Sand in the tank, headlights, or electrical issues, the saga continues for the 4th time? (10/9/18)

Water isn't getting into the fuel - it's most likely nothing from the tank is causing this, but instead an intermittent electrical problem which can be difficult to find and that is exacerbated sometimes by washing the truck. Dealers usually don't staff experts in diagnostics since they make way more money per hour with brake pad and oil changes.

 

There should be no way sand is getting up to the engine via fuel. There has to be a filter somewhere.

I would really look the cps. Then from there only wash one section of the engine at a time until the problem recreates. Then maybe we can narrow down a location to inspect wiring.

 

Sooooo since I had 45 minutes to wait for the tow truck, and it was a dark, sketchy back alley I was stuck in with even sketchier people walking by me, I started tearing into the truck with the only thing I had, my Leatherman.

Truck fixed itself only after I removed the POSITIVE battery leads (not the main lug) but the one that bolts on top.

My lights and headlights are also.on that same post so I am not sure if it was because I removed the lights, or if it's because I removed the power to the computer, but either way it started right up after that. I then reapplied all the auxillary wiring, lights, hearlights to the post with the truck running and there was no issues...
Cancelled the tow truck and drove home...

 

Glad you got it fired up. Super frustrating for you I'm sure.

 

Definitely an electrical issue and not contaminants in the fuel.

 

No, lol. I detail on the side and it's a hobby of mine. I don't do anything ridiculous.

I cared for a kid that was suffering from that in my ER the other day. Sad unfortunately.

But no... Only unfortunate events and an underlying problem no one can find.

I no longer believe it's a sand issue, I have since moved to Arizona and am surrounded by sand, have driven through dust storms and monsoons to get to work (mil. Trauma nurse... Can't not be at work) and had zero issues.

This discovery of the + battery cable thing leads me to believe that it's definitely electric. Perhaps it IS the headlights like the Cali dealer claimed? I'm hesitant to recreate the problem again lol... Like I said I haven't washed the darn truck in almost a year because I was afraid of this. Lol.



Can't believe I had to revive this thread....

But at least I found a solution so I can not be towed and wait 4 weeks at a dealership lol.

 

I’d say I wasn’t expecting another update to this thread, but then again....

Isn’t your lease almost up by now? If you still have a bit you might want to just start ripping all the accessory crap out or post some pics so maybe someone can help you out

 

It's up in Dec/Jan

The only accessories are the HIDs/fogs from TRS,and some ditch lights, everything is on their own fused relays and grounded to the battery, so I don't see any potential issues there. People have way more and do way more hard core stuff. Trucks been down a few Forrest service roads in the desert, that's the only off road it's done in the past year lol.

 

It would be beneficial to have your accessories on a secondary fuse/relay box. Not only would it clean up your wiring it would help isolate the source of this issue.

 

You’re not suppose to ground stuff directly to the battery

 

First time I’ve ever heard this, do you have a reason for that?

 

It's in the works if I add more to it. For now it's just 3 ring terminals on the +post. Never had any issues with my bronco or my ranger and it was the same way. It's a fused + and 5 pin relays. Not the cleanest looking, but everything is tucked into loom and water proof connectors.

 

People go back and forth about this all the time. Grounding to the battery won't cause engine failure. One of the circuits is grounded to a ground wire... Which eventually leads back to the battery.

I disconnected the neg term first when I was looking around and it did nothing (I attempted to start after everything I did)

I disconnected the POS, heard the relays in the truck click/dash board clicked and chimed, reconnected it and everything did the same clicking and it started up perfectly fine.

 

When an electrical device is directly connected to the negative post, if the negative post to block or chassis connection opens up or develops excessive resistance, the battery negative post will divert alternator or starter current through whatever is attached to the negative post. Very few devices and wiring will suffer a fault like this without permanent damage. Battery post connections also increase likelihood of ground loops and ground conducted noise. Manufacture and any professional 12v installers never ground anything directly to the battery.

 

I followed the instructions and from the retrofit source ( @TRSAndrew )

If it was a ground issue I would of assumed it would of corrected itself when I removed the negative terminal, but there was no change, the only change was when the nut was removed from the vertical post on the positive lead.

 

No it won’t cause engine failure. But engines are controlled by modules now a days. They can be very sensitive. Last thing you want is something backfeeding and causing any type of interferrance. I’ve seen mounting relays or different types of control modules next to some ABS modules throw lights and kick off the ABS. Tons of ground loops and interference with different electronics. Also tons of failures both factory and aftermarket due to poor grounds.

 

I guess this will push me to get a fuse/relay block faster... Wanted to hold out until I know if I'm doing an aftermarket headunit with the auxilary switches built in or going to go for a spod or something similar.

I could run a new ground wire and tie the negatives from all the lights into it I suppose.

Seems odd that it only happens when wet.

 

Just ground the lights to a bolt that’s ground. The shorter the wire length the better. This will isolate the circuit. Then I would wash the shit out of the truck again and see if you still have the same problem

 

That's what I meant when I said run a new ground. There's one nearby the battery anyway, my pods are tied into it.

 

Damn I just read every post in this thread and feel like I need closure lol.