Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Need some experienced brains here.. help!

[SLightfoot]

Greetings folks.



I've been a long time member, but inactive for the past couple of years (young family).



Anyway, I recently had a not-so-good thing happen to my '99 2500. For the past several years, I've run 275 injectors with an Edge EZ box. This combo has given me great, reliable power that I've grown to adore.



The other day however, out of the blue, driving down the highway at 65MPH, the engine coughed a couple of times, then just died completely.



I tried restarting it to no avail. Would not fire at all - like there was no fuel left in the tank. I had about 1/4 tank left.



So, with the three young kids and wife, we have to call a tow truck - hour and a half wait!. I then pulled off my Edge EZ box. Tried to start - still nothing. So, continue to wait for tow truck.....



In the meantime, 30 minutes later, I try to restart the truck and Vroom! Fired up like nothing had happened.



Prior to this, my wife noticed on one occassion before a couple of "hiccups" the truck had driving down the road. Just stumbles, then returned to normal. The check engine light has been coming on sporadically for the past 10 months - usually reading an APPS sensor low.



I've been running without the EZ box for a couple of weeks now without any troubles. At some point, I'll try the box back on.



I took the truck to the dealer where there was a great diesel tech who read the codes, and took the time to check lift pump pressures, etc - he said that everything was absolutely perfect. He couldn't find anything that would have caused this stall on the highway.



Now I'm troubled by this, since my wife usually drives this truck to haul around our very young children, and I'm worried it's going to leave her stranded again sometime.



I can't figure out what the heck this could be... .



Some thoughts please...



Regards,



Shawn

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

If you've received a APPS code along with that occurance, checking/replacing it would seem the logical next step.



It's a fairly common failure on these trucks.

 

[nps]

I'll say your VP44 is going. Here is a thread discussing whether the APPS can take out a VP44. I postulate that the VP44 going may cause the motor to throw some APPS codes.



Stumbling, surging - sure, maybe an APPS.



But dying on the road? Don't think so. Good luck.

 

[SLightfoot]

Yeah - that was my worry too - that a bad APPS wouldn't cause it to all out stall completely. It would be interesting to know if anyone has ever had that symptom with a bad APPS.



It's so wierd how it runs for literally hundreds of miles without the slightest of hiccups or problem, then WHAMO! . . dead.



Been running fine ever since.



Is there a possibility that a bad connection between the EZ box and the ECM could have caused the ECM to go sideways for a bit?



The diesel tech told me that he doesn't see any of the normal wierd readings or "tell-tales" that he sees with VP44's going south. He seemed quite knowledgeable and knew of all the quirks of this engine. There was a couple little things he looks for with the diagnostic tool to get an idea that a VP44 is soon going to bit it - he saw none of that going on.



If that info helps any... .



Thanks guys.



Shawn

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

In any event, get back to us with the final cure - it helps others with the same symptoms - good luck.

 

[Nyoest]

I had kind of a similar experiance. We drove one hour away from home in our new to us pickup a year ago. Just got it that week with 96,000 on it. Circle the lot for a parking spot, find one, pull in. Start walking to the store and smell the dangdest stench of #2 ever. I joke to the girl friend "Hope it isn't us!" Go inside and do our business, come back out fire up the truck and the tail pipe is spewing a nice cloud of white smoke. :{ I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut. I shut it down right there and checked it out. I didn't have gauges then or any tools in the truck as it was "new" so there really wasn't much diagnosing happening. Called a good friend had him come after us with a gooseneck. Went to start it to pull it up on the trailer and it wouldn't start! A painful twenty minutes with a comealong on my "new" truck later it was loaded and headed home. It wouldn't start at home to get it off the trailer either. Go out the next morning fresh with tools in hand and it starts right off like nothing happened. Dealer checked it out and found nothing.

I posted on here and every one said it was the VP44 dying. We never did figure out what that was and we now have 124,000 with no more starting/smoking issues!

Best of luck to you.

 

[PRout]

Are you sure its in the motor and not maybe a bad connection like in the ignition switch? The strange thing is there arent any codes pointed out here... When my APPS died there was the apps voltage out of range code. Also, motor never died, just went to idle. When the crank sensor quit there was a corresponding code. VP - 1688, etc. Youre not getting any code right now, like maybe something just cut off. . (some positive out-of-the-box thinking here) Maybe just a bad connection on fuse #9?

I see you had an apps code in the past, but how about when the stall occurred?

 

[PRout]

Do you have a fuel pressure gauge to monitor pressure when driving? You really need to be able to verify you have pressure all the time.

 

[SLightfoot]

No, I don't unfortunately have a fuel pressure guage mounted such that I can monitor it during the full run cycle... .



It almost acted like there was air in the line at some point, then was subsequently purged by sitting for a little while... . wierd.



I'll certainly keep everyone posted as to what happens - I guess the first thing that I'm going to do is go to the ******* and pick up a new APPS and install it.

Hopefully that at least stops the CEL from coming on - which is getting aggravating.



Have no choice but to continue driving it, so we'll see what happens.



Thanks,



Shawn

 

[cojhl2]

Have a friend who had an Oliver 1800 diesel. Engine with no warning would shutdown hard. After a minute or two it was restartable until at some point completely unrelated to time or environment would go thru the same cycle.



What was finally found after a few years of this erratic behavior was a fuel invoice floating around in the tank. It would get caught over the inlet, suck down tight, then with the engine was no longer using fuel just float off and wait to redo this cantankerous behavior.