Manual 2.3 Badlands Engine Shut down

[BisonInTexas]

I've been searching for any others that have experienced this but have not found any ones with the 2.3L engine. Here's what happened to me last Thursday:

I was driving my wife home from work in the snowstorm (about 3-4 inches of snow and slush on the roads) in North Texas (she's a native Texan, I'm from ND, so I'm her winter driver) when my Bronco suddenly lost all engine power and came to a dead stop on the road. I was in Slippery GOAT mode (4A) at the time. I tried to start the vehicle and it would turn over and start but then quit. I had full electrical power in the car (radio, lights, etc.). No warning lights or faults displayed. I tried to start the vehicle several times to no avail. Eventually I got a 'Service Engine Soon' Warning displayed. I called a tow truck via AAA and had it towed to a Ford dealer. The Ford dealer had reduced staff due to the weather, so they couldn't look at the truck until today.

Today, they cannot recreate the problem. I see on the FordPass app that there is another 'Service Engine Soon' warning at 3:23 PM (when they started troubleshooting), but no more since then. According to the service advisor, there were 'several concerning codes' that 'cleared themselves'. Some were ECM and PCM communication errors that could result in engine malfunction.

They have been driving the car trying to get the same behavior but can't. I should have gotten more specifics on the codes, but had to go get a rental so I could go to work tomorrow. They are going to try again tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful that they know what to look for - they are just hoping to stumble upon it. A couple of questions for the Bronco6G Hivemind:

What could cause this behavior?
How do error codes clear themselves?
Is there a record of them somewhere that one can lookup/see the history ?
(FordPass app doesn't show any but the 'Service Engine Soon' warning without any other information - clicking on it does nothing):

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[Squatch]

Not sure if it lines up, but it's similar to those of us who have had fuel pump failures early... way early! Mine was around 10k miles. Look at some of those threads and mention that to the dealer or maybe there's more info to rule that out, but... took each of us by surprise.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Are you close enough to Dallas to get to see the Bison play almost yearly?

 

[Bugkillah]

You got moisture somewhere you weren’t supposed to, and by the time the service department got to look at it, the moisture had dried up and the problem went away?

 

[BisonInTexas]

Are you close enough to Dallas to get to see the Bison play almost yearly?

Every year

 

[BisonInTexas]

You got moisture somewhere you weren’t supposed to, and by the time the service department got to look at it, the moisture had dried up and the problem went away?

That sounds plausible but I’ve driven other vehicles in much worse conditions- I’d hope that Bronco was not such a snowflake (no pun intended). Doesn’t inspire confidence if that’s the cause.

 

[BisonInTexas]

Not sure if it lines up, but it's similar to those of us who have had fuel pump failures early... way early! Mine was around 10k miles. Look at some of those threads and mention that to the dealer or maybe there's more info to rule that out, but... took each of us by surprise.

Something to think about. I’ve got 48K miles on my Bronco. Two questions: 1) wouldn’t the failed pump generate a code for fuel pressure or lack thereof? (2) was the failure mode such that the pump was intermittently failing?

I really appreciate the ideas and responses!

 

[Squatch]

Something to think about. I’ve got 48K miles on my Bronco. Two questions: 1) wouldn’t the failed pump generate a code for fuel pressure or lack thereof? (2) was the failure mode such that the pump was intermittently failing?

I really appreciate the ideas and responses!

Didn't show anything for me until the sudden loss of power while driving and failed attempts to get driving again just involved engine turnovers that didn't last very long and got worse each time.

The dealership replaced the fuel pump, but somehow set my tank to never fill up past 3/4 again. No idea how they did that.

 

[CarlSpackler]

Didn't show anything for me until the sudden loss of power while driving and failed attempts to get driving again just involved engine turnovers that didn't last very long and got worse each time.

The dealership replaced the fuel pump, but somehow set my tank to never fill up past 3/4 again. No idea how they did that.

Isn't it standard practive to put things in gas tanks in your neck of the woods?

 

[BisonInTexas]

Didn't show anything for me until the sudden loss of power while driving and failed attempts to get driving again just involved engine turnovers that didn't last very long and got worse each time.

The dealership replaced the fuel pump, but somehow set my tank to never fill up past 3/4 again. No idea how they did that.

That does sound like what happened to me. I’ll mention that to the dealership.
Thanks!

 

[Mustbeheresomewhere]

Are you close enough to Dallas to get to see the Bison play almost yearly?

I wish MSU would beat them some day!

 

[BisonInTexas]

I wish MSU would beat them some day!

They came pretty close - it was a really great game!

 

[PWillette]

I've been searching for any others that have experienced this but have not found any ones with the 2.3L engine. Here's what happened to me last Thursday:

I was driving my wife home from work in the snowstorm (about 3-4 inches of snow and slush on the roads) in North Texas (she's a native Texan, I'm from ND, so I'm her winter driver) when my Bronco suddenly lost all engine power and came to a dead stop on the road. I was in Slippery GOAT mode (4A) at the time. I tried to start the vehicle and it would turn over and start but then quit. I had full electrical power in the car (radio, lights, etc.). No warning lights or faults displayed. I tried to start the vehicle several times to no avail. Eventually I got a 'Service Engine Soon' Warning displayed. I called a tow truck via AAA and had it towed to a Ford dealer. The Ford dealer had reduced staff due to the weather, so they couldn't look at the truck until today.

Today, they cannot recreate the problem. I see on the FordPass app that there is another 'Service Engine Soon' warning at 3:23 PM (when they started troubleshooting), but no more since then. According to the service advisor, there were 'several concerning codes' that 'cleared themselves'. Some were ECM and PCM communication errors that could result in engine malfunction.

They have been driving the car trying to get the same behavior but can't. I should have gotten more specifics on the codes, but had to go get a rental so I could go to work tomorrow. They are going to try again tomorrow, but I'm not hopeful that they know what to look for - they are just hoping to stumble upon it. A couple of questions for the Bronco6G Hivemind:

What could cause this behavior?
How do error codes clear themselves?
Is there a record of them somewhere that one can lookup/see the history ?
(FordPass app doesn't show any but the 'Service Engine Soon' warning without any other information - clicking on it does nothing):

If you reach out to @flip and send him your VIN he can probably see what the codes were.

 

[MNBigfoot]

I wish MSU would beat them some day!

With SDSU being gutted now, I'd expect Frisco may be a regular matchup for the next couple years.

 

[userdude]

It sounds like the fuel pump, which I think the 2.3L has had a known problem in the past. I had a fuel pump on my 98 pickup go in and out for about six months before it failed completely. @flip or @Ducati1098 may be able to lookup the trouble codes if they're around.

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