homerthefish
Junior Member
My old girl is a 2001 5.2 with 183,000 miles on it.
A few months ago it threw a sensor code and had loss of power, the code cleared on its own and the truck drove fine for a few weeks, code came back for a day, clearned...came back, I bought the sensor, cleared for a few weeks (of course!), but then came back on and stayed on. At this point I finally started having some mild driveability issues where there was loss of power, sometimes at low RPMs it would shut off (would always restart) and there was an occasional pop through the intake. Finally, she died in my driveway (which I thought was very polite) and that's where the story begins.
The code was for the crankcase sensor, which I bought first. Once I did some googling, I decided to replace the pickup in the distributor first since it had similar symptoms and seemed like a much easier job. While I was at it, I replaced the cap and rotor. The truck still wouldn't start, so I tackled the crankcase sensor (allen wrench and a ***** bar - nothing to it!!!). The engine code cleared, but it still wouldn't start. My ex suggested checking the fuel pump - he has a history of throwing every part at a car until it finally started so I was reluctant to believe anything he said - BUT the truck would 'run out of gas' even if the gauge said 1/4 tank and I wasn't hearing the pump kick on when I turned the ignition. Lifted the bed, replaced the pump and hit the key - SHE STARTED!!!! Yay! And ran great! I let it idle for about 5 minutes, shut it off, restarted several times. Feeling accomplished, I put the bed back on, cleaned up and decided to take a test drive for ice cream. Crank but no start. DANGIT!!!!
I finally phoned a friend who comes out, scratches his head and says it seems like it skipped a gear in the timing chain. The truck cranks, then when you let off the key it tries to turn over but pops and smokes gas up through the intake. On a whim he checked plugs which were gross. He left saying replace the plugs - it may not be the issue but they need done. So I replace the plugs and the truck fires right up. Yay! Drive it down to the barn, up to the house, shut it off, start it up, drive it some more - life is great. For an hour. Then back to crank, no start, pop and smoke. The truck starts when the moon phase is correct then runs great, and then goes back to the crank and pop on a whim.
I am NOT mechanically inclined but can youtube most fixes, assuming I know what the issue is. HELP!!!
A few months ago it threw a sensor code and had loss of power, the code cleared on its own and the truck drove fine for a few weeks, code came back for a day, clearned...came back, I bought the sensor, cleared for a few weeks (of course!), but then came back on and stayed on. At this point I finally started having some mild driveability issues where there was loss of power, sometimes at low RPMs it would shut off (would always restart) and there was an occasional pop through the intake. Finally, she died in my driveway (which I thought was very polite) and that's where the story begins.
The code was for the crankcase sensor, which I bought first. Once I did some googling, I decided to replace the pickup in the distributor first since it had similar symptoms and seemed like a much easier job. While I was at it, I replaced the cap and rotor. The truck still wouldn't start, so I tackled the crankcase sensor (allen wrench and a ***** bar - nothing to it!!!). The engine code cleared, but it still wouldn't start. My ex suggested checking the fuel pump - he has a history of throwing every part at a car until it finally started so I was reluctant to believe anything he said - BUT the truck would 'run out of gas' even if the gauge said 1/4 tank and I wasn't hearing the pump kick on when I turned the ignition. Lifted the bed, replaced the pump and hit the key - SHE STARTED!!!! Yay! And ran great! I let it idle for about 5 minutes, shut it off, restarted several times. Feeling accomplished, I put the bed back on, cleaned up and decided to take a test drive for ice cream. Crank but no start. DANGIT!!!!
I finally phoned a friend who comes out, scratches his head and says it seems like it skipped a gear in the timing chain. The truck cranks, then when you let off the key it tries to turn over but pops and smokes gas up through the intake. On a whim he checked plugs which were gross. He left saying replace the plugs - it may not be the issue but they need done. So I replace the plugs and the truck fires right up. Yay! Drive it down to the barn, up to the house, shut it off, start it up, drive it some more - life is great. For an hour. Then back to crank, no start, pop and smoke. The truck starts when the moon phase is correct then runs great, and then goes back to the crank and pop on a whim.
I am NOT mechanically inclined but can youtube most fixes, assuming I know what the issue is. HELP!!!