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97 EB cuts out on hills

I have an interesting problem with my 97 Eddie 5.0. I pull a 10 foot Jayco trailer and am having a problem with what feels like fuel starvation. It only happens when the temp outside is 85 on up and I am going up a hill in the 4-6 thousand foot elevation range. The car will act like it is running out of gas and if I floor it it will wait several seconds then take off. It will keep accelerating if it stays floored but that creates new problems! If I just let it try to cruise at speed it starts cutting out again. I feel the outside temp and load contribute to the cutting out more than the altitude but that's where it occurs. If I pull a big hill in the morning when it's cooler, it works fine. Any ideas? Thanks,

Reply to
Scott Harrison
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I would start with the plug wires, spark plugs and coils. The plug wires may be arcing on the engine somewhere. You can start the engine when it's dark outside and look for sparks. Coils usually show their problems at high load so this may be inline with your problem also. However, if all cylinders are cutting out at once (i.e., not misifre of one or two cylinders) then I'd look at the fuel pump or fuel filter.

Tom

Reply to
Tom

Jim, The only problem is exceeding the speed limit. There are no panel lights that come on. It's more like someone threw a switch and completely cuts the engine, although it will idle fine. When I floor it, it kind of bucks as the power is restored, it doesn't come on gradually. Very hard on the drive train, this cutting out and cutting in. Last summer we were in Idaho and it started while cruising the freeway (flat, no hills) and the temp was 90's outside. We pulled into a Ford dealer and he said it was probably the fuel pump cutting out when it got warm enough. The first time it did it was in Alberta Canada several years ago and the dealer there replaced the O2 sensor as the check engine light was coming on. I live on the coast and rarely see temps above 75 degrees so it runs fine here but in the summer when we travel we encounter the hotter weather and pull a 10 foot Jayco pop up trailer. Scott

Reply to
Scott Harrison

I think the heat is what is making the EB act up. I just got it back from the dealer here and he found a catalytic O2 sensor giving a bad reading on the passenger side and also thought the Mass Air Sensor might not be working at higher altitudes. I did tell him that last summer I pulled the whole load, trailer and all, up Teton Pass (elev. 8500 ft) out of Jackson Hole at

9 am and 60 degrees and it didn't miss a beat...Other than that he couldn't think of anything and with a lack of 90-100 degree weather it's hard to duplicate conditions around here. Any other thoughts? Thanks! Scott 97 EB 5.0L Jayco 10 UD Pop-up Camper

Reply to
Scott Harrison

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