Dads truck shuts off while driving

Ford, when they hired Team TFI engineers who figured a bunch of thin, laminated layers responsible for ignition and mounted in a hot area was a great idea.

Ford even managed to garner a lawsuit over the extraordinary design. I'm sure they were very proud of this accomplishment.
The funny part was that GM had a similar idea with the HEI module in the distributor, while Denso/Hitachi/NEC/Hitachi who supplied the Japanese either mounted the igniter to the coil or also integrated it to the distributor(Toyota and Honda I4s had the distributor, coil and igniter all in one).

But the Ford modules tended to die sooner than the Delco or Denso/Hitachi/NEC ones.
 
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Sorry for the late reply guys I’m working 12 hour nights and just got up for work. I called him to relay the info y’all suggested(he’s an hour away) and he’s gonna take it to his mechanic for further diagnosis. I’ll update with what is found. Thank you!
 
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I would guess Crank Sensor, Replaced a bunch when these trucks were more common.

The Ignition Module/Ignitor is built into the PCM.

If he ever gets a "No Bus" message & the gauges go dead....Suspect a faulty PCM.
 
UPDATE:

P0204 code. I was able to finally get to him yesterday with my reader and got this code for Injector circuit cylinder 4. It was the only code showing at all. I gave him the information to relay to whomever he has working on his truck. Makes sense that it’s an injector issue.

Is it possible that it could be something else and that it’s only throwing the injector code as a “symptom” of something else? My dad lives an hour away so I can’t go to him without planning it for an off day.
 
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I’ll also add that he recently just went and picked his truck up after his mechanic had had it for three weeks without ever touching it. He got tired of being told “tomorrow” everytime he called so he is actively looking for another mechanic which I am helping with.
 
I had a 97 ram with the 5.9,had it since new. My truck started doing the same thing, shut off like someone flipped a switch.
I checked everything and couldn't find what the cause of the problem was, symptoms were it would die,wouldn't start until it cooled down at least a half hour. It would start again and run normal for a bit then do the same thing.
Well it ended up being the ECTS,( engine coolant temp sensor) ,there were 2 sensors on my truck, the offending sensor was behind the thermostat housing down in a Well where you wouldn't see it. The wires had rotted out. I replaced the sensor with oem and I never had that problem again.
It's worth a check to see if your Dad's truck has the second sensor and check it's wiring.
Larry
 
UPDATE:

P0204 code. I was able to finally get to him yesterday with my reader and got this code for Injector circuit cylinder 4. It was the only code showing at all. I gave him the information to relay to whomever he has working on his truck. Makes sense that it’s an injector issue.

Is it possible that it could be something else and that it’s only throwing the injector code as a “symptom” of something else? My dad lives an hour away so I can’t go to him without planning it for an off day.
A single faulty injector shouldn't cause the issue.
 
Check your grounds. I had a old chevy that had a bad ground from the computer to the frame and it would shutoff the same way. I also had a trailblazer that did the same but it was the negative terminal inside the battery that was cracked and would shutoff on turns. Maybe it is fixed by now, good luck
 
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Check your grounds. I had a old chevy that had a bad ground from the computer to the frame and it would shutoff the same way. I also had a trailblazer that did the same but it was the negative terminal inside the battery that was cracked and would shutoff on turns. Maybe it is fixed by now, good luck
I agree with this, not so much because it's likely but because it's essentially free and requires very little time. Can always run additional grounds, too - I completely cured a transmission limp mode in a '12 Ram doing this
 
Reminds me of time when I was riding in my college friend's 1970's Cutlass. We were going down the freeway just fine when it just died. Turns out he had an extremely loose battery cable connection. Of course he didn't have any tools in the car, not even a screwdriver. We found a piece of wood laying on the side of the road and hammered it in between the terminal and cable with the bottom of our shoe. We made it to our destination with no problems after that.

There are days I miss the simple days of no sensors.
 
'Distributor pickup coil' is what caused the exact same issue in my '91 Sundance.

Tell him to start it up, then wiggle the wire coming out of the distributor. If it dies then there you go.

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I had an 87 3800 powered Oldsmobile that would seem to burn through ignition modules. Had the exact symptoms verbatim as your dad's truck. I kept replacing it with aftermarket parts from Chief Auto Parts. If I knew then what I know now, I would've used an OEM dealership part.
Chief auto parts! LoL. That's old school. They sold Wells electrical parts and they were junk.
 
I had a 97 ram with the 5.9,had it since new. My truck started doing the same thing, shut off like someone flipped a switch.
I checked everything and couldn't find what the cause of the problem was, symptoms were it would die,wouldn't start until it cooled down at least a half hour. It would start again and run normal for a bit then do the same thing.
Well it ended up being the ECTS,( engine coolant temp sensor) ,there were 2 sensors on my truck, the offending sensor was behind the thermostat housing down in a Well where you wouldn't see it. The wires had rotted out. I replaced the sensor with oem and I never had that problem again.
It's worth a check to see if your Dad's truck has the second sensor and check it's wiring.
Larry
Will do. I’ll call and relay the info now. Thank you!
 
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