I have a 2011 F350 DRW Super Duty. It's has a 6.7 L with 23,100 miles. Returning from a short outing pulling our 5th wheel...we had a lost of power while entering an on ramp to the beltway around Jacksonville, Fl.
I knew I had a problem as I entered the intersection and was committed to the on ramp because of traffic and design. I managed to merge into traffic and maintain 40-45 mph @ 2900 rpm. With the light traffic and knowing a Ford dealership was 8 miles ahead....I decided to stop there if possible rather than stop on the side of the road and call road service.
There were no warnings or other indication displayed on the information screen. All gauges were normal, the fuel average mpg display dropped from 12.8 to a final 6.2 mpg when I made the dealership.
The short story....the dealer worked me into their schedule and kept me informed on the progress but at the end of the day, couldn't find anything wrong with the truck. Not sure if it was a fuel issue, with every test on the system reading normal, I had them change the filters anyway.
I hooked up and started for home at 4:30 pm. 100 yards down the road it happened again. So I returned to the dealer and explained the problem. They said it ran fine and it drove so while I hooked up? The service writer allowed me to park the trailer on the side lot and started writing another ticket. With the truck 'running right' I took it for a run down the road and drove it like it was stolen and didn't have a problem.
I talked with the writer and we agreed I would take the truck home and leave the trailer. Second day nothing found to be a problem and the truck was running fine, at the end of the day....I drove it home. On the third day a fuel monitor and computer was attached and the truck/trailer hit the road.
400 yards later the truck lost power and a code was displayed, fuel was good as was all the gauges. The code said to check a big list of things that reads like the 'warnings' on a medication bottle. Basically everything. The tech had me pull up onto the shoulder in front of the dealership, leave the truck running and played with a wire harness on the passenger side. He had me turn the engine off and back on...and noticed a difference in smoothness. We made a longer run down the Hwy and all was good.
The long story...it was the wire harness causing the problem. One can see where a slight rub on the valve cover is but there was no damage to the harness itself? All that was required was to pull the harness away from the engine and ensure the ends were fully seated. All were. From feeling the harness, there isn't a lot of play or movement. The only reasoning to the problem was when the truck was under load from the trailer...the harness did something that caused the problem.
Now the interesting part. In May we were returning from the same campground, same route and ended up with a the same problem on the same beltway. I did the same thing, drove to the dealership...explaining I had a water in fuel light several week earlier that I dealt with, we changed out the fuel filter to be safe and drove home without a problem and none in the last 2400 miles.
I now believe they are related. Both towing, under load and turning left. But still can't explain what totally happened.
Just a loooooong post to inform others to check the position of your wire harness and it's attachments and if something like this happens....Check it first.
workhorse
If the problem occurs again I will be closer to home and take it to my normal service dealer armed with better information.
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