Is this called Irony?

So today for lunch I went down to the bank and paid my 2005 F250 off. A year early to boot! I mean to tell you that felt so good to finally get that note off of my back. To be able to actually say you own it is a great feeling.

So as I am walking out of the bank, receipt in hand and picturing the frame that I will place title in and the wall I will hang if from, I climb into my truck and it will not start.

You gotta be kidding me! I turn the key over and it cranks strong but will not start. So I crank again, and again, and again, and again, and again, you get the idea. This went on for almost an hour. To no success. I succumb to realize that the truck will not start and so I break down and call AAA, and ask for a tow to a local dealer for what I hope will be a warranty fix.

Talk about going from feeling like a boy on prom night to feeling like you your dog died.

I humbly ask one of the bank employees to please quit laughing and give me a lift to the house (1 mile away). OK he wasn't laughing but you know he wanted to. A guy comes in and pays off a truck only to have to call a tow truck to get it to leave the parking lot. Anyway, I get a lift to the house and pick up the bike and ride it back to the bank at the same time the tow truck is pulling in. The driver was super nice & professional (MILSTEAD AUTOMOTIVE) when he walked over. We talked about the bike a minute and then asked "What’s wrong with the truck, man it looks brand new?" I tell him that it will not start, not sure why. "Do you need a jump?" No sir, it cranks real strong, it just will not ignite. See watch, so I open the door and bump the key and it starts right up. UUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH. (Out of respect for the forum I will not repeat what I said).

I had it towed anyway to get it checked out. Of course this will happen after I 1: Paid it off & 2: Have 40,000 miles on the clock.

I am back at my desk now, and trying to cool off, (mentally and physically) and I am sure that I will laugh at it soon enough. I figure you would all get a chuckle out of my plight.

Are you taking wagers on what may have quit? Want to sell that old pile of refurbished Dodge? Be glad to take it off your hands, get it out of the yard so you won't have to look at !

Ugh, thats no fun.

sounds like the fuel pump reset switch hung up on you.

Muffler bearing. My bet it was the muffler bearing. Better get that replaced soon!

bedlam said:

Muffler bearing. My bet it was the muffler bearing. Better get that replaced soon!

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could be low blinker fluid too

Worn out Power Band?

If it was a VW..I'd have to say it was the radiator fluid, always caused a problem on old VW's
Yes, what happened is called Irony...now, if the bank guy had walked to his car and it wouldn't start, after making fun of you...if would be "poetic Justice"

Good news! This place has them in stock.

Muffler Bearings

Blinker Fluid

Power Band, and it is even adjustable.

With a little bit of Elbow Grease, it will be good as new.

Skid

My truck did the same thing a couple of weeks ago and it was the fuel pump. I pulled the air cleaner and had someone crank it and thier was no fuel spraying in the throttle body so I knew it was the fuel pump. Of course my truck is a little older than yours, but $300 later I had a new fuel pump. If the gas tank had been close to empty I probably would have changed it myself, but I had just filled the 34 gallon monster. I think Nathan may be on the right track.

Machines have some sense of humor don't they? Well, don't they

I'd laugh but for the fact that I have been in so many positions like that before that it just isn't funny anymore It has reached the point where I get a note from a credit card that my limit has gone up and I freak out. If I don't get them to push it back down fast enough, inevitably something on one of the cars will crap out for darn near the same amount the limit went up. Having it happen once, we laughed about weird coincidences. Having it happen repeatedly makes one kind of suspicious... Our credit cards (both of them) now have standing orders not to raise limits without written authorization! Of course, just recently, Beth and I found ourselves with a little "extra" money. While contemplating the most responsible use for it, the tranny on her minivan went Kaput!! $2K for a replacement, spank you very much...

This is a 2005 F250 with the 6.0 Diesel.

I like the fuel pump reset switch theroy. Not sure if it is the culpret or not though.

Engine is under warranty for 100,000 miles.
Trany, diffs, transfercase & shafts are under until 50,000.

Everything else went out at 36,000.

I have had very good luck with the last two fords I have "rented", and never had an issue with them. I lost the tranny in the 5.9 cummins I had years ago and will not go back to a dodge for that reason. 37,000 miles on it and they would not cover the tranny!

This will be the first truck I have owned since I bought a 1974 K5 Blazer in 1992 for cash. It just figures that when I am old enough and able enough to finally "pay for" a good truck it leaves me scratching my head.

I love the site for the muffler bearings and such...

My guess is a clogged Sneezer Valve, or bent Diddly Pins.

Definitely sounds like the fuel pump to me. I had that happen to an old S-10 I had in high school.

If its not the pump switch (turns the pump off in the event of an accident) then its most likely the fuel pump itself.
Course being a diesel, it could be quite different. I'm not up enough on the diesels to troubleshoot those.

If you're referring to the original early 90's Cummins with the Autos, they had lots of trouble with those. just not enough tranny for that engine. They have since resolved that problem and are now just as reliable as any other diesel and arguably much more reliable then the tranny Ford put behind the PowerStroke to start with.

