Help! Stranded in Canadian Wilderness

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by gs1949

@Sleddgracer, I learned that lesson a while ago. In the early 60s one of my uncles received a 3rd degree burn 8 or 10 inches long and 2 or 3 inches high across his belly between his navel and the waistband of his swimming trunks while barbecuing hamburgers for all us kids. That was pretty dramatic, and quite unforgettable.

and no joke like my comment

[roach711]

Originally Posted by bluebird90

From everything you describe, the fuel filters are plugged. The one on the engine and there may be one on the left frame rail under the drivers seat.

The E450/7.3L has two fuel strainers on the fuel pickup back in the fuel tank and the main fuel filter in the fuel bowl at the top front of the engine. The electric fuel pump lives on the fuel rail below the driver's seat. If you turn the key to "run" you'll hear it working.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

Item 2: wear a shirt if you are frying bacon

You can get around this requirement if you're pissing into the wind at the same time

[HazMatt]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

You can get around this requirement if you're pissing into the wind at the same time [emoji3]

Like bacon doesn't have a load of Na in it already!

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

You can get around this requirement if you're pissing into the wind at the same time

don't ask me to eat the bacon you cook - lol

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by HazMatt

Like bacon doesn't have a load of Na in it already!

Not to worry. I'm on a reduced sodium diet.

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

don't ask me to eat the bacon you cook - lol

If I have to pee on myself to get all the bacon, it's a worthwhile sacrifice!

Doesn't it keep mosquitos away too? Or is that the opposite sex? I keep getting those two confused.

[peteg59]

Adding any water based liquid to a flaming pan of fiery bacon grease is a disaster waiting to happen!

Gotta go watch Battlebots, the flaming bots should be entertaining tonight!!!

[gs1949]

Well, if you guys are looking for something to eat with your bacon, you might like to try an old Chinese delicacy: eggs that have been marinated in the urine of pre-pubescent boys.

Never had any of these myself, or seen any, just heard about them, but I bet they would go really well with your bacon.

[Johnny Mullet]

Going way off topic here. Let's wait for a reply or and update from the OP please.

[HazMatt]

Well, don't I feel better now..?

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

Not to worry. I'm on a reduced sodium diet...
Doesn't it keep mosquitos away too? Or is that the opposite sex? I keep getting those two confused.

Different, yet oh-so-similar:
It's the female skeeters only that suck your blood, but many of my past human female partners tried to suck the life out of me.
.
Glad you qualified water based...

Originally Posted by peteg59

Adding any water based liquid to a flaming pan of fiery bacon grease is a disaster waiting to happen!

Gotta go watch Battlebots, the flaming bots should be entertaining tonight!!!

Is Battle Bots still on?!! I loved that show!!! Might ought get me a TV, again.

[HazMatt]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

Going way off topic here. Let's wait for a reply or and update from the OP please.

My bad, sorry.

[Free Bird]

Originally Posted by PigPen

The last connection to check was coming off the alternator. And we have at least one big part of the problem. The stud for the main wire completely melted away. So either the regulator was ad or a loose connection or ???

Carquest in north bay has the alternator I need and I’m on my way to get it. Hopefully there isn’t another problem that caused this one?

Any thoughts?

You likely have solved the problem but going forward know that those particular alternators are pretty sensitive. I havn't had a failure like yours but I have cooked the alternator diodes on my 1999 7.3 a couple of times do to boosting equipment. I got a lecture from my local boy mechanic/7.3 whiz. (He has poor bedside manners and no respect for old farts who screw stuff up) - I like him! Anyway he beat it into my head that I simply can no longer get away with boosting unless I first turn my engine off.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

????
why were you boosting with your engine on and batteries connected????

[Free Bird]

Because I'm a logger and I run heavy equipment in minus 30 temps and when you have a couple of 4D batteries to warm up on boost so you can get your frozen lump started and get to work you want to get it done quick and not kill the batteries in your ride home. We bin doin it that way for as long as there has been booster cables and some guys are still doin it that way but not me, I own a Ford.

[TheHubbardBus]

Pigpen, you need to get back up in here and let us know your status. Are you OK?

Because if so, I'd really like to get back to discussing frying food in the nude, disgusting dim sum, feminazi flying insects, and militarized microchips.

[HazMatt]

^
What he said!

Originally Posted by PigPen

The last connection to check was coming off the alternator. And we have at least one big part of the problem. The stud for the main wire completely melted away. So either the regulator was ad or a loose connection or ???

Carquest in north bay has the alternator I need and I’m on my way to get it. Hopefully there isn’t another problem that caused this one?

Any thoughts?

Seriously, whuts da what?
The suspenders are killin' me, man...

[PigPen]

Sorry for the delay everyone! Like I said, we didn’t have any service where we were at.

And at least the conversation centered on bacon while I was missing.

As far as an update - we officially made it out of the wilderness.

And it appears we are dealing with two separate problems. The weird stalling issue has persisted even after the alternator was replaced.

A few things to note:

There now really isn’t even a shudder. I’ll just be driving and all of a sudden it is off. I read some powerstroke forums and found a guy saying turn the key to off then to start. I tried that and it brings everything back to normal at speed. So I did that every time it stalled.

And then the other interesting thing I noticed is that it seems to happen entirely in a very narrow range around a half full tank. It could be a fluke, but it did not stall at all when full or near empty. Every time it was at a half tank, it didn’t just stall - it stalled frequently. It doesn’t make sense why that would be the case to me, but I figured I would share that detail in case someone else sees something in that fact that I don’t.

My plan is to replace the fuel filter and the fuel pickup filters first, as well as go over the fuel lines and the pump.

Any other ideas?

[PigPen]

But other than that it ran well on the way home. We took it very slow and stopped everywhere that looked cool. Sundridge Ontario has a great lakeside park on Lake Bernard. And if you like hiking and find yourself at Niagara Falls, check out the hiking in the gorge below the Niagara Glen Nature Center.

[PigPen]

And if I haven’t said it yet, thank you everyone for the great suggestions and entertaining conversation!

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by PigPen

As far as an update - we officially made it out of the wilderness.

AWESOME NEWS!!!!!

Originally Posted by PigPen

And it appears we are dealing with two separate problems. The weird stalling issue has persisted even after the alternator was replaced.

It can happen. I'd approach your future troubleshooting focused on the very high likelihood that the two problems are related, and/or are different manifestations of the same problem with the same root cause. But sometimes two crap things can happen at once, which can lead to the most frustrating moments ever. Still, I'd eliminate every possible scenario that could explain all the behavior you've experienced before I entertained the possibility of a great coincidence.

There now really isn’t even a shudder. I’ll just be driving and all of a sudden it is off. I read some powerstroke forums and found a guy saying turn the key to off then to start. I tried that and it brings everything back to normal at speed. So I did that every time it stalled.

You sure you don't have a poor ground connection somewhere?

And then the other interesting thing I noticed is that it seems to happen entirely in a very narrow range around a half full tank. It could be a fluke, but it did not stall at all when full or near empty. Every time it was at a half tank, it didn’t just stall - it stalled frequently. It doesn’t make sense why that would be the case to me, but I figured I would share that detail in case someone else sees something in that fact that I don’t.

My plan is to replace the fuel filter and the fuel pickup filters first, as well as go over the fuel lines and the pump.

Any other ideas?

I can't wait to find out what the problem is. I'd be surprised if it was fuel-delivery related - unless as a consequence of an electrical malfunction - but what little I do know is based on much smaller gasoline-powered engines, so I plead ignorance.