Got another truck problem and it could be a doozy..

[PhilosipherStoned]

The truck ran fine all day, and I havent had any problems for a while so maybe it's just time for shit to hit the fan.

I quit work early because a thunderstorm, and when I pulled into my driveway it waited till I got it perfectly

where I wanted it under the carport and the engine just died. It sounded like it just stalled/ leaned out. I tried

to start it back up a few times and the same thing happened it immediately stalled out. I got it to throw the

red lightning bolt warning light though, and I've been told this usually means a problem with the ETC.

 

The manual says to go to the dealer immediately for service as it's the ETC and you can experience all

kinds of rough idles and reduce performance etc. I hope I can atleast start it after a little bit, but I'm

still waiting for my first real paycheck from this job, and it'll probably suck anyway.  S:

[NaBarney]

I'm going to diagnose it as a bad crank shaft sensor. You're welcome

[PhilosipherStoned]

If infact this is something related to the ETC  I'm going to play around with the Mass airflow censor. Only because

I just found that., and I know where it is on my vehicle.  If it's not the MAF censor than maybe the MAP censor, and

if it's not the MAP censor then the ETC it's self. 

 

Hopefully this isn't an issue with the fuel filter because that could be a cause, but for it to just pull this shit out

of nowhere when it was running fine.. That leads me to believe it has to be something electronic or computer

related.

[PhilosipherStoned]

I'm going to diagnose it as a bad crank shaft sensor. You're welcome

Can you explain the reasoning behind your diagnosis? I should probably mention that now when I try to start the

truck it doesn't even idle for 2 seconds.  The starter turns over beautifully the engine fires up normally, but then it

immediatly stalls out. I can't even rev it at all not even for the 2 seconds the engine is running.

[NaBarney]

Seriously, crankshaft sensor. I mean it could be a lot of things but that's the most recent thing I had to deal with and it's a sneaky part so I'm throwing it out there for that reason, just so you'll think about it.

 

My car would stall at idle/low speeds like whenever I would pull into my driveway or sometimes at red lights. I suspected and ruled out MAF and fuel filter among other things. It would always cold start fine but sometimes after stalling it would take a few minutes for it to start back up, then would drive fine for a little while, then stall again, have to wait a bit for it to start back up, etc.

 

Bad crank shaft sensor. Got it replaced and now drives perfect.

[NaBarney]

The first place I took it to couldn't find anything wrong and because the stalling was intermittent it didn't do it for them. Cleaned the IAC valve and sent me on my way. I brought it back 3 minutes after leaving bc it stalled on me. Guy spent the next couple hours trying to diagnose it then just gave up and threw in a new MAF sensor for free and it drove fine..For a day, then same problem. Took it to another shop and they diagnosed it after I described what it was doing. Replaced the crank shaft sensor and has driven fine since.

 

Only problem I ever had with a car stalling.

[NaBarney]

I have a friend who also just had to replace the crankshaft sensor in his truck, he was having the same stalling problem. He was able to diagnose and replace it all on his own because he's good with cars but said it was his first time messing with that part and said you don't need to be a mechanic to replace the part yourself.

[PhilosipherStoned]

I've experienced some of the same issues you just described, but never on a consistent basis.

When I first bought the truck from a freakin mechanic that tore it apart and replaced and checked

everything it stalled at a redlight right after I drove away in it after we took care of all the paperwork

Then I turned the key off and on and it fired right back up and that never happened again until like

maybe one or two years later and it's probably only happened a total of 4 or 5 times since I bought

it around 2012. I'll definitely look into the crankshaft position sensor now, I hope it's something as

simple as one sensor causing this issue since I use my truck for work.  S:

[PhilosipherStoned]

The first place I took it to couldn't find anything wrong and because the stalling was intermittent it didn't do it for them. Cleaned the IAC valve and sent me on my way. I brought it back 3 minutes after leaving bc it stalled on me. Guy spent the next couple hours trying to diagnose it then just gave up and threw in a new MAF sensor for free and it drove fine..For a day, then same problem. Took it to another shop and they diagnosed it after I described what it was doing. Replaced the crank shaft sensor and has driven fine since.

 

Only problem I ever had with a car stalling.

So it never threw out any codes that the crankshaft position sensor was bad?

[NaBarney]

I had the same experience with my car. Very first time I took it out it stalled at a stop sign. Then I drove it cross country with 0 issues. After that it would stall maybe one every week or two, always at a red light or when pulling in to park. I ignored it for a year since it always started up fine. It wasn't until it started happening more frequently and when the vehicle was in motion and not starting back up right away that I got it looked at. So it needed replacing for a while but was manageable, then the issue deteriorated very quickly.

[PhilosipherStoned]

Well My issue is making the truck completely undriveable, but I wouldn't be surprised if It started in the

morning if I just leave it alone for the rest of the day. I'm going to get someone to take me to a parts

store tomorrow, but before I buy a crankshaft sensor I'd like to know if it can really cause the eingine

to stall as fast as mine is.. like right after being cranked the engine probably only makes like one and a

half rotations.. dunno.

[NaBarney]

O yeah definitely don't go out and buy a part until you know what it is. Could be a lot of things.

[PhilosipherStoned]

It's already getting dark. I thought about pulling the MAF sensor out and cleaning it, but it doesn't even look dirty

tbh, but according to some websites I've found stalling right after being started is an actual symptom of a bad

MAF sensor so right now it's my prime suspect. If I rule it out as the cause then I'll check the MAP, and then the

crank sensor. Wish I had a multimeter or a scan tool..

[NaBarney]

It's already getting dark. I thought about pulling the MAF sensor out and cleaning it, but it doesn't even look dirty

tbh, but according to some websites I've found stalling right after being started is an actual symptom of a bad

MAF sensor so right now it's my prime suspect. If I rule it out as the cause then I'll check the MAP, and then the

crank sensor. Wish I had a multimeter or a scan tool..

 

Most of the chain auto parts stores will scan your check engine codes for free, but the crank shaft sensor can be hard to diagnose this way, per the guy who fixed mine when I asked why the first mechanic I took it to couldn't figure it out.

 

I'll ask my friend how he was able to isolate it as the problem specifically and report back

[PhilosipherStoned]

K thanks I definitely appreciate that!  These sensors arent cheap so I don't really want to buy the wrong one.

I can always return it though if it's the wrong one I do that all the time, but I think it takes the parts store a

while to credit it back to my bank account if I remember correctly.. I might not be able to go anywhere to

get my computer checked if it keeps stalling out after I start the engine, and if that's the case I might have

to..buy a multimeter and try to rule out shit that way..or just buy shit until I find the right thing which always

sucks to have to do.