Dad had a 6BT cummins in a Suburban with a 4spd chevy auto behind it. upgraded for diesel work. one year, to the day, after the install, the main shaft twisted off in the tranny

SparkyBlue said:

Machines have some sense of humor don't they? Well, don't they

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I swear they do it on purpose. I own the bike and it broke down on me in Wyoming. I own the truck and at least it broke down on me close enough where if I had to I could walk home..

Yeah, Machines and their since of humor. To quote Scott... "Spank you very much"!

FLUX CAPACITOR! Gotta be!

On a more serious note, I own an '04 F250 with the 6.0 diesel as well. I never should have gotten rid of my '99 7.3. The 6.0 has been nothing but a problem for me. I have had it in the shop 8 different times. 4 of the 8 times always had something to do with the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system. This was a BAD idea in an attempt to meet the newer stringent diesel emissions requirements. Gotta love the federal government. The truck has also gotten 4 new injectors and a turbo.

I hope yours is something simple, maybe even a flash on the computer. Holler if you need anything else, or have any questions about the truck. I have owned Ford diesels since I have been old enough to drive and know a little about them. Take care and be safe!

tx-vfr said:

If its not the pump switch (turns the pump off in the event of an accident) then its most likely the fuel pump itself.
Course being a diesel, it could be quite different. I'm not up enough on the diesels to troubleshoot those.

If you're referring to the original early 90's Cummins with the Autos, they had lots of trouble with those. just not enough tranny for that engine. They have since resolved that problem and are now just as reliable as any other diesel and arguably much more reliable then the tranny Ford put behind the PowerStroke to start with.

Dad had a 6BT cummins in a Suburban with a 4spd chevy auto behind it. upgraded for diesel work. one year, to the day, after the install, the main shaft twisted off in the tranny

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I hear the lift pump come on when I turn the key over in the pre-start stage. So I am fairly confident that it is getting fuel to the injectors... not sure if the injectors are squirting though (could be a computer thing too).

And yes it was a 95 Dodge 2500 4x4 Quad Cab with the Cummins. I LOVE THAT ENGINE! Even to this day I would take that 5.9 inline engine over anything else on the road. I hear that the newer cummins is really nice too.

All vehicles will have issues. for deisels, unfortunately, the pumps are pretty expensive. I know a guy that rebuilds em, and its considerably cheaper than a new pump.


As for dodge v ford trannys, my uncle had a f350 powerstroke that went through 4 warranty transmissions before it was stolen (talk about luck...) and he went with a dodge for the better transmissions...

I think it just depends on who they fail on, cause all of em will have some failures.


Good luck on a cheap fix.


Matt

AutoRotate said:

FLUX CAPACITOR! Gotta be!

On a more serious note, I own an '04 F250 with the 6.0 diesel as well. I never should have gotten rid of my '99 7.3. The 6.0 has been nothing but a problem for me. I have had it in the shop 8 different times. 4 of the 8 times always had something to do with the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system. This was a BAD idea in an attempt to meet the newer stringent diesel emissions requirements. Gotta love the federal government. The truck has also gotten 4 new injectors and a turbo.

I hope yours is something simple, maybe even a flash on the computer. Holler if you need anything else, or have any questions about the truck. I have owned Ford diesels since I have been old enough to drive and know a little about them. Take care and be safe!

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Thanks for that. I too have been driving diesels forever. Dad still has the old '88 with the 7.3 with almost 300 on the clock, it is strickly a pasture truck now, but still runs and only gets mad when we don't change the fuel filter.

I have had 43,758 trouble free miles since march of 2005 with this truck (until today). Still though I would say that my experience has been positive.

Good deal. I think they worked out most of the issues by '05. I waited until late '04 just because I don't like to own the "A" model of anything. Anyway, I hope it is a simple fix for you. At least you have a very nice ride in the meantime

Duke, If your truck is going to leave you high and dry you surely need a bike that you can tote around in the bed, kinda like a lifeboat. With a lot of these low weight/high power ratio bikes, you just drop the tailgate and drive it right in, or out.

Your comment about the used ones selling on eBay for near what a far-off dealer is asking for a new one is interesting. It might be good to contact the Better Business Bureau in that area about that business before you count on it.

I forgot just where (maybe somewhere in Tenessee) there was a dealer that was making some smoking offers and then added on a lot of "extra" charges when the customer, who had sent in a non-refundable deposit, came in to pick up the merchandise.

fuel filter, check for water in the seperator, glow plug circuit, in tank filter

after that like the other guy said flux capcitor or muffler bearing

R1200GSA said:

Thanks for that. I too have been driving diesels forever. Dad still has the old '88 with the 7.3 with almost 300 on the clock, it is strickly a pasture truck now, but still runs and only gets mad when we don't change the fuel filter.

I have had 43,758 trouble free miles since march of 2005 with this truck (until today). Still though I would say that my experience has been positive.

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Not all that familiar with Diesels unless they "fly" but I would be willing to say that it just might be bad prop wash or maybe you need 50 ft of flight line to tow it home........

I guess if it isn't the fuel pump maybe just a flash of the putor is needed to open up the injectors.....I wish you well in your dilema.

I'm betting on glowplugs. Could be the ecu thought the engine was warm enough that it didn't need the glowplugs to start, but it actually did. Then after the engine had cooled further, it turned them on during your last attempt.