for sure that trick had helped me threw a few diags the magnet will close the relay still need to verify the control wire if its good relay for sure 100%
reply
James
You understand the value of proper troubleshooting and you learn from it and can apply it to the next customer. Those that make comments about you shoulda done this blah, blah do not understand proper troubleshooting procedure. If we do not determine exactly why something did what it did and prove what actually happened we learn nothing and simply get lucky and hope for the best next time. That s a stressful life and knowledge allows for more confidence which allows for less stress. Good job as usual
reply
You understand the value of proper troubleshooting and you learn from it and can apply it to the next customer. Those that make comments about you shoulda done this blah, blah do not understand proper troubleshooting procedure. If we do not determine exactly why something did what it did and prove what actually happened we learn nothing and simply get lucky and hope for the best next time. That s a stressful life and knowledge allows for more confidence which allows for less stress. Good job as usual
reply
Mike
I'm getting over a sinus infection myself but, I also haven't been working on cars, just driving my semi a few hours at a time (until the headache gets too bad) for the last week or so.
I'll be working on a project of my own this weekend but, if someone would've brought this truck to my little, part time avoid anything newer than 1996 shop, I would've tried to talk them into pulling all of that crap out and dumping a carbureted 460 into it lol!
YOU are indeed a master of diagnostics Dr. O!
reply
I'm getting over a sinus infection myself but, I also haven't been working on cars, just driving my semi a few hours at a time (until the headache gets too bad) for the last week or so.
I'll be working on a project of my own this weekend but, if someone would've brought this truck to my little, part time avoid anything newer than 1996 shop, I would've tried to talk them into pulling all of that crap out and dumping a carbureted 460 into it lol!
YOU are indeed a master of diagnostics Dr. O!
reply
Lawrence
So after that fix of replacing the relay - did it solve the problem, ? Did the customer return with further info that the problem was solved? I'm very glad you got the chance to got to work on one of these as it is the same configuration as my 2008 super duty XL model. Thank you very much Eric for being a great teacher and a Wonderful Mechanic.
You're one of a kind that is very valuable to the industry.
. Hope you are feeling better today.
reply
So after that fix of replacing the relay - did it solve the problem, ? Did the customer return with further info that the problem was solved? I'm very glad you got the chance to got to work on one of these as it is the same configuration as my 2008 super duty XL model. Thank you very much Eric for being a great teacher and a Wonderful Mechanic.
You're one of a kind that is very valuable to the industry.
. Hope you are feeling better today.
reply
BigOwlBrain
My thought early on was that something is heating up once powered on, and that for whatever reason it's causing it to break the connection. You narrowed it down quite nicely. The only other thing that I would have wanted to check here at the end is that are the fuse box contacts making a tight enough contact to the relay. Usually you're always testing for this anyway, but it was a just one of those days that we all have.
reply
My thought early on was that something is heating up once powered on, and that for whatever reason it's causing it to break the connection. You narrowed it down quite nicely. The only other thing that I would have wanted to check here at the end is that are the fuse box contacts making a tight enough contact to the relay. Usually you're always testing for this anyway, but it was a just one of those days that we all have.
reply
Ken
Well. Let see just what happens here in Part 2? Much better Approach doing it this was EO, Spraying and Praying like some commenters here usually get's you a Come Back Anyway. At least at this Point, You know what you did and where you left off. Let's see Just what is going on here in Episode #2? Can't wait since the Relay (Apparently Did Not FIX the Issue)
reply
Well. Let see just what happens here in Part 2? Much better Approach doing it this was EO, Spraying and Praying like some commenters here usually get's you a Come Back Anyway. At least at this Point, You know what you did and where you left off. Let's see Just what is going on here in Episode #2? Can't wait since the Relay (Apparently Did Not FIX the Issue)
reply
Mike
Hope you get to feeling better soon. I had some electricity/electronics back in college but nothing like you deal with. Plus that was back in the stone ages when engines had carbs and you could climb into the engine bay with the engine. Computers? What was that back then? Just a thought in a few brainiac s heads. Great job on your diag.
reply
Hope you get to feeling better soon. I had some electricity/electronics back in college but nothing like you deal with. Plus that was back in the stone ages when engines had carbs and you could climb into the engine bay with the engine. Computers? What was that back then? Just a thought in a few brainiac s heads. Great job on your diag.
reply
calholli
My first check would be the incoming 12v line, into the fuse box. Check the line, the connector, the bolt, etc. and after that, look for a common ground. This looks like an interesting one though. We know the modules aren't dying and coming back to life though; it's definitely a 'powers and grounds issue.
reply
My first check would be the incoming 12v line, into the fuse box. Check the line, the connector, the bolt, etc. and after that, look for a common ground. This looks like an interesting one though. We know the modules aren't dying and coming back to life though; it's definitely a 'powers and grounds issue.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
