mystery illness

[surfbeast]

Still trying to figure out the engine shut down problem I had the other day. It only happened while driving. Would not happen while in park. Could rev the engine in park and neutral and no problems. This ruled out fuel,spark,chip?. All gages were in normal range. This has me and a very good Ford Mech ( 30+ yrs ) stumped. Ford guy said it may be a loose wire or ground or a computer problem. I drove the car last night about 3-4 miles around and around my block, No Problems?? I did notice that the engine seemed REALLY HOT and the intake tube was real hot, temp gage was normal though. I'm grabbing at staws here. ANYONE have ANY idea??

HELP!PLEASE!!!

[MajorTwit]

If it seemed hot, I'd check the temp with a thermometer despite what the gauge said. Was the fan on?

[surfbeast]

Don't think the fan was on, pretty sure it wasn't. The intake tube was almost to hot to touch. It had to be sucking some really hot air! I've got an infared temp gage, I'll check it from that vs gage, what is normal temp range in degrees F? If it's real hot would that be a stuck thermostat?

Thanks

[MajorTwit]

Under hood temps can get really high normally, but maybe the motor is overheating. I'm just guessing, but if the same sensor is used to feed the computer and the gauge, it could cause these symptoms (computer turns the fan on, I think.) But do check the temps to see if it really is getting hot before throwing parts at it.

Coolant temp should be about 195 to 215. A stuck closed stat usually will cause popping noises and an overheated indication. I'm thinking that if heat is the problem, it could be messing with electronics enough to cause a chip to fail.

Running lean can cause a motor to get hot too, but there should be codes set and check engine light. If a fuel pump or filter is failing, you can get enough gas to rev to red line in neutral, but have it crap out under load.

Let us know when you find out what the problem is.

Richard

[surfbeast]

Worked on the beast, dissconnected every wire plug and reconnected. checked every ground and cleaned MAF sensor. Drove the car about fourty miles and things were fine. I got pissed and drove it like mad. Melted the tires, toped out at over 1XX ! and still nothing. I wish it was something i could pinpoint. I know as soon as the wife and kids get in and we go for a drive it will screw up again. So far so good though!!